英语美文（精选五篇）

第一篇：英语美文

生而为赢——新东方英语背诵美文30篇 目录： ·第一篇：Youth 青春

·第二篇： Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如给我三天光明（节选）

·第三篇：Companionship of Books 以书为伴（节选）

·第四篇：If I Rest, I Rust 如果我休息，我就会生锈

·第五篇：Ambition 抱负

·第六篇：What I have Lived for 我为何而生

·第七篇：When Love Beckons You 爱的召唤

·第八篇：The Road to Success 成功之道

·第九篇：On Meeting the Celebrated 论见名人

·第十篇：The 50-Percent Theory of Life 生活理论半对半

·第十一篇：What is Your Recovery Rate? 你的恢复速率是多少？

·第十二篇：Clear Your Mental Space 清理心灵的空间

·第十三篇：Be Happy 快乐

·第十四篇：The Goodness of life 生命的美好

·第十五篇：Facing the Enemies Within 直面内在的敌人

·第十六篇：Abundance is a Life Style 富足的生活方式

·第十七篇：Human Life a Poem 人生如诗

·第十八篇：Solitude 独处

·第十九篇：Giving Life Meaning 给生命以意义

·第二十篇：Relish the Moment 品位现在·第二十一篇：The Love of Beauty 爱美

·第二十二篇：The Happy Door 快乐之门

·第二十三篇：Born to Win 生而为赢

·第二十四篇：Work and Pleasure 工作和娱乐

·第二十五篇：Mirror, Mirror--What do I see镜子,镜子,告诉我·第二十六篇：On Motes and Beams 微尘与栋梁

·第二十七篇：An October Sunrise 十月的日出

·第二十八篇：To Be or Not to Be 生存还是毁灭

·第二十九篇：Gettysburg Address 葛底斯堡演说

·第三十篇：First Inaugural Address(Excerpts)就职演讲（节选）

·第一篇：Youth 青春

Youth

Youth is not a time of life;it is a state of mind;it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees;it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions;it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20.Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.We grow old by deserting our ideals.Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being‟s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing appetite for what‟s next and the joy of the game of living.In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station;so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you‟ve grown old, even at 20;but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there‟s hope you may die young at 80.·第二篇： Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如给我三天光明（节选）

Three Days to See

All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live.Sometimes it was as long as a year, sometimes as short as 24 hours.But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours.I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances.What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings, what regrets?

Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow.Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life.We should live each day with gentleness, vigor and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come.There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry”.But most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but

almost always his sense of values is changed.He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values.It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.Most of us, however, take life for granted.We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future.When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable.We seldom think of it.The days stretch out in an endless vista.So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses.Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight.Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life.But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties.Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration and with little appreciation.It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life.Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight;silence would teach him the joys of sound.·第三篇：Companionship of Books 以书为伴（节选）

Companionship of Books

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps;for there is a companionship of books as well as of men;and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.A good book may be among the best of friends.It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change.It is the most patient and cheerful of companions.It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress.It always receives us with the same kindness;amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third.There is an old proverb, „Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union.Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author.They live in him together, and he in them.A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out;for the world of a man‟s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts.Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.Books possess an essence of immortality.They are by far the most lasting products of human effort.Temples and statues decay, but books survive.Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author‟s minds, ages ago.What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page.The only effect of time have been to sift out the bad products;for nothing in literature can long survive e but what is really good.Books introduce us into the best society;they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived.We hear what they said and did;we see the as if they were really alive;we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them;their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.The great and good do not die, even in this world.Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad.The book is a living voice.It is an intellect to which on still listens.·第四篇：If I Rest, I Rust 如果我休息，我就会生锈

If I Rest, I Rust

The significant inscription found on an old key---“If I rest, I rust”---would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest bit of idleness.Even the most industrious person might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture---every department of human endeavor.Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement.If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist.The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness, had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.Labor vanquishes all---not inconstant, spasmodic, or ill-directed labor;but faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose.Just as truly as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry the price of noble and enduring success.·第五篇：Ambition 抱负

Ambition

It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition.It would probably be a kinder world: with out demands, without abrasions, without disappointments.People would have time for reflection.Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity.Competition would never enter in.conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past.The stress of creation would be at an end.Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions.Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor.Anxiety would be extinct.Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be!

There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham.Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating.Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one‟s own.But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists;that achievement counts for a great deal;and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless.To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging.It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity.We do not choose to be born.We do not choose our parents.We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.We do not, most of us, choose to die;nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death.But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift.We decide what is important and what is trivial in life.We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do.But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make.We decide.We choose.And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed.In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.·第六篇：What I have Lived for 我为何而生

What I Have Lived For

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy---ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy.I have sought it, next, because it

relieves loneliness---that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss.I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined.This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what---at last---I have found.With equal passion I have sought knowledge.I have wished to understand the hearts of men.I have wished to know why the stars shine.And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux.A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens.But always it brought me back to earth.Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart.Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be.I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.This has been my life.I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.·第七篇：When Love Beckons You 爱的召唤

When Love Beckons You

When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep.And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.And when he speaks to you, believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to our roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.But if, in your fear, you would seek only love‟s peace and love‟s pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love‟s threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.Love gives naught but it self and takes naught but from itself.Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.But if you love and must have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.To know the pain of too much tenderness.To be wounded by your own understanding of love;And to bleed willingly and joyfully.To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love‟s ecstasy;To return home at eventide with gratitude;And then to sleep with a payer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.·第八篇：The Road to Success 成功之道

The Road to Success

It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions.Many of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their career.They were introduced to the broom, and spent the first hours of their business lives sweeping out the office.I notice we have janitors and janitresses now in offices, and our young men unfortunately miss that salutary branch of business education.But if by chance the professional sweeper is absent any morning, the boy who has the genius of the future partner in him will not hesitate to try his hand at the broom.It does not hurt the newest comer to sweep out the office if necessary.I was one of those sweepers myself.Assuming that you have all obtained employment and are fairly started, my advice to you is “aim high”.I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm.Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern, no matter how extensive.Say to yourself, “My place is at the top.” Be king in your dreams.And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret: concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged.Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.The concerns which fail are those which have scattered their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains also.They have investments in this, or that, or the other, here there, and everywhere.“Don‟t put all your eggs in one basket.” is all wrong.I tell you to “put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.” Look round you and take notice, men who do that not often fail.It is easy to watch and carry the one basket.It is trying to carry too many baskets that breaks most eggs in this country.He who carries three baskets must put one on his head, which is apt to tumble and trip him up.One fault of the American businessman is lack of concentration.To summarize what I have said: aim for the highest;never enter a bar room;do not touch liquor, or if at all only at meals;never speculate;never indorse beyond your surplus cash fund;make the firm‟s interest yours;break orders always to save owners;concentrate;put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket;expenditure always within revenue;lastly, be not impatient, for as Emerson says, “no one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves.”

·第九篇：On Meeting the Celebrated 论见名人

On Meeting the Celebrated

I have always wondered at the passion many people have to meet the celebrated.The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account.The celebrated develop a technique to deal with the persons they come across.They show the world a mask, often an impressive on, but take care to conceal their real selves.They play the part that is expected from them, and with practice learn to play it very well, but you are stupid if you think that this public performance of theirs corresponds with the man within.I have been attached, deeply attached, to a few people;but I have been interested in men in general not for their own sakes, but for the sake of my work.I have not, as Kant enjoined, regarded each man as an end in himself, but as material that might be useful to me as a writer.I have been more concerned with the obscure than with the famous.They are more often themselves.They have had no need to create a figure to protect themselves from the world or to impress it.Their idiosyncrasies have had more chance to develop in the limited circle of their activity, and since they have never been in the public eye it has never occurred to them that they have anything to conceal.They display their oddities because it has never struck them that they are odd.And after all it is with the common run of men that we writers have to deal;kings, dictators, commercial magnates are from our point of view very unsatisfactory.To write about them is a venture that has often tempted writers, but the failure that has attended their efforts shows that such beings are too exceptional to form a proper ground for a work of art.They cannot be made real.The ordinary is the writer‟s richer field.Its unexpectedness, its singularity, its infinite variety afford unending material.The great man is too often all of a piece;it is the little man that is a bundle of contradictory elements.He is inexhaustible.You never come to the end of the surprises he has in store for you.For my part I would much sooner spend a month on a desert island with a veterinary surgeon than with a prime minister.·第十篇：The 50-Percent Theory of Life 生活理论半对半

The 50-Percent Theory of Life

I believe in the 50-percent theory.Half the time things are better than normal;the other half, they re worse.I believe life is a pendulum swing.It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.Let‟s benchmark the parameters: yes, I will die.I‟ve dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets.Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing.Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person;having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son‟s baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he‟s swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of

Legos.But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically.This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone that neighbors laughed.I felt chagrined at the wasted effort.Summer turned brutal---the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime.The air-conditioned died;the well went dry;the marriage ended;the job lost;the money gone.I was living lyrics from a country tune---music I loathed.Only a surging Kansas City Royals team buoyed my spirits.Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad.Worse than normal wouldn‟t last long.I am owed and savor the halcyon times.The reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that can thrive.The 50-percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals‟ recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.For that on blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods.That winter my crib overflowed with corn---fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip---while my neighbors‟ fields yielded only brown, empty husks.Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.·第十一篇：What is Your Recovery Rate? 你的恢复速率是多少？

What is Your Recovery Rate?

What is your recovery rate? How long does it take you to recover from actions and behaviors that upset you? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? The longer it takes you to recover, the more influence that incident has on your actions, and the less able you are to perform to your personal best.In a nutshell, the longer it takes you to recover, the weaker you are and the poorer your performance.You are well aware that you need to exercise to keep the body fit and, no doubt, accept that a reasonable measure of health is the speed in which your heart and respiratory system recovers after exercise.Likewise the faster you let go of an issue that upsets you, the faster you return to an equilibrium, the healthier you will be.The best example of this behavior is found with professional sportspeople.They know that the faster they can forget an incident or missd opportunity and get on with the game, the better their performance.In fact, most measure the time it takes them to overcome and forget an incident in a game and most reckon a recovery rate of 30 seconds is too long!

Imagine yourself to be an actor in a play on the stage.Your aim is to play your part to the best of your ability.You have been given a script and at the end of each sentence is a ful stop.Each time you get to the end of the sentence you start a new one and although the next sentence is related to the last it is not affected by it.Your job is to deliver each sentence to the best of your ability.Don‟t live your life in the past!Learn to live in the present, to overcome the past.Stop the past from influencing your daily life.Don‟t allow thoughts of the past to reduce your personal best.Stop the past from interfering with your life.Learn to recover quickly.Remember: Rome wasn‟t built in a day.Reflect on your recovery rate each day.Every day before you go to bed, look at your progress.Don‟t lie in bed saying to you, “I did that wrong.” “I should have done better there.” No.look at your day and note when you made an effort to place a full stop after an incident.This is a success.You are taking control of your life.Remember this is a step by step process.This is not a make-over.You are undertaking real change here.Your aim: reduce the time spent in recovery.The way forward?

Live in the present.Not in the precedent.·第十二篇：Clear Your Mental Space 清理心灵的空间

Clear Your Mental Space

Think about the last time you felt a negative emotion---like stress, anger, or frustration.What was going through your mind as you were going through that negativity? Was your mind cluttered with thoughts? Or was it paralyzed, unable to think?

The next time you find yourself in the middle of a very stressful time, or you feel angry or frustrated, stop.Yes, that‟s right, stop.Whatever you‟re doing, stop and sit for one minute.While you‟re sitting there, completely immerse yourself in the negative emotion.Allow that emotion to consume you.Allow yourself one minute to truly feel that emotion.Don‟t cheat yourself here.Take the entire minute---but only one minute---to do nothing else but feel that emotion.When the minute is over, ask yourself, “Am I wiling to keep holding on to this negative emotion as I go through the rest of the day?”

Once you‟ve allowed yourself to be totally immersed in the emotion and really fell it, you will be surprised to find that the emotion clears rather quickly.If you feel you need to hold on to the emotion for a little longer, that is OK.Allow yourself another minute to feel the emotion.When you feel you‟ve had enough of the emotion, ask yourself if you‟re willing to carry that negativity with you for the rest of the day.If not, take a deep breath.As you exhale, release all that negativity with your breath.This exercise seems simple---almost too simple.But, it is very effective.By allowing that negative emotion the space to be truly felt, you are dealing with the emotion rather than stuffing it down and trying not to feel it.You are actually taking away the power of the emotion by giving it the space and attention it needs.When you immerse yourself in the emotion, and realize that it is only emotion, it loses its control.You can clear your head and proceed with your task.Try it.Next time you‟re in the middle of a negative emotion, give yourself the space to feel the emotion and see what happens.Keep a piece of paper with you that says the following:

Stop.Immerse for one minute.Do I want to keep this negativity? Breath deep, exhale, release.Move on!

This will remind you of the steps to the process.Remember;take the time you need to really immerse yourself in the emotion.Then, when you feel you‟ve felt it enough, release it---really let go of it.You will be surprised at how quickly you can move on from a negative situation and get to what you really want to do!11

·第十三篇：Be Happy 快乐

Be Happy!

“The days that make us happy make us wise.”----John Masefield

when I first read this line by England‟s Poet Laureate, it startled me.What did Masefield mean? Without thinking about it much, I had always assumed that the opposite was true.But his sober assurance was arresting.I could not forget it.Finally, I seemed to grasp his meaning and realized that here was a profound observation.The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear perception, not fogged by anxiety nor dimmed by despair and boredom, and without the blind spots caused by fear.Active happiness---not mere satisfaction or contentment---often comes suddenly, like an April shower or the unfolding of a bud.Then you discover what kind of wisdom has accompanied it.The grass is greener;bird songs are sweeter;the shortcomings of your friends are more understandable and more forgivable.Happiness is like a pair of eyeglasses correcting your spiritual vision.Nor are the insights of happiness limited to what is near around you.Unhappy, with your thoughts turned in upon your emotional woes, your vision is cut short as though by a wall.Happy, the wall crumbles.The long vista is there for the seeing.The ground at your feet, the world about you----people, thoughts, emotions, pressures---are now fitted into the larger scene.Everything assumes a fairer proportion.And here is the beginning of wisdom.12

·第十四篇：The Goodness of life 生命的美好

The Goodness of Life

Though there is much to be concerned about, there is far, far more for which to be thankful.Though life‟s goodness can at times be overshadowed, it is never outweighed.For every single act that is senselessly destructive, there are thousands more small, quiet acts of love, kindness and compassion.For every person who seeks to hurt, there are many, many more who devote their lives to helping and to healing.There is goodness to life that cannot be denied.In the most magnificent vistas and in the smallest details, look closely, for that goodness always comes shining through.There is no limit to the goodness of life.It grows more abundant with each new encounter.The more you experience and appreciate the goodness of life, the more there is to be lived.Even when the cold winds blow and the world seems to be covered in foggy shadows, the goodness of life lives on.Open your eyes, open your heart, and you will see that goodness is everywhere.Though the goodness of life seems at times to suffer setbacks, it always endures.For in the darkest moment it becomes vividly clear that life is a priceless treasure.And so the goodness of life is made even stronger by the very things that would oppose it.Time and time again when you feared it was gone forever you found that the goodness of life was really only a moment away.Around the next corner, inside every moment, the goodness of life is there to surprise and delight you.Take a moment to let the goodness of life touch your spirit and calm your thoughts.Then, share your good fortune with another.For the goodness of life grows more and more magnificent each time it is given away.Though the problems constantly scream for attention and the conflicts appear to rage ever stronger, the goodness of life grows stronger still, quietly, peacefully, with more purpose and meaning than ever before.13

·第十五篇：Facing the Enemies Within 直面内在的敌人

Facing the Enemies Within

We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear.Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you‟ve read in the papers.Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o‟clock in the morning.But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won‟t need to live in fear of it.Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions.Fear can destroy fortunes.Fear can destroy relationships.Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives.Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within.The first enemy that you‟ve got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference.What a tragic disease this is!“Ho-hum, let it slide.I‟ll just drift along.” Here‟s one problem with drifting: you can‟t drift your way to the top of the mountain.The second enemy we face is indecision.Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise.It will steal your chances for a better future.Take a sword to this enemy.The third enemy inside is doubt.Sure, there‟s room for healthy skepticism.You can‟t believe everything.But you also can‟t let doubt take over.Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities.Worse of all, they doubt themselves.I‟m telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success.It will empty both your bank account and your heart.Doubt is an enemy.Go after it.Get rid of it.The fourth enemy within is worry.We‟ve all got to worry some.Just don‟t let conquer you.Instead, let it alarm you.Worry can be useful.If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you‟ve got to worry.But you can‟t let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner.Here‟s what you‟ve got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner.Whatever is out to get you, you‟ve got to get it.Whatever is pushing on you, you‟ve got to push back.The fifth interior enemy is overcaution.It is the timid approach to life.Timidity is not a virtue;it‟s an illness.If you let it go, it‟ll conquer you.Timid people don‟t get promoted.They don‟t advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace.You‟ve got to avoid overcaution.Do battle with the enemy.Do battle with your fears.Build your courage to fight what‟s holding you back, what‟s keeping you from your goals and dreams.Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.·第十六篇：Abundance is a Life Style 富足的生活方式

Abundance is a Life Style

Abundance is a life style, a way of living your life.It isn‟t something you buy now and then or pull down from the cupboard, dust off and use once or twice, and then return to the cupboard.Abundance is a philosophy;it appears in your physiology, your value system, and carries its own set of beliefs.You walk with it, sleep with it, bath with it, feel with it, and need to maintain and take care of it as well.Abundance doesn‟t always require money.Many people live with all that money can buy yet live empty inside.Abundance begins inside with some main self-ingredients, like love, care, kindness and gentleness, thoughtfulness and compassion.Abundance is a state of being.It radiates outward.It shines like the sun among the many moons in the world.Being from the brightness of abundance doesn‟t allow the darkness to appear or be in the path unless a choice to allow it to.The true state of abundance doesn‟t have room for lies or games normally played.The space is too full of abundance.This may be a challenge because we still need to shine for other to see.Abundance is seeing people for their gifts and not what they lack or could be.Seeing all things for their gifts and not what they lack.Start by knowing what your abundances are, fill that space with you, and be fully present from that state of being.Your profession of choice is telling you of knowing and possibilities.That is their gift.Consultants and customer service professionals have the ministrative assistants and virtual assistants have an abundance of coordination and time management.Abundance is all around you, and all within.See what it is;love yourself for what it is, not what you‟re missing, or what that can be better, but for what it is at this present moment.Be in a state of abundance of what you already have.I guarantee they are there;it always is buried but there.Breathe them in as if they are the air you breathe because they are yours.Let go of anything that isn‟t abundant for the time being.Name the shoe boxes in your closet with your gifts of abundance;pull from them every morning if needed.Know they are there.Learning to trust in your own abundance is required.When you begin to be within your own space of abundance, whatever you need will appear whenever you need it.That‟s just the way the higher powers set this universe up to work.Trust the universal energy.The knowing of it all will humble you to its power yet let the brightness of you shine everywhere it needs to.Just by being from a state of abundance, it is being you.15

·第十七篇：Human Life a Poem 人生如诗

Human Life a Poem

I think that, from a biological standpoint, human life almost reads like a poem.It has its own rhythm and beat, its internal cycles of growth and decay.It begins with innocent childhood, followed by awkward adolescence trying awkwardly to adapt itself to mature society, with its young passions and follies, its ideals and ambitions;then it reaches a manhood of intense activities, profiting from experience and learning more about society and human nature;at middle age, there is a slight easing of tension, a mellowing of character like the ripening of fruit or the mellowing of good wine, and the gradual acquiring of a more tolerant, more cynical and at the same time a kindlier view of life;then In the sunset of our life, the endocrine glands decrease their activity, and if we have a true philosophy of old age and have ordered our life pattern according to it, it is for us the age of peace and security and leisure and contentment;finally, life flickers out and one goes into eternal sleep, never to wake up again.One should be able to sense the beauty of this rhythm of life, to appreciate, as we do in grand symphonies, its main theme, its strains of conflict and the final resolution.The movements of these cycles are very much the same in a normal life, but the music must be provided by the individual himself.In some souls, the discordant note becomes harsher and harsher and finally overwhelms or submerges the main melody.Sometimes the discordant note gains so much power that the music can no longer go on, and the individual shoots himself with a pistol or jump into a river.But that is because his original leitmotif has been hopelessly over-showed through the lack of a good self-education.Otherwise the normal human life runs to its normal end in kind of dignified movement and procession.There are sometimes in many of us too many staccatos or impetuosos, and because the tempo is wrong, the music is not pleasing to the ear;we might have more of the grand rhythm and majestic tempo o the Ganges, flowing slowly and eternally into the sea.No one can say that life with childhood, manhood and old age is not a beautiful arrangement;the day has its morning, noon and sunset, and the year has its seasons, and it is good that it is so.There is no good or bad in life, except what is good according to its own season.And if we take this biological view of life and try to live according to the seasons, no one but a conceited fool or an impossible idealist can deny that human life can be lived like a poem.Shakespeare has expressed this idea more graphically in his passage about the seven stages of life, and a good many Chinese writers have said about the same thing.It is curious that Shakespeare was never very religious, or very much concerned with religion.I think this was his greatness;he took human life largely as it was, and intruded himself as little upon the general scheme of things as he did upon the characters of his plays.Shakespeare was like Nature itself, and that is the greatest compliment we can pay to a writer or thinker.He merely lived, observed life and went away.·第十八篇：Solitude 独处

Solitude

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time.To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating.I love to be alone.I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers.A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will.Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows.The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert.The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping, and not feel lonesome, because he is employed;but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can :see the folks,:” and recreate, and, as he thinks, remunerate himself for his day‟s solitude;and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and :the blues:;but he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is still at work in his field, and chopping in his woods, as the farmer in his, and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does, though it may be a more condensed form of it.Society is commonly too cheap.We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other.We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are.We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war.We meet at the post-office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night;we live thick and are in each other‟s way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another.Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications.Consider the girls in a factory---never alone, hardly in their dreams.It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile, as where I live.The value of a man is not in his skin, that we should touch him.I have a great deal of company in my house;especially in the morning, when nobody calls.Let me suggest a few comparisons, that some one may convey an idea of my situation.I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud, or than Walden Pond itself.What company has that lonely lake, I pray?

And yet it has not the blue devils, but the blue angels in it, in the azure tint of its waters.The sun is alone, except in thick weather, when there sometimes appear to be two, but one is a mock sun.god is alone---but the devil, he is far from being alone;he sees a great deal of company;he is legion.I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or a bean leaf, or sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a bumblebee.I am no more lonely than the Millbrook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house.17

·第十九篇：Giving Life Meaning 给生命以意义

Giving Life Meaning

Have you thought about what you want people to say about you after you‟re gone? Can you hear the voice saying, “He was a great man.” Or “She really will be missed.” What else do they say?

One of the strangest phenomena of life is to engage in a work that will last long after death.Isn‟t that a lot like investing all your money so that future generations can bare interest on it? Perhaps, yet if you look deep in your own heart, you‟ll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution---something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death.Do you hope to memorialize your name? Have a name that is whispered with reverent awe? Do you hope to have your face carved upon 50 ft of granite rock? Is the answer really that simple? Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more?

A child alive today will die tomorrow.A baby that had the potential to be the next Einstein will die from complication is at birth.The circumstances of life are not set in stone.We are not all meant to live life through to old age.We‟ve grown to perceive life3 as a full cycle with a certain number of years in between.If all of those years aren‟t lived out, it‟s a tragedy.A tragedy because a human‟s potential was never realized.A tragedy because a spark was snuffed out before it ever became a flame.By virtue of inhabiting a body we accept these risks.We expose our mortal flesh to the laws of the physical environment around us.The trade off isn‟t so bad when you think about it.The problem comes when we construct mortal fantasies of what life should be like.When life doesn‟t conform to our fantasy we grow upset, frustrated, or depressed.We are alive;let us live.We have the ability to experience;let us experience.We have the ability to learn;let us learn.The meaning of life can be grasped in a moment.A moment so brief it often evades our perception.What meaning stands behind the dramatic unfolding of life? What single truth can we grasp and hang onto for dear life when all other truths around us seem to fade with time?

These moments are strung together in a series we call events.These events are strung together in a series we call life.When we seize the moment and bend it according to our will, a will driven by the spirit deep inside us, then we have discovered the meaning of life, a meaning for us that shall go on long after we depart this Earth.18

·第二十篇：Relish the Moment 品位现在Relish the Moment

Tucked away in our subconsciousness is an idyllic vision.We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the moment.We are traveling by train.Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn ad wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station.Bands will be playing and flags waving.Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle.How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering---waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.“When we reach the station, that will be it!” we cry.“When I‟m 18.” “When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!” “When I put the last kid through college.” “When I have paid off the mortgage!” “When I get a promotion.” “When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!”

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all.The true joy of life is the trip.The station is only a dream.It constantly outdistances us.It isn‟t the burdens of today that drive men mad.It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow.Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less.Life must be lived as we go along.The station will come soon enough.·第二十一篇：The Love of Beauty 爱美

The Love of Beauty

The love of beauty is an essential part of all healthy human nature.It is a moral quality.The absence of it is not an assured ground of condemnation, but the presence of it is an invariable sign of goodness of heart.In proportion to the degree in which it is felt will probably be the degree in which nobleness and beauty of character will be attained.Natural beauty is an all-pervading presence.The universe is its temple.It unfolds into the numberless flowers of spring.It waves in the branches of trees and the green blades of grass.It haunts the depths of the earth and the sea.It gleams from the hues of the shell and the precious stone.And not only these minute objects but the oceans, the mountains, the clouds, the stars, the rising and the setting sun---all overflow with beauty.This beauty is so precious, and so congenial to our tenderest and noblest feelings, that it is painful to think of the multitude of people living in the midst of it and yet remaining almost blind to it.All persons should seek to become acquainted with the beauty in nature.There is not a worm we tread upon, nor a leaf that dances merrily as it falls before the autumn winds, but calls for our study and admiration.The power to appreciated beauty not merely increases our sources of happiness---it enlarges our moral nature, too.Beauty calms our restlessness and dispels our cares.Go into the fields or the woods, spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains, and all your little perplexities and anxieties will vanish.Listen to sweet music, and your foolish fears and petty jealousies will pass away.The beauty of the world helps us to seek and find the beauty of goodness.20

·第二十二篇：The Happy Door 快乐之门

The Happy door

Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples.As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.There is no exact definition of the word happiness.Happy people are happy for all sorts of reasons.The key is not wealth or physical well-being, since we find beggars, invalids and so-called failures, who are extremely happy.Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend.But staying happy is an accomplishment, a triumph of soul and character.It is not selfish to strive for it.It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.Being unhappy is like an infectious disease.It causes people to shrink away from the sufferer.He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered.There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous;if you don‟t feel happy, pretend to be!

It works.Before long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them.You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.Then the make-believe becomes a reality.You possess the secret of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.Being happy, once it is realized as a duty and established as a habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.21

·第二十三篇：Born to Win 生而为赢

Born to Win

Each human being is born as something new, something that never existed before.Each is born with the capacity to win at life.Each person has a unique way of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and thinking.Each has his or her own unique potentials---capabilities and limitations.Each can be a significant, thinking, aware, and creative being---a productive person, a winner.The word “winner” and “loser” have many meanings.When we refer to a person as a winner, we do not mean one who makes someone else lose.To us, a winner is one who responds authentically by being credible, trustworthy, responsive, and genuine, both as an individual and as a member of a society.Winners do not dedicated their lives to a concept of what they imagine they should be;rather, they are themselves and as such do not use their energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretence and manipulating others.They are aware that there is a difference between being loving and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting knowledgeable.Winners do not need to hide behind a mask.Winners are not afraid to do their own thinking and to use their own knowledge.They can separate facts from opinions and don‟t pretend to have all the answers.They listen to others, evaluate what they say, but come to their own conclusions.Although winners can admire and respect other people, they are not totally defined, demolished, bound, or awed by them.Winners do not play “helpless”, nor do they play the blaming game.Instead, they assume responsibility for their own lives.They don‟t give others a false authority over them.Winners are their own bosses and know it.A winner‟s timing is right.Winners respond appropriately to the situation.Their responses are related to the message sent and preserve the significance, worth, well-being, and dignity of the people involved.Winners know that for everything there is a season and for every activity a time.Although winners can freely enjoy themselves, they can also postpone enjoyment, can discipline themselves in the present to enhance their enjoyment in the future.Winners are not afraid to go after what he wants, but they do so in proper ways.Winners do not get their security by controlling others.They do not set themselves up to lose.A winner cares about the world and its peoples.A winner is not isolated from the general problems of society, but is concerned, compassionate, and committed to improving the quality of life.Even in the face of national and international adversity, a winner‟s self-image is not one of a powerless individual.A winner works to make the world a better place.22

·第二十四篇：Work and Pleasure 工作和娱乐

Work and Pleasure

To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real.It is no use starting late in life to say: “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort.A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief.It is no use doing what you like;you have got to like what you do.Broadly speaking, human being may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death.It is no use offering the manual laborer, tired out with a hard week‟s sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon.It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure;and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one.Of these the former are the majority.They have their compensations.The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms.But Fortune‟s favored children belong to the second class.Their life is a natural harmony.For them the working hours are never long enough.Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vacation.Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential.Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.23

·第二十五篇：Mirror, Mirror--What do I see镜子,镜子,告诉我Mirror, Mirror---What do I See?

A loving person lives in a loving world.A hostile person lives in a hostile world.Everyone you meet is your mirror.Mirrors have a very particular function.They reflect the image in front of them.Just as a physical mirror serves as the vehicle to reflection, so do all of the people in our lives.When we see something beautiful such as a flower garden, that garden serves as a reflection.In order to see the beauty in front of us, we must be able to see the beauty inside of ourselves.When we love someone, it‟s a reflection of loving ourselves.When we love someone, it‟s a reflection of loving ourselves.We have often heard things like “I love how I am when I‟m with that person.” That simply translates into “I‟m able to love me when I love that other person.” Oftentimes, when we meet someone new, we feel as though we “click”.Sometimes it‟s as if we‟ve known each other for a long time.That feeling can come from sharing similarities.Just as the “mirror” or other person can be a positive reflection, it is more likely that we‟ll notice it when it has a negative connotation.For example, it‟s easy to remember times when we have met someone we‟re not particularly crazy about.We may have some criticism in our mind about the person.This is especially true when we get to know someone with whom we would rather spend less time.Frequently, when we dislike qualities in other people, ironically, it‟s usually the mirror that‟s speaking to us.I began questioning myself further each time I encountered someone that I didn‟t particularly like.Each time, I asked myself, “What is it about that person that I don‟t like?” and then “Is there something similar in me?” in every instance, I could see a piece of that quality in me, and sometimes I had to really get very introspective.So what did that mean?

It means that just as I can get annoyed or disturbed when I notice that aspect in someone else, I better reexamine my qualities and consider making some changes.Even if I‟m not willing to make a drastic change, at least I consider how I might modify some of the things that I‟m doing.At times we meet someone new and feel distant, disconnected, or disgusted.Although we don‟t want to believe it, and it‟s not easy or desirable to look further, it can be a great learning lesson to figure out what part of the person is being reflected in you.It‟s simply just another way to create more self-awareness.24

·第二十六篇：On Motes and Beams 微尘与栋梁

On Motes and Beams

It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others.I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others.We turn our attention away from our own defects, and when we are forced by untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone them.For all I know we are right to do this;they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves fro which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world.To take a trivial instance: how scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie;but who can say that he has never told not one, but a hundred?

There is not much to choose between men.They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice, of nobility and baseness.Some have more strength of character, or more opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are the same.For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would consider me a monster of depravity.The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to others.It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.25

·第二十七篇：An October Sunrise 十月的日出

An October Sunrise

I was up the next morning be fore the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland.The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and warmth of it peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over the edge of grey mountain and wavering length of upland.Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped, and crept to crept to the hollow places;then stole away in line and column, holding skirts, and clinging subtly at the sheltering corners where rock hung over grassland, while the brave lines of the hills came forth, one beyond other gliding.The woods arose in folds, like drapery of awakened mountains, stately with a depth of awe, and memory of the tempests.Autumn‟s mellow hand was upon them, as they owned already, touched with gold and red and olive, and their joy towards the sun was less to a bridegroom than a father.Yet before the floating impress of the woods could clear it self, suddenly the gladsome light leaped over hill and valley, casting amber, blue, and purple, and a tint of rich red rose;according to the scene they lit on, and the curtain flung around;yet all alike dispelling fear and the cloven hoof of darkness, all on the wings of hope advancing, and proclaiming, “God is here!” then life and joy sprang reassured from every crouching hollow;every flower, and bud and bird had a fluttering sense of them;and all the flashing of God‟s gaze merged into soft beneficence.So, perhaps, shall break upon us that eternal morning, when crag and chasm shall be no more, neither hill and valley, nor great unvintaged ocean;but all things shall arise, and shine in the light of the Father‟s countenance, because itself is risen.26

·第二十八篇：To Be or Not to Be 生存还是毁灭

To be or not to be Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world.They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman.To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely.A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally.He answered it by saying: “I think, therefore am.”

But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: “To be is to be in relations.” If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive.To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations.Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine.But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent.So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a new accomplishment--you increase your power of life.No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy;the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend.But we gain new life by contacts, new friends.What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive.Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also.If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life.But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China~ if you‟re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.To be or not to be--to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves.Let widen and intensify our relations.While we live, let live!27

·第二十九篇：Gettysburg Address 葛底斯堡演说

Gettysburg Address

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.We are met on a great battlefield of that war.We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us---that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion;that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain;that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom;and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.28

·第三十篇：First Inaugural Address(Excerpts)就职演讲（节选）

First Inaugural Address

We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning;signifying renewal, as well as change.For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.in your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need;not as a call to battle, though embattled we are;but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope;patient in tribulation”, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.I do not shrink from this responsibility.I welcome it.I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it.And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God‟s work must truly be our own.29

第二篇：英语美文

美文欣赏

When You Are Old

When you are old and gray and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look, Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep.How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled, And paced upon the mountains overhead, And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.当你老了

当你老了，白发苍苍，睡意沉沉，倦坐在炉边，取下这本书来，慢慢读着，追梦当年的眼神，那柔美的神采与深幽的晕影。

多少人爱过你青春的片影，爱过你的美貌，处于虚伪或真情，唯独一人爱你那朝圣者的灵魂，爱你哀戚的脸上岁月的留痕。

在炉栅边，你弯下了腰，低语着，带着浅浅的伤感，爱情是怎样逝去，又怎样步上群山，将面庞藏在了繁星之间。

向大家推荐一首老歌——《昨日重现》，这是我12岁那年听到的第一首英文歌曲，当时就被它的旋律迷住了，后来慢慢了解了歌词的意思。很老，但很美！希望大家都能把美好留在自己的记忆里！卡朋特yesterday once more_在线视频观看_土豆网视频 影视

Yesterday Once More

昨日重现-卡朋特

When I was young I'd listen to the radio

waiting for my favorite songs when they played I'd sing along，it make me smile.Those were such happy times and not so long ago how I wondered where they'd gone.But they're back again just like a long lost friend

all the songs I love so well.every shalala every wo'wo

still shines.Every shing-a-ling-a-ling that they're starting

to sing so fine when they get to the part where he's breaking her heart it can really make me cry

just like before.It's yesterday once more.(shoobie do lang lang)looking bak on how it was in years gone by

and the good times that had makes today seem rather sad, so much has changed.It was songs of love that i would sing to them

and I'd memorise each word.Those old melodies still sound so good to me

as they melt the years away every shalala every wo'wo still shines every shing-a-ling-a-ling that they're startingto sing

so fine all my best memorise come back clearly to me

some can even make me cry

just like before.it's yesterday once more.(shoobie do lang lang)every shalala every wo'wo still shines.Every shing-a-ling-a-ling that they're starting to sing

so fine every shalala every wo'wo still shines.Every shing-a-ling-a-ling that they're starting to sing.

第三篇：英语美文

Diogenes was a famous Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.C.,who established the philosophy of cynicism.He often walked about in the daytime holding a lighted lantern,peering around as if he were looking for something.When auestioned about his odd behavior,he would reply,“I am searching for an honest man.” Diogenes held that the good man was self-sufficient and did not require material comforts or wealth.He believed that wealth and possessions constrained humanity's natural state of freedom.In keeping with his philosophy,he was perefectly satisfied with making his home in a large tub discarded from the temple of Cybele,the goddess of nature.This earthen tub,called a pithos,and formerly been used for holding wine or oil for the sacrifices at the temple.One day,Alexander the Great ,conqueror of half the civilized world,saw Diogenes sitting in this tub in the sunshine.So the king,surrounded by his countries,approached Diogenes and said,“I am Alexander the Great.”The philosopher replied rather contemptuously,“I am Diogenes,the Cynic.”Alexander then asked him if he could help him in any way.“ Yes,”shot back Diogenes,“don't stand between me and the sun.”A surprised Alexander then replied quickly,“If I were not Alexander,I would be Diogenes.”

提奥奇尼斯是公元前四世纪一位著名的希腊哲学家,就是他创立了犬儒派哲学。他经常在白天点着灯笼四处走动、张望，像是在找什么东西似的。哪人们问起他这古怪行为时，他会回答说：“我正在寻找正人君子。”提奥奇尼斯认为好人是自给自足的，不需要物质享受和财富。他认为财富、财产束缚了人们天生的自由状态。与他的哲学相一致，他拿一个从别人从自然之母的庙里丢弃的大坛作为自己的家，还对此万分满意。这个陶制的大坛叫做圣坛，过去在庙里是用来盛装祭祀用的酒和油的。一天，征服了半个文明世界的亚历山大大帝看见提奥奇尼斯坐在大坛里晒太阳。于是这位君主在大臣们的簇拥下走过去，对提奥奇尼斯说：“我是亚历山大大帝。”哲学家相当傲慢地回答说：“我是提奥奇尼斯————犬儒学者。”然后亚历山大问他是否需要任何帮助。“是的”，提奥奇尼斯驳回道，“别站在我和太阳之间。”大吃一惊的亚历大继而迅速回答道：“假如我不是亚历山大，我就会是提奥奇斯。”

If I were a boy again, I would practice perseverance more often, and never give up a thing because it was or inconvenient.If we want light, we must conquer darkness.Perseverance can sometimes equal genius in its results.“There are only two creatures,” syas a proverb, “who can surmount the pyramids—the eagle and the snail.” If I were a boy again, I would school myself into a habit of attention;I would let nothing come between me and the subject in hand.I would remember that a good skater never tries to skate in two directions at once.The habit of attention becomes part of our life, if we begain early enough.I often hear grown up people say “ I could not fix my attention on the sermon or book, although I wished to do so” , and the reason is, the habit was not formed in youth.If I were to live my life over again, I would pay more attention to the cultivation of the memory.I would strengthen that faculty by every possible means, and on every possible occasion.It takes a little hard work at first to remember things accurately;but memory soon helps itself, and gives very little trouble.It only needs early cultivation to become a power.假如我又回到了童年，我做事要更有毅力，决不因为事情艰难或者麻烦而撒手不干，我们要光明，就得征服黑暗。毅力在效果上有时能同天才相比。俗话说：“能登上金字塔的生物，只有两种——鹰和蜗牛。”假如我又回到了童年，我就要养成专心致志的习惯；有事在手，就决不让任何东西让我分心。我要牢记：优秀的滑冰手从不试图同时滑向两个不同的方向。如果及早养成这种专心致志的习惯，它将成为我们生命的一部分。我常听成年人说：“虽然我希望能集中注意听牧师讲道或读书，但往往做不到。”而原因就是年轻时没有养成这种习惯。假如我现在能重新开始我的生命，我就要更注意记忆力的培养。我要采取一切可能的办法，并且在一切可能的场合，增强记忆力。要正确无误地记住一些东西，在开始阶段的确要作出一番小小的努力；但要不了多久，记忆力本身就会起作用，使记忆成为轻而易举的事，只需及早培养，记忆自会成为一种才能。

If I were a boy again, I would cultivate courage.“Nothing is so mild and gentle as courage, nothing so cruel and pitiless as cowardice,” syas a wise author.We too often borrow trouble, and anticipate that may never appear.” The fear of ill exceeds the ill we fear.” Dangers will arise in any career, but presence of mind will often conquer the worst of them.Be prepared for any fate, and there is no harm to be freared.If I were a boy again, I would look on the cheerful side.Life is very much like a mirror: if you smile upon it, I smiles back upon you;but if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in return.Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner, but of all that come in contact with it.“ who shuts love out ,in turn shall be shut out from love.” If I were a boy again, I would school myself to say no more often.I might write pages on the importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand erect, and decline doing an unworthy act because it is unworthy.If I were a boy again, I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends, and indeed towards strangers as well.The smallest courtesies along the rough roads of life are like the little birds that sing to us all winter long, and make that season of ice and snow more endurable.Finally, instead of trying hard to be happy, as if that were the sole purpose of life, I would , if I were a boy again, I would still try harder to make others happy.假如我又回到了童年，我就要培养勇气。一位明智的作家曾说过：“世上没有东西比勇气更温文尔雅，也没有东西比懦怯更残酷无情。”我们常常过多地自寻烦恼，杞人忧天。“怕祸害比祸害本身更可怕。”凡事都有危险，但镇定沉着往往能克服最严重的危险。对一切祸福做好准备，那么就没有什么灾难可以害怕的了。假如我又回到了童年，我就要事事乐观。生活犹如一面镜子：你朝它笑，它也朝你笑；如果你双眉紧锁，向它投以怀疑的目光，它也将还以你同样的目光。内心的欢乐不仅温暖了欢乐者自己的心，也温暖了所有与之接触者的心。“谁拒爱于门外，也必将被爱拒诸门外。”假如我又回到了童年，我就要养成经常说“不”字的习惯。一个少年要能挺得起腰，拒绝做不应该做的事，就因为这事不值得做。我可以写上好几页谈谈早年培养这一点的重要性。假如我又回到了童年，我就要要求自己对伙伴和朋友更加礼貌，而且对陌生人也应如此。在坎坷的生活道路上，最细小的礼貌犹如在漫长的冬天为我们歌唱的小鸟，那歌声使冰天雪地的寒冬变得较易忍受。最后，假如我又回到了童年，我不会力图为自己谋幸福，好像这就是人生唯一的目的；与之相反，我要更努力为他人谋幸福。

第四篇：经典英语美文

有一种旅行叫做人生

Life comes in a package.This package includes happiness andsorrow, failure and success, hope and despair.Life is a learningprocess.Experiences in life teach us new lessons and make us abetter person.With each passing day we learn to handle varioussituations.人生好似一个包裹，这个包裹里藏着快乐与悲伤、成功与失败，希望与绝望。人生也是一个学习的过程。那些经历给我们上了全新的课，让我们变得更好。随着每一天的过去，我们学会了处理各种各样的问题。

FailureandSuccess Failure is the path to success.It helps us to touch the sky, teaches us to survive and shows us aspecific way.Success brings in money, fame, pride and self-respect.Here it becomes veryimportant to keep our head on out shoulder.The only way to show our gratitude to God forbestowing success on us is by being humble, modest, courteous and respectful to the lessfortunate ones.失败是成功之母。它让我们触及蓝天，它教会我们如何生存，它给予我们一条特殊的路。成功给予我们金钱、名誉、骄傲和自尊。这里，保持头脑清醒便显得尤为重要。唯一能让我们感激上帝给予的成功便是始终卑微、谦虚、礼貌并且尊重没有我们幸运的人们。

美文:我们心中的“如果”“到那时”

IF and WHEN were friends.Every week they met and had lunch.Their conversation usually centered on all the things they weregoing to achieve.They both had many dreams and they lovedto talk about them.“如果”和“到那时”是一对好朋友。他们每星期相约吃一顿午餐。会面时，他们谈论的话题通常围绕在他们即将要做的事情上面。两个人都有着许多梦想，并且他们热衷于这种交谈。

This particular Saturday when they met, WHEN sensed that IF was not in a great mood.As usualthey sat at the table reserved for them and ordered their lunch.Once they placed their order,WHEN questioned IF.“IF what is wrong with you? You don't seem your usual cheery self?” 这个星期六他们见面时“到那时”觉察到“如果”的心情不是很好。像往常一样，他们坐在特意预留给他们的餐桌上点餐。刚一点完“到那时”就问道:如果，你怎么了?你看起来好像不太高兴。“

IF looked at WHEN and replied, ”I'm not sure, I just don't feel like I am making any progress.Thislast week I saw a course I wanted to take if only I had the time to take it.“ ”如果“看了看”到那时“答道”我也不知道怎么了，只是觉得自己没什么进步。上个星期我发现一个很好的课程，如果有时间的话，我就去学。“

WHEN knew exactly how IF felt.”Yeah,“ replied WHEN, ”I too saw a course and I am going toregister when I get enough money together.“ WHEN then said, ”well what about that new job youwere going to apply for.You were so excited about it last week, did you apply?“ ”到那时“非常理解”如果“的感受。他答道是啊，我也看到一项课程，等到钱充足的时候，我就去报名。对了，你打算申请的新工作怎么样了?上星期见你说得那么情绪激昂，申请了吗? ”

IF responded, “If my computer didn't break down last week, I would have applied.But, mycomputer is not working, so I could not type my resume.” “如果”回答道“如果不是上周我的电脑坏了，我会申请的。但是它坏了，我无法打印简历，所以只能放弃了。”

“Don 't worry about it IF, when you are ready another job will come through.I have been thinkingabout looking for another job also, but I will wait and when the weather gets nicer I will look then.”WHEN then went on to tell IF about his week, hoping that it would cheer him up a bit.“别着急，等到你准备好时，另-个工作就出现了。我也一直考虑着换个工作，但是我想等到天气看起来好一些时再行动。”然后，“到那时”继续跟“如果”谈论着他的星期计划，希望这样能使他的朋友高兴起来。

The man at the next table couldn't help overhear WHEN and IF.They both were talking aboutwhen this and if that, finally he couldn't take it anymore.“Excuse me gentlemen,” the man said.IFand WHEN both looked at the man and wondered what he wanted.The man continued, “I'msorry, but I couldn't help hearing your conversation.I think I know how you could solve yourproblems.” 邻桌的一个男人无意中听到他们的谈话。他昕见两个人一直在说着“等什么什么时候如果这样那样”的话，他再也无法忍受了。于是，男人说道“打扰一下，先生们。”“如果”和“到那时”吃惊地看着他，不知道他要做什么。男人继续道很抱歉，我无意中听到你们的交谈。我想我知道如何解决你们的问题。“

IF smiled and thought, how could a complete stranger know how to solve all of their problems.Ifonly he knew.When he realized the challenges they faced there was no way he could solve theirproblems!Curious, IF asked the gentleman, ”How do you think you can solve our problems?“ ”如果“笑了笑，心想，一个完全陌生的人怎么会知道如何解决他们两个人生活中的问题呢。如果让他认识到他们所面对的困难，恐怕他再也不会那样说了。出于好奇”如果“还是问道你认为应该如何解决我们的问题呢? ”

The gentleman smiled and said , “You only need listen to yourselves.It reminds me of an oldproverb: ”If and When were planted , and Nothing grew.“ 男人笑着答道”你们说的话让我想起一句古老的谚语:'只想不做，就会没有收获。“

IF and WHEN looked puzzled.The gentleman smiled and said, ”Start counting how many timesyou use the words 'if' and 'when'.Rather than thinking 'if and when', start doing, take action, stoptalking about 'if and when'.“ ”如果“和”到那时“疑惑地看着他。男人继续说从现在开始，数一下你们用了多少次„如果'和„到那时'这两个词语。你们不要总是思考„如果怎样怎样到那时怎样怎样而是应该着手去做，采取行动，请不要再谈论„如果和到那时'。”

IF and WHEN both looked surprised, and suddenly realized that what the gentleman had said wasso true.Both of them were guilty of thinking,acting and living their life for the “ifs and whens', Thegentleman left and IF and WHEN's conversation changed.They made a pact that when they metfor lunch next week, there would be no ”ifs and whens“;they would only talk about what theyaccomplished!”如果“和”到那时“感到十分惊讶，他们突然意识到这个男人说得很正确。两个人都为自己把思想、行为、生活的希望放在”如果和到那时“上感到惭愧。男人离开后，他们谈话的内容有了改变。他们约定下个星期一起吃午餐时，再也没有”如果“和”到那时他们只会谈论已经完成的事情。

Two Roads 两条路

【英语散文赏析】

It was New Year's night.An aged man was standing at awindow.He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky,where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of aclear calm lake.When he cast them on the earth where fewmore hopeless people than himself now moved towards theircertain goal-the tomb.He had already passed sixty of the stagesleading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse.Now his healthwas poor, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of comforts.这是新年的夜晚一位老人站在窗边，忧伤的眼睛眺望着深蓝的天空空中的繁星，犹如漂浮在清澈如镜的湖面上的朵朵百合。他慢慢将目光投向地面。此刻，没有什么人比他还绝望。他即将迈向他最终的归宿——坟墓。他已走过通向坟墓的六十级台阶，除了错误和悔恨，他一无所获。现在他体弱多病，精神空虚，心哀神伤，人到晚年却无所慰藉。

The days of his youth appeared like dream before him, and he recalled the serious moment whenhis father placed him at the entrances of the two roads One leading to a peaceful, sunny placecovered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet songs;the other leading to a deepdark cave which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and poisonsnakes hissed and crawled.年轻岁月，如梦般展现在他面前，老人想起父亲把他带到岔路口的那个庄严时刻。一条路通向安宁、快乐的世界，鲜花遇布，果实丰硕，甜美轻柔的歌声在空中回荡；另一条路则通向幽深黑暗，没有尽头的洞，洞内流淌着的不是水而是毒液，群魔乱舞，毒蛇嘶嘶爬动。

He looked towards the sky and cried painfully,“0h youth, return!Oh, my father, place me oncemore at the entrance to life and I'II chose the better way!”But both his father and the days of hisyouth had passed away.他仰望星空，痛苦地大喊：“啊，青春，回来吧！啊，父亲，再一次带我到人生的岔路口吧，我会选一条更好的道路。”但是，他的父亲和他的青春岁月都已一去不复返了。

He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness, and these were the days of his wasted life;he saw astar fall from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself.His remorse which waslike a sharp arrow struck deeply into his heart.Then he remembered his friends in his childhood,which entered life together with him.But they had made their way to success and were nowhonored and happy on this New Year's night.他看到灯光在黑暗中流逝，就像他挥霍掉的往昔；他看到一颗流星自天边坠落，消失不见，就像是他的化身。无尽的悔恨，像一支利箭，深刺心间。他又记起和自己一同迈入人生之途的儿时玩伴，j但他们已功成名就，在这个新年之夜，倍受尊崇，幸福快乐。

The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents' earlylove for him.They had taught him and prayed to God for his good.But he chose the wrong waywith shame and grief he dared no longer to look towards the heaven where his father lived.Hisdarkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing effort.He burst out a cry:“Come back, myearly days!Come back!” 高高的教堂钟楼传来钟声，这声音使他记起父母早年对他的疼爱：他们教育他，为他祈祷。然而，他却选择了错误的道路：羞愧和悲哀使他再也没有勇气仰望父亲所在的天堂：黯淡的双眼溢满了泪水，他绝望地嘶声大呼：“回来吧，我的往昔！回来吧！”

And his youth did return for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year's night.He was stillyoung though his faults were real.He had not yet entered the deep dark cave, and he was still freeto walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.他的青春真的回来了，所有这些只是一个梦，一个他在新年之夜所做的梦，他仍然年轻，虽然他犯的错误是真实的；他尚未走入那幽深黑暗的洞穴，还有自由选择通向安宁、快乐的道路：

Those who still linger on the entrance of life hesitating to choose the bright road remember thatwhen years are passed and your feet stumble on the dark mountains.You will cry bitterly, but invain.“0h youth return!Oh give me back my early days!” 仍在人生路口徘徊，仍在为是否应当选择光明坦途而犹豫不决的人们啊，请记住：当青春不再，当你在黑暗的山岭间跌倒时，你会痛苦地呼喊：“啊，青春，回来吧！啊，还给我往昔吧！”此时，一切已是徒劳。

散文:青春常在

No young man believes he will ever die.It was a saying of mybrother's, and a fine one.年轻人不相信自己会死。这是我哥哥的话，可算得一句妙语。

There is a feeling of Eternity in youth, which makes us amendfor everything.青春有一种永生之感——它能弥补一切。

To be young is to be as one of the Immortal Gods.One half of time indeed is flown — the otherhalf remains in store for us with all its countless treasures, for there is no line drawn, and we see nolimit to our hopes and wishes.We make the coming age our own — 人在青年时代好像一尊永生的神明。诚然，生命的一半已经消逝，但蕴藏着不尽财富的另一半还有所保留，我们对它也抱着无穷的希望和幻想。未来的时代完全属于我们——

The vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us.无限辽阔的远景在我们面前展现。

Death, old age, are words without a meaning that pass by us like the idea air which we regard not.死亡，老年，不过是空话，毫无意义;我们听了，只当耳边风，全不放在心上。

Others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them — we “bear a charmed life”, whichlaughs to scorn all such sickly fancies.这些事，别人也许经历过，或者可能要承受——但我们自己“冥冥中有神保佑”，对于诸如此类脆弱的念头，统统付之轻蔑的一笑。

As in setting out on delightful journey, we strain our eager gaze forward — 像是刚刚走上愉快的旅程，极目远眺——

Bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail!向远方的美景欢呼!

And see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance.——此时，但觉好风光应接不暇，而且，前程更有美不胜收的新鲜景致。

So, in the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations, nor to the unrestrictedopportunities of gratifying them.在这生活的开端，我们听任自己的志趣驰骋，放手给它们一切满足的机会。

We have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag;and it seems that we can go on soforever.到此为止，我们还没有碰上过什么障碍，也没有感觉到什么疲惫，因此觉得还可以一直这样向前走去，直到永远。

We look round in a new world, full of life, and motion, and ceaseless progress;and feel inourselves all the vigor and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not foresee from any presentsymptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things, decline into old age, anddrop into the grave.我们看到四周一派新天地——生机盎然，变动不居，日新月异;我们觉得自己活力充盈，精神饱满，可与宇宙并驾齐驱。而且，眼前也无任何迹象可以证明，在大自然的发展过程中，我们自己也会落伍，衰老，进入坟墓。

It is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedness of our feelings in youth, that(so to speak)identifies us with nature, and(our experience being slight and our passions strong)deludes us intoa belief of being immortal like it.由于年轻人天真单纯，可以说是茫然无知，因而将自己跟大自然划上等号;并且，由于经验少而感情盛，误以为自己也能和大自然一样永世长存。

Our short-lives connexion with existence we fondly flatter ourselves is an indissoluble and lastingunion — a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar, nor separation.我们一厢情愿，痴心妄想，竟把自己在世上的暂时栖身，当作千古不变、万事长存的结合，好像没有冷淡、争执、离别的蜜月。

As infants smile and sleep, we are rocked in the cradle of our wayward fancies, and lulled intosecurity by the roar of the universe around us — we quaff the cup of life with eager haste withoutdraining it, instead of which it only overflows the more — objects press around us, filling the mindwith their magnitude and with the strong of desires that wait upon them, so that we have noroom for the thoughts of death.像婴儿带着微笑入睡，我们躺在用自己编织成的摇篮里，让大千世界的万籁之声催哄我们安然入梦;我们急切切、兴冲冲地畅饮生命之杯，怎么也不会饮干，反而好像永远是满满欲溢;森罗万象纷至沓来，各种欲望随之而生，使我们腾不出工夫想死亡。

美文:拥抱生活

We often close ourselves off when traumatic events happen inour lives;instead of letting the world soften us, we let it drive usdeeper into ourselves.We try to deflect the hurt and pain bypretending it doesn‟t exist, but although we can try this all wewant, in the end, we can‟t hide from ourselves.We need tolearn to open our hearts to the potentials of life and let the worldsoften us.生活发生不幸时，我们常常会关上心门;世界不仅没能慰藉我们，反倒使我们更加消沉。我们假装一切仿佛都不曾发生，以此试图忘却伤痛，可就算隐藏得再好，最终也还是骗不了自己。既然如此，何不尝试打开心门，拥抱生活中的各种可能，让世界感化我们呢?

Whenever we start to let our fears and seriousness get the best of us, we should take a stepback and re-evaluate our behavior.The items listed below are six ways you can open your heartmore fully and completely.当恐惧与焦虑来袭时，我们应该退后一步，重新反思自己的言行。下面六个方法有助于你更完满透彻地敞开心扉。

1.Breathe into pain 直面痛苦

Whenever a painful situation arises in your life, try to embrace it instead of running away or tryingto mask the hurt.When the sadness strikes, take a deep breath and lean into it.When we runaway from sadness that‟s unfolding in our lives, it gets stronger and more real.We take anemotion that‟s fleeting and make it a solid event, instead of something that passes through us.当生活中出现痛苦的事情时，别再逃跑或隐藏痛苦，试着拥抱它吧;当悲伤来袭时，试着深呼吸，然后直面它。如果我们一味逃避生活中的悲伤，悲伤只会变得更强烈更真实——悲伤原本只是稍纵即逝的情绪，我们却固执地耿耿于怀。

By utilizing our breath we soften our experiences.If we dam them up, our lives will stagnate, butwhen we keep them flowing, we allow more newness and greater experiences to blossom.深呼吸能减缓我们的感受。屏住呼吸，生活停滞;呼出呼吸，更多新奇与经历又将拉开序幕。

2.Embrace the uncomfortable 拥抱不安

We all know what that twinge of anxiety feels like.We know how fear feels in our bodies: thetension in our necks, the tightness in our stomachs, etc.We can practice leaning into these feelingsof discomfort and let them show us where we need to go.我们都经历过焦灼的煎熬感，也都感受过恐惧造成的生理反应：脖子僵硬、胃酸翻腾。其实，我们有能力面对这些痛苦的感受，从中领悟到出路。

The initial impulse is to run away — to try and suppress these feelings by not acknowledging them.When we do this, we close ourselves off to the parts of our lives that we need to experience most.The next time you have this feeling of being truly uncomfortable, do yourself a favor and lean intothe feeling.Act in spite of the fear.我们的第一反应总是逃避——以为否认不安情绪的存在就能万事大吉，可这也恰好妨碍了我们经历最需要的生活体验。下次感到不安时，不管有多害怕，也请试着勇敢面对吧。

3.Ask your heart what it wants 倾听内心

We‟re often confused at the next step to take, making pros and cons lists until our eyes bleed andour brains are sore.Instead of always taking this approach, what if we engaged a new part ofourselves that isn‟t usually involved in the decision making process? 我们常对未来犹疑不定，反复考虑利弊直到身心俱疲。与其一味顾虑重重，不如从局外人的角度看待决策之事。

I know we‟ve all felt decisions or actions that we had to take simply due to our “gut” impulses:when asked, we can‟t explain the reasons behind doing so — just a deep knowing that it had toget done.This instinct is the part of ourselves we‟re approaching for answers.其实很多决定或行动都是我们一念之间的结果：要是追问原因的话，恐怕我们自己也道不清说不明，只是感到直觉如此罢了。而这种直觉恰好是我们探索结果的潜在自我。

To start this process, take few deep breaths then ask, “Heart, what decision should I make here?What action feels the most right?”

开始前先做几次深呼吸，问自己：“内心认为该做什么样的决定呢?觉得采取哪个方案最恰当?”

See what comes up, then engage and evaluate the outcome.看看自己的内心反应如何，然后全力以赴、静待结果吧。

4.Engage your shadow 了解阴暗面

Many of us who are on the personal development path get caught up in embracing characteristicswe want to have, like happiness, compassion, love, and passion.In this pursuit we end up losingparts of ourselves that make us whole, such as suppressing our negative qualities instead ofengaging them.Try asking yourself a few questions: 很多人在成长过程中都或多或少养成期望的性格，比如快乐、同情、爱心以及激情等等;与此同时，我们也会陷入消极压抑的品性。这时，你就要问问自己：

What parts of myself could I do without? 我有哪些可以完全抛弃的性格?

How do I get in my own way? 有哪些品性会妨碍我的成长?

Is there anything I‟m hiding from myself? 我对自己是不是足够诚实坦白?

Don‟t be afraid of what comes out;you might want to run from the answers, but instead,acknowledge them and be with them as much as possible.Once you‟re a little clearer about whatexactly you‟ve been hiding, from it gets easier to shine your light on it.别害怕最终得出的结果，也别逃避，相反，你应该面对并尽量接受现实。如果你能确切了解自己的阴暗面，也就更容易去改正。

5.Spend time alone 享受独处

For most of our lives we‟re surrounded by people: our friends, colleagues, peers, family members,loved ones, and strangers.How often do we really spend time alone? 大部分人身边总不缺陪伴：朋友、同事、同伴、亲人、爱侣，还有陌生人。那么，怎样才能真正独处呢?

When you spend time in solitude, you‟re free from the influences of other people, and can trulyopen yourself and explore whatever you‟d like.See where your thoughts take you.The goldenticket here is to not let yourself become distracted;just see what it‟s like to be alone.独处使人免受他人干扰，能让我们真正敞开心怀去探究所喜所恶，让自己跟着思绪游走——一定要保持专心，用心体会独处的曼妙。

It might be painful or even scary at first, but by opening yourself up to these new feelings, you‟lladd a whole new layer of depth, experience, and understanding into your life.一开始可能会感到痛苦甚至惶恐，可一旦敞开心胸面对这些感受，你便能达到更高一层境界，收获别样的经验，也更理解自己的生活。

6.Get outside of yourself 走出自我

This may seem a little contradictory to the last tip, but in reality, they actually work hand-in-hand.After you‟ve explored the depths of yourself, you come away with a new understanding.这和前一个建议貌似有点矛盾，但其实两者却是相辅相成的。独处之后，你对自己获得了全新了解。

Now, it‟s time to share that — not through telling others, but through being with others.然后，你应该把它分享出来——当然，这不是要你直接把它告知与人，而是要求你通过与人交往进行分享。

When you‟re in a group of people, try to give them your full energy and attention so you canunderstand them just as you did yourself.Appreciate their uniqueness, as if they are an extensionof you.Lose yourself in the beauty of others;see what they can teach you about yourself.当你与人交往时，请试着用心去了解他们，就好比你用心了解自己一样。感同身受地欣赏他们的个性、观察他们的优点，看看自己能从中学到什么。

Remember, there‟s no need to do every one of these at the same time.Take each one a day at atime, determine which work best for you, and see what you can discover.请记住：以上建议并不要求你一气呵成，你可以每天尝试一个，选择最适合自己的建议，看看自己能从中收获什么。

美文:2015如何做崭新的自己?

THE annual ritual of the New Year‟s resolution — I‟ll lose 10pounds, get my finances in order, be more patient with myfamily, feel more grateful — misses the point.We try to steel ourwills to do what we already know we should be doing.Kick-in-the-pants reminders, however stern, are missed opportunitiesfor genuine self-renewal.(Not to mention that the shelf life ofany motivational juice we generate in January tends to expirein February.)制定新年规划这个一年一度的常规动作——我要减重10磅，要解决财务问题，要更耐心地对待家人，要更知道感恩——总是放错重点。我们竭力强化意志，去做已经意识到自己该做的那些事情。但好似“催命符”的备忘录不管多严苛，都无法激励人们进行真正的自我更新。（更别提1月份才成形的这些宏图大志是多么容易过期，2月份一到，它们往往就宣告破产。）

The turning over of a new year is an opportunity to create ourselves anew.How? The key, Isuggest, is in shifting our understanding of the choices we make.For many people, the mostimportant choices in life are sources of agony, dread, paralysis — even depression or suicide.Itdoesn‟t have to be like this.新年来临之际是重新塑造自我的良机。如何塑造呢？我认为，关键在于换个角度来理解我们所做的选择。对很多人而言，生命中最重要的一些选择是痛苦、恐惧、无力的根源，甚至会让人产生抑郁和自杀倾向。但事情并不一定非是如此不可。

A hypothetical example: Eve works as a textbook editor at a Boston publishing house and wasapproached by a small but prestigious imprint on the West Coast that was looking for a fictioneditor.The job would be a big promotion, with a significant raise, and Eve had always wanted towork in fiction.比方说，伊芙是波士顿某出版社的教科书编辑，西海岸一家正在寻找小说编辑的出版公司找到了她。该公司规模虽小，但却久负盛名。接受这份工作，伊芙的职位会大大提升，薪水会大幅提高，而且她一直都想在小说领域发展。

But Eve is in crisis.Should she move her husband and young daughter from their cozy life inBoston, her home of 15 years, to the wilds of California? If she stays, will she be forsaking theopportunity of a lifetime? If she moves, will her new boss turn out to be a jerk? Will her child bebullied at school? What if her husband can‟t find a good job? Will the family quarrel, the marriagedissolve, her boss fire her for being incompetent, and she and her child end up on food stamps ina homeless shelter? 但伊芙却面临着艰难的抉择。她已经在波士顿生活了15年，该让丈夫和年幼的女儿抛开这里的惬意生活，与她一起搬走吗？如果选择留在波士顿，她能够割舍一生中难得的机遇吗？如果选择搬去西海岸，要是发现新老板是个混球可怎么办？要是她的孩子在学校挨欺负可怎么办？要是她丈夫找不到好工作可怎么办？家里是否会争吵不断，婚姻是否会解体，老板是否会因为她无法胜任工作而炒她鱿鱼，她和孩子是否会落得在收容所靠食品券度日的田地？

Many people are like Eve and see their choices as, in essence, problems of computation.Butchoosing between jobs is not like computing the distance between Memphis and Mumbai.The viewof choice as a matter of calculating maximal value is assumed in cost-benefit analysis, governmentpolicy making and much of economic theory.It‟s even embedded in the apps you can downloadthat purport to help you decide whether to buy a new car, get married or change jobs.许多人都和伊芙差不多，他们其实把选择看成了计算利害得失的问题。但在不同工作之间做出选择，跟测量从孟菲斯到孟买的距离可不是一回事。把选择看作对价值最大化的计算，是内化于成本收益分析、政府决策过程以及许多经济理论之中的一种观念。它甚至潜藏在可以从网上下载的某些旨在帮助你决定是否要买新车、是否要结婚、是否要换工作的应用程序之中。

At the heart of this model is a simple assumption: that what you should choose is alwaysdetermined by facts in the world about which option has more value — facts that, if only you weresmart enough to discover, would make decision-making relatively easy.该模型的核心假设非常简单：你的选择总是取决于世界上的某些与哪个选项会带来更大价值有关的事实——你只要聪明到足以发现这些事实，就能够相对容易地做出决策。

But the assumption is false.When we compute distances, there are only three possibilities: onedistance is more than, less than or equal to another.Similarly, when we compute value, there areonly three possibilities: one thing is better than, worse than or just as good as another.But weshouldn‟t assume that goodness is like distance.Values don‟t have the same structure as facts.但这个假设是错误的。我们测算距离的时候，所面对的可能性只有三种：一段距离比另一段长，比另一段短，或者跟另一段相等。同样，我们计算价值的时候，所面对的可能性也只有三种：一个事物比另一个好，比另一个糟，或者跟另一个差不多。但我们不该把事物的好坏和距离的长短等同起来。价值的体系和事实的体系是截然不同的。

Options can be “on a par” — different in value while being in the same overall neighborhood.Ifyour alternatives are on a par, you can‟t make a mistake of reason in choosing one instead of theother.Since one isn‟t better than the other, you can‟t choose wrongly.But nor are they equallygood.When alternatives are on a par, when the world doesn‟t determine a single right thing to do,that doesn‟t mean that value writ large has been exhausted.Instead of looking outward to find thevalue that determines what you should do, you can look inward to what you can stand behind,commit to, resolve to throw yourself behind.By committing to an option, you can confer value onit.各种选项可能会“平分秋色”——虽然价值不完全相同，但也相差无几。如果你有一些平分秋色的选项，你无论选择哪个，都不会犯判断上的错误。因为两种选择没有优劣之分，你不可能做出错误的选择。不过，它们也并非一样好。当选项平分秋色时，当世界上并非只有唯一正确的答案时，那并不意味着真正的价值已经枯竭。与其从外部寻找价值来判断自己应该做些什么，你可以向内心来询问自己能够支持、承诺，以及决心投身于什么。只要笃定于一个选项，你就为它赋予了价值。

Of course, this isn‟t to say that you should commit to being a first-class jerk, pedophile ormurderer.That‟s because being a jerk is not on a par with being a good person.当然了，这并不是说你应该笃定于成为一个头号混蛋、恋童癖，或者杀人犯。这是因为，做一个混蛋和做一个好人可不是平分秋色的选项。When we choose between options that are on a par, we make ourselves the authors of our ownlives.Instead of being led by the nose by what we imagine to be facts of the world, we shouldinstead recognize that sometimes the world is silent about what we should do.In those cases, wecan create value for ourselves by committing to an option.By doing so, we not only create valuefor ourselves but we also(re)create ourselves.Eve might resolve to make her life in Boston.Someone else, in her shoes, might resolve to start a new life in California.There is no error here,only different resolutions that create different sorts of people.当我们在平分秋色的选项中做选择时，我们就成了自己人生的创造者。我们不应该被我们想象中的世界现实牵着鼻子走，而是应该认识到，有时，这个世界不会告诉我们应该做什么。在这种情况下，我们应该笃定一种选项，创造我们自己的价值。这样做的话，我们不仅为自己创造了的价值，我们也（重新）创造了自己。伊芙可能决心在波士顿生活。而面临同样的境遇，另一个人可能会决定在加州开始新的生活。这无所谓对错，只是不同的解决方案造就不同类型的人罢了。

So Eve, faced with her choice, should reflect on what kind of person she can be.Can she besomeone who abandons a contented life for a new adventure? A choice between alternatives thatare on a par is a precious opportunity to create the sort of person she can commit to being, bycommitting to being that sort of person.因此，伊芙在做出选择时，应该考虑的是，她能成为什么样的人。她能为了新的冒险而放弃舒适的生活吗？在平分秋色的选项中做决定是一个宝贵的机会，可以创造出一个自己能够决心成为的人，方法就是下决心成为那种类型的人。

第五篇：英语美文

;It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition.It would probably be a kinder world: without demands, without abrasions, without disappointments.People would have time for reflection(磨损).Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity.Competition would never enter in, conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past.The stress of creation would be at an end.Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions.Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor.Anxiety would be extinct.Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be!

There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham(骗子).Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events? Now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating.Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one's own.But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists;that achievement counts for a great deal;and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless.To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging.It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity.We do not choose to be born.We do not choose our parents.We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.We do not, most of us, choose to die;nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death.But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift.We decide what is important and what is trivial in life.We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do.But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make.We decide.We choose.And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed.In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.