
·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!


·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.


·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 si 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 cov ered 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.


·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 to 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 nad 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 ou 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.


·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.



·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.



·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.


·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.


·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.


·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.


·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.


·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.


·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.


·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!


·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.


·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.
 
