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.
爱美
爱美及是整个健全人性不可或缺之一部分。它是一种道德品质。缺乏这种品质并不能作为受到责难的充分理由,但是拥有这种品质则是心灵美好的永恒标志。品德的高尚与美好所达到的程度可能与对美的感受程度成正比。
大自然的美无处不在,整个宇宙就是美的殿堂。美,在春日百花中绽放;美,在绿叶嫩枝间摇曳;美,在深海幽谷里游弋;美,在奇石与贝壳的缤纷色彩中闪烁。不只是这些细微之物,还有海洋,山川,云彩,繁星,日升日落 – 一切都是洋溢着美。这样的美是如此珍贵,与我们最温柔,最高尚的情愫是如此相宜。然而,想到很多人置身于美之中,却几乎对它熟视无睹,真是令人痛心不已。
所有的人都应该去认识大自然之美。没有一条我们踩过的小虫,没有一片在秋风拂掠之际飞舞的树叶不值得我们研究与赞赏。欣赏美的能力不仅增加了我们快乐的来源,也加强了我们德性的修养。美使我们不安的心平静下来,也驱散了我们的忧虑。到田野或森林去,在夏日的海边或山上呆上一天,那么你所有微不足道的困惑与焦虑都会烟消云散。倾听悦耳的音乐,你那愚蠢的恐惧与狭隘的嫉妒都会过去。世界之美将有助于我们找到为善之美。
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, eva luate 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.
生而为赢
人皆生而为新,为前所未有之所存在;人皆生而能赢。人皆有其特立独行之方式去审视,聆听,触摸,品味及思考,因而都具备独特潜质-能力和局限。人皆能举足轻重,思虑明达,洞察秋毫,富有创意,成就功业。
“成者”与“败者”含义颇多。谈及成者我们并非指令他人失意之人。对我们而言,成者必为人守信,值得信赖,有求必应,态度诚恳,或为个人,或为社会一员皆能以真诚回应他人。
成者行事并不拘泥于某种信条,即便是他们认为应为其奉献一生的理念;而是本色行事,所以并不把精力用来表演,保持伪装或操控他人。他们明了爱与装家,愚蠢与装傻,博学与卖弄之间迥然有别。成者无须藏于面具之后。
成者敢于利用所学,独立思考,区分事实与观点,且并不佯装通晓所有答案。他们倾听,权衡他人意见,但能得出自己的结论。尽管他们尊重,敬佩他们,但并不为他们所局限,所推翻,所束缚,也不对他人敬若神灵。
成者既不佯装“无助”,亦不抱怨他人。相反,他们对人生总是独担责任,也不以权威姿态凌驾他人之上。他们主宰自己,而且能意识到这点。
成者善于审时度势,随机应变。他们对所接受的信息做出回应,维护当事人的利益,康乐和尊严。成者深知成一事要看好时节,行一事要把握时机。
尽管成者可以自由享乐,但他更知如何推迟享乐,适时自律,以期将来乐趣更盛。成者并不忌惮追求所想,但取之有道,也并不靠控制他们而获取安然之感。他们总是使自己立于不败。
成者心忧天下,并不孤立尘世弊病之外,而是置身事内,满腔热情,致力于改善民生。即使面对民族,国家之危亡,成者亦非无力回天之个体。他总是努力令世界更好。
Mistakes and errors are the disciplined true which we advance in life. Mistakes are great teachers. Success comes to those who are willing to risk making mistakes in the pursuit of their goals and aspirations, and who are able to learn from those mistakes. And in order to learn from mistakes you must be willing to pay for them.
Mistakes can be enormously valuable, but when you try to get others to pay for your mistakes, then you deprive yourself of the opportunity to learn from them. When something goes wrong, it's usually very easy to find someone else to blame, but what does that really accomplish?
Much of the value of mistakes comes from the fact that they demand a cost that must be paid. The person who learns the most from a mistake is the person who pays the price for that mistake.
When you make a mistake, the lastthing you want to do is run away from it. You need to accept it because you can learn a lot from it. The mistake has been made, so make the most of it. Pay the price, learn the lesson, and grow that much stronger.
When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Remember the reason for it, and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The present is still in your power. Take full advantage of your mistakes to achieve your goals and aspirations.
[参考译文]
过失和错误让我们辨别是非,帮助我们前进。错误是伟大的老师。成功总是眷顾那些敢于冒着犯错的危险去追求他们的目标和理想,并善于从错误中吸取教训的人。为了从过失中吸取教训,你必须愿意为之付出代价。
错误可能具有巨大的价值,但是如果你想让别人来为你的错误付出代价,那你就丧失了从错误中学习的机会。当出了差错时,去责备他人总是很容易的。但是那又有什么用呢?
错误的价值在很大程度上体现为人们必须为所犯的错误付出代价。从错误中学到最多的那个人就是为之付出代价的人。
当你犯错时,你最不应该做的事情就是逃避错误。你需要接受这个事实,因为你可以从中吸取很多教训。既然已经犯了错误,就最大限度地利用它。付出代价、得到教训并成长得更加坚强。
当你犯错时,不要总放在心上。记住犯错的原因,然后向前看。犯错是智慧的课程。过去无法改变。现在仍在你的手中。利用好你的错误,来实现你的目标和理想。
Think it Over
Today we have higher buildings and wider highways,but shorter temperaments and narrower points of view;
We spend more,but enjoy less;
We have bigger houses,but smaller famillies;
We have more compromises,but less time;
We have more knowledge,but less judgment;
We have more medicines,but less health;
We have multiplied out possessions,but reduced out values;
We talk much,we love only a little,and we hate too much;
We reached the Moon and came back,but we find it troublesome to cross our own street and meet our neighbors;
We have conquered the uter space,but not our inner space;
We have highter income,but less morals;
These are times with more liberty,but less joy;
We have much more food,but less nutrition;
These are the days in which it takes two salaries for each home,but divorces increase;
These are times of finer houses,but more broken homes;
That's why I propose,that as of today;
You do not keep anything for a special occasion.because every day that you live is a SPECIAL OCCASION.
Search for knowledge,read more ,sit on your porch and admire the view without paying attention to your needs;
Spend more time with your family and friends,eat your favorite foods,visit the places you love;
Life is a chain of moments of enjoyment;not only about survival;
Use your crystal goblets.Do not save your best perfume,and use it every time you feel you want it.
Remove from your vocabulary phrases like"one of these days"or "someday";
Let's write that letter we thought of writing "one of these days"!
Let's tell our families and friends how much we love them;
Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life;
Every day,every hour,and every minute is special;
And you don't know if it will be your last.
[参考译文]
今天我们拥有了更高层的楼宇以及更宽阔的公路,但是我们的性情却更为急躁,眼光也更加狭隘;
我们消耗的更多,享受到的却更少;
我们的住房更大了,但我们的家庭却更小了;
我们妥协更多,时间更少;
我们拥有了更多的知识,可判断力却更差了;
我们有了更多的药品,但健康状况却更不如意;
我们拥有的财富倍增,但其价值却减少了;
我们说的多了,爱的却少了,我们的仇恨也更多了;
我们可以往返月球,但却难以迈出一步去亲近我们的左邻右舍;
我们可以征服外太空,却征服不了我们的内心;
我们的收入增加了,但我们的道德却少了;
我们的时代更加自由了,但我们拥有的快乐时光却越来越少;
我们有了更多的食物,但所能得到的营养却越来越少了;
现在每个家庭都可以有双份收入,但离婚的现象越来越多了;
现在的住房越来越精致,但我们也有了更多破碎的家庭;
这就是我为什么要说,让我们从今天开始;
不要将你的东西为了某一个特别的时刻而预留着,因为你生活的每一天都是那么特别;
寻找更我的知识,多读一些书,坐在你家的前廊里,以赞美的眼光去享受眼前的风景,不要带上任何功利的想法;
花多点时间和朋友与家人在一起,吃你爱吃的食物,去你想去的地方;
生活是一串串的快乐时光;我们不仅仅是为了生存而生存;
举起你的水晶酒杯吧。不要吝啬洒上你最好的香水,你想用的时候就享用吧!
从你的词汇库中移去所谓的“有那么一天”或者“某一天”;
曾打算“有那么一天”去写的信,就在今天吧!
告诉家人和朋友,我们是多么地爱他们;
不要延迟任何可以给你的生活带来欢笑与快乐的事情;
每一天、每一小时、每一分钟都是那么特别;
你无从知道这是否最后刻。
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.
快乐之门
快乐就像一块为了激起阵阵涟漪而丢进池塘的小石头。正好史蒂文森所说,快乐是一种责任。
快乐这个词并没有确切的`定义,快乐的人快乐的理由多种多样。快乐的关键并不是财富或身体健康,因为我们发现有些乞丐,残疾人和所谓的失败者也都非常快乐。
快乐是一种意外的收获,但保持快乐却是一种成就,一种灵性的胜利。努力追寻快乐并不自私,实际上,这是我们对自己和他人应尽的责任。
不快乐就像传染病,它使得人们都躲避不快乐的人。不快乐的人很快就会发现自己处于孤独,悲惨,痛苦的境地。然而,有一种简单得看似荒谬的治病良方:如果你不快乐,就假装你很快乐!
这很有效。不久你就会发现,别人不再躲着你了,相反,你开始吸引别人了。你会发觉,做一块能激起好意涟漪的小石头有多么值得。
然后假装就变成了现实。你拥有了使心灵平静的秘密,会因帮助他人而忘我。
一旦你认识到快乐是一种责任并使快乐成为习惯,通向不可思议的乐园的大门就会向你敞开,那里满是感激你的朋友。
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.
品味现在
我们的潜意识里藏着一派田园诗般的风光! 我们仿佛身处一次横贯大陆的漫漫旅程之中! 乘着火车, 我们领略着窗外流动的景色:附近高速公路上奔驰的汽车、十字路口处招手的孩童、远山上吃草的牛群、源源不断地从电厂排放出的烟尘、一片片的玉米和小麦、平原与山谷、群山与绵延的丘陵、天空映衬下城市的轮廓, 以及乡间的庄园宅第!
然而我们心里想得最多的却是最终的目的地! 在某一天的某一时刻, 我们将会抵达进站! 迎接我们的将是乐队和飘舞的彩旗! 一旦到了那儿, 多少美梦将成为现实, 我们的生活也将变得完整, 如同一块理好了的拼图! 可是我们现在在过道里不耐烦地踱来踱去, 咒骂火车的拖拖拉拉! 我们期待着, 期待着, 期待着火车进站的那一刻!
"当我们到站的时候, 一切就都好了! "我们呼喊着! "当我18岁的时候! ""当我有了一辆新450SL奔驰的时候! ""当我供最小的孩子念完大学的时候! ""当我偿清贷款的时候! ""当我官升高任的时候! ""当我到了退休的时候, 就可以从此过上幸福的生活啦! "
可是我们终究会认识到人生的旅途中并没有车站, 也没有能够"一到永逸"的地方!生活的真正乐趣在于旅行的过程, 而车站不过是个梦, 它始终遥遥领先于我们!
真正令人发疯的不是今日的负担, 而是对昨日的悔恨及对明日的恐惧! 悔恨与恐惧是一对孪生窃贼, 将今天从你我身边偷走!
那么就不要在过道里徘徊吧, 别老惦记着你离车站还有多远! 何不换一种活法, 将更多的高山攀爬, 多吃点儿冰淇淋甜甜嘴巴, 经常光着脚板儿溜达, 在更多的河流里畅游, 多看看夕阳西下, 多点欢笑哈哈, 少让泪水滴答! 生活得一边过一边瞧! 车站就会很快到达!