經(jīng)典英語勵志美文欣賞
經(jīng)典英語勵志美文欣賞
年輕人,在你落敗的時候絕不能讀太多勵志書籍,讀勵志書籍有時候會把一個人讀傻。下面小編整理了英語勵志美文欣賞,希望大家喜歡!
英語勵志美文摘抄
Roll Away the Stone
推開石頭
I enjoy life because I am endlessly interested in people and their growth. My interest leads me to widen my knowledge of people, and this in turn compels me to believe in the common goodness of mankind. I believe that the normal human heart is born good. That is, it’s born sensitive and feeling, eager to be approved and to approve, hungry for simple happiness and the chance to live. It neither wishes to be killed, nor to kill. If through circumstances, it is overcome by evil, it never becomes entirely evil. There remain in it elements of good, however recessive, which continue to hold the possibility ofrestoration.
生活讓我感到快樂,因為我對人、對人類的發(fā)展有無窮無盡的興趣。這一興趣使我不停地了解更多的人,而對人的深入了解則促使我相信人之初,性本善。也就是說人生來就善解人意,有同情心,熱望被人認同,也認同他人,渴望單純的幸福和生存的機會。人不希望被人殺害也不希望去殺害被人。即使邪念因境而生,人也不會完全被邪念所左右。人總有其美好的一面,無論如何退化變質(zhì),總有棄惡從善的可能。
I believe in human beings, but my faith is without sentimentality. I know that in environments of uncertainty, fear, and hunger, the human being is dwarfed and shaped without his being aware of it, just as the plant struggling under a stone does not know its own condition. Only when the stone is removed can it spring up freely into the light. But the power to spring up is inherent, and only death puts an end to it. I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings.
我相信人類,但我的信念絕非是濫施情感。我知道,處于饑餓、恐懼、無法預測未來的環(huán)境中,人類沒有意識到他們的發(fā)展遇到了很大的阻力,正如石頭下的植物掙扎著生長卻不知道自己被石頭壓住了一樣。只有推開了石頭,植物才能自由地、蓬勃地在陽光下生長。但是,蓬勃生長的力量是植物固有的,只有死亡才能奪去它們的這種力量。
Life Confucius of old, I am absorbed in the wonder of earth, and the life upon it, and I cannot think of heaven and the angels. I have enough for this life. If there is no other life, than this one has been enough to make it worth being born, myself a human being. With so profound a faith in the human heart and its power to grow toward the light, I find here reason and cause enough for hope and confidence in the future of mankind. The common sense of people will surely prove to them someday that mutual support and cooperation are only sensible for the security and happiness of all. Such faith keeps me continually ready and purposeful with energy to do what one person can towards shaping the environment in which the human being can grow with freedom. This environment, I believe, is based upon the necessity for security and friendship.
如同古代的孔夫子一樣,我深深地沉醉于奇妙的大地和美好的塵世生活之中,不可能再去暢想什么天堂和天使。此生我活得充實。如果沒有來世,今世也足以值得我為它誕生,不枉為一世人。對人心之善及其向往光明之力的堅定信念使我對人類的未來充滿希望和信心。人類的常識一定在未來的某一天向他們證明,互相支持與合作只會對全人類的安全和幸福有實際意義。這種信念使我精力充沛、盡我所能去營造人類能自由發(fā)展的環(huán)境且樂此不疲。營造這個環(huán)境,我相信,是以安全和友誼為必要前提的。
I take heart in a promising fact that the world contains food supplies sufficient for the entire earth population. Our knowledge of medical science is already sufficient to improve the health of the whole human race. Our resources and education, if administered on a world scale, can lift the intelligence of the race. All that remains is to discover how to administer upon a world scale, the benefits which some of us already have. In other words, to return to my simile, the stone must be rolled away. This too can be done, as a sufficient number of human beings come to have faith in themselves and in each other. Not all will have such faith at the same moment, but there is a growing number who have the faith.
我對未來充滿信心:世界的食物能供養(yǎng)人類;我們的醫(yī)學知識足以改善人類的健康狀況;我們的教育資源,若在世界范圍內(nèi)統(tǒng)一管理,能提高各種族的智力;我們只需去發(fā)現(xiàn)如何在世界范圍內(nèi)管理我們已經(jīng)擁有的資源。換言之,用我剛提到的明喻來表示,石頭必須推開。這也是能做到的。因為我們相當多的人已逐漸樹立了對自己的信念,彼此也相互信任。雖然并不是所有的人在同一時刻具備這種信念,但具備這種信念的人數(shù)在不斷增加。
Half a century ago, no one had thought of world food, world health, world education. Many are thinking today of these things. In the midst of possible world war, of wholesale destruction, I find my only question this: are there enough people now who believe? Is there time enough left for the wise to act? It is a contest between ignorance and death, or wisdom and life. My faith in humanity stands firm.
半個世紀以前,沒有人關注世界的食品問題、健康問題和教育問題。今天就有許多人想到這些了。在可能發(fā)生的世界戰(zhàn)爭中,在大規(guī)模的毀滅過程中,我發(fā)現(xiàn)我唯一的疑問是:有足夠多的人樹立了信仰嗎?有足夠的時間讓智者采取行動嗎?這是無知與死亡之間或是智慧與生命之間的較量。我對人類的這種信念堅定不移。
英語勵志美文鑒賞
Life in a Violin Case
情系小提琴
In order to tell what I believe, I must briefly sketch something of my personal history.
為了闡明我的信仰,我必須簡單介紹一下我的經(jīng)歷。
The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music. My parents, although sympathetic, and sharing my love of music, disapproved of it as a profession. This was understandable in view of the family background. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years at Springhill College in Mobile and, though much beloved and respected in the community, earned barely enough to provide for his large family. My father often said it was only the hardheaded thriftiness of my grandmother that kept the wolf at bay. As a consequence of this example in the family, the very mention of music as a profession carried with it a picture of a precarious existence with uncertain financial rewards. My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of music, and to college I went – quite happily, as I remember, for although I loved my violin and spent most of my spare time practicing, I had many other interests.
我人生的轉(zhuǎn)折點是我決定不做發(fā)跡有望的商人而專攻音樂。父母雖然與我志趣相投,也像我一樣熱愛音樂,卻反對我以音樂為職業(yè)。考慮到我的家庭情況,他們的態(tài)度是完全可以理解的。我祖父在莫比爾的斯普林希爾學院教授音樂達四十年之久,深受學院師生的熱愛和敬重,他的工資卻只能勉強維持一大家人的生活。父親常說若不是祖母精明能干,克勤克儉,一家人非挨餓不可。所以在我們家,只要一提起音樂這個職業(yè),大家就聯(lián)想起收入不穩(wěn)定的那種苦日子。父母堅持要我上大學,不讓我進音樂學院,我也就上了大學。記得當時我還挺開心,因為雖然我熱愛小提琴,大部分時間都用來練琴,我還有許多其他的愛好。
Before my graduation form Columbia, the family met with severe financial reverses and I felt it my duty to leave college and take a job. Thus was I launched upon a business career – which I always think of as the wasted years.
沒等我從哥倫比亞大學畢業(yè),家里的經(jīng)濟情況就變得很糟,我感到自己有責任退學找工作,這才投身商界——我始終認為那段經(jīng)商歲月是虛擲光陰。
Now I do not for a moment mean to disparage business. My whole point I is that it was not for me. I went into it for money, and aside from the satisfaction of being able to help the family, money is all I got out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by. From being merely discontented I became acutely miserable. My one ambition was to save enough to quit and go to Europe to study music. I used to get up at dawn to practice before I left for “downtown”, distracting my poor mother by bolting a hasty breakfast at the last minute. Instead of lunching with my business associates, I would seek out some cheap café, order a meager meal and scribble my harmony exercises. I continued to make money, and finally, bit by bit, accumulated enough to enable me to go abroad. The family being once more solvent, and my help no longer necessary, I resigned from my position and, feeling like a man released from jail, sailed for Europe. I stayed four years, worked harder than I had ever dreamed of working before and enjoyed every minute of it.
我從來無意貶低經(jīng)商,我的意思是它不適合我。我經(jīng)商只是為了掙錢,除了能補貼家用給我?guī)硪稽c滿足以外,錢是我經(jīng)商得到的一切。這是不夠的。我感到年華似水從我身邊流走。對職業(yè)的不滿使我痛苦不堪。我唯一的抱負是積攢足夠的錢,辭去商務,到歐洲學習音樂。于是,我每天黎明即起,練習小提琴,然后去“商業(yè)區(qū)”上班。幾乎來不及囫圇吞下倉促準備的早餐,弄得我可憐的媽媽惶恐不安。我不與業(yè)務合伙人共進午餐,總是找個便宜的餐館,隨便混上一頓,信手寫些和聲練習曲。我不停地掙錢,終于一分一分攢夠了出國的錢。這時,家庭經(jīng)濟情況也好轉(zhuǎn)了,不再需要我的幫助。我辭去商務,感到自己像出獄的犯人一樣自由,便乘船去了歐洲,一去就是四年。我學習比從前想象的刻苦得多,但我非??鞓?。
“Enjoyed” is too mild a word. I walked on air. I really lived. I was a free man and I was doing what I loved to do and what I was meant to do.
“快樂”一詞還不足以表達我的心情,我是樂不可支,飄飄欲仙。我過著真正的生活。我是個自由人,做我愛做的、命中注定要做的事情。
If I had stayed in business, I might be a comparatively wealthy man today, but I do not believe I would have made a success of living. I would have given up all those intangibles, those inner satisfactions, that money can never buy, and that are too often sacrificed when a man’s primary goal is financial success.
假如我一直經(jīng)商,今天可能會相當富有,但我不認為我的人生會很成功。我可能會放棄一切無形的、金錢絕對買不到的精神上的滿足;這種精神上的滿足常常因為人的主要生活目的是發(fā)財致富而不可企及。
When I broke away from business, it was against the advice of practically all my friends and family. So conditioned are most of us to the association of success with money that the thought of giving up a good salary for an idea seemed little short of insane. If so, all I can say is “Gee! It’s great to be crazy.”Money is a wonderful thing, but it is possible to pay too high a price for it.
我脫離商界之舉是與所有親友的忠告相違的,因為我們大多數(shù)人習慣把成功與金錢聯(lián)系在一起,為理想而放棄高薪似乎是發(fā)瘋。如果真是如此,我倒要說:“咳,發(fā)瘋可真好!”金錢是好東西,但可能為了金錢,我們付出的代價太昂貴。
英語勵志美文賞析
A Lesson Learned at Midnight By James Q. DuPont
午夜的一課 詹姆斯.Q.杜邦
Ever since one midnight, in nineteen hundred and nine, when I first heard my mother crying, I have been groping for beliefs to help me through the rough going and confusions of life. My dad’s voice was low and troubled as he tried to comfort Mother. And in their anguish, they both forgot the nearness of my bedroom. I overheard them. I was only seven then, and while their problem of that time has long since been solved and forgotten, the big discovery I made that night is still right with me: life is not all hearts and flowers; it’s hard and cruel for most of us much of the time. We all have troubles, they just differ in nature, that’s all. And that leads to my first belief.
自1909年的一個午夜第一次聽到母親哭泣以來,我一直尋找信仰幫我度過生活中的艱辛與困惑。父親安慰母親時,聲音低沉而憂郁。極度的痛苦讓他們忘記我的臥室就在附近。我無意中聽到了他們的談話,那時我只有七歲。盡管他們當時的問題如今已經(jīng)解決也被遺忘,但那一晚的重大發(fā)現(xiàn)仍然教導我:生活并不總是充滿鮮花和愛情。許多時候生活對于我們大多數(shù)人來說艱辛而殘酷,我們都有煩惱,只是煩惱的性質(zhì)不同,僅此而已。這就是我的第一個信念。
I believe the human race is very, very tough—almost impossible to discourage. If it wasn’t, then why do we have such words as “laugh” and “sing” and “music” and “dance”—in the language of all mankind since the beginning of recorded time? This belief makes me downright proud to be a human being.
我相信人類十分堅強,幾乎不可能感到灰心沮喪。如若不然,為何有史以來人類所有的語言中都有“歡笑”、“歌唱”、“音樂”和“舞蹈”這樣的詞呢?這一信念讓我無比自豪,因為我是一個人。
Next, I believe there is good and evil in all of us. Thomas Mann comes close to expressing what I’m trying to say with his carefully worded sentence about the “frightfully radical duality” between the brain and the beast in man—in all of us.
其次,我相信我們都有善和惡的一面。托馬斯.曼字斟句酌地闡述了人類(我們所有人)身上存在的理智與獸性這一“極基本的雙重性”時,幾乎道出了我的觀點。
This belief helps me because so long as I remember that there are certain forces of evil ever present in me—and never forget that there is also a divine spark of goodness in me, too—then I find the “score” of my bad mistakes at the end of each day is greatly reduced. “Forewarned of evil, is half the battle against it.” I believe in trying to be charitable, in trying to understand and forgive people, especially in trying to forgive very keen or brilliant people. A man may be a genius, but he can still do things that practically break your heart.
這種信仰讓我受益,因為只要記住自己身上一直存在著某些邪惡的力量——但也從未忘記自己身上也有上帝賜予的善良火花——我就會發(fā)現(xiàn)每天結束時,錯誤和悔恨的“得分”大大降低??梢?ldquo;事先警惕惡行是與之斗爭成功的一半”。我相信人要盡量樂善好施,盡量理解和寬恕別人,尤其要寬恕特別敏銳和聰慧的人,因為即使天才也會做出讓你傷心的事情。
I believe most if not all of our very finest thoughts and many of our finest deeds must be kept to ourselves alone—at least until after we die. This used confuse me. But now I realize that by their very nature, these finest things we do and cannot talk about are a sort of secret preview of a better life to come.I believe there is no escape from the rule that we must do many, many little things to accomplish even just one big thing. This gives me patience when I need it most.
我相信,即使不是全部,大多數(shù)我們提出的最富創(chuàng)見的思想,大多數(shù)我們實施的最富成果的行為,都不應讓人知道我們提出和實施的——至少要到我們?nèi)ナ乐蟛拍茏屓酥?。這一點過去常讓我感到困惑,但如今我明白,我們完成這些最美妙的事情卻秘而不宣,實質(zhì)上是暗地里預見未來更美好的生活。我相信我們必須做許許多多小事才能成就大事,哪怕只一件大事。這一規(guī)律無法逃避。這種信仰使我在最需要辦大事的時候很耐心。
And then I believe in having the courage to be myself. Or perhaps I should say, to be honest with myself. Sometimes this is practically impossible, but I’m sure I should always try.
還有,我相信要有勇氣還自己本色?;蛟S我該說,要對自己實事求是。有時這幾乎不可能,但我確信我應該永遠努力為之。
Finally, and most important to me, I do believe in God. I’m sure there is a very wise and wonderful Being who designed, constructed, and operates this existence as we mortals know it: this universe with its galaxies and spiral nebulae, its stars and moons and planets and beautiful women, its trees and pearls and deep green moss—and its hopes and prayers for peace.
最后一點,也是對我而言最重要的一點,我深深信仰上帝。我確信有一位非常睿智和神奇的神靈設計、建造并統(tǒng)治這個世界,就像我們凡人所認識的樣子:這個宇宙有星群、螺旋型的星云、星星、月亮、行星、美女、樹木、珍珠和深綠的苔蘚,還有希望和對和平的祈禱。