優(yōu)秀勵(lì)志的英語(yǔ)美文摘抄
優(yōu)秀勵(lì)志的英語(yǔ)美文摘抄
所謂美文,就是發(fā)表在報(bào)刊上的關(guān)于某篇課文的精美的賞析性短文或者教師自己撰寫的此類文章。本文是優(yōu)秀勵(lì)志的英語(yǔ)美文，希望對(duì)大家有幫助!
優(yōu)秀勵(lì)志的英語(yǔ)美文：演好自己的角色(弗吉尼婭.塞爾)
Don’t Step Out of Character
By VIRGINIA SALE
ON A PLANE flying from Chicago to New York, my seat companion was a young girl who gave me a friendly smile as I sat beside her, but whose young face showed great sadness. Hesitantly, she told me she was on her way to the funeral of her seventeen-year-old brother, who had been killed in Korea. She also told me that her only other relatives were two brothers, both in the service, and that they had lost their eldest brother in the war in Europe. I wanted to say something to comfort her…I felt so useless…say something to comfort her…I felt so useless…All I could say was “I’m so sorry.” And I thought, “Just what can I do to help bring order and hope into the world today?” And the thought came to me, “I can pray and my prayers will tune in with other sincere prayers to create a mighty force for good and for peace in the world.”
As a girl I was fortunate in having old-fashioned, religious parents, and I often think of the old hymn my good father sang so lustily as stood beside him in church, “I need Thee every hour.” As I’ve grown older my philosophy has changed—in a way. I don’t think of God now as an old man with a long gray beard sitting up on a throne. I believe in a practical religion. What good is it unless I can use it to help solve my daily problems, large or small?
I am grateful for what I consider the most worthwhile things in my life—a happy marriage, a good husband, and a son and daughter who become infinite ly finer as they grow up. Success in my theatrical career has come second to these. However, no matter what my material blessings may be, I realize that my happiness must come from within myself. I can’t get back anything I don’t give out. Anybody knows a sure cure for the blues is to get out and do something nice for someone else.
I have had a wonderful opportunity, on my tours with my one-woman show, to meet fine, good people in every one of the seven hundred towns I’ve played. From them I know that good people predominate in every part of this country.
I love my work. I believe that laughter is a great soul cleanser, and I pray that my audiences may somehow be better off for having seen my show. I believe in blessing everything and everybody along the way. Sometimes I may have let stage fright and nerves rob me and my audience of my best performance. I have failed if I haven’t beforehand blessed everyone in my audience, everyone backstage, and, when I’m working in television, radio or motion pictures, everyone in the studio—my fellow actors and the director and technicians. I admire their courage, their goodhearted generous qualities.
What do I mean by “blessing”? Well, I first have a deep sense of gratitude to an audience, and a feeling of good will and good wishes, so that I know there is complete harmony between them and me, and I know they will like me because I really like them—that we will tune in together.
My late brother, the great character actor and comedian, Charles “Chic” Sale, said to me one time we were talking about spiritual things and about being perfect channels for expression_r: “The thing to do, kiddo, is to stay in character—be God’s child.” And I try never to forget this.
演好自己的角色
弗吉尼婭·塞爾
一次，在從芝加哥飛往紐約的航班上，我坐在一個(gè)年輕女孩旁邊。我坐下時(shí)她對(duì)我友好地笑了一下，但她年輕的面孔卻流露出深切的悲痛。遲疑中，她向我道出了原委——她此行是要去參加她弟弟的葬禮，弟弟只有十七歲，葬身在朝鮮戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)。她的另兩位兄弟是她僅有的親人，都在服役，而她的大哥也已戰(zhàn)死在歐洲。我很想安慰她……我覺(jué)得自己無(wú)能為力……只能對(duì)她說(shuō)：“我很難過(guò)。”我想，為了世界有太平和希望，我能做什么呢?突然我想到了禱告。“我可以禱告，我的禱告與其他虔誠(chéng)的禱告一定能匯聚成一股巨大的力量，讓世界充滿美好與和平。”
我是個(gè)幸運(yùn)的女孩，父母的思想很傳統(tǒng)，篤信宗教。我常記起兒時(shí)在教堂里，站在我身邊的父親經(jīng)常滿懷激情地哼唱一首古老的贊美詩(shī)，“上帝啊，我時(shí)時(shí)刻刻需要你!”長(zhǎng)大以后我的人生信條在某種程度上有所改變。我不再認(rèn)為上帝是一個(gè)坐在寶座上、留著長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)白胡子的老頭。我奉行的人生信條很現(xiàn)實(shí)。如果它不能幫我解決日常生活中大大小小的問(wèn)題，那它有什么用呢?
對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，演藝事業(yè)的成功是次要的，人生最重要的是美滿的婚姻、一個(gè)好丈夫和一雙越來(lái)越有出息的子女。這些我都得到了，對(duì)此我心存感激?？墒牵瑹o(wú)論我得到什么物質(zhì)上的恩賜，真正的幸福必須源自我的內(nèi)心。沒(méi)有對(duì)他人的付出就不可能有任何回報(bào)。眾所周知，隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備行善才是根除憂愁的良藥。
我的個(gè)人巡回演出給了我一個(gè)大好機(jī)會(huì)，使我結(jié)識(shí)了我所到的七百多個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上無(wú)數(shù)善良的人們。他們讓我相信在這個(gè)國(guó)家畢竟好人還是占大多數(shù)。
我熱愛(ài)我的工作。我相信歡笑能凈化靈魂，我祈禱我的演出能讓人們更加幸?？鞓?lè)。我相信我一路上給每件事每個(gè)人送去的祝福。有時(shí)我可能怯場(chǎng)、緊張，無(wú)法向觀眾呈現(xiàn)最精彩的表演。我演砸了是因?yàn)闆](méi)有事先為每位觀眾、每位后臺(tái)的工作人員祈福，或是在電視臺(tái)、廣播電臺(tái)、攝影棚拍電影時(shí)沒(méi)有為我的搭檔、導(dǎo)演、技師等每位演職人員祈福。他們都那么勇敢、善良、慷慨，令我欽佩不已。
我所說(shuō)的“祈福”是什么意思呢?我首先對(duì)觀眾充滿深深感激，然后對(duì)他們滿懷美好的祝愿。這樣一來(lái)我就知道我能和觀眾和諧互動(dòng)，因?yàn)槲艺娴南矏?ài)他們，他們也會(huì)喜愛(ài)我——這樣我們就能產(chǎn)生心靈的共鳴。
我已去世的哥哥查爾斯·“奇克”·塞爾是一位了不起的性格演員和喜劇演員。有一次我們談起精神世界的話題，討論完美的演技。我記得他對(duì)我說(shuō)，“小家伙，做上帝的子民——這就是你要演好的角色”——這一點(diǎn)，我要努力永遠(yuǎn)銘記在心。
附注：
弗吉尼婭·塞爾：是一名多才多藝、工作勤奮的性格演員。
優(yōu)秀勵(lì)志的英語(yǔ)美文：演好自己的角色
弗吉尼婭·塞爾
一次，在從芝加哥飛往紐約的航班上，我坐在一個(gè)年輕女孩旁邊。我坐下時(shí)她對(duì)我友好地笑了一下，但她年輕的面孔卻流露出深切的悲痛。遲疑中，她向我道出了原委——她此行是要去參加她弟弟的葬禮，弟弟只有十七歲，葬身在朝鮮戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)。她的另兩位兄弟是她僅有的親人，都在服役，而她的大哥也已戰(zhàn)死在歐洲。我很想安慰她……我覺(jué)得自己無(wú)能為力……只能對(duì)她說(shuō)：“我很難過(guò)。”我想，為了世界有太平和希望，我能做什么呢?突然我想到了禱告。“我可以禱告，我的禱告與其他虔誠(chéng)的禱告一定能匯聚成一股巨大的力量，讓世界充滿美好與和平。”
我是個(gè)幸運(yùn)的女孩，父母的思想很傳統(tǒng)，篤信宗教。我常記起兒時(shí)在教堂里，站在我身邊的父親經(jīng)常滿懷激情地哼唱一首古老的贊美詩(shī)，“上帝啊，我時(shí)時(shí)刻刻需要你!”長(zhǎng)大以后我的人生信條在某種程度上有所改變。我不再認(rèn)為上帝是一個(gè)坐在寶座上、留著長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)白胡子的老頭。我奉行的人生信條很現(xiàn)實(shí)。如果它不能幫我解決日常生活中大大小小的問(wèn)題，那它有什么用呢?
對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，演藝事業(yè)的成功是次要的，人生最重要的是美滿的婚姻、一個(gè)好丈夫和一雙越來(lái)越有出息的子女。這些我都得到了，對(duì)此我心存感激?？墒牵瑹o(wú)論我得到什么物質(zhì)上的恩賜，真正的幸福必須源自我的內(nèi)心。沒(méi)有對(duì)他人的付出就不可能有任何回報(bào)。眾所周知，隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備行善才是根除憂愁的良藥。
我的個(gè)人巡回演出給了我一個(gè)大好機(jī)會(huì)，使我結(jié)識(shí)了我所到的七百多個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上無(wú)數(shù)善良的人們。他們讓我相信在這個(gè)國(guó)家畢竟好人還是占大多數(shù)。
我熱愛(ài)我的工作。我相信歡笑能凈化靈魂，我祈禱我的演出能讓人們更加幸?？鞓?lè)。我相信我一路上給每件事每個(gè)人送去的祝福。有時(shí)我可能怯場(chǎng)、緊張，無(wú)法向觀眾呈現(xiàn)最精彩的表演。我演砸了是因?yàn)闆](méi)有事先為每位觀眾、每位后臺(tái)的工作人員祈福，或是在電視臺(tái)、廣播電臺(tái)、攝影棚拍電影時(shí)沒(méi)有為我的搭檔、導(dǎo)演、技師等每位演職人員祈福。他們都那么勇敢、善良、慷慨，令我欽佩不已。
我所說(shuō)的“祈福”是什么意思呢?我首先對(duì)觀眾充滿深深感激，然后對(duì)他們滿懷美好的祝愿。這樣一來(lái)我就知道我能和觀眾和諧互動(dòng)，因?yàn)槲艺娴南矏?ài)他們，他們也會(huì)喜愛(ài)我——這樣我們就能產(chǎn)生心靈的共鳴。
我已去世的哥哥查爾斯·“奇克”·塞爾是一位了不起的性格演員和喜劇演員。有一次我們談起精神世界的話題，討論完美的演技。我記得他對(duì)我說(shuō)，“小家伙，做上帝的子民——這就是你要演好的角色”——這一點(diǎn)，我要努力永遠(yuǎn)銘記在心。
附注：
弗吉尼婭·塞爾：是一名多才多藝、工作勤奮的性格演員。
一位女孩改變了我的生活
羅絲·雷斯尼克
我在童年和少年時(shí)代激情四溢，無(wú)時(shí)無(wú)刻不追求展現(xiàn)自我、磨礪才藝和體味生活。學(xué)校里的音樂(lè)、舞蹈和戲劇課讓我歡欣不已，而劇院和音樂(lè)會(huì)更讓我身心為之震顫，鄉(xiāng)間流連的時(shí)光也同樣美妙，還有我的書，那些厚重的盲文書籍無(wú)論在我乘車、用餐還是睡覺(jué)時(shí)都與我形影不離。
然而，一天晚上，在高中的一次舞會(huì)上，一句我無(wú)意中聽到的話霎那間將我年少的幸福擊碎——“那女孩是個(gè)瞎子，真可惜!”
瞎子——這個(gè)刺耳的字眼隱含著一個(gè)陰暗、漆黑、僵硬和無(wú)助的世界。我立刻轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身，大聲喊道：“請(qǐng)不要為我嘆惜，我很快樂(lè)!”——但我的快樂(lè)自此不復(fù)存在。
升入大學(xué)之后，我開始為生計(jì)而奔波。課余時(shí)間我教授鋼琴及和聲，臨近畢業(yè)時(shí)還偶爾參加幾次演奏會(huì)，做了幾次講座，可要維持生計(jì)光靠這些還是不夠，與投入的時(shí)間和精力相比，它們?cè)诮?jīng)濟(jì)上的回報(bào)讓人沮喪。這讓我失去了自信和勇氣，內(nèi)心郁悶苦惱。眼看我的姐妹和伙伴們一次次興高采烈地與人約會(huì)，我更覺(jué)消沉空虛。所幸的是，還有鋼琴陪我。我沸騰的渴望和激情在肖邦、貝多芬、勃拉姆斯那里得到了共鳴。我的挫敗感在他們美妙壯麗的音樂(lè)構(gòu)想中消散。
直到有一天，我遇見一位女孩，一位出色的女孩，這名隨軍護(hù)士的信念和執(zhí)著將改變我的一生。我們?nèi)找媸祜?，成為好友，她也慢慢察覺(jué)出我的快樂(lè)的外表之下內(nèi)心卻時(shí)常愁云密布。她對(duì)我說(shuō)，“門已緊鎖，敲有何用?堅(jiān)持你的音樂(lè)夢(mèng)想，我相信機(jī)會(huì)終將來(lái)臨。你太辛苦了，何不放松一下——試試禱告如何?”禱告?我從未想到過(guò)，聽起來(lái)太天真了。一直以來(lái)，我的行事準(zhǔn)則都是，無(wú)論想得到什么都必須靠自己去努力爭(zhēng)取。不過(guò)既然從前的熱誠(chéng)和辛勞回報(bào)甚微，我什么都愿意嘗試一番。
雖然有些不自在，我嘗試著每天都禱告——“上帝啊，你將我送到世上，請(qǐng)告訴我你賜予我的使命。幫幫我，讓我于人于己都有用處。”
在接下來(lái)的幾年里，我得到了明確而滿意的回答，超出了我最樂(lè)觀的期望值。其中一個(gè)回答就是魔山盲人休閑營(yíng)區(qū)。在那里，我和我的護(hù)士朋友每年都有幸看到失明的孩子們?cè)诖笞匀坏膽驯е惺嵌嗝瓷鷼獠?。除此之外，朋友們真摯的友誼以及美妙的音樂(lè)都給我?guī)?lái)無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的歡樂(lè)和慰藉。最重要的是，我越來(lái)越意識(shí)到，在我日復(fù)一日的禱告中，當(dāng)我聆聽上帝的啟示之時(shí)，我正日益與他靠近，并通過(guò)他接近永恒。
附注：
羅絲·雷斯尼克：于1934年畢業(yè)于亨特學(xué)院，之后又獲得了加州大學(xué)的碩士學(xué)位，現(xiàn)為三藩市盲人康樂(lè)協(xié)會(huì)的執(zhí)行主任。
優(yōu)秀勵(lì)志的英語(yǔ)美文：Two Commandments Are Enough
By Peggy Wood
Occasionally my mother used to announce that she was going to take time out from the day'sactivities "to rest," she would say, "and to invite my soul." She always put the phrase inquotes, in order, I expect, to divert the facetious remarks which might arise from the worldlyor practical-minded folk within earshot or disarm those who might feel "soul" was a Sundayword not to be used in everyday conversation.
But she meant to do exactly what she said, "invite my soul."
The pressure of the modern world is so great upon us today that we find little time for rest,physical rest, let alone leisure for spiritual reception. Thus, when we take the word "soul" outof its Sunday clothes it is unfamiliar to us, we don't know it very well. We may have differentinterpretations of the meaning of the word; to some it may mean "conscience," to others thatpart of our being given us with life. I believe with Dr. Schweitzer in the sanctity of life, that themiracle called life, which cannot be manufactured by man, does come from a source which wecall God, and that life and soul are the same. And yet when I am asked point-blank, "What doyou believe?" I hedge and play for time in my confusion by saying, "Well, now, that's a prettybig question."
It is not altogether the pressure of the modern world which has clouded our comprehension; "the simple faith of our fathers" got a nasty jolt when Copernicus propounded his theory thatthe sun and stars did not revolve around the earth and that therefore man was not the soleobject of celestial concern. Darwin dealt another blow and Freud's search into the operations ofour hidden selves shook our conviction that man could be made in the image of God.
It might be said that such matters affect only dogma and not belief, and yet the mountingcomplexities of man's discoveries about himself and the world he lives in increase so with theyears it is little wonder man cries out for something simple and enduring in which to believe.
As in moments of great grief the reeling emotions steady themselves by concentrating uponsmall physical occupations - the careful tying of a shoelace, the straightening of a crookedpicture on the wall, the tidy folding of a napkin - so I believe, in this heartbreaking world, intending to the simple familiar chores which lie at hand. I believe I must keep my doorstep clean,I must tidy up my own backyard. I need keep only the two great commandments to live by: torespect the Giver of Life, and my duty towards my neighbor.
I believe that people deeply revere these two commandments (upon which hang all the lawsand the prophets) and suffer personal distress when they are broken. When the propertyowners in South San Francisco refuse to let a Chinese family move into their district, whenflaming crosses are burned and when the homes of decent people are bombed, we are all awarethat our own doorsteps have been sullied and the human neighborhood besmirched.
If I am too puny to grasp the cosmic contours I believe I can at leave live my faith within myown small orbit, gaining in strength from others until that time when all men can rest - andinvite their souls.
兩誡足矣
佩吉·伍德
過(guò)去，我母親不時(shí)會(huì)宣布她要在每天的事務(wù)中抽出點(diǎn)時(shí)間來(lái)“休息”一下——“我要招待自己的靈魂”，她說(shuō)這些話時(shí)總是用手勢(shì)做個(gè)引號(hào)。我猜這是因?yàn)樗幌氡荒切┦拦驶蛑v求實(shí)際的家伙聽到后開她的玩笑，或是讓那些覺(jué)得“靈魂”這個(gè)詞僅僅在禮拜日才會(huì)用的人放心。
但母親所想的和她所說(shuō)的確實(shí)是一回事，也就是“要招待自己的靈魂”。
現(xiàn)代社會(huì)帶給我們太多的壓力，讓我們幾乎找不到時(shí)間讓身體得到休息，更不用說(shuō)抽時(shí)間來(lái)款待自己的心靈。所以，當(dāng)我們脫下“靈魂”這個(gè)詞的宗教外衣，它就變得如此陌生，我們并未真正了解它。
我們對(duì)“靈魂”這個(gè)詞也許有不同的理解：有人認(rèn)為它指的是“良心”，有人認(rèn)為它是指我們生命中生而有之的那一部分。我認(rèn)同史懷哲醫(yī)生的觀點(diǎn)，認(rèn)為生命是神圣的，生命這一奇跡不可能來(lái)自人類
的創(chuàng)造，它的源頭就是我們所說(shuō)的上帝，而生命和靈魂本就是一體的?？墒?，當(dāng)有人直截了當(dāng)?shù)貑?wèn)我，“你的信仰是什么?”我不免有些困惑，只好支支吾吾、閃爍其詞地說(shuō)，“哦，這個(gè)嘛，這是個(gè)很
復(fù)雜的問(wèn)題”。
我們認(rèn)識(shí)上的困惑并不完全來(lái)自現(xiàn)代社會(huì)帶來(lái)的壓力。哥白尼提出太陽(yáng)和星辰并非圍繞著地球轉(zhuǎn)，這一理論嚴(yán)重動(dòng)搖了“我們祖輩單純的信仰”，如此一來(lái)，人類不再是上天唯一的眷顧。達(dá)爾文又給了人們當(dāng)頭一棒，弗洛伊德對(duì)人們隱藏的自我所進(jìn)行的探索再次動(dòng)搖了我們關(guān)于人可能是按照上帝的形象所創(chuàng)造出來(lái)的信念。
這些也許只影響到教義而非信仰，但隨著這些年來(lái)人們對(duì)自身以及世界的認(rèn)識(shí)日趨深入、日漸復(fù)雜，人們?yōu)楹涡枰撤N簡(jiǎn)單而持久的信仰便毫不奇怪了。
在極度悲傷的時(shí)候，聚精會(huì)神做些瑣事可以平復(fù)自己紛亂的情緒——仔仔細(xì)細(xì)地系好鞋帶，把墻上傾斜的圖畫掛正，或是將餐巾疊得整整齊齊。同樣，在這個(gè)令人傷心的世界上，我們也應(yīng)把手邊那些司空見慣的日?，嵤绿幚砗?。我認(rèn)為我應(yīng)該把自家門前清掃干凈，我應(yīng)該保持自家后院的整潔。我只需要遵循兩條最重要的訓(xùn)誡，一是對(duì)造物主心存尊敬，一是對(duì)鄰里盡到職責(zé)。
我相信這兩條訓(xùn)誡深得人們的敬畏(所有的法律與預(yù)言都建立在這兩條訓(xùn)誡之上)，而當(dāng)它們被破壞時(shí)人們就會(huì)陷入苦痛之中。當(dāng)三藩市南部的居民不讓一家中國(guó)人搬入他們社區(qū)時(shí)，當(dāng)十字架在熊熊火焰中燃燒、善良人的家園被炸毀時(shí)，我們都意識(shí)到自家的家門口遭到了玷污，人類的社區(qū)已變得骯臟。
如果弱小的我無(wú)法掌握宇宙的特征，至少我能在自己窄小的軌道里按我的信念生活，從其他人那里獲得力量，直到有一天所有的人都能休息一下——去招待自己的靈魂。
附注：
佩吉·伍德：出生在布魯克林，是一名演員及作家。
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