作者：暖小昕
出版社：北京联合出版公司
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
有些路，只能一个人走：汉英对照试读：
你会懂得 AFTER A WHILE...
Veronica A. Shoffstall/维罗尼卡·A. 肖夫斯托尔你很快就会懂得，握住一只手与锁住一颗心，之间有着精妙的差异；你懂得爱并非依赖，有陪伴并非就安全。
你会懂得亲吻并非契约，礼物也非承诺；失恋的痛苦你也开始能够承受。
昂起你的头，眼睛向前看，展现你女人的风姿绰约，而非孩子般的忧郁无助。
你该清楚，应该在今天铺设自己所有的路。因为明天充满了太多的变数，很难规划，且未来总会出其不意地出现在我们面前。
你很快就会懂得，若拥有太多的阳光，也会使人灼伤；因此要培植自己的花园，美化自己的心灵，而不要静待别人把鲜花送至你手。
你会懂得自己确实很有耐力……自己的确很坚强，且拥有自身的价值。你会逐渐懂得更多，每次的分手都会令你有所感悟。
After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
and company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman
not the grief of a child.
And you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow's ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down in mid flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting
for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn
that you really can endure
that you really are strong and you really do have worth
and you learn and learn
with every good bye you learn.
忙碌的意义 Importance of Being Busy
佚名/Anonymous常规是未成文的规则体系，我们每个人每天都要遵守生活常规。由一系列事件所组成的常规之间的顺序很不容易打乱。遵守常规就如同例行公事一样，对一个学生而言，无非是写作业、上学、参加辅导班或实施一个计划。对生意人而言无非是摆弄他们微小的手机，享受着比奔驰车黑色的遮蔽更严密的医生的庇护，而他们的日程只是局限于参加会议，作演说或博取潜在客户的欢心。
有时生活变得异常忙乱，让你觉得世界只对你一个人残忍，你是世界上比任何人都卖力工作的人。但这是自我反省后得出的结论。虽然别人可能和我们一样会遭受同样的不幸，但我们总觉得别人比自己幸运。确实，我们总会认为叶子的另一面更鲜绿。
困难和繁忙时期的冷静豁达是创造光明和成功人生的关键。因为我们若不随着时间的流逝调整自己的步伐，紧跟领导的最新日程安排，就会掉队。
一个人要做的事情越多，他投入的精力和体力就越多，也就越认识不到自身的问题，因为他把全部心思都放在怎样完成任务上。看不到自身的问题，也就不会烦心了。
我们所做的每件事，都会为我们的人格增加新的深度。它能塑造我们的思想，使我们更有组织性，更富经验，更有学识和创造力。我们每天为完成任务所花的时间和所流的汗水就是构筑我们未来的砖瓦。所以，朋友们，繁忙总比无所事事好。“游手好闲的头脑是魔鬼的作坊。”想必大家都听过这句话吧？每个成功男人的背后是一张规整而紧凑的日程安排，而非女人。
Routines are the unwritten algorithms, followed by each one of us, everyday in life. Routine is a chain of events, which never changes their order, once it is prioritized. Following the routine is a schedule of events. For a student it would be writing assignments, attending school, coaching classes or doing a project. For the businessman brandishing the tiniest mobile phone and shielded by the doctor than black shade of Mercedes, schedule is restricted to attending meetings, presentations and entertaining new prospective clients.
Sometimes life becomes so hectic that you feel as if you are the only person to whom the whole world has been merciless and that you are the only person who is working harder than anyone else. But this is the thought, which comes due to a thorough introspection of us. Even though others will be facing the same shade of destiny like us, still we find others to be very luckier than us. Yes, the other side of the grass is always greener and fresher.
Maintaining your cool, at the times of difficulty and hectic schedules is the key to a bright career and successful life. Because unless we ourselves change the pace, with the change in times and keep ourselves abreast of the latest timetable of our organizer, we will fall behind.
However the more things one has to do or one is into, more is involved in, the greater the involvement in a mental, physical or social way into the things in which he is involved. Due to this his own personal problems are out of sight, because all the time his mind is thinking of completing the undertaken tasks. Problems once that they are out of sight, imply they are out of mind.
Each thing that we do, adds a new dimension to our personality. It shapes our thinking and makes us more organized, experienced, knowledgeable and creative. The time and sweat that we put in everyday into our tasks is the brick and mortar of our future. So friends, it is always better to be busy rather than idle. Now hasn't everyone heard that an idle mind is a devil's workshop? Behind every successful man is a devotedly followed hectic schedule rather than a woman.
变化激发创造力 Variety Fuels Creativity
［印］迪帕卡·昌德拉瑟卡瑞思/Deepak Chandrasekaran变化是生存的燃料，它将创造的汁液注入贫瘠的思想。要使事业成功，必须有所变化，并能灵活地适应变化的环境。
没有哪种工作只有一种方法才能完成，你越是探究，越能挖掘出更多不同的、有助于你工作完成的方式和方法。在这些不同的选项中，选取比较好的方式和方法去做某事是合乎逻辑的。革新是你自己发现的一种做事方法，它已经引起人们的注意，并产生了良好的效果，它就如同创造之墙上的新漆。
革新并非遥不可及。要有自信，并具有正确的价值观，才能将抽象的想法转换成具体的形式，这种特有的能力会使我们出类拔萃。将心中的想法付诸实践需要有冒险的勇气。万事开头难，最初可能没有理解和支持你的人，但要迎着困难继续坚持走下去，这正验证了你有坚定不移的意志和永不言败的决心。
对于学生来说，他们可以通过参加多种课外活动丰富自己的生活。学校的必修课是得到一份理想职业和稳定工作的关键，但书本知识并不能使实践中的你更聪明。无论你花费多少时间阅读有关游泳的书，若你不真正下水去实践，所有的阅读都是徒劳。烹饪书也不是一本仅供阅读的书，而是要将书中的理论付诸实践。课外活动能帮助人们学习怎样与人交往，让人们知道并非所有的理论在实际生活中都行得通，要适当地改变个人对不同问题的看法。参与各种活动，能帮助你更合理地分配时间。谨记，忙人最容易抽出时间，因为他们知道轻重缓急。无论多么繁忙，无论多么琐碎的小事，他们总能抽出时间去完成。
变化是生活的调味剂。正如不同的调料使食物有不同的口感一样，变化使工作有条不紊。创造力的芳香使思维获得新生，开启创造的宝藏。
Variety is the fuel for survival. Variety injects the fluid of creativity in the most barren of minds. To be grooved on to your POA of a successful career life, variety combined with flexibility to fit in changing circumstances is the major mantra of the hour.
No job can be done in one single way. The more one explores, more will be the different dimensions that will be observed which can help to complete a job. It is logical to choose the better way of doing a thing among various available options. Innovation is your own discovered way of doing a job, that has been appreciably noticed and yielded favorable results. Innovation is just like a fresh paint being splashed on the walls of creativity.
Innovation is not something that cannot be achieved by us. Belief in ourselves jelled with the unique distinction of having the ability to give concrete shape to our values and ideas is what separates the boys from the men. It takes a lot of guts to venture out and execute the algorithm of ideas on our mind. The initial phase is the toughest, which will not give you any favorable takers or pushers. But to keep on going when the going is tough is what takes a test of mental perseverance and never say die grit and determination.
For students they can spice up their lives with variety by focusing on extra curricular activities apart from academics. Agreed that academics are the time-tested key to a good career and a secure job, but the books don't make you become street smart. No matter how long you have read on swimming, unless and until you enter the water and swim, all the reading is useless. The recipes given in a cookery book are not there to be read like a book, but to be tried practically. Extra curricular activities help one to deal with people, tells one the areas where theoretical theories can't be applied in real life and also changes the individuals outlook to various problems. Also time management becomes easy by involving one in various activities. Remember that only a busy man can find time, because he knows how to set his priorities and take out time even for the smallest task, no matter how busy his schedule is.
Variety is the spice of life. Just like different spices flavor the food in a different way, variety flavors any task. The aroma of creativity revitalizes the mind to open its creative reserves.
心灵独白 A Proposal to Myself
佚名/Anonymous写这篇文章的那天，是我知道自己命运的前一天，也是我知道自己的生活中将会发生什么的前一天。我全神贯注地写这篇文章，相信自己会继续前进，不会被生活抛弃。我决定尽自己一切可能去了解世界的每一方面。我坚信自己会有所成就，即使那封承载着我命运的信给我带来了坏消息。
我将永不听信那些人的话，他们坚持认为这个时代唯一的谋生手段属于有大学学位的人，那些说我是一个没有理想的空想家的人，我也将毫不理睬。我告诉自己，即使大学可能没有录取我，可我曾见过北极光，它们在我面前幕布般展开；我曾品尝过巴黎的美酒，畅游过大西洋和太平洋；我曾去过爱尔兰的酒馆，在古罗马广场欣赏过日出；我也曾爬过瑞士的阿尔卑斯山，数过天上所有能看见的星星。
我体验了自己喜欢的生活，我会告诉自己，即使那个小信封承载的全是拒绝，这个被拒绝的人也会继续前进，去看更多的山脉，去游更多的河流，并继续数星星，因为命中注定，我必须过属于自己的生活，而且我也知道怎么去过自己的生活。
明天，我的邮箱里会有一封信，它会带来一个答案，我已经准备好用勇气和自尊来承受。我不会哭，除非是喜悦的泪水，因为我告别了童年，迎来了新的生活——一份神秘和未知的生活。它将教导我成长，让我懂得事物的生存之道。它将会过滤我所有的遗憾，成倍增加我的个人价值。
在我的战役中，我会变得强壮，琐碎的事情将无法将我击倒。我会告诉自己，偶尔浮躁无关紧要，友善会弥补你的过错。我知道自己很善良，且很聪明，不一定非要上了大学才能聪明。我知道自己是谁，尽管自己的多重性格令一些大脑外科医生都手足无措。
我生来就是一个独立而高傲的女人，我接受自己，不论大学是否录取我，我都会真诚对待自己和周围的人。这个星期，伴随着与学校里的一切告别，我将学会继续前行。我会记住我的朋友、熟人和偶像，我将祝愿他们一生好运连连。
那封还没有寄到的信，不只是一封信，而是我对自己的生活做出的决定。像所有的同龄人一样，我也很困惑，但我绝不回头。不管身在何处，我只会展望明天，迎接每一天的到来。
I am writing this the day before I know my fate—the day before I know the answer to what will happen in my life. I am writing this with my mind set that I will carry on and not let life pass me by. I am determined that I will see the world in every aspect that may be possible for me. I am sure that I will become something, even if the envelope that carries my life inside it gives me bad news.
I will not listen to those who insist that a university degree is tile only way you will find a means of living these days. I will ignore those who tell me that I am a dreamer without a dream. I will tell myself that although I may not be accepted to college, I have seen the northern lights curtain themselves in front of me. I have tasted the wine in Paris and swum in Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. I have been to an Irish pub, and I have watched the sun rise from the Roman Forum. I have climbed the Swiss Alps and counted the stars in the sky until I could see no more.
I have experienced what it is like to live, and I will tell myself that even if that envelope is small and exudes rejection, the person that they have rejected will carry on and go on to see more mountains and swim in more waters and keep on counting the stars, because somewhere it is written that I must continue to live my life the way I know how to.
The envelope that will reach my mailbox tomorrow will bring an answer that I am ready to bear with courage and self-respect. I will not cry, unless they be tears of joy for bidding good-bye to my childhood and welcoming in a new life—one that is mysterious and unknown. One that will teach me to grow and understand why things are the way they are. One that will filter out all my regrets and let my self-worth multiply.
I will be strong in my battle and not let little things bring me down. I will tell myself that it is okay to be scatterbrained once in a while and that sometimes the kindness you show will balance out your faults. I will know that I am a good person and that being smart doesn't necessarily mean that you are accepted into college. I know who I am and there are brain surgeons who would be challenged sorting through my multi-faceted psyche.
I am independent by nature and a proud woman. I accept who I am. And whether or not I am accepted into college, I will be true to myself and to others around me. I will learn to carry on with every good-bye I say at school this week. I will remember my friends and acquaintances and idols, and I will wish them the best of luck in life.
The envelope that has yet to reach my house will not be a letter, but rather a decision that I will make with my life. I am confused, as are most people my age around this time but I will not look back. I will only look forward tomorrow and greet each day, wherever I am with a smile.
读懂智慧 Word of Wisdom
佚名/Anonymous我知道有时一个人想要的只是一只可握的手和一颗可以理解自己的心。
我知道上帝都不能一天完成所有的事，我又怎么可能呢？
我知道治愈一切创伤的并非是时间，而是爱。
我知道每一个与你相遇的人都值得你笑脸相迎。
我知道和孩子睡在一起并用脸颊感觉他们的呼吸是最甜蜜的事。
我知道只有当深爱一个人时才会认为他（她）是完美的。
我知道机会从来不会自行消逝；别人会抓住你错过的机会。
我知道当你内心痛苦时，幸福就可能停靠到别的港湾去。
我知道我本应在母亲去世前再对她说一次我爱她。
我知道一个人应谨慎地许下诺言，因为第二天他可能不得不食言。我知道微笑是一种无需昂贵花费的美容方式。
我知道我无法选择我的感觉，但我可以选择做事方法。
我知道每个人都想高踞山顶，但所有幸福和成长皆发生于爬山的过程中。
我知道最好只在两种情况下给人以忠告：别人要求时和性命攸关时。
我知道必须提高工作效率，我才可以做更多的事情。
I've learned that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
I've learned that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
I've learned that love, not time, heals all wounds.
I've learned that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
I've learned that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.
I've learned that no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
I've learned that opportunities are never lost;someone will take the ones you miss.
I've learned that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
I've learned that I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away.
I've learned that one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
I've learned that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
I've learned that I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.
I've learned that everyone wants to stand on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
I've learned that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances: when it is requested and when it is a life-threatening situation.
I've learned that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.
在不幸中成长 The Lesson of Evil
［英］詹姆斯·艾伦/James Allen不安、疼痛和悲伤如阴影般笼罩着我们的生活。世上没有一颗心不曾感受疼痛的啃噬，没有一种思想不曾尝到烦恼的滋味，没有一双眼睛不曾落过伤心的眼泪……
不幸就像一张巨大而不易破坏的网，里面装着多多少少的痛苦、忧愁和灾难，等待着我们每一个人落网。
为了逃脱这张网，并在一定程度上减轻不幸带来的阴影，人们摸索并尝试了无数方法，以便让快乐常在、永不消逝。
那些醉鬼和妓女，放纵于酒色；那些唯美主义者，关上了与这个悲痛世界的联系之门，在他自己的世界里极尽奢华；那些追逐功名利禄的人，为了达到目的而不择手段；那些寻求安慰的人，为了得到平静而念经诵佛。
这所有的幸福看起来就在身边，并且能使我们的灵魂暂时沉迷于幸福，从而忘记不幸的存在。但是，当有一天疾病来临，巨大的悲痛、诱惑或不幸突然降临，我们那颗未设防的心连同那美好的幸福都会在瞬间化为乌有。
小孩总想长大成人，成年人却为失去的美好童年而叹息。贫困的人因自己的窘迫而发愁，富有的人却怕失去财产而整日忧心。人们为了所谓的“幸福”不停奔走，不知疲倦。
有时，人们会把追求幸福和内心的平静寄托在宗教之上，拥有智慧的哲学，或是建立艺术的理想，但无法抗拒的诱惑往往证明宗教远远无法满足我们的需求，而那些哲学理论也毫无用处。唯心主义者在经过多年的找寻之后，理想也在他脚下轰然倒塌。
难道世上就没有摆脱痛苦和不幸的方法了吗？难道拥有永远幸福、可靠的财产和持久的安宁就只能是一个梦想吗？
不，当然有办法！我可以很高兴地告诉大家，不幸可以永远远离我们。这个方法能使疾病、贫穷和所有的困境一去不复返；这个方法能使财产永固，不必担心灾难的降临，从此尽情享受无尽的幸福和安宁。
这个能使我们心想事成的办法就是：正确看待不幸，认清其本质。
否认和忽视不幸是行不通的，你必须要懂得：祈求上帝赶走不幸是无济于事的，你需要找出自己为何会陷入不幸，并从中吸取教训。
不必为束缚你的事烦恼发怒，这样毫无用处。你要知道的是，你为什么会被束缚。所以，首先你必须要认识自己。
不幸不是由你身边的事物造成的，它只是我们内心的感受。如果你能细心分析并调整自己的心态，就会看清不幸的根源和本质，从而拥有摆脱不幸的力量。
我们可以改变不幸的命运，要知道它不是永久的。无知是不幸的沃土。如果我们停留在对事物的无知上，那就永远摆脱不了不幸……
黑暗往往是不幸的象征，而光明则是幸福的代名词，这两种象征正是对不幸和幸福的完美诠释。幸福，就像一束光芒照亮地球，而黑暗仅仅是一些斑点，或是几缕光芒在一些物体上的投影。所以光明是积极的，充满活力的，它给万物以力量，而不幸则是自私投下的无关紧要的阴影。因此我们要努力冲破黑暗，找到光明的入口。
夜晚降临，世界被一片黑暗笼罩。可是，无论夜多黑，它遮住的只是半个地球，整个世界还是闪烁着耀眼的光芒，每个灵魂都知道光明终将随着黎明到来。
既然如此，当悲哀、疼痛或不幸这些黑暗降临在我们头上时，当你迈着疲劳、踌躇的脚步蹒跚而行时，你完全可以选择永远快乐、永远幸福，或是选择无尽的黑暗。
黑暗不过是消极的阴影，到处徘徊却没有托身之所。所以当黑暗的阴影消散，我们的心灵也会被照亮。“但是，”有人就问了，“为什么我们要经历黑暗的不幸呢？”由于无知，你不知不觉间使自己陷入困境。也正因如此，你才会明白，什么是幸福，什么是不幸，才更会珍惜穿过黑暗而得来的光明。
不幸是无知的产物，所以当我们真正了解了不幸时，智慧就会取代无知。
如果有谁想摆脱不幸，那么他必须时刻准备学习，并且乐于经历这个磨炼的过程。没有这个过程，就无法得到智慧，幸福不会持久，安全也没有保障。
谁都可以把自己关在一个黑暗的小屋里，否认光明的存在。但处处都有光明，黑暗只存在于那个人的小屋。
所以你可以把真理之光拒之门外，也可以推倒环绕在自己周围的偏见、自私和错误之墙，让自己置身于无尽的光明中。
通过对自我的认真审视来认识，而不仅仅是把它看作是一个理论：不幸只是匆匆过客，只是自私的阴影；你所有的痛苦、悲哀和不幸只是你身边的一种必然的完美法则；它们来到你身边是因为你需要它们，通过最初的磨炼，你可以更好地理解它们，并因此变得更加强大，更加聪明，更加高贵。
当你能够真正认识到这些，你就可以改变自己的境况，将所有的不幸化为幸福，用你那双神奇之手，创建美好的未来！
Unrest and pain and sorrow are the shadows of life. There is no heart in all the world that has not felt the sting of pain, no mind has not been tossed upon the dark waters of trouble, no eye that has not wept the hot blinding tears of unspeakable anguish...
In the strong, and apparently indestructible meshes of evil all are more or less fast caught, and pain, unhappiness, and misfortune wait upon mankind.
With the object of escaping, or in some way mitigating this overshadowing gloom, men and women rush blindly into innumerable devices, pathways by which they fondly hope to enter into a happiness which will not pass away.
Such are the drunkard and the harlot, who revel in sensual excitements;such is the exclusive aesthete, who shuts himself out from tulle sorrows of the world, and surrounds himself with enervating luxuries;such is he who thirsts for wealth or fame, and subordinates all things to the achievement of that object;and such are they who seek consolation in the performance of religious rites.
And to all the happiness sought seems to come, and the soul, for a time, is lulled into a sweet security, and an intoxicating forgetfulness of the existence of evil;but the day of disease comes at last, or some great sorrow, temptation, or misfortune breaks suddenly in on the unfortified soul, and the fabric of its fancied happiness is torn to shreds.
The child cries to be a man or woman;the man and woman sigh for the lost felicity of childhood. The poor man chafes under the chains of poverty by which he is bound, and the rich man often lives in fear of poverty, or scours the world in search of an elusive shadow he calls happiness.
Sometimes the soul feels that it has found a secure peace and happiness in adopting a certain religion, in embracing an intellectual philosophy, or in building up an intellectual or artistic ideal;but some overpowering temptation proves the religion to be inadequate or insufficient;the theoretical philosophy is found to be a useless prop;or in a moment, the idealistic statue upon which the devotee has for years been laboring, is shattered into fragments at his feet.
Is there, then, no way of escape from pain and sorrow? Is permanent happiness, secure prosperity, and abiding peace a foolish dream?
No, there is a way, and I speak it with gladness, by which evil can be slain for ever;there is a process by which disease, poverty, or any adverse condition or circumstance can be put on one side never to return;there is a method by which a permanent prosperity can be secured, free from all fear of the rectum of adversity, and there is a practice by which unbroken and unending peace and bliss can be partaken of and realized.
And the beginning of the way which leads to this glorious realization is the acquirement of a right understanding of the nature of evil.
It is not sufficient to deny or ignore evil;it must be understood. It is not enough to pray to God to remove the evil;you must find out why it is there, and what lesson it has for you.
It is of no avail to fret and fume and chafe at the chains which bind you;you must know why and how you are bound. Therefore, reader, you must begin to examine and understand yourself.
Evil is not an abstract some thing outside yourself;it is an experience in your own heart, and by patiently examining and rectifying your heart you will be gradually led into the discovery of the origin and nature of evil, which will necessarily be followed by its complete eradication.
All evil is corrective and remedial, and is therefore not permanent. It is rooted in ignorance, ignorance of the true nature and relation of things, and so long as we remain in that state of ignorance, we remain subject to evil.
Evil has always been symbolized by darkness, and Good by light, and hidden within the symbol is contained the perfect interpretation, the reality;for, just as light always floods the universe, and darkness is only a mere speck or shadow cast by a small body intercepting a few rays of the illimitable light, so the Light of the Supreme Good is the positive and life-giving power which floods the universe, and evil the insignificant shadow cast by the self that intercepts and shuts off the illuminating rays which strive for entrance.
When night folds the world in its black impenetrable mantle, no matter how dense the darkness, it covers but the small space of half our little planet, while the whole universe is ablaze with living light, and every soul knows that it will awake in the light in the morning.
Know, then, that when the dark night of sorrow, pain, or misfortune settles down upon your soul, and you stumble along with weary and uncertain steps, that you are merely intercepting your own personal desires between yourself and the boundless light of joy and bliss, and the dark shadow that covers you is cast by none and nothing but yourself.
And just as the darkness without is but a negative shadow, an unreality which comes from nowhere, goes to nowhere, and has no abiding dwelling place, so the darkness within is equally a negative shadow passing over the evolving and Light-born soul.
“But,”I fancy I hear someone say,“Why pass through the darkness of evil at all?”Because, by ignorance, you have chosen to do so, and because, by doing so, you may understand both good and evil, and may the more appreciate the light by having passed through the darkness.
As evil is the direct outcome of ignorance, so, when the lessons of evil are fully learned, ignorance passes away, and wisdom takes its place.
He, therefore, who would shake himself free of the evil which encompasses him, must be willing and ready to learn, and must be prepared to undergo that disciplinary process without which no grain of wisdom or abiding happiness and peace can be secured.
A man may shut himself up in a dark room, and deny that the light exists, but it is everywhere without, and darkness exists only in his own little room.
So you may shut out the light of Truth, or you may begin to pull down the walls of prejudice, self-seeking and error which you have built around yourself, and so let in the glorious and omnipresent Light.
By earnest self-examination strive to realize, and not merely hold as a theory, that evil is a passing phase, a self-created shadow;that all your pains, sorrows and misfortunes have come to you by a process of undeviating and absolutely perfect law;have come to you because you deserve and require them, and that by first enduring, and then understanding them, you may be made stronger, wiser, nobler.
When you have fully entered into this realization, you will be in a position to mould your own circumstances, to transmute all evil into good and to weave, with a master hand, the fabric of your destiny.
青春常在 On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth
［英］威廉·赫兹里特/William Hazlitt没有一个年轻人相信自己会死。这句话是我哥哥说的，它真算得上一句妙语。年轻人有一种永生之感——它似乎能弥补一切。拥有青春的人就好像是一尊不朽的神灵。一半的生命已经流走，而蕴藏着无尽宝藏的另一半生命还没有明确的下限，因此我们对它也就抱着无穷的希望和幻想。我们把未来的时代完全据为己有——
无限辽阔的远景在我们面前展现着。
年老、死亡只不过是空话，没有任何意义。我们听了，并没有放在心上，如同拂过我们的一缕风。这些事，别人或许经历过，或者可能就要经历——但是我们自己“享受着魔法保护的生命”，对于诸如此类脆弱的念头，统统会轻蔑地一笑了之。像是刚刚走上愉快的旅程，极目远眺——
向远方的美景欢呼！
——这时我们会觉得好风景应接不暇，如果往前走的话，还会有更多美不胜收的新鲜景致。在这生活的开端，我们听任自己的志趣驰骋，放手给它们一切满足的机会。到此时为止，我们还没有碰上过什么障碍，也没有感觉到什么疲倦，因而觉得可以一直这样向前走去，直到永远。我们看到四周一派新天地——生机勃勃，变动不息，日新月异；我们觉得自己充满活力，精神高涨，可与宇宙并驾齐驱。而且，眼前也没有任何迹象可以表明，在大自然的发展过程中，我们自己也会落伍、衰老、掉进坟墓。年轻人天性单纯，可以说是茫然无知，总有青春常在之感，因而将自己跟大自然画上等号，并且由于缺少经验，感情旺盛，总是以为自己也能像大自然一样永生。我们在世界上只是暂时栖身，却一厢情愿、痴心妄想地竟把它当作天长地久的结合，好像没有冷漠、争吵、离别的蜜月。就像婴儿带着微笑入睡一样，我们躺在用自己天真的幻想所编织成的摇篮里，让宇宙的万籁之声把我们催眠；我们高兴而急切地畅饮生命之杯，怎么也不会饮干，好像永远是满满欲溢的：包罗万象纷至沓来，各种欲望随之而生，我们没有时间去思考死亡……
No young man believes he shall ever die. It was a saying of my brother's, and a fine one. There is a feeling of Eternity in youth, which makes us amend for everything. To be young is to be as one of the Immortal Gods. One half of time indeed is flown—the other half remains in store for as with all its countless treasures; for there is no line drawn, and we see no limit to our hopes and wishes. We make the coming age our own—
The vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us.
Death, old age, are words without a meaning, that pass by us like the idle air which we regard not. Others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them—we“bear a charmed life,”which laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies. As in setting out on a delightful journey, we strain our eager gaze forward—
Bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail.
And see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance;so, in the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations, nor to the unrestricted opportunities of gratifying them. We have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag;and it seems that we can go on so forever. We look round in a new world, full of life, and motion, at ceaseless progress;and feel in ourselves all the vigour and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things, decline into old age, and drop into the grave. It is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedness of our feelings in youth, that (so to speak) identifies us with nature, and (our experience being slight and our passions strong) deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it. Our short-lived connexion with existence we fondly flatter ourselves, is all indissoluble and lasting union—a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar, nor separation. As infants smile and sleep, we are rocked in the cradle of out wayward fancies, and lulled into security by the roar of the universe around us—we quaff the cup of life with eager haste without draining it, instead of which it only overflows the more-objects press around us, filling the mind with their magnitude and with the throng of desires that wait upon them, so that we have no room for the thoughts of death...
思想的守望者 The Watchman at the Gate
［美］佛罗伦萨·斯高伏尔·西恩Florence Scovel Shinn在人类思想的门口，一定有一个守门人，而这个守门人就是每个人的潜意识。
我们有能力按照自己的心愿选择思想。
数千年以来，人类就是用自己的思考能力不断地生活、繁衍。有时，思想在我们的头脑里会像受惊的牛羊四处奔逃。这时的思想，看起来根本无法控制。
可事实上并非如此，面对受到惊吓而疲于奔命的羊群，一只牧羊犬可以轻松地把羊群重新赶回羊圈。
我曾经在一部新闻短片中，看到过一只牧羊犬看管三只羊的画面。牧羊犬负责看管整个羊群，可是有三只羊心存不满，蓄意抵抗。它们咩咩地叫着，高高抬起前蹄表示自己的不满。然而牧羊犬只是静静地蹲坐在它们前面，并用眼睛紧紧地盯着它们。牧羊犬既没有朝三只羊狂吠，也没有要恐吓它们的意思，它只是用坚定的信念一动不动地注视着这三只羊。没过多久，这三只羊垂着头，乖乖地回到羊圈。
我们可以用牧羊犬的方法来支配自己的思想——依靠文雅的意志力，而不是粗暴的蛮力。
当陷入暴跳如雷、愤怒难耐的状态中时，我们必须要坚定信念来克服它，并一直坚持下去。
我们当然不可能一直做到情绪稳定，但是至少你可以把握住言语并坚持告诫自己能够控制住潜意识。这样的话，我们便可以控制眼前的局势了。
你思想的“守门人”决定了你能否在生活中取得成功，分享幸福。“守门人”的作用迟早会在你的言行中体现出来。
很久以前，喇叭便作为一种乐器用来吸引人类的注意力——关注胜利，关注秩序。
当你认识到思想和言语的重要时，你就会养成重视思考和言语的习惯。
丰富的想象力作为心灵的剪刀，会孜孜不倦地剪掉那些乏味的生活琐事。
We must all have a watchman at the gate of our thoughts. The watchman at the gate is the superconscious mind.
We have the power to choose our thoughts.
Since we have lived in the race thought for thousands of years, it seems almost impossible to control them. They rush through our minds like stampeding cattle or sheep.
But a single sheep-dog can control the frightened sheep and guide them into the sheep pen.
I saw a picture in the news-reels of a shepherd dog controlling the sheep. He had rounded up all but three. These three resisted and resented. They baaed and lifted their front feet in protest, but the dog simply sat down in front and never took his eyes off them. He did not barks or threaten. He just sat and looked his determination. In a little while the sheep tossed their heads and went in the pen.
We can learn to control our thoughts in the same way, by gentle determination, not force.
We take an affirmation and repeat it continually, while our thoughts are on the rampage.
We cannot always control our thoughts, but we can control our words, and repetition impresses the subconscious, and we are then master of the situation.
Your success and happiness in life depend upon the watchman at the gate of your thoughts, sooner or later, crystallize on the external.
A trumpet is a musical instrument, used in olden times, to draw people's attention to something—to victory, to order.
You will form the habit of giving attention to every thought and word, when you realize their importance.
The imagination, the scissors of the mind, is constantly cutting out the events to come into your life.
你有充足时间来阅读 How to Find Time to Read
［美］路易斯·绍尔斯/Louis Shore如果你是一个中等水平的读者，你可以以每分钟300字的速度读一本中等水平的书。但是，除非你每天这样坚持下去，否则你是无法保持这个水平的。你也不可能以这个速度阅读科学、数学、农业、商业方面的书，或是对你来说主题生疏的书。你绝不会以这种速度阅读诗歌，或是一目十行地阅读小说中的精彩段落；然而，对于多数小说、传记、游记以及有关个人嗜好或你感兴趣的书籍而言，如果你是一个中等水平的读者，以这个速度阅读，在意思的理解上就不会有什么障碍，而且还可以享受其中的乐趣。
数学统计不是永远可靠的，但也可以思考一下这些数据：如果一个中等水平的读者以每分钟300字的速度读一本一般的书籍，那么15分钟可以读4500字，一个星期便能读31，500字，一个月可以读126，000字，一年12个月的阅读量可以达到1，512，000字。这就是一个中等水平的读者每天只读15分钟的书，在一年内可以达到的阅读量。
书籍的篇幅在60，000字到100，000字之间不等，平均值大约为75，000字。中等阅读水平的人，读一般书籍，每天读15分钟，一年就可以读20本书，这真是很多本书啊！这个数字不仅是从美国公共图书馆借书的人们的阅读量的三倍，而且这很容易实现。
威廉·奥斯罗爵士是现代最伟大的内科医师之一。他曾在约翰·霍普金斯医学院教书，最后在麦吉尔大学留教。如今，很多赫赫有名的医师都曾是他的学生。几乎所有正在工作的医生们都曾从他的医学教科书中获益。他对医学最突出的贡献之一，就是他尚未出版的一本记录人们死亡情形的笔记。
为他写传记的作家和评论者们都认为，他不仅拥有渊博的医学知识和深刻的洞察力，还具有丰富的基础知识，并且他还是一个很有修养的人。他对历代人类的行为和思想感兴趣，而且他明白要了解人类最伟大成就的唯一途径就是阅读先人的著作。然而，奥斯罗面临着与许多人同样的问题，而且难度更大。因为他是一名内科医生，工作繁忙，还要在医学院教学，同时他又是医学研究专家。除了睡觉、吃饭、上卫生间的几个小时外，他一天24个小时中的其他时间都理所当然地在做上述三种工作。
奥斯罗很早就摸索出了解决这个问题的办法。他会在睡觉前花15分钟来读书。如果就寝时间在晚上11点，他的读书时间就是11点到11点15分。如果研究工作到了凌晨2点，他的读书时间就是凌晨2点到2点15分。他决定这样做之后，就一直坚持。有证据表明，在这样坚持了一段时间后，如果每晚不读上15分钟书，他就很难入睡。
纵观奥斯罗的一生，他读过的书籍真是不胜枚举。每天阅读15分钟，算算看，半个世纪总共能读多少本书。考虑一下，在一个人的一生中，这是多么广泛的兴趣，可能涉及众多学科。奥斯罗在医学专业之外有非常广泛的涉猎。因为他习惯了每天阅读15分钟的书籍，所以他的业余特长也可以与专业知识相媲美。在研究英国文学的专家中，奥斯罗被公认为是研究17世纪英国散文大师托马斯·布朗爵士的权威人士，而奥斯罗有关托马斯·布朗的藏书也被认为是最棒的。有很多事例可以证明奥斯罗在医学研究、医学教学改革以及现代临床方法的使用等方面的杰出贡献。然而，我们这里要谈的重点是，他成功地回答了我们每一个工作忙碌的人一定要回答的问题——怎样找到时间读书？
回答不一定就是就寝前的15分钟。这15分钟可能是一天中的其他时间。在排得最满的时间表中，也可能有超过15分钟的空余时间隐藏在某一个地方。我曾经看到一些人很奇特的“找时间”的方法。“二战”的最后一年，我发现我所服役的中队里有一个知识储备异常渊博的一等兵。我在他的201号档案中读到了一段很特别的、有关他入伍前后经历的描述：在四年的服役生涯中，有两年的时间他是在海外，在这期间虽然没有什么丰功伟绩，但却一直受到奖励。如果所有推荐信都能递到上面，他不仅获得了军衔，估计早就成了上尉。可是，他还是个一等兵。尽管部队中的晋升需要学历、工作效率、忠诚，还有其他一些标准，与此同时机遇也起着非常重要的作用。除了有一次例外，他不是被调动，就是遇到有关组织机构的条文限制；不是规定有了新变动，就是上级填错了表格，要么就是将表格忘在了他右手的第三个抽屉里。总之，在部队中，他一直是个一等兵，可是，他在读书中却获益颇深，在服役期间，他的读书量太令人惊叹了。
我对他的读书方法感到很好奇。有一天，在询问他之前，我发现了问题的部分答案。每天，士兵们都要队列操练一个小时。在这段时间中，至少会有一段很长的休息时间。我第一次去操练场的时候，就惊奇地发现在“稍息”令下达后，在长长的队伍中，有一个人拿出了一本袖珍书，站着看了起来。
在与他的交谈中，我发现他从小就养成了在口袋中放一本袖珍书的习惯，休息时就拿出来看。他发现特别是在等候的时候，有一本书特别有用，它可以让人的心情得到放松。我们每天都要等吃饭、等坐车、等看病、等理发、等电话、等约会、等表演，或是等待其他事情的发生。在这些时间里，他有了属于自己的每天阅读所需的15分钟，甚至更多，一年他能读20本书，一生就是一千本书。
没有什么通用公式。每天，我们都必须发现自己的15分钟。最好是有规律的，这样所有其他的额外时间就会有意外的收获了。找到额外时间读书的机会很多，也会有一些意外感。昨晚，一位朋友不请自到，使得牌桌上成了五个人，桥牌打不成了。可是我的手边刚好有一本简装书，因此，尽管没有打成桥牌，可是我依然很愉快。
唯一所需的就是读书的决心。这样无论多忙，你都可以找到这15分钟。而且，手边一定要有一本书。既然这15分钟已经开始，就不要浪费一秒。把书事先准备好，穿衣服的时候将它放进口袋，床头放一本，浴室放一本，餐桌上也要放一本。
这样你就不会丢失这15分钟了，这意味着你一个星期就能读半本书，一个月就能读两本，一年能读20本，一生能读一千本，或者更多。这可是一个博览群书的简便办法。
If you are an average reader you can read all average book at the rate of 300 words a minute. You cannot maintain that average;however, unless you read regularly every day. Nor can you attain that speed with hard books in science, mathematics, agriculture, business, or any subject that is new or unfamiliar to you. The chances are you will never attempt that speed with poetry or want to race through some passages in fiction over which you wish to linger. But for most novels, biographies, and books about travel, hobbies or personal interests, if you are an average reader you should have no trouble at all absorbing meaning and pleasure out of 300 printed words every 60 seconds.
Statistics are not always practicable, but consider these: If the average reader can read 300 words a minute of average reading, then in 15 minutes he can read 4500 words. Multiplied by 7, the days of the week, the product is 31,500. Another multiplication by 4, the weeks of the month, makes 126,000. And final multiplication by 12, the months of the year, results in a grand total of 1,512,000 words. This is the total number of words of average reading an average reader can do in just 15 minutes a day for one year.
Books vary in length from 60,000 to 100,000 words. The average is about 75,000 words. In one year of average reading by an average reader for 15 minutes a day, 20 books will be read. That's a lot of books. It is 4 times the number of books read by public-library borrowers in America. And yet it is easily possible.
One of the greatest of all modern physicians was Sir William Osler. He taught at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. He finished his teaching days at McGil University. Many of the outstanding physicians today were his students. Nearly all of the practicing doctors of today were brought up on his medical textbooks. Among his many remarkable contributions to medicine are his unpublished notes on how people die.
His greatness is attributed by his biographers and critics not alone to his profound medical knowledge and insight but to his broad general education, for he was a very cultured man. He was interested in what men have done and thought throughout the ages. And he knew that the only way to find out what the best experiences of the race had been was to read what people had written. But Osler's problem was the same as everyone else's, only more so. He was a busy physician, a teacher of physicians, and a medical-research specialist. There was no time in a 24-hour day that did not rightly belong to one of these three occupations, except the few hours for sleep, meals, and bodily functions.
Osler arrived at his solution early. He would read the last 15 minutes before he went to sleep. If bedtime was set for 11:00 P.M., he read from 11:00 to 11:15. if research kept him up to 2:00 A.M. he read from 2:00 to 2:15. Over a very long lifetime, Osler never broke the rule once he had established it. We have evidence that after a while he simply could not fall asleep until he had done his 15 minutes of reading.
In his lifetime, Osler read a significant library of books. Just do a mental calculation for half a century of 15-minute reading periods daily and see how many books you get. Consider what a range of interests and variety of subjects are possible in one lifetime. Osler read widely outside of his medical specialty. Indeed, he developed from this 15-minute reading habit an avocational specialty to balance his vocational specialization. Among scholars in English literature, Osler is known as an authority on Sir Thomas Browne, seventeenth century English prose master and Osler's library on Sir Thomas is considered one of the best anywhere. A great many more things could be said about Osler's contribution to medical research, to the reform of medical teaching, to the introduction of modern clinical methods. But the important point for us here is that he answered supremely well for himself the question all of us who live a busy life must answer: How can I find time to read?
The answer may not be the last 15 minutes before I go to sleep. It may be 15 minutes a day at some other time. In the busiest of calendars there is probably more than one 15-minute period tucked away somewhere still unassigned. I've seen some curious solutions to the problem of finding time for reading.
During army days in the last year of the war, I discovered a PFC in my squadron who seemed unusually well read. I found in his 201 file a remarkable civilian and military biography. His four years of service included two overseas, all meritorious but without heroics. Had all of his recommendations for promotion gone through he would have had not only his commission, but probably the rank of captain.
But here he was, still a private first-class—because despite the military emphasis on education, efficiency, loyalty, and all other criteria for determining promotion, accident plays a most important part. Every time this PFC had been recommended for promotion, except once, he had been transferred or come up against tablel of organization limitations, or a new change in regulations, or a superior officer who had filled out the forms incorrectly or forgotten them in his third right-hand drawer. And so he had remained a PFC, and had taken his reward in reading. The amount he did in the army was prodigious.
I was curious about his method. And one day, before I asked him, I found a partial answer. Every day the enlisted men put in an hour of drill and formations. During that time at least one fairly long period of rest was called. Imagine my surprise on my first visit to the drill field when, at the command“rest!”I saw one man in the whole long line pull out a paper pocket book and begin to read, standing up.
When I talked with him, I found that from boyhood he had developed the habit of carrying a little book in his pocket from which he read every minute he was not doing something else. He found a book especially useful and relaxing during the periods of waiting which all of us experience daily—waiting for meals, buses, doctors, hair cuts, telephone calls, dates, performances to begin, or something to happen. There were his 15 minutes a day, or more. There were his 20 books a year—1,000 in a lifetime.
No universal formula can be prescribed. Each of us must find our own 15-minute period each day. It is better if it is regular. Then all additional spare minutes are so many bonuses. And, believe me, the opportunity for reading-bonuses are many and unexpected. Last night an uninvited guest turned up to make five for bridge. I had the kind of paper book at hand to make being the fifth at bridge a joy.
The only requirement is the will to read. With it you can find the 15 minutes no matter how busy the day. And you must have the book at hand. Not even seconds of your 15 minutes must be wasted starting to read. Set that book out in advance. Put it into your pocket when you dress. Put another book beside your bed. Place one in your bathroom. Keep one near your dining table.
You can't escape reading l5 minutes a day, and that means you will read half a book a week, 2 books a month, 20 a year, and 1,000 or more in a reading lifetime. It's an easy way to become well read.
通往幸福的旅途 OUR PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
［英］利恩·彼得斯／Lynn Peters试读结束[说明：试读内容隐藏了图片]