Flora之声-英语美文晨读

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

当你辗转难眠的时候，

就该知道自己是陷入热恋了，

因为这一次，现实终于比梦里更美好了。

– Dr. Suess

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.”

我自私、没有耐心、缺乏安全感、会犯错误，甚至有时情绪失控，难以捉摸。但是如果你不能接受我最糟糕的时候，那么你注定不配拥有我最好的时候。

– Marilyn Monroe

“Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.” 

当我们为生活疲于奔命时，

生活已经离我们远去。

– John Lennon

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”

或汲汲于生，或碌碌而死。

-Stephen King

“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”

迈向成功的第一步，是当你发现自己被环境所困，第一次真正开始思考的时候。

– Mark Caine

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

当幸福之门关上了，另一扇门会同时为你打开；如若我们只盯着那扇已经关上的门，便发现不了那扇早已打开、等待着我们的门。

– Helen Keller

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.”

20年之后，令你遗憾的不是你做过了什么，而是你还没做什么。

– Mark Twain

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow. ” 

好朋友就是知道你是谁、了解的过去、接受你的现在，并温柔地给你空间，

让你成为自己的那个人。

– William Shakespeare

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

上智论道，中智论事，下智论人。

– Eleanor Roosevelt

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”

于成功者而言，别人向他砸来了石块，

他却把它们垒成了坚固的堡垒。

– David Brinkley

我不知道有多少人问过自己受教育的意义是什么？我们为什么要上学？

I wonder if we have ever asked ourselves what education means. Why do we go to school?

为什么要学习各种科目？为什么参加考试，和同学比得分高低？所谓的教育究竟含有什么意义？它涵盖了什么？

Why do we learn various subjects, why do we pass examinations and compete with each other for better grades? What does this so-called education mean, and what is it all about? 

这实在是一个非常重要的问题。我们不只是为学生质疑这个问题，同时也跟父母、老师以及所有热爱地球的人们，共同来探究这个问题。

This is really a very important question, not only for the students, but also for the parents, for the teachers, and for everyone who loves this earth.

我们为什么要通过竞争来受教育？难道受教育只是为了通过几项考试，得到一份工作？还是为我们在年轻时奠定基础，以便了解人生的整个过程？

Why do we go through the struggle to be educated? Is it merely in order to pass some examinations and get a job? Or is it the function of education to prepare us while we are young to understand the whole process of life? 

获得一份工作来维持生计是必要的，然而这就是一切了吗？难道我们受教育就是为了这个目的？

Having a job and earning one's livelihood is necessary - but is that all? Are we being educated only for that? 

显然，生命并不只是一份工作和职业而已，生命是极为广阔而深奥的，它是一个伟大的谜，在这个浩瀚的宇宙中，我们有幸生而为人。如果我们活着只是为了谋生，我们就失去了生命的意义。

Surely, life is not merely a job, an occupation; life is something extraordinarily wide and profound, it is a great mystery, a vast realm in which we function as human beings. If we merely prepare ourselves to earn a livelihood, we shall miss the whole point of life;

去了解生命本身，比只是准备考试、精通数学、物理或其他科目要重要多了。

And to understand life is much more important than merely to prepare for examinations and become very proficient in mathematics, physics, or what you will.

所以，不论我们是老师还是学生，我们是否应该扪心自问为何教育他人或受教？

So, whether we are teachers or students, is it not important to ask ourselves why we are educating or being educated?

生命到底是什么？难道生命不绝美吗？飞鸟、花朵、翠木、蓝天、星辰、河流、游鱼......这一切都是生命。

And what does life mean? Is not life an extraordinary thing? The birds, the flowers, the flourishing trees, the heavens, the stars, the rivers and the fish therein - all this is life. 

生命是贫穷的、富足的；生命是群体、种族、国家之间永不停歇的战役；生命是静思冥想；生命是所谓的宗教；同时它也是心灵中微妙的、隐藏的东西，包括羡妒、野心、激情、恐惧、成就及忧虑等等。

Life is the poor and the rich; life is the constant battle between groups, races and nations; life is meditation; life is what we call religion, and it is also the subtle, hidden things of the mind - the envies, the ambitions, the passions, the fears, fulfilments and anxieties.

这所有的一切以及更多的事物都是生命，然而我们通常只准备了解生命的一个小角落。我们通过一些考试，找到一份工作，结婚，生子，然后就越活越像一部机器。

All this and much more is life. But we generally prepare ourselves to understand only one small corner of it. We pass certain examinations, find a job, get married, have 5 children, and then become more and more like machines.

我们依然对生命恐惧、焦虑，因此帮助我们了解人生的整个过程，难道不是教育的目的？还是，教育只为我们谋职或找一份最好的工作而奠基?

We remain fearful, anxious, frightened of life. So, is it the function of education to help us understand the whole process of life, or is it merely to prepare us for a vocation, for the best job we can get?

我们长大成人以后会怎么样？你是否问过自己长大以后想做什么？最大的可能是你会结婚，在你还没有搞清楚自己的定位时，可能你已经是父亲或母亲了，然而你会被一份工作绑住，或是被厨房绑住，你就在这其中渐渐衰萎。

What is going to happen to all of us when we grow to be men and women? Have you ever asked yourselves what you are going to do when you grow up? In all likelihood you will get married, and before you know where you are you will be mothers and fathers; and you will then be tied to a job, or to the kitchen, in which you will gradually wither away. 

这难道就是你所有的生命了吗？你有没有问过自己？你应不应该问自己？如果你有一个富裕的家庭，那么你已经确定自己将来会有一份不错的工作，因为你的父亲也许会提供你一份舒适的工作，或者你可能在婚姻中获得很多财富，但是你仍然会腐败、枯竭。你看见这点了吗？

Is that all that your life is going to be? Have you ever asked yourselves this question? Should you not ask it? If your family is wealthy you may have a fairly good position already assured, your father may give you a comfortable job, or you may get richly married; but there also you will decay, deteriorate. Do you see?

显然，除非教育能帮助你了解广大生命的所有精微面——它惊人的美、它的哀愁及欢乐，否则教育是没有什么意义的。

Surely, education has no meaning unless it helps you to understand the vast expanse of life with all its subtleties, with its extraordinary beauty, its sorrows and joys.

你也许会得到学位，得到一连串的头衔，得到非常好的工作，然后呢？如果在这些活动的过程中，你的头脑变得迟钝、衰竭、愚蠢，那么生命的目的又是什么呢？

You may earn degrees, you may have a series of letters after your name and land a very good job; but then what? What is the point of it all? If in the process your mind becomes dull, weary, stupid? 

所以当你年轻时，你是不是应该弄清楚生命究竟是怎么一回事？

So, while you are young, must you not seek to find out what life is all about?

I wonder if you have ever stopped to observe the marvellous glow in the west as the sun sets, with the shy young moon just over the trees?

我不知道你有没有停下来观赏过落日的彩霞，或是斜挂树梢害羞的新月。

Often at that hour the river is very calm, and then everything is reflected on its surface: the bridge, the train that goes over it, the tender moon, and presently, as it grows dark, the stars. It is all very beautiful.

在那种时刻，河水通常是很平静的，每个景物都倒映在水面上；小桥、火车、温柔的月光以及天色昏暗时挂在天上的星星。这一切都非常的美。

And to observe, to watch, to give your whole attention to something beautiful, your mind must be free of preoccupations, must it not?

当你观察、注视、全神贯注于美好的事物时，你的心一定得远离先入为主的偏见；

It must not be occupied with problems, with worries, with speculations. 

你的心一定不能被问题、烦恼及臆测所占据。

It is only when the mind is very quiet that you can really observe, for then the mind is sensitive to extraordinary beauty; and perhaps here is a clue to our problem of freedom.

只有在你的心非常安静时，你才能真正地观察，然后你的心才能对美好的事物敏感，或许这样就能找出和自由相关的线索了。

Now, what does it mean to be free? Is freedom a matter of doing what happens to suit you, going where you like, thinking what you will?

什么是自由？自由是不是去做你想做的事，去你想去的地方，想你爱想的事？

This you do anyhow. Merely to have independence, does that mean freedom?

这些事横竖早已做了，然而独立自主就是自由吗？

Many people in the world are independent, but very few are free.

许多人在世界上是独立的，但很少人是自由的。

Freedom implies great intelligence, does it not?

自由包藏着极大的智慧。

To be free is to be intelligent, but intelligence does not come into being by just wishing to be free;

得到自由就是得到智慧，不过只是希望自由并不能带来智慧。

It comes into being only when you begin to understand your whole environment, the social, religious, parental and traditional influences that are continually closing in on you.

你必须了解你的整个环境，也就是社会、宗教、父母及传统不断加给你的影响，你才开始有智慧。

陋室铭

An Epigraph in Praise of My Humble Home

山不在高，有仙则名。

A mountain needn’t be high;

It is famous so long as there is a deity on it.

水不在深，有龙则灵。

A lake needn’t be deep;

It has supernatural power so long as there is a dragon in it.

斯是陋室，惟吾德馨。

My home is humble,

But it enjoys the fame of virtue so long as I am living in it.

苔痕上阶绿，草色入帘青。

The moss creeping onto the doorsteps turns them green,

The hue of the grass reflected through the bamboo curtains turns the room blue.

谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁。

Erudite scholars come in good spirits to talk with me,

And among my guests there is no unlearned common man.

可以调素琴，阅金经。

In this humble room, I can enjoy playing my plainly decorated qin,

or read the Buddhist scriptures quietly.

无丝竹之乱耳，无案牍之劳形。

Without the disturbance of the noisy tunes that jar on the ears,

or the solemn burden of reading official documents.

南阳诸葛庐，西蜀子云亭。

My humble home is like the thatched hut of Zhuge Liang of Nanyang,

or the Pavilion Ziyun of Xishu.

孔子云：“何陋之有？”

Confucius once said, “How could we call a room humble as long as there is a virtuous man in it.”

If you woke up this morning

若你早晨醒来

with more health than illness

拥有的健康大于不适

You are more blessed than the

比百万行将就木之人

million who won't survive the week

你更有福气

If you have never experienced

若你从未经历过

the danger of battle

战役的危险

the loneliness of imprisonment

铁窗后的孤寂

the agony of torture or

被凌虐的痛苦，或是

the pangs of starvation

饥饿的折磨

You are ahead of 20 million people

你超前了

around the world

全球2千万人

If you attend a church meeting

若你参加教堂聚会

without fear of harassment

无需害怕骚扰

arrest, torture, or death

被捕、凌虐、或死亡

You are more blessed than almost

你的福气比起几乎

three billion people in the world

30亿人更有福气

If you have food in your refrigerator

若你冰箱里有食物

clothes on your back, a roof over

身上有衣服、头上

your head and a place to sleep

有屋顶、有地方可睡

You are richer than 75% of this world

你比全球3/4人口富有

Plan for the next day before bed.

睡觉前做好明天的计划。

Wake up early.
早起。

Get enough sleep.
睡足。

Embrace the morning.
拥抱早晨。

Eat your breakfast.
吃早餐。

Exercise.
做运动。

Frame your emotional state in the morning before everything else.
早上第一件事就是整理好情绪。

Do nothing. Spend 10 to 15 minutes a day every morning to breath.
什么都不做。每天早上花上10到15分钟呼吸训练。

Make a to-do list with maximum 6 tasks.
待办事项不超过六项。

Take breaks throughout the day.
一天的工作中，要穿插适当的休息。

Take a nap.

中午小憩一会。

Reflect the day in the evening.

晚上回忆总结。

Work backwards from the future.
对工作的眼光放长远。

Create to-do list sub-deadlines the night before.
提前一天制定次日待办事项的完成时间节点。

View failure as learning opportunities.

视失败为学习的机会。

Say no (nicely).
友好地拒绝他人。

Use email tools/ systems to optimize the inbox.
使用邮箱工具或者系统来优化收信箱。

Build exercise and healthy eating into daily routines to increase mental energy.
坚持日常锻炼和良好的饮食习惯，来增加精力。

Optimize computer skills for speed.
优化个人电脑技术以此提高效率。

I seem to have loved you

in numberless forms

numberless times

我好像曾经无数次

以无数种形式爱过你

In life after life

in age after age

forever

年年岁岁

生生死死

直到永恒

My spellbound heart has made

and remade the necklace of songs

我用痴迷的心

做成了一串又一串

美妙音韵的项链

That you take as a gift

wear round your neck

in your many forms

那是送你的礼物

任你所喜欢的样子

环绕在你的香颈

In life after life

in age after age, forever

年年岁岁

生生死死

直到永恒

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love

it's age-old pain

当我听着那熟悉的爱情故事

那是岁月的伤口

It's ancient tale of being apart or together

那是关于分离

或相遇的古老传说

As I stare on and on into the past

in the end you emerge

当我再次凝望着过去时

在最后定能发现你

Clad in the light of a pole-star

piercing the darkness of time

沐着极星灿光

你穿越黑夜走来

You become an image

of what is remembered forever

你已永远变成记忆深处的形像

You and I have floated here

on the stream

that brings from the fount

你和我

由着来自亘古的时间长河

漂流至此

At the heart of time

love of one for another

听听时间在诉说着

各样爱的故事

We have played along side millions of lovers

shared in the same

我们曾经与万千恋人们擦肩而过

分享着一样的

Shy sweetness of meeting

the same distressful tears of farewell–

相遇时羞涩的甜蜜

再见时不舍的泪花……

Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

但是爱情总会再次复活

永恒复活

Today it is heaped at your feet

it has found its end in you

今天又堆积在你脚下

那已不能再给你任何感觉了

The love of all men’s days

both past and forever

所有人的爱情

都已成为过去与永恒

Universal joy, universal sorrow

universal life

宇宙的欢乐

悲伤，与生命

The memories of all loves

merging with this one love of ours –

所有爱情的回忆将会结合为一体-

And the songs of every poet

past and forever

还有每一个诗人们的歌谣

也已成为过去与永恒

I AM VERY UGLY

I'm very ugly
我很丑

So don't try to convince me that
所以别试图说服我

I am a very beautiful person
我长得很好看

Because at the end of the day
因为说到底

I hate myself in every single way
我都恨我自己的一切

And I'm not going to lie to myself by saying
而我也不会骗我自己说

There is beauty inside of me that matters
内心的美才是最重要的

So rest assured I will remind myself
所以放心我会提醒自己

That I am a worthless, terrible person
我是一个一文不值还很糟糕的人

And nothing you say will make me believe
而无论你说什么也不会让我相信

I still deserve love
我仍然值得被爱

Because no matter what
因为无论如何

I am not good enough to be loved
我都不配被爱

And I am in no position to believe that
我也没有任何理由相信

Beauty does exist within me
我有任何美丽的痕迹

Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think
因为当我对着镜子我总是在想

Am I as ugly as people say?
我真的像别人说的那么丑吗？

NOW READ BOTTOM UP

现在，把这首诗倒过来念

Similarly, many artistic masterpieces of the world were produced in solitude.

同样，许多艺术上的杰作也是在孤独中诞生的。

Being alone doesn’t have to be lonely – these are two different things. One may feel lonely in 'boisterous social contexts, or be fulfilled in isolated serenity.

独处并不等于孤独；这是两个性质不同的概念。一个人可以在看似热闹的社交中很孤独，也可以在平静的独处中很丰富——从各个方面丰富、充实自己。

Thus, being able to enrich oneself calmly and live in “solitary richness” is a noble state one can only dream of.

“孤独的丰富”是一种理想的高尚境界。

In today’s overcrowded world (both in China and in the West), “Virtue does not remain isolated” (Confucius), “He is never alone who is accompanied by noble thoughts” (English proverb) – personal charisma ultimately radiates out to attract others, and interactions between two abundant minds usually breed something more meaningful.

其实，无论是在中国还是西方，“德不孤，必有邻”（孔子语），“善思者虽独不孤”（英文谚语），他们自有内在的人格魅力。而且，在两个丰富、充实灵魂之间的交流，才会是更有质量的交往。

In this way, anyone wishing to enjoy in-depth reading, insightful thinking and a meaningful sense of feeling has to nurture and exercise an ability to practice solitude.

所以，要不断体验深层次的阅读、思索与感受，就不能不培养和提高自己的独处能力。

Failure gave me an inner security. 

Failure taught me things about myself that I could hav

e learned no other way. 

失败使我的内心产生一种安全感。失败让我看清自己，这也是我通过其他方式无法体会的。

I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.

我发现，我比自己认为的，要有更强的意志和决心。我还发现，我拥有比宝石更加珍贵的朋友。

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive.
从挫折中获得智慧、变得坚强，意味着你比以往任何时候都更有能力生存。

You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

只有在逆境来临的时候，你才会真正认识你自己，了解身边的人。这种了解是真正的财富，虽然是用痛苦换来的，但比我以前得到的任何资格证书都有用。

So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two.
如果给我一部时间机器，我会告诉21岁的自己，人的幸福在于知道生活不是一份漂亮的成绩单，你的资历、简历，都不是你的生活，虽然你会碰到很多与我同龄或更老一点的人今天依然还在混淆两者。

Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

生活是艰辛的，复杂的，超出任何人的控制能力，而谦恭地了解这一点，将使你历经沧桑后能够更好的生存。