常春藤名家散文精選 第10期:為別人而活
第十課 為別人而活
Strange is our situation here upon earth.
我們?cè)诘厍蛏系奶幘痴媸瞧婷睢?/p>
Each of us comes for a short visit，not knowing why,yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.
我們每一個(gè)人都是為了一趟短暫的旅程而來，也不知道是為了什么，但有時(shí)候似乎又猜想是有其目的。
From the standpoint of daily life，however, there isone thing we do know:
然而從日常生活的觀點(diǎn)來看，我們可以確知一點(diǎn)，
that man is here for the sake of other men-above all for those upon whose smile and well-beingour own happiness depends，
那就是人生在世是為了別人而活，尤其是為了那些我們的快樂與否取決于他們的微笑及幸福的人而活;
and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond ofsympathy.
也為著無數(shù)不知名的人而活，他們的命運(yùn)藉由同胞之情的維系與我們結(jié)合在一起。
Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of myfellow men，
一天中有許多次我會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到自已外在和內(nèi)在的生活大多依賴國人的勞力，
both living and dead，and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as muchas I have received.
不管他們是否在世或已過世，也認(rèn)識(shí)到我必須要多么認(rèn)真努力才能同等回報(bào)我所獲得的一切。
My peace of mind is often troubled by the depressing sense that I have borrowed too heavilyfrom the work of other men.
我對(duì)別人的付出虧欠太多了，而這種挫折感常困擾我心靈的平靜。
To ponder interminably over the reason for one's own existence or the meaning of life ingeneral seems to me， from an objective point of view, to be sheer folly.
對(duì)我而言，從客觀的角度來看，不斷思考自己為何會(huì)存在于世，或者生命的一般意義究竟為何，似乎是非常愚蠢的。
And yet everyone holds certain ideals by which he guides his aspiration and his judgment.
然而每個(gè)人都擁有某些理想，他藉由這些理想引導(dǎo)自己的愿望與判斷力。
The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness,beauty, and truth.
這些一直在引導(dǎo)我且令我充滿生活樂趣的理想便是真、善、美。
To make a goal of comfort and happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics builton this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.
我從未想過要以過著舒適安逸的生活為日標(biāo);若以這個(gè)墓礎(chǔ)來建立一套道德觀的話，這種道德觀僅適用于牛群。
