英文哲理美文
1.Serenity(平靜)
Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in selfcontrol, Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.
心靈的平靜是智慧的寶藏，它來自於長期、耐心的自我控制。內心的安寧是經歷成熟的表現，也是對思想活動規律的更深入的了解。
A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.
一個人能否心境平和，取決於他對自己的了解程度，因為如果他想了解別人，就必須先了解自己；當他對人對己有了更深入的了解，並越來越清晰地洞察到事物內部息息相關的因果關係時，他就不會再驚訝、憤怒、焦慮或憂愁，而是以從容、鎮定、平和的態度去對待一切。
The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater selfcontrol and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is strongly equable.
鎮靜的人知道怎樣控制自己，也知道如何去適應與他人相處；反之，別人也會對他的人格魅力表示尊重，並會以他為榜樣，認為他是個可靠的人。一個人越是處變不驚，他的成就、影響力和號召力就越大。即使是一個普通商人，如果他遇事能夠很好地自我控制並鎮定自若，那麼他會發現自己的生意蒸蒸日上；因為人們總是更願意與一個舉止從容、沉著冷靜的人打交道。
The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shadegiving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. "Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweettempered, balanced life?" It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character, which we call serenity is the last lesson of culture, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold — yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money seeking looks in comparison with a serene life, a life that dwells in the ocean of truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the eternal calm!
堅強、冷靜的人總是會贏得人們的好感和敬意；他就像烈日下一棵濃蔭遮地的大樹，或是暴風雨中能夠遮風擋雨的巨岩。「誰不愛一顆安靜的心，一個溫和、平實的生命呢?」無論是狂風暴雨，還是紅曰當空，無論是天翻地覆，還是命運逆轉，一切都等閑視之，因為這樣的人永遠都是謙和、冷靜、沉著。那種我們稱之為泰然自若的平靜性格，是修養的最後一課，也是靈魂之花的碩果。它像智慧一樣寶貴，價值勝過黃金一是的，勝過足赤真金。與寧靜的生活相比，追逐名利的行為多麼不值一提，那是一種在真理的海洋中的生活，在驚濤駭浪之下，遠離暴風雨的侵擾，永遠存在於寧靜之中。
"How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of selfcontrol. How few people we meet in life who are well balanced, who have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished character!"
「我們認識的許多人都把自己的生活搞得一片狼藉，他們的怒火破壞了所有美好的事物，同時也摧毀了自己安靜的生活，並遺禍後代！現在的問題是，大多數人是否因為缺乏自我控制能力而破壞了自己的生活，損毀了原有的幸福呢？在生活中，我們很少遇到能夠做到沉著冷靜、擁有成熟的性格所特有的那種平靜的人。」
Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.
是的，人性因為無法控制的激情而躁動不安，因為放任無度的悲傷而起伏波動，因為焦慮和猜疑而備受打擊。只有睿智的人，只有控制並凈化了思想的人，才能在心靈的世界里呼風喚雨。
Tempesttossed souls, wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye may live, know this in the o cean of life the isles of blessedness are smiling, and the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought. In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding master; he does but sleep; wake him. Selfcontrol is strength; right thought is mastery; calmness is power. Say unto your heart, "Peace, be still!"
經歷過暴風雨洗禮的人們，無論你們身在何方，無論你們處境如何，你們都要知道，在生活的海洋中，幸福的島嶼在對你微笑；照耀你理想的陽光就在前方。要牢牢握住思想之舵。在你的靈魂深處，有一個指引你方向的主宰者，他可能還在沉睡，喚醒他吧。自我控制是力量，正確的思想是優勢，沉著冷靜是能量。要時常對你的心靈說：「平和，安靜！」
2.Freedom(自由)
It is not only true that most people entirely misunderstand Freedom, but I sometimes think I have not yet met one person who rightly understands it. The whole Universe is absolute Law. To the degraded or undeveloped — and even to too many others — the thought of freedom is a thought of escaping from law — which, of course, is impossible. More precious than all worldly riches is Freedom — freedom from the painful constipation and poor narrowness of ecclesiasticism — freedom in manners, habiliments, furniture, from the silliness and tyranny of local fashions — entire freedom from party rings and mere conventions in Politics — and better than all, a general freedom of oneself from the tyrannic domination of vices, habits, appetites, under which nearly every man of us (often the greatest brawler for freedom), is enslaved. Can we attain such enfranchisement —the true Democracy, and the height of it? While we are from birth to death the subjects of irresistible law, enclosing every movement and minute, we yet escape, by a paradox, into true free will. Strange as it may seem, we only attain to freedom by a knowledge of, and implicit obedience to law. Great — unspeakably great — is the Will! The free Soul of man! At its greatest, understanding and obeying the laws, it can then, and then only, maintain true liberty. For there is to the highest, that law as absolute as any — more absolute than any — the Law of Liberty. The shallow, as intimated, consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise see in it, on the contrary, the potent law of Laws, namely, the fusion and combination of the conscious will, or partial individual law, with those universal, eternal, unconscious ones, which run through all Time, pervade history, prove immortality, give moral purpose to the entire objective world, and the last dignity to human life.
大部分人不僅徹底曲解了「自由」的含義，更可怕的是，我有時覺得還沒有見過一個能恰當了解「自由」的人。整個宇宙是一個亘古不變的法則。對於墮落和愚昧無知的人，甚至芸芸眾生來說，自由就是避開法律，而這肯定是不能實現的。比世俗的所有財富更珍貴的是自由，自由意味著從教會神學的痛苦禁閉和悲觀的狹隘中脫離出來；自由意味著在禮儀、服飾、傢具上的隨心所欲；自由意味著從地方流行的愚蠢和束縛中脫離出來；自由意味著徹底從黨派小圈子和政治運作的舊例中脫離出來；其中最為重要的是，當我們每個人差不多都（我們常常大聲叫喊著要自由）受控於罪惡、惡習、慾望時，自由意味著自我從奴役的嚴酷壓迫中徹底脫離出來。我們可以獲得這樣的自由嗎？自由是真正的民主，高度的民主。從出生到死亡，這無法阻擋的法則都在束縛著我們，束縛著我們的一舉一動、分分秒秒。可是，說起來有些矛盾，我們卻一直想方設法要逃脫，擁有真正的自由意志。奇怪得很，唯有學習法則並默默地服從法則，我們才能獲得自由。意志是偉大的！人類自由的靈魂是偉大的！偉大得無法形容。當意志力達到完美，理解並服從法則，那時候，僅僅是那時候，人們才能獲得真正的自由。這是因為自由的法則無比高尚。同其他法則一樣絕對，不，比其他法則還要絕對。膚淺的人認為自由意味著從一切法則的約束中脫離出來。而智者則截然相反，他們從中意識到了威力無窮的眾法之法，它是有意識的意志力、局部的個人準則與通用的、持久的、沒有意識的法則的融合。而這種法則經歷了所有時代，寫進了整個歷史，被證明是恆久不變的。這種法則為整個客觀世界指明了道德方向，為人類的生活保證了最後的尊嚴。
3.What Is Immortal(什麼是不朽)
To see the golden sun, the azure sky, the outstretched ocean; to walk upon the green earth, and be lord of a thousand creatures ; to look down yawning precipices or over distant sunny vales; to see the world spread out under one's feet on a map ; to bring the stars near; to view the smallest insects through a microscope; to read history, and consider the revolutions of empire and the successions of generations; to hear the glory of Tyre, of Sidon, of Babylon, and of Susa, and to say all these were before me and are now nothing; to say I exist in such a point of time, and in such a point of space; to be a spectator and a part of its evermoving scene; to witness the change of seasons, of spring and autumn, of winter and summer; and to feel hot and cold, pleasure and pain, beauty and deformity, right and wrong; to be sensible to the accidents of Nature; to consider the mighty world of eye and ear; to listen to the stock-dove's notes amid the forest deep ; to journey over moor and mountain; to hear the midnight sainted choir; to visit lighted halls,or the cathedral's gloom, or sit in crowded theatres and see life itself mocked ; to study the works of art and refine the sense of beauty to agony; to worship fame, and to dream of immortality; to look upon the Vatican, and to read Shakespeare; to gather up the wisdom of the ancients, and to pry into the future; to listen to the trump of war, and the shout of victory; to question history as to the movements of the human heart; to seek for truth; to plead the cause of humanity; to overlook the world as if time and Nature poured their treasures at our feet — to be and to do all this and then in a moment to be as nothing — to have it ail snatched from us as by a juggler's trick, or a phantasmagoria!
我們看到金色的太陽，蔚藍的天空，廣闊的海洋；我們漫步在綠油油的大地之上，做萬物的主人；我們俯視令人目眩心悸的懸崖峭壁，遠眺鮮花盛開的山谷；我們在地圖上指點世界江山；我們把星辰移到眼前觀看，在顯微鏡下觀察極其微小的生物；我們學習歷史，研考帝國的興亡、時代的交替；我們聽人談論推羅、西頓、巴比倫和蘇撒的豐功偉績，然後說：這些事確實發生過，但現在卻是過眼雲煙了；我們思考著自己生活在這樣的一個時代、生活在宇宙間這樣的一個角落；在人生的活動舞台上，我們既當觀眾、又當演員；我們觀察四季更迭、春秋代序、冬夏交替；感受炎熱寒冷、歡樂痛苦、美麗殘缺和是非對錯；敏銳地感知大自然的變遷，用眼和耳去認知這個浩蕩的宇宙；聆聽野鴿在濃密的樹林中哀訴；翻越荒野峻岭；傾聽午夜聖詩的合唱；拜訪那燈火輝煌的禮堂和幽靜肅穆的大教堂，或坐在人頭攢動的劇院里，觀看生活本身受到的模仿嘲弄；我們鑽研藝術作品，把自己的美感升華為凄美；我們崇拜榮譽，夢想不朽；觀望梵蒂岡，賞閱莎士比亞；集聚古人的智慧以知未來；傾聽戰爭的號角和勝利的吶喊；質疑歷史如同考究人心的運作；尋求真理；思辯人性；俯瞰世界，有如時空萬靈將其寶物盡都傾於腳前一正當我們面臨這一切、從事這一切的時候，自己卻在一剎那之間化為虛無，眼前的一切，像是魔術師的把戲，像是一場幻影，一下子全都消失得無影無蹤！
4.Gettysburg Address(林肯葛斯底堡演說)
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
八十七年前，我們的先輩們在這個大陸上創立了一個新的國家，她孕育於自由的理念之中，奉行一切人生來平等的原則。
Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper.that we should do this.
現在，我們正在進行一場偉大的內戰，以考驗這個國家，或者任何一個孕育於自由和奉行上述原則的國家，是否能夠長久存在下去。我們在這場戰爭中的一個偉大戰場上集會。我們來到這裡，就是要把這個戰場的一部分奉獻給那些為了國家的生存而捐軀的人們，使其成為他們最後的安息之所。我們這樣做是完全應該而且是非常恰當的。
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation,under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
但是，從更廣泛的意義上來說，這塊土地我們不能夠奉獻，不能夠聖化，不能夠神化。那些曾在這裡戰鬥過的勇士們，活著的和死去的，已經把這塊土地聖化了，這遠不是我們微薄的力量所能增減的。我們今天在這裡所說的話，全世界不大會注意，也不會長久地記住，但是勇士們在這裡的豐功偉績，全世界卻永遠不會忘記。毋寧說，倒是我們這些還活著的人，應該在這裡把自己奉獻給勇士們已經如此崇高地向前推進但尚未完成的事業。倒是我們應該在這裡把自己奉獻於仍然留在我們面前的偉大任務，我們要從這些光榮的犧牲者身上汲取更多的獻身精神，來完成他們已經完全徹底為之獻身的事業；我們要在這裡下定最大的決心，不讓這些烈士們白白犧牲；我們要使國家在上帝福佑下得到自由的新生，要使這個民有、民治、民享的政府永世長存。
5.On Pleasure(自由如歌般歡樂)
Pleasure is a freedom song, but it is not freedom. It is the blossoming of your desires; but it is not their fruit, it is a depth calling unto a height; but it is not the deep nor the high, it is the caged taking wing; but it is not space encompassed. Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom song. And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.
快樂是一首自由的歌，但它不是自由。它是你們的慾望綻放的花朵，但不是它們的果實；它是深谷對高峰的呼喚，然而它既不深沉也不高聳；它是囚禁在籠中展翅的鳥兒，而不是環抱的空間。哦，的確，快樂是首自由的歌。我願你們全心全意地歌唱它，不願你們在歌唱時迷失自己的心。
Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it was all, and they are judged and rebuked. I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek, for they shall find pleasure, but not her alone;seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure. Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?
你們年輕人中有一些追求快樂，好像它就是一切，他們已受到判決和譴責。我不會判決他們，也不會譴責他們，我會讓他們去尋找。因為他們尋找的是快樂，然而也不單單是快樂；快樂有七個姐妹，她們中最小的也比她柔美。難道你們未曾聽說有人在刨樹根時發現了寶藏嗎？
And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness. But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement. They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer. Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.
你們中有一些老年人遺憾地回憶快樂，好像在追悔酒醉后做的錯事。但遺憾只會讓心靈蒙上陰影，而不是一種懲罰。他們應以感恩之心回憶他們的快樂，好像回憶夏曰的收穫。但如果遺憾能給他們以慰藉，那就讓他們得到安慰吧。
And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember; and in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it.
你們中一些人，既不是喜歡追尋的年輕人，又不是沉灑於回憶的老年人；他們在追尋和回憶的恐懼中逃避一切快樂，唯恐自己忽視或惹怒了心靈。
But even in their foregoing is their pleasure.
然而，在他們的前行中也有快樂。
And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands.
因而，即使他們用顫抖的雙手挖掘樹根，他們也會找到寶藏。
But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit?
請告訴我，誰敢惹怒靈魂呢？
Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night,or the firefly the stars? And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind?
夜鸞會擾亂夜的寂靜，螢火蟲會惹惱繁星嗎？你們的火焰和煙霧會拖累風嗎？
Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff? Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being.
你們以為靈魂是一汪止水，你們用一根木棍就可以攪亂嗎？你們通常拒絕快樂，你們只是把快樂的慾望潛伏在內心中。
Who knows but that which seem omitted today, waits for tomorrow? Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived.
有誰知道，今天被忽略的事，明天會不會存在？甚至你們的身體也了解它的本性和合理需求，而不會被欺騙。
And your body is the harp of your soul, and it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.
你們的身體是你們心靈的琴弦，它或奏出柔美的樂曲，或撥弄出混亂的噪音，全都在你。
And now you ask in your heart, "How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?" Go to your fields and your gardens and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower, but it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee, for to the bee a flower is a fountain of life, and to the flower a bee is a messenger of love, and to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
現在你們捫心自問：「我們將怎樣區別快樂沖的善與惡呢？」去你們的田野和花園，你們就會明白蜜蜂的快樂在於採集花蜜，對於花朵而言，給蜜蜂提供花蜜就是快樂。因為蜜蜂視花朵為生命之泉，而花朵視蜜蜂為愛之使者，對於兩者而言，蜜蜂與花朵，給予與接受的快樂是一種需要，一種醉人心扉的喜悅。
People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.
奧菲里斯城的人們，盡情享受快樂吧，就像花朵和蜜蜂一樣！
6.We Stand on the Same Starting Point(同一起跑線上的我們)
「We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite...」
「我們正在閱讀一本頁數無限的書的第一章的第一節……」
I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it.We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just like a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.
我不知道這段文字是誰寫的，我一直很喜歡並用它來提醒自己，那就是未來操之在我。我們可以掌握神秘而不可知的未來，從中創造出我們所能想象的任何東西，如雕刻家可以將未成型的石頭刻出雕像一樣。
We are all in the position of the farmer.If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest.If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop.If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
我們每個人都是農夫。我們若種下好種子，就會豐收。倘若種子長得不良且長滿雜草，我們就會徒勞無獲。如果我們什麼也不種，就會一無所獲。
I want the future to be better than the past.I don』t want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled.We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the reminder of our lives.
我希望未來會比過去更好。我不希望未來會被那些充斥在歷史中的錯誤所污染。我們應該關心未來，因為往後的餘生都要在未來中度過。
The past is gone and static.Nothing we can do will change it.The future is before us and dynamic.Everything we do will effect it.Each day will brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our businesses, if we will only recognize them.We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.
往昔已一去不復返而且是靜止的。任憑我們怎麼努力都不能改變過去。未來就在我們眼前而且是動態的。我們的所作所為都會影響未來。只要我們體會得出來，每天都可以發現新的知識領域伴隨而生，可能是在家裡，也可能是在我們的事業中。我們正處在人類所努力鑽研的每個領域中進步的起點。