英语名篇诵读 勇气

Courage

勇气

The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment;

but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must — in

spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures — and that is the

basis of all human morality.

To be courageous¹ requires no exceptional qualifications , no magic formula , no special

combination of time, place and circumstance. It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented

to us all. Politics merely furnishes one arena² which imposes special tests of courage. In

whatever arena of life one may meet challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces

if he follows his conscience — the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the

esteem³ of his fellow men — each man must decide for himself the course he will follow. The

stories of past courage can define that ingredient — they can teach, they can offer hope, they can

provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his

own soul.

生活中的勇气，往往不像紧要关头的勇气那么富有戏剧性。但这种勇气却同样是胜利

和悲剧的壮观混合体。一个人做他必须做的事——不计个人得失，不考虑各种障碍、危险

和压力——这是人类一切道德的基础。

勇敢不需要特别的条件，不需要神奇的方法，也不需要时间、地点和情况的特意配

合。勇敢是一种机会，迟早都会摆在我们所有人的面前。政治只是提供一个对勇气进行特

别测试的舞台。在生活的任何一个舞台上，人们都可能遇到对勇气的挑战；如果他听从自

己的良知行事，无论他会面对怎样的牺牲——失去朋友，失去财富，失去使人满足的事

物，甚至失去同仁的尊重——他都必须决定自己要走的路。过去别人的勇敢故事能够解释

勇气的因素——它们能教导我们，给我们希望与启迪。但这些故事不能提供勇敢本身，每

个人必须到自己的灵魂深处去寻找勇气。

1 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

2 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

3 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。