英语名篇名段背诵精华13 The meaning of life

Life is never just being.It is becoming a relentless¹, flowing on.Our parents live on through us,and we will live on through our children.The institutions we build endure,and we will endure through them.The beauty we fashion cannot be dimmed by death.Our flesh may perish,our hands will wither,but that which they creat in beauty and goodness and truth lives on for all time to come.

Don't spend and waste your lives accumulating objects that will only turn to dust and ashes.Pusue not so much the material as the ideal,for ideals alone invest life with meaning and are of enduring worth. Add love to a house and you have a home.Add righteousness to a city and you have a community.Add truth to a pile of red brick and you have a school.Add religion to the hublest of edifices² and you have a sanctuary³.Add justice to the far-flung round of human endeavor and you have civilization.Put them all together,exalt them above their present imperfections, add to them the vision of humankind redeemed,forever free of need and strife⁴ and you have a future lighted with the radiant colors of hope.

1 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

2 edifices   

n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They complain that the monstrous edifices interfere with television reception. 他们抱怨说，那些怪物般的庞大建筑，干扰了电视接收。 来自辞典例句
• Wealthy officials and landlords built these queer edifices a thousand years ago. 有钱的官吏和地主在一千年前就修建了这种奇怪的建筑物。 来自辞典例句

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。