英语美文背诵 真正的高贵

True Nobility

In a calm sea every man is a pilot.

在平静的海面上每个人都可以是领航员。

But all sunshine without shade, all pleasure without pain，is not life at all.

但若只有阳光而无阴影，只有快乐没有痛苦，那就不算是人生。

Take the lot of the happiest-it is a tangled¹ yarn².

就拿最快乐的人的命运来说吧——他们的命运就像是一团纠结的纱线。

Bereavements and blessings³, one following another, make us sad and blessed by turns.

亲人的死亡与上天的恩赐接踵而来，使我们悲喜交替。

Even death itself makes life more loving.

甚至死亡本身亦能使人生更加温馨。

Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life, under the shadows of sorrow and loss.

在悲痛与损失的阴影下，人们反而更能在这人生冷静清醒的时刻最接近真实的自我。

In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells so much as character,

在人生或事业各项事务上，聪明才智比不上品德，

not brains so much as heart，not genius so much as self-control, patience and discipline, regulated by judgment⁴.

头脑好比不上心灵好，天赋比不上判断力规范下的自制、耐心与纪律。

I have always believed that the man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without.

我一直相信当一个人的内在生活开始过得比较严谨时，外在的生活也就开始过得比较简朴。

In an age of extravagance and waste, I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are.

在这奢侈浪费的时代里，我真希望自己能向世人展现，人类真正的需求有多么地少。

To regret one's errors to the point of not repeating them is true repentance⁵.

懊悔过错而至不再重犯的地步方是真正的后悔。

There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man.

超越他人并不是什么高尚的事。

The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.

真正可贵的是要超越以前的你。

1 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

2 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。

3 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 repentance   

n.懊悔

参考例句：

• He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
• Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。