英语美文背诵 痛苦源于自身

Suffering Is Self-Manufactured

by Dr. Leon J. Saul

I believe the immediate¹ purpose of life is to live - to survive. All known forms of life go through life cycles. The basic plan is: birth - maturing - mating - reproducing - death.

Thus the immediate purpose of human life is for each individual to fulfill² his life cycle. This involves proper maturing into the fully³ developed adult of the specie.

The pine tree grows straight unless harmful influences warp⁴ it. So does the human being. It is a finding of the greatest significance that the mature man and woman have the nature and characteristics of the good spouse⁵ and parent: the ability to enjoy responsible working and loving.

If the world consisted primarily of mature persons - loving, responsible, productive, toward family, friends and the world - most of our human problems would be resolved.

But most people have suffered in childhood from influences which have warped⁶ their development. Hence, as adults they have not realized their full and proper nature. They feel something is wrong without knowing what it is. They feel inferior, frustrated⁷, insecure, and anxious. And they react to these inner feelings just as any animal reacts to any hurt or threat: by readiness to fight or to flee. Flight carries them into alcoholism and other mental disorders⁸. Fight impels⁹ them to crime, cruelty, war.

This readiness to violence, this inhumanity of man to man, is the basic problem of human life - for, in the form of war, it now threatens to extinguish us.

Without the fight-flight reaction, man would never have survived the cave and the jungle. But now, through social living, man has made himself relatively¹⁰ safe from the elements and wild beasts. He is even learning to protect himself against disease. He can produce adequate food, clothing and shelter for the present population of the earth. Barring a possible astronomical¹¹ accident, he now faces no serious threat to his existence, except one - the fight-flight reaction within himself. This jungle readiness to hurt and to kill is now a vestigial hangover like the appendix, which interferes¹² with the new and more powerful means of coping with nature through civilization. Trying to solve every problem by fighting or fleeing is the primitive¹³ method, still central for the immature¹⁴ child. The later method, understanding and co-operation, requires the mature capacities of the adult.

In an infantile world, fighting may be forced upon one. Then it is more effective if handled maturely for mature goals. Probably war will cease only when enough people are mature.

The basic problem is social adaptation and biologic survival. The basic solution is for people to understand the nature of their own biological emotional maturity¹⁵, to work toward it, to help the children in their development toward it.

Human suffering is mostly made by man himself. It is primarily the result of the failure of adults, because of improper¹⁶ child-rearing, to mature emotionally. Hence instead of enjoying their capacities for responsible work and love, they are grasping, egocentric, insecure, frustrated, anxious and hostile. Maturity is the path from madness and murder to inner peace and satisfying living for each individual and for the human specie.

This I believe on the evidence of science and through personal observation and experience.

痛苦源于自身

利昂·J·索尔博士

我认为生命最首要的目的就是生活——活着。一切已知的生命形式都要经过盛衰周期，即出生、成长、交配、繁衍、直至死亡。

正因如此，人生的首要目的就是要走完生命的一个周期，这包括要茁壮成长，长成一个真正成熟的个体。

松树笔直而挺拔，除非有后天的不良影响将其扭曲。人类也是一样。成年男女都具备成为忠诚伴侣和慈爱父母的本性与特点，那就是乐于尽责地工作，乐于献出尽责的爱——这一发现具有非常重要的意义。

如果世上所有的人都是真正成熟的个体，都能对家庭、对朋友乃至对整个世界充满爱心、负起责任、多做贡献，那人类所面临的许多困难都可迎刃而解。

然而，幼年时受到的不良影响扭曲了许多人的成长。这些人在成年以后失去了部分人格，虽然他们意识到出了问题，却不知道问题在哪里。他们自卑而又焦虑，灰心丧气，缺乏安全感。内心的折磨使他们像受到伤害或威胁的野兽，要么选择争斗，要么选择逃逸。选择逃避的人用酒精来麻醉自己，甚至落到精神错乱的地步；选择争斗的人变得残暴，或犯下罪行，或掀起战乱。

暴力一触即发，人类自相残杀——这就是人类社会面临的基本问题，因为暴力和残杀演变为战争，威胁到了全人类的生存。

人类作出争斗或逃避的反应使其在远古时代得以在洞穴或丛林中生存。时至今日，随着社会的发展，恶劣的自然环境与凶猛的野兽对人类生存不再构成多大威胁。人类甚至学会了战胜疾病，地球上现有人口的衣食与住房也很充足。除非宇宙有什么不测，否则人类的生存只面临着一个严重的威胁：那就是人类内心深处那争斗或逃避的心态。这种随时准备与敌人作殊死搏斗的丛林法则在现在看来就好像人体器官中的阑尾，是退化落后的。它干扰了人与自然文明相处这一更有效的新方式。用争斗或逃避这一原始做法来解决问题是懵懂孩童的行为。后发展起来的一种理解与合作的新方法则需要成年人成熟的心智才能实现。在孩童的世界里，争斗可能是迫不得已，而成年人若想达到目标，采用成熟的方式会更加有效。也许，有足够多的人成熟了，战争才会停止。

适应这个社会，确保人类的生存，这就是我们面临的基本问题。解决问题的基本方法就是：让人们明白怎样的人才是身心真正成熟的人，然后朝这个目标努力，还要帮助孩子们成熟起来。

许多人类的痛苦都源于人类自身，源于成年人受幼年时错误成长轨迹的影响而情感不成熟。这样的人没有能力尽责地工作，尽责地爱，而是变得贪婪自私、焦虑沮丧、满怀敌意、缺乏安全感。成熟是个人乃至全人类从疯狂与残杀走向内心平静与满足的途径。

以上是我通过科学的实证观察与自己的亲身体验所感受到的——它就是我的信仰。

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 warp   

vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见

参考例句：

• The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
• A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。

5 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

6 warped   

adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
• The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 impels   

v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The development of production impels us continuously to study technique. 生产的发展促使我们不断地钻研技术。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Instinct impels the cuckoo to migrate. 本能促使杜鹃迁徒。 来自辞典例句

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

12 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

13 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

14 immature   

adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的

参考例句：

• Tony seemed very shallow and immature.托尼看起来好像很肤浅，不夠成熟。
• The birds were in immature plumage.这些鸟儿羽翅未全。

15 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

16 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。