英語版的哲理美文欣賞

　　散文是文學中常見的一種體裁,英語中散文作品更是一種重要文體。下面小編為大家帶來的內容，希望對你有用。

　　篇一：人生最艱難的一課就是學會相信自己

　　I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of sunshine and what red color is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a calamity can do strange things to people.

　　4歲那年在大西洋城，我從貨場一輛火車上摔下來，頭先著地，於是雙目失明。現在我已經32歲了。我還模糊地記得陽光是多麼燦爛，紅色是多麼鮮豔。能恢復視覺固然好，但災難也能對人產生奇妙的作用。

　　It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I believe in life now. I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.

　　有一天我突然想到，倘若我不是盲人，我或許不會變得像現在這樣熱愛生活。現在我相信生活，但我不能肯定如果自己是明眼人，會不會像現在這樣深深地相信生活。這並不意味著我寧願成為盲人，而只是意味著失去視力使我更加珍惜自己其他的能力。

　　Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was bewildered and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me —a potential to live, you might call it ——which I didn’t see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.

　　我認為，生活要求人不斷地自我調整以適應現實。人愈能及時地進行調整，他的個人世界便愈有意義。調整決非易事。我曾感到茫然害怕，但我很幸運，父母和老師在我身上發現了某種東西——可以稱之為活下去的潛力吧——而我自己卻沒有發現。他們激勵我誓與失明拼搏到底。

　　The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would have collapsed and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

　　我必須學會的最艱難的一課就是相信自己，這是基本條件。如做不到這一點，我的精神就會崩潰，只能坐在前門廊的搖椅中度過餘生。相信自己並不僅僅指支援我獨自走下陌生的樓梯的那種自信，那是一部分。我指的是大事：是堅信自己雖然有缺陷，卻是一個真正的有進取心的人;堅信在芸芸眾生錯綜複雜的格局當中，自有我可以安身立命的一席之地。

　　It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the most elementary things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball, I thought he was mocking me and I was hurt. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take it with you,” he urged me,” and roll it around. “The words stuck in my head.” Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.

　　我花了很長時間才樹立並不斷加強這一信念。這要從最簡單的事做起。有一次一個人給我一個室內玩的棒球，我以為他在嘲笑我，心裡很難受。“我不能使這個。”我說。“你拿去，”他竭力勸我，“在地上滾。”他的話在我腦子裡生了根。“在地上滾!” 滾球使我聽見它朝哪兒滾動。我馬上想到一個我曾認為不可能達到的目標：打棒球。在費城的奧弗布魯克盲人學校，我發明了一種很受人歡迎的棒球遊戲，我們稱它為地面球。

　　All my life I have set ahead of is a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.

　　我這一輩子給自己樹立了一系列目標，然後努力去達到，一次一個。我必須瞭解自己能力有限，若開始就知道某個目標根本達不到卻硬要去實現，那不會有任何好處，因為那隻會帶來失敗的苦果。我有時也失敗過，但一般來說總有進步。

　　篇二：去經歷去體驗，做最好最真實的自己

　　Truly happy and successful people get that way by becoming the best, most genuine version of themselves they can be. Not on the outside--on the inside. It's not about a brand, a reputation, a persona. It's about reality. Who you really are.

　　真正快樂成功的人會長成最好最真實的自己——從內心而非外表上。重要的不是品牌、名譽或者外表形象，而是真實的自我。

　　Sounds simple, I know. It is a simple concept. The problem is, it's very hard to do, it takes a lot of work, and it can take a lifetime to figure it out.

　　道理很簡單，講出來也很容易。但問題是，做起來就不簡單了：這需要付諸很多努力，甚或一輩子才能實現。

　　Nothing worth doing in life is ever easy. If you want to do great work, it's going to take a lot of hard work to do it. And you're going to have to break out of your comfort zone and take some chances that will scare the crap out of you.

　　需要窮盡畢生精力的事情必定不容易。成大事者必先苦其心志。因此，你必須走出舒適區，去經歷、去體驗那些會讓你害怕的機會。

　　But you know, I can't think of a better way to spend your life. I mean, what's life for if not finding yourself and trying to become the best, most genuine version of you that you can be?

　　況且，人這一輩子，若到頭來都認不清自己、未能長成最好最真實的自己，還有什麼意義呢?

　　That's what Steve Jobs meant when he said this at a Stanford University commencement speech:

　　正如史蒂夫-喬布斯在斯坦福大學的畢業典禮上所言：

　　Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

　　時間寶貴，不要虛擲光陰過著他人的生活。不要讓周遭的聒噪言論矇蔽你內心的聲音。

　　You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

　　你要相信，生活中的偶然冥冥中也能指引未來。你要心懷信念——相信你的直覺、命運、生活抑或因緣。這個方法一直給我力量，促使我過得卓然不同。

　　The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.

　　成大事的唯一途徑就是做自己喜歡的事情。若你還沒找到，那就繼續追尋吧，不要停下來。

　　Now, let's for a moment be realistic about this. Insightful as that advice may be, it sounds a little too amorphous and challenging to resonate with today's quick-fix culture. These days, if you can't tell people exactly what to do and how to do it, it falls on deaf ears.

　　現在我們來實際一點：建議或許很深刻，但聽完卻讓人無從著手，難以運用到當今的快節奏文化中。現如今，如果一個建議講不清具體做什麼、該怎麼做的話，那麼說了也等於白說。

　　Not only that, but what Jobs was talking about, what I'm talking about, requires focus and discipline, two things that are very hard to come by these days. Why? Because, focus and discipline are hard. It's so much easier to give in to distraction and instant gratification. Easy and addictive.

　　不僅如此，喬布斯的講話和我要說的話都需要集中和自制——這兩個品質在當今社會非常難能可貴。何以見得?因為集中和自制都不容易做到。人們很容易分散注意力、尋求即時快感——舒服且容易上癮。

　　To give you a little incentive to take on the challenge, to embark on the road to self-discovery, here are three huge benefits from working to become the best, most genuine version of yourself.

　　為激勵你迎接挑戰、踏上尋求自我的旅途，我列出了成為最好最真實自己後的三大益處：

　　It will make you happy. Getting to know yourself will make you feel more comfortable in your own skin. It will reduce your stress and anxiety. It will make you a better spouse, a better parent, a better friend. It will make you a better person. Those are all pretty good reasons, if you ask me.

　　你會感到快樂。瞭解自己後會讓你更愉悅地接受自己，減輕你的壓力和焦慮，使你成為更好的伴侶、父母、朋友，讓你成為一個更美好的人。這些益處難道不夠說服你為之努力嗎?

　　Besides, you really won't achieve anything significant in life until you know the real you. Not your brand, your LinkedIn profile, how you come across, or what anyone thinks of you. The genuine you. There's one simple reason why you shouldn't try to be something you're not, and it's that you can't. The real you will come out anyway. So forget your personal brand and start spending time on figuring out who you really are and trying to become the best version of that you can be.

　　而且，只有瞭解真實的自己方能成就大事。你需要了解那個真實的你，而不是你的品牌、名譽、LinkedlIn資料、你的過去抑或他人對你的看法。為什麼你不應該過他人的生活?很簡單，因為首先你不是“其他人”，你的本性總有一天會現形。所以，請放開你的品牌形象，努力發掘真實自我、努力把自己經營成最好的自己吧。

　　You pay a huge price when you engage in mindless distraction. The only people that really care about you are your loved ones, your friends and family. Everyone else is too busy living his own little mini drama. To put it bluntly, your network couldn't care less about you.

　　盲目分心的代價很大。真正在乎你的只有你所愛的人、你的親人和朋友。而其他人都只圍著自己的小日子轉罷了。說穿了，社交關係中的人並不可靠。

　　That's why engaging yourself and others in mindless distraction isn't worth your time or theirs. More important, it will absolutely keep you from focusing on accomplishing whatever great things you might manage to achieve in life if you set your mind to it.

　　所以，浪費時間盲目分心應付自己或他人都沒有意義。更嚴重的是，當你決心著手生活中的大計劃時，分心會有礙你集中完成目標。

　　There's a business concept called opportunity cost. When you choose one course of action, you miss out on all the other opportunities you might have chosen to pursue but didn't. People rarely stop to consider that until it's too late.

　　有一個商業術語叫“機會成本”。當你選定某個行為時，你也會錯過其他原本可以選擇的機會。很少有人能意識到這一點，就算意識到也為時已晚。

　　It's the most exciting journey you will ever embark on. We're all enthralled by adventure. We love to read and watch movies about other people's journeys, real or imagined. The Hobbit. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Into Thin Air.

　　這將是一段前所未有的有趣旅程。我們都樂於於冒險，熱愛閱讀和觀看有關他人或真實或虛構的旅程電影，例如，《霍位元人》、《奪寶奇兵》或《走進空氣稀薄地帶》。

　　We love to take vacations, to travel to all sorts of places. And when we do, we revel in the natural beauty of Kauai's Na Pali Coast, the Grand Canyon, the Alps. We marvel at the great works of others: the art, the architecture, the Pyramids, Stonehenge.

　　我們熱愛假期，喜歡到各地旅行。我們會驚歎於考艾島上納波利海岸的自然風光，迷上美國大峽谷、阿爾卑斯山。我們也會驚歎於他人的傑作：藝術、建築、金字塔、巨石陣等等。

　　And yet, the opportunity for adventure is right there in front of each and every one of us. Until you take it, you'll never know what you might achieve. What marvels you might create. What you might discover. All you have to do is start the journey.

　　而且，冒險之門向每個人敞開。開啟這扇門之前，誰也不知道能獲得哪些收穫，會創造哪些奇蹟，又將有什麼新的發現……你所要做的，僅僅是啟程。

　　篇三：怎樣脫解尷尬，做一個健談的人

　　Are you a good conversationalist? What makes someone a good conversationalist? Being a good conversationalist is important in every context, be it in business, social, or dating.

　　你是不是一名好的健談者?什麼能讓你變得健談呢?無論在何種情況下，作為一名好的健談者都是非常重要的，無論是商業、還是社交或是約會。

　　I don’t think there are any “tricks” or shady techniques you have to apply to be a great conversationalist. Below are ten timeless rules I apply to all my conversations:

　　我認為要想成為好的健談者，不需要任何的“招數”或不正當的手法。下面是我用到談話中永不過時的10條原則：

　　1. Be genuinely interested in the person.

　　對談話的人真正感興趣

　　Who is this person? What’s on his/her mind? What does he/she enjoy doing? What motivates him/her in life? These are the questions I have for every single person I meet. Since people form the core of my life purpose ***to help others grow***, my genuine interest in people, from who they are to what they do, comes naturally.

　　這個人是誰?他/她在想什麼?他/她喜歡做什麼?什麼激勵著他/她的生活?我每遇見一個人，我都會想這樣的問題。由於人們形成了我生活目標的核心***幫助他人成長***， 我對他人的興趣，從他們是誰到他們做什麼，就很自然地產生了。

　　Such genuine interest, not an artificial one, is essential to making a conversation fly. If you are not interested in the other person, then why speak to him/her to begin with? Move on to someone you really want to talk to. Life is too short to be spent doing things you don’t like.

　　這樣的興趣是發自內心的，而不是虛假的， 這是讓談話出彩的必要條件。如果你對他人不敢興趣，為什麼要和他/她說話呢?去和你真正想談話的人說話。生活苦短，不要把它浪費在你不喜歡的事情上。

　　2. Focus on the positives.

　　關注正能量

　　Which means rather than talk about past grievances, opt for a discussion of future goals. Rather than talk about the coffee that spilled on your table this morning, talk about that movie you are looking forward to watch later in the evening. It’s okay to talk about “negative” topics ***read: topics that trigger negative emotions*** once in a while, but only when you feel it is okay with the other party and when it has a specific purpose ***e.g., to get to know the other person better or to bond with the person***.

　　也就是說與其談論過去的悲傷，不如去討論未來的目標。與其談論今天早晨灑在你桌子上的咖啡，不如談論一下晚上你想看的電影。偶爾談論一下“負面”話題***能產生負面情緒的話題***也是可以的， 但最好是當你覺得對方也能接受並且有特定目的時***比如，更好地瞭解對方或和對方建立聯絡***。

　　3. Converse, not debate ***or argue***.

　　交談而不是辯論***爭吵***

　　A conversation should be a platform where opinions are aired, not a battle ground to pit one’s stance against another. Be ready to chat, discuss, and trash out ideas, but do so amiably. There’s no need to have a conclusion or agreement point in every discussion; if a convergence has to be met with everything that is mooted, the conversation would be very draining. Allow for things to be left open-ended if a common point can’t be achieved.

　　談話應該是交流觀點的平臺，而不是一對一的硝煙戰場。準備交談、談論和清理想法，態度要和藹。沒有必要每次討論都要下結論或達成一致。如果每次都談有爭議的內容，那麼談話會非常吃力。如果無法達到共識，可以讓事物處於開放狀態。

　　4. Respect.

　　尊重

　　don’t impose, criticize, or judge. Respect other people’s point of view. Respect other people’s space—don’t encroach on the person’s privacy unless a common bond has been established. Respect other people’s personal choices—don’t criticize or judge. Everyone has his/her right to be him/herself, just as you have the right to be yourself.

　　不要強加、批評或評判。尊重他人的觀點，尊重他人的空間——不要侵犯他人的隱私除非建立了共同的聯絡;尊重他人的個人選擇——不要批評或評判。每個人都有自己的權利成為他/她自己， 就像你有權利成為你自己一樣。

　　5. Put the person in his/her best light.

　　看別人最好的方面

　　Always look for ways to make the person look good. Give credit where credit is due. Recognize talent where you see it. Drop compliments where appropriate. Allow the person to shine in his/her own light.

　　總是去看別人好的一面。該讚美時就讚美。看到才能要識別出來。在適當的時候對別人加以讚美。讓別人展出自己最好的一面。

　　6. Embrace differences while building on commonalities.

　　求同存異

　　Everyone is different. At the same time, there are always commonalities across people. For the differences, embrace them. They make all of us unique. Agree to disagree if there are clashes in ideas.As you talk to the other person, look for commonalities between you and him/her.

　　每個人都是不同的。在同一時刻，人們都有著共性。對不同之處，要加以擁抱。正是這些不同之處才讓我們每個人都獨一無二。如果想法有衝突，則求同存異。當你和他人交談時，尋找你和他/她的共同之處。

　　Once you find a common link, build on it. Use that as a platform to spin off more discussions which will then reveal more about both of you. For the new commonalities that get unveiled, build on them further.

　　一旦你找到了共同的地方，在它上面建造你們的關係。把它作為一個平臺，進行更多的討論，這樣你們都會更好地瞭解彼此。對於發現的新的共同之處，可以在這個基礎上進一步交流。

　　7. Be true to yourself.

　　做真實的自己

　　Your best asset is your true personality. Don’t cover it up. It’ll be pretty boring if all you do is mime the other person’s words during a conversation; there wouldn’t be anything to discuss at all. Be ready to share your real thoughts and opinions ***not in a combative manner of course—see #3***. Be proud of what you stand for and be ready to let others know the real you.

　　你最好的資本是你真實的個性，不要把它掩蓋起來。如果你所做的就是在談話中模仿另一個人說話那會非常單調;根本就沒有什麼可以談論的。準備好分享自己真實的想法和觀點***不要用好鬥的方式——參見#3***。對自己的立場感到自豪，並讓別人認識真正的你。

　　8. 50-50 sharing.

　　50-50分享

　　I always think that a great conversation should be made up of equal sharing by both parties. Sometimes it may be 40-60 or 60-40 depending on the circumstances, but by and large, both parties should have equal opportunities to share and contribute to the conversation.What this means is that you should be sensitive enough to pose questions to the other party if you have been talking for a while.

　　我總是在想，好的談話應當是由雙方共同分享組成的。根據環境，有時可能是40-60，有時可能是60-40，但是總的來說，雙方應該有平等的機遇來分享和參與談話。也就是說你應該足夠敏感，如果你已經說了一會兒了，應該能夠對對方提出問題。

　　It also means that you should take the initiative to share more about yourself if the other party has been sharing for the most part. Just because the person doesn’t ask doesn’t mean you can’t share; sometimes people don’t pose questions because it is not in their natural self to do so.

　　這也意味著如果大部分的內容是由對方分享的，那你應該主動分享自己的想法。別人不問不代表這你不能分享;有時人們不問問題是因為他們天生不願這樣做。

　　9. Ask purposeful questions.

　　詢問有意義的問題

　　Questions elicit answers. The kind of questions you ask will steer the direction of the conversation. To have a meaningful conversation with the other person, ask meaningful questions. Choose questions like, “What drives you in life?”, “What are your goals for the next year?” and “What inspired you to make this change?” over “What did you do yesterday?” and “What are you going to do later?”.

　　問題會引出答案。你問的問題代表著談話的方向。要想和他人有有意義的談話，就得問有意義的問題。可以選擇這樣的問題，如“在生活中什麼事情激勵著你前行?”,”你明年的目標是什麼?”以及“什麼讓你做出這樣的改變?”，而不是問“昨天你做了什麼?”、“一會兒你要做什麼?”

　　Some people may not be ready to take on conscious questions, and that’s fine. Start off with the simple, trivial, everyday questions as you build a rapport. Then, get to know the person better through deeper, more revealing questions—when you think the person is ready to share.

　　有些人可能不想回答意識層面的問題，沒關係。從簡單、瑣碎的、日常的問題開始，逐步建立關係。然後，通過進一步、更加揭露性的問題來更好地瞭解對方——當你認為對方已經願意分享時。

　　10. Give and take.

　　給予和接受

　　Sometimes people say pretty weird stuff during conversations. For example, a critical comment here and there, a distasteful remark, and a bad joke. Don’t judge them for those comments; treat these blurts as Freudian slips. Usually I just laugh or shrug it off; it makes for funny conversation banter.

　　有時人們在談話時會說一些很奇怪的內容。例如，到處都有批評的評論、令人反感的話、糟糕的笑話。不要因為他們的那些評論而對他們加以評判;把這些脫口而出的話看成是弗洛伊德口誤。通常情況下我只是笑笑或聳聳肩;它也使得談話輕鬆有趣。