TED演讲：温和的成功哲学(8)

 　　Our heroes are human heroes. That's a very new situation. 我们的英雄是人类。这是一个崭新的情况。

　　Most other societies have had, right at their center, the worship of something transcendent: 历史中大部分的社会重心都是敬拜一位人类以外的灵体，

　　a god, a spirit, a natural force, the universe, whatever it is -- something else that is being worshiped. 神、自然力、宇宙，总之是人类以外的什么。我们逐渐失去了这种习惯。

　　We've slightly lost the habit of doing that, which is, I think, why we're particularly drawn¹ to nature. 我想这也是我们越来越被大自然吸引的原因。

　　Not for the sake of our health, though it's often presented that way, but because it's an escape from the human anthill. 虽然我们时常显示是为了健康，但我不这么认为，我认为是为了逃避人群的蚁丘。

　　It's an escape from our own competition, and our own dramas. 逃避人们的疯狂竞争，我们的戏剧化。

　　And that's why we enjoy looking at glaciers² and oceans, and contemplating³ the Earth from outside its perimeters⁴, etc. 这便是为什么我们如此喜欢看海、观赏冰山，从外太空观赏地球等等。

　　We like to feel in contact with something that is non-human, and that is so deeply important to us. 我们希望重新和那些“非人类”的事物有所连接，那对我们来说很重要。

　　What I think I've been talking about really is success and failure. 我一直在谈论成功和失败。

　　And one of the interesting things about success is that we think we know what it means. 成功的有趣之处是我们时常以为我们知道成功是什么。

　　If I said that there's somebody behind the screen who's very successful, certain ideas would immediately come to mind. 如果我现在说，这个屏幕后面站着一个非常成功的人，你心里马上就会产生一些想法。

　　You'd think that person might have made a lot of money, achieved renown⁵ in some field. 你会想，这个人可能很有钱，在某些领域赫赫有名。

　　My own theory of success -- I'm somebody who's very interested in success, 我对成功的理解是，首先我是一个对成功非常有兴趣的人，

　　I really want to be successful, always thinking, how can I be more successful? 我想要成功，我总是想着“要怎样我才能更成功？”

　　But as I get older, I'm also very nuanced about what that word "success" might mean. 但当我渐渐长大，我越来越疑惑究竟什么是“成功”的真正意义。

　　Here's an insight that I've had about success: You can't be successful at everything. 我对成功有一些观察，你不可能在所有事情上成功。

　　We hear a lot of talk about work-life balance. Nonsense. You can't have it all. You can't. 我们常听到有关工作和休闲的平衡。鬼话。你不可能全部拥有。你就是不能。

　　So any vision of success has to admit what it's losing out on, where the element of loss is. 所有对成功的想象，必须承认他们同时也失去了一些东西，放弃了一些东西。

　　And I think any wise life will accept, as I say, that there is going to be an element where we're not succeeding. 我想一个智者能接受，如我所说，总是有什么是我们得不到的。

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

3 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

4 perimeters   

周边( perimeter的名词复数 )； 周围； 边缘； 周长

参考例句：

• Examples include outdoor perimeters, traffic monitoring, tunnels, and car parks. 例子像户外围墙；交通监视；隧道和停车场。

5 renown   

n.声誉，名望

参考例句：

• His renown has spread throughout the country.他的名声已传遍全国。
• She used to be a singer of some renown.她曾是位小有名气的歌手。