名校励志英语演讲 18:失败的额外收益和想象力的重要性

 　　So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena¹ I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

　　那么我为什么要谈论失败的收益呢？很简单，因为失败意味着剔除那些无关紧要的东西。我因此不再伪装自己，我把所有的精力倾注在对我来说很重要的事情上。如果我真的在其他领域取得了成功，或许我永远不会下定决心在我确信真正属于我的舞台上取得成功。我得到了解脱，因为虽然我害怕的事情发生了，但我还活着，我还有一个我深爱的女儿，一台旧打字机和一个了不起的想法。所以人生的低谷是我重新开始生活的坚实基础。

　　You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable². It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.

　　你们也许不会败得像我一样惨，但人生中有些失败是不可避免的。人生中不可能没有失败，除非你们活的过于拘谨，这样倒还不如根本没在世上活过，因为在这种情况下，放弃尝试的权力就是你们最大的失败。

　　Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained³ by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies⁴.

　　失败赋予我内心一种安全感。这种安全感是我无法从通过考试中获得的。失败让我了解了自己，这也是无法通过其他途径做到的。经历失败让我发现我有坚强的意志力，比我想象的更有自律性。我还发现，我拥有比宝石更加珍贵的朋友。

　　stripping

　　n. 剥离；剥脱

　　eg. It is accused of lacking transparency and stripping assets, often at the expense of jobs.

　　它被谴责缺少透明和剥离资产，经常只付出了创造工作机会这样的代价。

　　inessential

　　adj. 无关紧要的

　　eg. Make a pile for each different type of record, and use the opportunity to discard everything inessential.

　　将不同种类的记录分堆叠放，利用这个机会丢掉任何不重要的东西。

　　arena

　　n. 舞台

　　eg. The City is an entrepot, not an arena for national champions.

　　金融城是一个转口港，而不是全国冠军的舞台。

　　adore

　　vt. 爱慕；崇拜

　　eg. Her husband absolutely adored her.

　　她丈夫很爱慕她。

　　inevitable

　　adj. 必然的；不可避免的

　　eg. You'll have to bow to the inevitable.

　　你将不得不向不可避免的事态低头。

　　cautiously

　　adv. 慎重地

　　eg. The soldiers probed cautiously ahead of them for mines.

　　士兵们小心翼翼地探测前方的地雷。

　　by default

　　由于弃权而输掉

　　eg. The other team didn't arrive, so our team won by default.

　　由于对方球队未到,我队以其弃权而获胜。

1 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

2 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

3 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

4 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。