双语有声阅读：我的人生信仰

我终于意识到真正的幸福来自人的精神世界，来自人的心智与灵魂。诚然，在这个纷扰喧嚣的时世，想拥有宁静祥和的内心世界并非易事，这需要我们时常反省、冥思，还要自律。坦然直面自己实属不易。（你得有耐心，能体谅，只要可能，寻求上帝的帮助。）而一旦你的精神世界能真正远离暴风骤雨和阴风邪气的侵犯，你必将获得无比丰厚的回报。

 

 

A Reporter Quotes His Sources

　　

It’s rather difficult in these noisy, confusing, nerve-racking days to achieve the peace of mind in which to pause for a moment to reflect on what you believe in. There’s so little time and opportunity to give it much thought—though it is the thing we live by; and without it, without beliefs, human existence today would hardly be bearable.

　　

My own view of life, like everyone else’s, is conditioned by personal experience. In my own case, there were two experiences, in particular, which helped to shape my beliefs: years of life and work under a totalitarian regime, and a glimpse of war.

　　

Living in a totalitarian land taught me to value highly—and fiercely—the very things the dictators denied: tolerance¹, respect for others and, above all, the freedom of the human spirit.

　　

A glimpse of war filled me with wonder not only at man’s courage and capacity for self-sacrifice, but at his stubborn, marvelous will to preserve, to endure, to prevail—amidst the most incredible savagery² and suffering. When you saw people—civilians—who where bombed out, or who, worse, had been hounded in the concentration camps or worked to a frazzle in the slave-labor gangs—when you saw them come out of these ordeals³ of horror and torture, still intact as human beings, with a will to go on, with a faith still in themselves, in their fellow man, and in God, you realized that man was indestructible. You appreciated, too, that despite the corruption⁴ and cruelty of life, man somehow managed to retain great virtues⁵: love, honor, courage, self-sacrifice, compassion⁶.

　　

It filled you with a certain pride just to be a member of the human race. It renewed your belief in your fellow men.

　　

Of course, there are many days (in this Age of Anxiety) when a human being feels awfully⁷ low and discouraged. I myself find consolation⁸ at such moments by two means: trying to develop a sense of history, and renewing the quest for inner life.

　　

I go back, for example, to reading Plutarch. He reminds you that even in the golden days of Greece and Rome, from which so much that is splendid in our own civilization derives⁹, there was a great deal of what we find so loathsome¹⁰ in life today: war, strife¹¹, corruption, treason, double-crossing, intolerance, tyranny, rabble-rousing. Reading history thus gives you perspective. It enables you to see your troubles relatively¹². You don’t take them so seriously then.

　　

Finally, I find that most true happiness comes from one’s inner life; from the disposition¹³ of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation. And self-discipline. One must be honest with oneself, and that’s not easy. (You have to have patience and understanding. And, when you can, seek God.)

　　

But the reward of having an inner life, which no outside storm or evil turn of fortune can touch, is, it seems to me, a very great one.

 

我的人生信仰

 

威廉.L.夏伊勒

 

在这个喧哗纷乱、人的精神处于极度紧张的年代，能够静下心来，休息片刻，思考一下自己的人生信仰是极不容易的。因为人们既没有时间也没有机会好好考虑这个问题——尽管信仰乃是生活之基准，没有它，没有信仰，人类社会将让人不堪忍受。

 

人的人生观取决于个人经历，我的也是如此。就我而言，有两种经历对我信仰的形成极为关键：一是多年在极权统治下生活和工作，一是有战争的短暂经历。

 

生活在极权统治的国家，得不到宽容，受不到尊重，尤其是人的精神自由都被独裁者剥夺，这使我倍觉它们的可贵。

 

战争的短暂经历让我对纷飞战火中人民奋起抗争、勇于牺牲的精神惊叹不已；更让我钦佩的则是人民在野蛮暴政之下和水深火热之中顽强的求生意志和必胜的信心。如果你目睹人民——那些平民——由于战火而流离失所，甚至于在集中营备受摧残或是在劳工营疲惫不堪，如果你目睹他们在经历这些恐怖与磨难后仍然未失去人类的尊严，未失去生活的勇气，未失去对自己、对同胞、对上帝的信念，你就会明白人类是坚不可摧的。你也会赞叹，生活中尽管有堕落与暴行，人类仍能以某种方式保留这些美德——充满爱心、满怀荣耀、仁慈英勇、敢于牺牲。

 

你会因身为人类的一员而感到一种荣耀，也会对自己的同胞重拾信心！

 

当然，生活在这样一个“焦虑的年代”，我们常常也会情绪低落、意志消沉。此时，我会试着从史书中寻求慰藉，或是踏上新的精神之旅。

 

例如，我重读普卢塔克的《希腊罗马名人比较列传》，从中可以看出，战乱动荡、暴君苛政并非当世之灾，背信弃义、危言惑世亦非时人之弊；即使在我们辉煌文明之源的古希腊古罗马黄金时代，这些灾祸也无法避免。读史可以开阔视野，使我们不会孤立地看待世间纷扰，不必终日惶惶不安。

 

我终于意识到真正的幸福来自人的精神世界，来自人的心智与灵魂。诚然，在这个纷扰喧嚣的时世，想拥有宁静祥和的内心世界并非易事，这需要我们时常反省、冥思，还要自律。坦然直面自己实属不易。（你得有耐心，能体谅，只要可能，寻求上帝的帮助。）而一旦你的精神世界能真正远离暴风骤雨和阴风邪气的侵犯，你必将获得无比丰厚的回报。

 

附注：

威廉·夏伊勒：是一名驻外记者、广播评论员。

1 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

2 savagery   

n.野性

参考例句：

• The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
• They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。

3 ordeals   

n.严峻的考验，苦难的经历( ordeal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• London had stood triumphant through all her ordeals. 伦敦在经历考验之后仍巍然屹立。 来自辞典例句
• He's come through some bad personal ordeals. 他个人经历了一些沉痛的考验。 来自辞典例句

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

6 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

7 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

8 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

9 derives   

v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• English derives in the main from the common Germanic stock. 英语主要源于日耳曼语系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derives his income from freelance work. 他以自由职业获取收入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 loathsome   

adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的

参考例句：

• The witch hid her loathsome face with her hands.巫婆用手掩住她那张令人恶心的脸。
• Some people think that snakes are loathsome creatures.有些人觉得蛇是令人憎恶的动物。

11 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

12 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。

13 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。