英语名篇诵读 让个性绽放异彩

Add Luster¹ to Your Personality

让个性绽放异彩

In the eternal universe, every human being has a one-off chance to live — his existence is

unique and irretrievable , for the mold with which he was made was broken by God

immediately afterwards.

Fame, wealth and knowledge are merely worldly possessions that are within the reach of

anybody striving for them. But your experience of and feelings about life are your own and not to

be shared. No one can live your life over again after your death. A full awareness² of this will point

out to you that the most important thing in your existence is your distinctive³ individuality or

something special of yours. What really counts is not your worldly success but your peculiar⁴

insight into the meaning of life and your commitment to it, which add luster to your

personality.

It is not easy to be what one really is. There is many a person in the world who can be

identified as anything — either his job, his status or his social role — that shows no trace about

his individuality. It does do him justice to say that he has no identity of his own, if he doesn't

know his own mind and all his things are either arranged by others or done on others' suggestions;

if his life, always occupied by external things, is completely void of an inner world. You won't

be able to find anything whatever, from head to heart, that truly belongs to him. He is, indeed, no

more than a shadow cast by somebody else or a machine capable of doing business.

在永恒的宇宙中，每个人都仅有一次生存的机会——他的存在是独特的，不可重复再

现的，因为创造了他之后，上帝随即就打碎了那个属于他的特定模子。

名誉、财富和知识都只是世俗的东西，任何人努力就能得到。而你的人生经历和感受

才是你的私有财产，不能分享。你死后，谁也不能从头过一遍你的生活。充分认识到这一

点，你就会知道，你生命中最重要的东西就是你独特的个性，或者某种专属于你的东西。

真正重要的不是你世俗的成功，而是你对生命意义的真知灼见和你对生之义务的认真履

行，这些都使你的个性绽放异彩。

做真正的自我并非易事。世间有许许多多的人，可以通过多种途径去识别他——要么

他的工作、他的地位，要么他的社会角色——这显示不出他的独特个性。说他不是他自

己，这很公正，如果他不知道自己的所思所想，所有的东西要么都是别人安排的，要么都

是按别人的指点做的，如果他的生活，总是塞满了外部事务，完全没有自己的内心世界。

你从头到脚也找不到任何真正属于他的东西。说真的，他只不过是别人的一个影子或一个

办事的机器。

1 luster   

n.光辉；光泽，光亮；荣誉

参考例句：

• His great books have added luster to the university where he teaches.他的巨著给他任教的大学增了光。
• Mercerization enhances dyeability and luster of cotton materials.丝光处理扩大棉纤维的染色能力，增加纤维的光泽。

2 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

4 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。