英语名篇诵读 自爱

Love of Self

自爱

When I was young, I thought that to love oneself was vanity and not a virtuous¹ trait. As I

have grown older, that belief has passed away, as have so many others. There is a vast deviation²

between being vain and loving oneself.

We are all in this world together striving for more or less the same things. To contribute and

have our lives count for something. To love and be loved, to laugh and...yes, to cry.

We seek shelter, nourishment³, a mate, warmth, clothing, family, friends; we seek approval,

love and self-esteem. We are all imperfect. Often during our search we forget to simply enjoy

what life is. We become so caught up in what could have been, what should be, what might be,

that many of our days are lost. Let yesterday rest, live for today, hope and dream for your

tomorrows.

If there is some part of you that lessen⁴ your self-image, some part of you that prevents you

from loving yourself, change it, for only you can. Life is filled with things we have no control

over, but ourselves, we can control. You are the clay, you are the sculptor⁵ and you have the ability

to create a masterpiece. The shape and form are there. You have only to refine the work.

Is the task an easy one?No. There will be slips and flaws and you will be required to work

and rework just as a sculptor must rework the clay before the piece is completed. Should the

sculptor throw out the piece condemning⁶ it as worthless because of a blemish⁷ of nick?Of course

not, where then would all the world's treasured art be?I doubt we would have any. How many

masterpieces do you think have been created in one swoop⁸ , a first effort completely successful

without error, without change?Is it possible we fail to see that mankind is the most marvelous of

all works of art?A living, continuous, developing work of art.

How often have you heard the question“what is the human race coming to?”The answer, in

my mind at least, is whatever we make it, for we are the weavers⁹ of tomorrow. You are a treasure,

beyond price, one of a kind, irreplaceable . Not perfect but well on your way to be a

masterpiece. Do not let your yesterdays hinder tomorrow's achievements.

年轻时，我以为爱自己是虚荣，不是一种美德。随着年龄的增长，这种想法没有了，

正如许多其他想法没有了一样。虚荣和爱自己有着天壤之别。

在这个世界上，我们都在一起为大致相同的东西奋斗着。有所贡献，让我们的生命富

有价值。爱与被爱，笑，嗯，……是的，还有哭。

我们寻求居所、营养、伴侣、温暖、衣服、家庭、朋友；我们寻求赞许、爱和自尊。

我们都不是完人。在人生的追求中，我们时常忘了去享受生活本身的乐趣。我们的心中老

是纠结着本来会怎样、应该会怎样、可能会怎样，结果，白白浪费了许多时光。让昨天暂

且释怀，为今天而活着，怀着希望，勾画明天。

如果你自身有什么东西有损你的形象，有什么东西妨碍你爱自己，改变它，因为只有

你能够改变。生活中充满了我们控制不了的东西，但是我们能够控制自己。你是泥土，也

是雕塑家，有能力创造一个杰作。形态就在那里，你只需要对作品进行完善。

这项任务容易吗？不。会有失误和瑕疵，需要你孜孜不倦，日复一日地潜心打造，正

像一位雕塑家那样精心雕塑一块泥巴，直到圆满完成。难道雕塑家会因为一个裂口疤痕就

把成品扔掉，说它毫无价值吗？当然不是，否则世界上哪里还会有那么多珍贵的艺术品？

如果是的话，我怀疑我们一件也不会有。你认为有多少杰作没出过差错，没做过修改，是

一蹴而就，一举成功的？我们也许都没明白，人其实是所有艺术品中最了不起的杰作吧。

人是有生命力的、生生不息的、不断发展的艺术品。

你多少次听说过“人类要成什么样子”这个问题？在我看来，答案起码是：我们想成什

么样就成什么样，因为我们是未来的编织人。你是一块珍宝，无价之宝，独一无二，无可

替代。你并不完美，但却即将成为一件杰作。切莫让昨天妨碍你明天的成就。

1 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

2 deviation   

n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题

参考例句：

• Deviation from this rule are very rare.很少有违反这条规则的。
• Any deviation from the party's faith is seen as betrayal.任何对党的信仰的偏离被视作背叛。

3 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

4 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

5 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

6 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 blemish   

v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点

参考例句：

• The slightest blemish can reduce market value.只要有一点最小的损害都会降低市场价值。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

8 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

9 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。