英语美文背诵 什么使我胸怀宽广

What Makes Me Feel Big

J. Frank Dobie

“My mind is big when I look at you and talk to you,” Chief Eagle of the Pawnees said to George Bird Grinnell when, after years of absence, that noble writer appeared at his friend’s tepee.

It is very difficult in drawing up a credo to be severely¹ honest about one’s self, to avoid all traditional cant². We actually believe in what we value most. Outside of the realms of carnality and property, which men appearing in public generally pretend not to notice, I believe in and draw nourishment³ from whatever makes me feel big.

I believe in a Supreme⁴ Power, unknowable and impersonal⁵, whose handiwork the soul-enlarging firmament⁶ declares. However, I believe in questionings, doubtings, searchings, skepticism, and I discredit⁷ credulity or blind faith. The progress of man is based on disbelief of the commonly accepted. The noblest minds and natures of human history have thought and sung, lived and died, trying to budge⁸ the status quo towards a larger and fuller status.

I am sustained by a belief in evolution—the increasing purpose of life in which the rational is, with geological slowness, evolving out of the irrational⁹. To believe that goodness and wisdom and righteousness, in Garden of Eden perfection, lie somewhere far ahead instead of farther and farther behind, gives me hope and somewhat explains existence. This is a long view. I do not pretend that it is a view always present in me. It does raise me when I have it, however.

I feel no resentment¹⁰ so strongly as that against forces which make men and women afraid to speak out forthrightly¹¹. The noblest satisfaction I have is in witnessing the up movement of suppressed individuals and people. I make no pretense¹² to having rid myself of all prejudices, but at times when I have discovered myself freed from certain prejudices, I have felt rare exhilaration.

For me, the beautiful resides in the physical, but it is spiritual. I have never heard a sermon as spiritual in either phrase or fact as, “Waters on a starry¹³ night are beautiful and free.” No hymn¹⁴ lifts my heart higher than the morning call of the bobwhite or the long fluting¹⁵ cry of sandhill cranes out of the sky at dusk. I have never smelled incense¹⁶ in a church as refining to the spirit as a spring breeze laden¹⁷ with aroma¹⁸ from a field of bluebonnets.

Not all hard truths are beautiful, but beauty is truth. It incorporates love and is incorporated by love. It is the goal of all great art. Its presence everywhere makes it free to all. It is not so abstract as justice, but beauty and intellectual freedom and justice, all incorporating truth and goodness, are constant sustainers to my mind and spirit.

什么使我胸怀宽广

J.弗兰克.多比

并非所有坚定的真理都是美好的，但“美即是真”。所有伟大的艺术都追求这样的目标，即美融合爱，也被爱所融合。它无处不在，唾手可得。

在离开朋友波尼族印第安人首领雄鹰的兽皮帐篷几年后，作家乔治.伯德.格林又回到那里。这位首领对他高尚的朋友说：“凝视着你，与你交谈，让我感到心胸宽广。”

我们很难为自己拟出一个既能严格遵守又能避免传统教条的信念。事实上，我们最为珍视的东西便是我们的信仰。除了人们在公共场合总会假装视而不见的俗念与财产之外，所有能让我胸怀宽广的都是我的信仰，它们是我力量的源泉。

我相信有一种至高无上且无法控制的未知力量，它的创造，宣告了灵魂拥有无限伸展的空间。然而，我也相信询问、质疑、探索与怀疑，但拒绝轻信或盲从的信仰。人类的进步是基于对普遍接受的质疑。人类历史上，拥有最高尚思想的人们曾经思考过，歌唱过，生活过，最终离去，他们也曾努力扩展并充实现状。我始终相信进化论，即生活目的在不断增加，而其中从非理性到理性的进化时间就像地质变化一样漫长。我相信，伊甸园中完美的善良、智慧与正义就在遥远的前方，给予我希望，并或多或少地解释了生存的意义。这是一个长远的观点。我不会假装认为，自己始终拥有这样的观点。然而，当我拥有它时，我的灵魂的确得到了升华。

使人不敢坦诚言论的势力，是我最为憎恨的。当看到受压迫的个人与民族奋起反抗时，我便会心生敬慕，感到满足。我并不伪称自己已经摒弃了所有的偏见，但有时当我发现自己摆脱了某些偏见时，我就会狂喜不已。

我认为，美虽然存在于肉体，但却属于精神。我从未听说过，有哪句布道词能从言辞或事实上表现出这样的精神美：

“夜晚繁星点点，湖水自由荡漾。”

北美鸠清晨的鸣唱或黄昏时天空中沙丘鹤笛鸣般的长吟，是任何赞美诗都无法媲美的。柔和的春风中弥漫着田野间矢车菊的芳香，让我的灵魂也更加高尚，这是教堂中任何焚香都无法比拟的。并非所有坚定的真理都是美好的，但“美即是真”。所有伟大的艺术都追求这样的目标，即美融合爱，也被爱所融合。它无处不在，唾手可得。它不像正义那样抽象，但美、心智的自由及正义，都与真与善融合，这便是我思想与精神的永恒支柱。

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 cant   

n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔

参考例句：

• The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
• He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。

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 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

6 firmament   

n.苍穹；最高层

参考例句：

• There are no stars in the firmament.天空没有一颗星星。
• He was rich,and a rising star in the political firmament.他十分富有，并且是政治高层一颗冉冉升起的新星。

7 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

8 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

9 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

10 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

11 forthrightly   

ad.言行坦诚地，直率地

参考例句：

• Didn't prevaricate but answered forthrightly and honestly. 毫不欺骗而是坦言相告。
• However in the economic production function that how knowledge contains a level forthrightly? 然而知识如何直接地包含到标准的经济生产函数中？

12 pretense   

n.矫饰，做作，借口

参考例句：

• You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
• Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。

13 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

14 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。

15 fluting   

有沟槽的衣料； 吹笛子； 笛声； 刻凹槽

参考例句：

• Fluting andsing ing are heard all night. 笙歌不夜。
• The slaves were fluting the pillars of the temples. 奴隶们正在庙宇的柱子上刻凹槽。

16 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

17 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

18 aroma   

n.香气，芬芳，芳香

参考例句：

• The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee.满屋子都是咖啡的香味。
• The air was heavy with the aroma of the paddy fields.稻花飘香。