英语名篇诵读 培养一种业余爱好（在线收听）

Cultivating a Hobby

培养一种业余爱好

Winston Churchill(温斯顿·丘吉尔)

The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is a policy of the first importance to a

public man. But this is not a business that can be undertaken in a day or swiftly improvised by a

mere command of the will. The growth of mental interests is a long process. The seeds must be

carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, if the fruits

are to be at hand when needed.

To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they

must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say: “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such

an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of

topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet get hardly any benefit or relief. It is no use doing

what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided

into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are

bored to death. It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week's sweat and

effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use

inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying

about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.

It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two

classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose

work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations

. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of

sustenance , but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But

Fortune's favoured children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them

the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays, when they

come, are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vacation. Yet to both classes, the

need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential.

Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means

of banishing it at intervals from their minds.

培养一种业余爱好和新型的兴趣对于从事社会活动的人来说是首要的方略。但这不是

一日之功，也不是单凭意志一蹴而就的事。心智兴趣的培养是一个长期的过程。种子必须

精心挑选，然后播撒到肥沃的土壤里，必须勤勉地护理，方能在需要之时随时采摘到果

实。

要想生活幸福、安宁，培养起两三种爱好是必要的，它们也必须是真正的爱好。人生

很晚时才开始培养兴趣，说“我要对这个或那个感兴趣”，这是没用的。这种想法只能加重

精神的紧张。一个人可能获得与其日常工作不相关的专题的丰富知识，而却不能从中得到

任何益处或身心放松。做你喜欢的事是没用的，你必须喜欢你所做的事。大致说来，人可

以分为三类：累死的人，愁死的人，烦死的人。一个体力劳动者，辛辛苦苦干了一周的重

活，疲惫不堪，给他个机会让他周六下午去踢足球或打棒球，这是没用的。政治家、专业

人士或商人，一连六天都在忙碌或为重大事情忧心，邀请他在周末干点或想点鸡毛蒜皮的

小事，这也是没用的。

也可以这样说，理性、勤劳而有用的人可以分为两类：其一，工作和娱乐泾渭分明

者；其二，视工作为乐趣者。前者占大多数。他们都有回报。办公室或工厂里的长时间工

作，带给他们的报偿不仅是维持生计的收入，而且还有对乐趣的强烈渴望，哪怕是以最简

单和最朴素的形式。但是天之骄子属于第二类。他们的生活是自然的和谐。对于他们，工

作时间从来不会太长。每一天都是节假日，而当平常的节假日到来时，他们会抱怨自己饶

有兴趣的假期被强行中断了。然而，对这两种人来说，都需要转换一下视角，改变一下氛

围，转移一下注意力，这些都是必不可少的。事实上，那些视工作为乐趣的人，最需要想

办法时不时地把工作从头脑中驱逐出去。