展现自我有关的美文
优美的双语散文十六篇
1、What I Have Lived For
Bertrand Russell
Three passions,simple but overwhelmingly strong,have governed my
life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable
pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds,
have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep
ocean of anguish, reaching to the verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy --- ecstasy
so great that I would have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few
hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves
loneliness --- that terrible loneliness in which one shivering
consciousness looks over the rim of the world into cold unfathomable
lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of
love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of
the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I
sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is
what --- at last --- I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to
understand the hearts of men, I have wished to know why the stars
shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which
number holds away above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I
have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward
toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes
of cries of pain reverberated in my heart. Children in famine,
victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden
to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain
make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the
evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and I would
gladly live it again if the chance were offered to me.
我为何而活
伯兰特.罗素
三种简单却极其强烈的情感主宰着我的生活：对爱的渴望、对知识的追求、对人类痛苦的难以承受的怜悯之心。这三种情感，像一阵阵飓风一样，任意地将我吹的飘来荡去，越过痛苦的海洋，抵达绝望的彼岸。
我寻找爱，首先，因为它令人心醉神迷，这种沉醉是如此美妙，以至于我愿意用余生来换取那几个小时的快乐。我寻找爱，其次是因为它会减轻孤独，置身于那种可怕的孤独中，颤抖的灵魂在世界的边缘，看到冰冷的、死寂的、无底深渊。我寻找爱，还因为在爱水乳交融时，在一个神秘的缩影中，我见到了先贤和诗人们所想象的、预览的天堂。
这就是我所追求的，尽管对于凡人来说，这好像是一种奢望。但这是我最终找到的。
我曾以同样的热情来追求知识。我希望能理解人类的心灵，希望能知道为什么星星会发光。我也曾经努力理解毕达哥拉斯学派的理论，他们认为数字主载着万物的此消彼长。我了解了一点知识，但是不多。
爱和知识，可以最大可能地，将人带入天堂。可是，怜悯总是将我带回地面。人们因痛苦而发出的哭声在我心中久久回响，那些饥荒中的孩子们，被压迫者摧残的受害者们，被子女视为可憎负担的、无助的老人们，以及那无处不在的孤单、贫穷和无助都在讽刺着人类所本应该有的生活。我渴望能够消除人世间的邪恶，可是力不从心，我自己也同样遭受着它们的折磨。
这就是我的生活。我觉得活一场是值得的。如果给我机会的话，我愿意开心地，再活一次。
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伯兰特.罗素（1872-1970）,英国著名哲学家、数学家和文学家。他在多个领域都取得了巨大成就。他所著的《西方的智慧》、《西方哲学史》对中国读者影响很大。
2、Man Is Here For The Sake of Other Men
Albert Einstein
Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a
short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a
purpose.
From the standpoint of daily life, however,there is one thing we
do know that man is here for the sake of other men --- above all for
those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and
also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are
connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much
my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow
men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in
order to give in return as much as I have received. My peace of mind
is often troubled by the depressing sense that I have borrowed too
heavily from the work of other men.
To ponder interminably over the reason for one’s own existence or
the meaning of life in general seems to me, from an objective point
of view, to be sheer folly. And yet everyone holds certain ideals by
which he guides his aspiration and his judgment. The ideals which
have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are
goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort and happiness
has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis
would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.
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人是为了别人而活着
阿尔伯特.爱因斯坦
我们在这个世界上的处境是奇怪的：每个人，都是来做一次短暂的访问，不知道是为了什么。不过有时似乎也会觉察到有某种目的。
但是从平日的生活来看，有一件事情我们是很清楚的：我们是为别人而活，最重要的是为了这些人活：他们的笑容和幸福构成了我们快乐的源泉。同时，我们活着还为了另外无数个不相识的生命，怜悯之心，将我们同他们的命运联系起来。每天，很多次，我都会意识到我的肉体生活和精神生活很大程度上是建立在那些活着的，和死去的人们的工作之上的，意识到我必须诚挚地、竭尽全力地努力去回报我所得到的东西。我经常心绪不宁，感觉自己从别人的工作里承袭了太多，这种感觉让我惴惴不安。
总体上在我看来，从客观的角度，没完没了地思考自己为什么会存在，或者是生命有什么意义，是非常愚蠢的行为。不过，每个人都有一些理想，来指引着自己的抱负和辨别是非。始终在我面前闪耀着光芒，并且让我充满活着的喜悦的理想，是善、美和真理。对我来说，以舒适和享乐为目标的生活从来没有吸引力。以这些目标为基础建立起来的一套伦理观点只能满足一群牲畜的需要。
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阿尔伯特.爱因斯坦（1879-1955）,美国籍犹太人，20世纪最伟大的科学家。1921年获诺贝尔物理学奖。他一生崇尚科学与民主，追求真理和光明，毕生致力于国际和平事业。
3、Work and Pleasure
Winston Churchill
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 hardly get 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
vocation. 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.
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工作和娱乐
温斯顿.丘吉尔
要想获得真正的快乐与安宁，一个人应该有至少两三种爱好，而且必须是真正的爱好。到晚年才说“我对什么什么有兴趣”是没用的，这只会徒然增添精神负担。一个人可以在自己工作之外的领域获得渊博的知识，不过他可能几乎得不到什么好处或是消遣。做你喜欢的事是没用的，你必须喜欢你所做的事。总的来说，人可以分为三种：劳累而死的、忧虑而死的、和烦恼而死的。对于那些体力劳动者来说，经历了一周精疲力竭的体力劳作，周六下午让他们去踢足球或者打棒球是没有意义的。而对那些政治家、专业人士或者商人来说，他们已经为严肃的事情操劳或烦恼六天了，周末再让他们为琐事劳神也是没有意义的。
也可以说，那些理性的、勤勉的、有价值的人们可分为两类，一类，他们的工作就是工作，娱乐就是娱乐；而另一类，他们的工作即娱乐。大多数人属于前者，他们得到了相应的补偿。长时间在办公室或工厂里的工作，回报给他们的不仅是维持了生计，还有一种强烈的对娱乐的需求，哪怕是最简单的、最朴实的娱乐。不过，命运的宠儿则属于后者。他们的生活很自然和谐。对他们来说，工作时间永远不嫌长。每天都是假日，而当正常的假日来临时，他们总是埋怨自己所全身心投入的休假被强行中断了。不过，有些事情对两类人是同样至关重要的，那就是转换一下视角、改变一下氛围、将精力转移到别的事情上。确实，对那些工作即是娱乐的人来说，最需要隔一段时间就用某种方式把工作从脑子里面赶出去。
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温斯顿.丘吉尔（1874-1965）, 英国政治家、作家。二战中曾两任英国首相，为二战胜利立下汗马功劳。他在文学上也有很深的造诣，1953年获诺贝尔文学奖。
4、An Illusion
William S. Maugham
It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who
have lost it; but the young know they are wretched, for they are
full of the truthless ideals which have been instilled into them,
and each time they come in contact with the real they are bruised
and wounded. It looks as if they were victims of a conspiracy; for
the books they read, ideal by the necessity of selection, and the
conversation of their elders, who look back upon the past through a
rosy haze of forgetfulness, prepare them for an unreal life.
They must discover for themselves that all they have read and all
they have been told are lies, lies, lies; and each discovery is
another nail drivens into the body on the cross of life. The strange
thing is that each one who has gone through that bitter
disillusionment add to it in his turn,, unconsciously, by the power
within him which is stronger than himself.
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一种错觉
威廉. S. 毛姆
认为青春是快乐的，这是一种错觉，是那些失去了青春的人的一种错觉。年轻人知道，自己是不幸的，他们脑子里充斥了被灌输的不切实际的想法，每次与现实接触时，都会碰的头破血流。似乎，他们是某种阴谋的牺牲者：那些他们所读过的精挑细选的书，那些长辈们谈起的因遗忘而蒙上玫瑰色薄雾的往事，都为年轻人提供了一种不真实的生活。
他们必须自己发现，所有他们读到的、听到的东西，都是谎言、谎言、谎言。每一次的这样的发现，都像是另一根钉子钉入他们的身体，那被束缚在生活的十字架上的身体。可是奇怪的是，每个曾经被这种错觉折磨过的人，轮到他们时，有一种不可控制的力量，让他们不自觉地为别人增添这种错觉。
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威廉. S. 毛姆（1874-1965）,英国著名小说家、剧作家、散文家。原先攻读医学，后转而致力写作。他的文章常常在讥讽中潜藏着对人性的怜悯与同情。
5、The Wholeness of Life
Anonymous
Once a circle missed a wedge. The circle wanted to be whole, so it
went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was
incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the
flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the
sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit.
So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching.
Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so
happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated
the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a
perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice flowers
or talk to the worms. When it realized how different the world
seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece
by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
The lesson of the story, I suggested, was that in some strange
sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who
has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what
it feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream
of something better. He will never know the experience of having
someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or
never had.
There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with
his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his
unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so. There
is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she
is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, she can lose
someone and still feel like a complete person.
Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn us for
failing. Life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words
you’ve gotten right, you’re disqualified if you make one mistake.
Life is more like a baseball season, where even the best team loses
one third of its games and even the worst team has its days of
brilliance. Our goal is to win more games than we lose. When we
accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can
continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have
achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. That, I
believe, is what God asks of us --- not “Be perfect”, not “Don’t
even make a mistake”, but “Be whole”.
If we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous
enough to rejoice in another’s happiness, and wise enough to know
there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a
fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.
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人生的完整
佚名
从前有个圆圈，它丢失了一小段。它想变得完整，于是它到处寻找它所丢失的那部分。由于不完整，它只能滚的非常慢。在路上，它羡慕过花儿，它与虫子聊过天，它享受了阳光的照耀。它遇到过很多不同的小段，可是没有一个适合它。所以它把它们丢在路边，继续寻找。有一天，圆圈找到了可以与它完美结合的一小段，它非常高兴。它现在终于完整了，不缺任何东西了。它把丢失的那段装到自己身上，然后滚了起来。它现在是个完整的圆圈了，它可以滚的很快，，快到忽视了花儿，快到没有时间和虫子们说话。当它意识到由于它滚的太快，世界变得如此的不同时，它便停了下来，把找到的那段卸下丢在路边，慢慢地滚走了。
我想这个故事告诉我们，从某种奇怪的意义上说，当我们缺少什么东西时，我们反而是更完整的。一个拥有一切的人在某些方面也是个穷人，他永远不会知道什么是渴望、什么是期待；永远不知道用渴求更美好的东西来充实他的灵魂。他永远不会知道一个爱他人送给他一样他所梦寐以求的东西时是怎样的一种感觉。
人生的完整性，在于接受自己的缺陷，勇敢地丢弃不切实际的幻想，并且不觉得这样做是失败的；人生的完整性，在于知道自己足够强大，可以承受人生的苦难，可以在失去一个人时仍然觉得自己是完整的。
生活并不是上帝为了谴责我们的缺陷而设下的陷阱。人生也不是一场拼字比赛，无论你拼出了多少单词，只要拼错了一个你就前功尽弃了。人生更像一个棒球赛季，最好的球队也会丢掉三分之一的比赛，而最差的球队也有辉煌的胜利。我们的目标是让打赢的比赛比输掉的比赛多。当我们接受了“不完整性”是人生的一部分时，当我们在人生之路上不断前进并且欣赏生命之美时，我们就获得了别人只能渴望的完整的人生。我相信这就是上帝对我们的期望：不求“完美”，也不求“从来不犯错误”，而是追求人生的“完整”。
如果我们有足够的勇气去爱，足够强大的力量去原谅别人，足够的宽容因别人的快乐而快乐，并有足够的智慧去认识到我们身边充满着爱，我们就会得到其它生命所得不到的一种满足感。
6、The Two Roads
John Ruskin
It was New Year’s Night. An aged man was standing at a window. He
raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars
were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake.
Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than
himself now moved towards their certain goal --- the tomb. He had
already passed sixty of the stages leading to it, and he had brought
from his journey nothing but errors and remorse. Now his health was
poor, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of
comforts.
The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he
recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the
entrance of the two roads --- one leading to a peaceful, sunny
place, covered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet
songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless,
where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and poisonous
snakes hissed and crawled.
He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, “O youth, return! O
my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, and I’ll
choose the better way!” But both his father and the days of his
youth had passed away.
He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness. These were the
days of his wasted life; he saw a star fall down from the sky and
disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself. His remorse, which
was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he
remembered his friends in his childhood, who entered on life
together with him. But they had made their way to success and were
now honoured and happy on this New Year’s Night.
The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him
remember his parents’ early love for him. They had taught him and
prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way. With shame
and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his
father lived. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a
despairing effort, he burst out a cry: “ Come back, my early days!
Come back!”
And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he
had on New Year’s Night. He was still young though his faults were
real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still
free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.
Those who still linger on the entrance of life, hesitating to
choose the bright road, remember that when years are passed and your
feet stumble on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but in
vain: “O youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!”
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两条道路
约翰.罗斯金
那是一个除夕之夜，一位老人站在窗前。他悲伤地望着天空，望着深蓝色的天空，繁星像百合花一样漂浮在清澈平静的天空之湖里。他望着地面，却没有几个像他这样绝望的，奔向唯一的终点――坟墓的人。在通往生命终点的旅途中，他已经走过了六十个驿站，收获的却只有过失和悔恨。如今他的健康不佳，精神空虚，内心痛苦，晚年的生活并不舒适。
年轻的时光像梦一样在浮现在眼前，他回想起那个关键的时刻，父亲把他带到人生的岔路口，有两条路摆在他面前：一条通往一个宁静的、阳光灿烂的地方，那里满是花果，柔和甜美的歌手回响在空中；另一条却通往一个黑暗无底的洞穴，那里流淌的不是清水，而是毒汁，那里恶魔肆虐，毒蛇横行。
他仰望着天空，痛苦地哭喊道：“啊，青春，回来吧！啊，父亲，重新把我带到生命的起点吧，我会选择另一条更好的路！”可是，他的父亲连同青春，都已经离开他了。
他看到黑暗中点点光亮被吞没，那些是他虚度的日子；他看见一颗星星从天上坠落，消失了，那他的象征。悔恨，像一把锋利的剑，深深刺入他的心脏。他想起那些童年时的伙伴，那些同他一起踏上生命的旅途的人们，如今都是成功的、受人尊重的。此刻，他们都沉浸在除夕的幸福中。
教堂高塔上的钟声敲响了，这让他想起了小时父母的爱，那些谆谆教诲，那些他们为他的幸福所做的祷告。可是他选择了一条错误的路。羞愧和悲伤使他不敢再奢望父亲所居住的天堂。他昏暗的眼睛饱含了泪水，他绝望地奋力哭喊：“回来吧，我逝去的岁月！回来啊！”
不过这次他的青春真的回来了。因为所有这一切只不过是除夕夜他做的一场梦而已。他仍然年轻，尽管确实犯过错误，不过仍然没有进入那黑暗的洞穴，他仍然可以选择那条通往安宁和光明的道路。
正在人生路口徘徊，犹豫着是否选择光明之路的年轻人啊！请记住，当时光已逝，你的双脚在黑暗的山间举步维艰、跌跌撞撞的时候，你会痛苦地呼喊：“啊，青春！回来！啊，把我逝去的日子还给我吧！”可是，那一切都是没用的！
―――――――――――
约翰.罗斯金（1819-1900），维多利亚时期英国著名的作家和评论家。他父亲是位富商，经常带他到欧洲各地旅游，他从小就对建筑、艺术非常感兴趣，对美怀有强烈热望。他的主要作品有《现代画家》、《威尼斯的石头》等。在本文中他向人们揭示了选择正确人生道路的重要性和迫切性，引人深思。
7、Napoleon Bonaparte to Marie Josephine
Napoleon Bonaparte
Dear Marie,
I have your letter, my adorable love. It has filled my heart with
joy…since I left you I have been sad all the time.
My only happiness is near you. I go over endlessly in my thought
our kisses, your tears, your delicious jealousy. The charm of my
wonderful Josephine kindles a living, blazing fire in my heart and
senses. When shall I be able to pass every minute near you, with
nothing to do but to love you and nothing to think of but the
pleasure of telling you of it and giving you proof of it? I loved
you some time ago; since then I feel that I love you a thousand
times better. Ever since I have known you I adore you more every
day. That proves how wrong is that saying of La Bruyere “Love comes
all of a sudden.” Ah, let me see some of your faults: be less
beautiful, less graceful, less tender, less good. But never be
jealous and never shed tears. Your tears send me out of my mind ---
they set my very blood on fire. Believe me that it is utterly
impossible for me to have a single thought that is not yours, a
single fancy that is not Submissive to your will. Rest well. Restore
your health. Come back to me and then at any rate before we die we
ought to be able to say: “We were happy for so very many days!”
Millions of kisses even to your dog.
―――――――――――
拿破仑.波拿巴致玛莉.约瑟芬
拿破仑.波拿巴
亲爱的玛莉，
我收到你的信了，我可爱的宝贝。你的信让我的心充满了快乐……自从和你分开后，我就一直闷闷不乐。
我唯一的快乐就是陪在你身边。我脑子里不停地回想着我们的吻、你的泪、以及那甜蜜的醋意。我美妙的约瑟芬的魅力在我心中点燃了一团熊熊的火。我何时才能每时每刻都伴在你的身边，除了爱你什么都不做、除了告诉你和向你证明我有多爱你之外什么不想呢？不久之前我爱过你，自那以后，我感到我对你的爱增加了一千倍。自从我们相识以来，我一天比一天更加爱慕你。这证明了那句拉.布鲁耶尔所说的“爱总是突如其来”是多么错误。啊，让我来看看你的一些美中不足吧，但愿你能少几分优雅、少几分美丽，少几分温柔，少几分善良，但是坚决不要嫉妒，坚决不要掉眼泪。你的泪水会让我我神志不清――会点燃我的血。请相信我，如果我有一个念头不是你的，有哪个意愿不是顺从你的，这是根本不可能的事情。好好休息，养精蓄锐。回到我身边，那时我想不管怎样，我们在离开人世时都可以说：“我们曾经有过很多幸福的日子！”给你几百万个吻，也吻你的爱犬。
―――――――――――
拿破仑.波拿巴（1769-1821）,法国政治家、军事家。法兰西第一帝国和百日王朝的皇帝。曾率军征服了几乎整个欧洲。
8、For a Declaration of War against Japan
Franklin Roosevelt
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the
House of Representative,
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 --- a date which will live in infamy
--- United States of America, was suddenly and deliberately attacked
by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the
solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government
and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the
Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced
bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to
the Unites States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of
State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this
reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing
diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of
armed attack.
It will be recorded that distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it
obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even
weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has
deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements
and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe
damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you
that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American
ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San
Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against
Malaya.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Wake Island.
And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has therefore undertaken a surprise offensive extending
throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak
for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed
their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life
and safety of our nation.
As Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that
all measures be taken for our defense. But always, let our whole
nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated
invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win
through to absolute victory.
I believe that I interpret the will of Congress and of the people
when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the
uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery
shall never endanger us.
Hostilities exist, there is no blinking the fact that our people,
our territory, and our interest are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding
determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so
help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and
dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of
war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
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1941年12月7日，珍珠港受到日本偷袭，罗斯福于1941年12月8日在国会发表本篇演说，美国国会当天通过了向日本宣战的决定。
――――――――――――――――――――――
要求对日本宣战
富兰克林.罗斯福
副总统先生，议长先生，各位参议员和众议员们：
昨天，1941年12月7日，将永远是一个耻辱的日子——美利坚合众国遭到了日本帝国海空军部队蓄意的突然袭击。
美国过去与这个国家处于和平状态，并且在日本的请求下，仍然同该国政府和天皇进行对话，以期维持太平洋地区的和平。
事实上，就在日本空军中队开始轰炸美国的瓦湖岛一小时后，日本驻美国大使和他的同事还向我国国务卿提交了对最近一份我国致日本书的正式复函。虽然该复函声称看起来继续目前的外交谈判已毫无必要，却未包含任何有关战争或武装袭击的威胁或暗示。
应该记录在案的是，日本与夏威夷之间的距离足以表明这场战争在很多天甚至几个星期前就开始蓄意谋划了。而在此期间，日本政府故意用希望继续维持和平这样虚假的申明和表态来欺骗美国。
昨天日本对夏威夷群岛的袭击使美国海军和陆军军力遭受了严重的损失，我很遗憾地告诉诸位，战争夺去了很多美国人的生命。另外，据报告，在旧金山和檀香山之间的公海上的美国船只也遭到了鱼雷袭击。
昨天，日本对马来半岛发动了袭击。
昨晚，日本军队袭击了香港。
昨晚，日本军队袭击了关岛。
昨晚，日本军队袭击了菲律宾群岛。
昨晚，日本军队袭击了威克岛。
今天早晨，日本袭击了中途岛。
由此可见日本在太平洋区域已经开始了令人震惊的全面侵略扩张。昨天和今天的事实都已经证明了这点。美国人民对此已经有了自己的看法，并且很清楚这对我们民族的安全和存亡意味着什么。
作为海军和陆军总司令，我已经下令采取一切手段来进行防卫。同时，请我们整个民族都牢记这场针对我们的侵犯。
无论我们要花多长时间才能击溃这次有预谋的入侵，美国人民都终将凭借正义的力量获得绝对的胜利。
我坚信，我们不仅会最大程度地保卫我们自己，我们也会确保以后像此类背信弃义的行为永远不会再对我们构成威胁。我相信我说的这些话可以代表国会和人民的意愿。
战争已经发生，我们不能无视这个事实：我们的人民，我们领土，我们的利益都处于极度危险的境地。
我们信赖我们的军队，我们有无比坚决的信念，胜利必定属于我们。愿上帝赐福于我们。
鉴于日本在1941年12月7日对我国进行的无端的和卑鄙的袭击，我要求国会宣布美国和日本已处于交战状态。
9、The Choice of Companion
Anonymous
A good companion is better than a fortune, for a fortune cannot
purchase those elements of character which make companionship a
blessing. The best companion is one who is wiser and better than
ourselves, for we are inspired by his wisdom and virtue to nobler
deeds. Greater wisdom and goodness than we possess lifts us higher
mentally and morally.
“A man is known by the companion he keeps.” It is always true.
Companionship of a high order is powerful to develop character.
Character makes character in the associations of life faster than
anything else. Purity begets purity, like begets like; and this fact
makes the choice of companion in early life more important even than
that of teachers and guardians
It is true that we cannot always choose all of our companions,
some are thrust upon us by business or the social relations of life,
we do not choose them, we do not enjoy them; and yet, we have to
associate with them more or less. The experience is not altogether
without compensation, if there be principle enough in us to bear the
strain. Still, in the main, choice of companions can be made, and
must be made. It is not best or necessary for a young person to
associate with “Tom, Dick, and Harry” without forethought or
purpose. Some fixed rules about the company he or she keeps must be
observed. The subject should be uttermost in the thoughts, and
canvassed often
Companionship is education, good or not; it develops manhood or
womanhood, high or low; it lifts soul upward or drags it downward;
it minister to virtue or vice. There is no half way work about its
influence. If it ennobles, it does grandly, if it demoralizes, it
doest it devilishly. It saves or destroys lustily. Nothing in the
world is surer than this. Sow virtue, and the harvest will be
virtue, Sow vice, and the harvest will be vice. Good companionships
help us to sow virtue; evil companionships help us to sow vice.
―――――――――――
择友
佚名
&nbs;
一个好友胜过一笔财富。人性中有一些品质会让友谊变成一种幸福的事，而金钱买不到这些品质。最好的朋友是那些比我们更睿智和更出色的人，他们的智慧和美德会激发我们去做更高尚的事情。他们有着比我们更多的智慧和更高尚的情操，可以在精神上和道德上将我们带入一个新的境界。
“观其友而知其人”，这句话总是对的。高层次的交往会有力地塑造一个人的性情。在交往中，品性对品性的影响胜过其它任何因素。纯洁的品格会培养纯洁的品格，爱好会引发相同的爱好。这些表明，在年少时，选择朋友甚至比选择老师和监护人还要重要。
不可否认，有些朋友总是我们不能选择的。有些是工作和社会关系强加于我们的。我们没有选择他们，也不喜欢他们，可是我们不得不或多或少地与他们交往。不过，只要我们心中有足够的原则来承担压力，与他们交往也并非毫无益处。在大多数情况下，我们还是可以选择朋友的，而且，必须选择。一个年轻人毫无前瞻性，也无目的性地随意与张三李四交往，是不好的，也是没必要的。他必须遵守一些确定的交友原则，应当把它们摆在心中最高的位置，并经常加以审视。
无论是有益的还是有害的友谊，都是一种教导。它可以培育或是高贵，或是卑微的品格；它可以使灵魂升华，也可以使之堕落；它可以滋生美德，也可以催生邪恶；它的影响没有折中之道：如果它让人高尚，就会用一种无比高贵的方式，如果让人堕落，也会用一种无比邪恶的方式。它可以有力地拯救一个人，也可以轻易地毁掉一个人。播种美德，就会收获美德；播种邪恶，就会收获邪恶，这是非常确定的，而有益的友谊帮我们播种美德，有害的友谊则支使我们撒下邪恶的种子。
10、YOUTH
by Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind;
it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees;
it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor
of the emotions;
it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a tempera-mental predominance of courage over
timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This
often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20.
Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by
deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the
soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spring
back to dust. Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s
heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s
next and the joy of the game of living.
In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless
station:
so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage
and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows
of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even
at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of
optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
青春
塞缪尔·厄尔曼
青春不是年华，而是心境；
青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象，炙热的恋情；
青春是生命的深泉在涌流。青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生而有之，六旬男子则更多见。
年岁有加，并非垂老，理想丢弃，方堕暮年。岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓废必致灵魂。忧烦，惶恐，丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。
无论年届花甲，拟或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。
一旦天线下降，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二十，实已垂垂老矣；然则只要树起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
11、Ignorance Make One Happy
Robert Lynd
The average man who uses a telephone could not explain how a
telephone works. He takes for granted the telephone, the railway
train, the linotype, the airplane, as our grandfathers took for
granted the miracles of the gospels. He neither question nor
understand them. It is as though each of us investigated and made
his own a tiny circle of facts. Knowledge outside the day’s work is
regarded by most men as a gewgaw. Still we are constantly in
reaction against our ignorance. We rouse ourselves at intervals and
speculate. We revel in speculations about anything at all --- about
nbsp; life after death or about such questions as that which is said to
have puzzled Aristotle, “Why sneezing from noon to midnight was
good, but from night to noon unlucky?” One of the greatest joys
known to man is to take such a flight into ignorance in search of
the knowledge. The great pleasure of ignorance is, after all, the
pleasure of asking questions. The man who has lost this pleasure or
exchanged it for the pleasure of dogma, which is the pleasure of
answering, is already beginning to stiffen. One envies so
inquisitive a man as Jewell, who sat down to the study of physiology
in his sixties. Most of us have lost the sense of our ignorance long
before that age. We even become vain of our squirrel’s hoard of
knowledge and regard increasing age itself as a school of
omniscience. We forget that Socrates was famed for wisdom not
because he was omniscient but because he realized at the age of
seventy that he still knew nothing.
――――――――――――――――――――――
罗伯特.林德（1879-1949）,英国近代散文名家，生于爱尔兰，曾任伦敦《新闻报》文学编辑，工作之余著作颇丰，在散文创作方面有较高成就。
――――――――――――――――――――――
无知常乐
罗伯特.林德
一般用电话的人都不懂电话是怎样工作的，他们总是把电话、铁路、排字机、飞机等看成是自然而然的东西，就像我们的祖先觉得福音书里的奇事都是很自然的一样。他们不懂，也不问。似乎我们每个人都只钻研、弄懂很小范围内的一些事情。大多数人都认为日常生活之外的知识是花里胡哨的东西。然而，我们也在不停地抗拒着我们的无知。有时，我们会振奋起来，进行思考。我们会信手拈来一个问题，然后沉浸在思考中――如死后的生活，或者其它问题，比如一个据说曾经困扰亚里士多德的问题：“为什么从中午到午夜打喷嚏是好运气，而从午夜到中午打喷嚏代表坏运气？”在寻找知识的过程中陷入无知，是人类的一大乐事。无知的快乐，说到底，是提问题的快乐。一个已经不会提问的人，一个用教条的答案回答问题并以此为乐的人，他的头脑已经开始僵化了。我们很羡慕裘伊，他在六十多岁的时候居然开始做下来学习生理学，而大多数人在远未达到这个年龄就已经不知道什么是无知了。我们甚至会为我们的一点浅薄的知识而沾沾自喜，甚至觉得，流逝的时光本身就会自然地给我们所有的知识。我们忘了，苏格拉底之所以流芳百世，不是因为他什么都懂，而是他发现在他七十岁的时候，仍然什么都不懂。
12、Appeal to American
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
In my opinion, the Indian struggle for freedom bears its
consequence not only upon India and England but upon the whole
world. It contains one-fifth of the human race. It represents one of
the most ancient civilizations. It has traditions handed down from
tens of thousands of years, some of which, to the astonishment of
the world, remain intact. No doubt the ravages of time have affected
the purity of that civilization as they have that of many other
cultures and institutions.
If India is to revive the glory of her ancient past, she can only
do so when she attains her freedom. The reason for the struggle
having drawn the attention of the world I know does not lie in the
fact that we Indians are fighting for our liberty, but in the fact
the means adopted by us for attaining that liberty are unique and,
as far as history shows us, have not been adopted by any other
people of whom we have any record.
The means adopted are not violence, not bloodshed, not diplomacy
as one understands it nowadays, but they are purely and simply truth
and non-violence. No wonder that the attention of the world is
directed toward this attempt to lead a successful bloodless
revolution. Hitherto, nations have fought in the manner of the
brute. They have wreaked vengeance upon those whom they have
considered to be their enemies.
We find in searching national anthems adopted by great nations
that they contain imprecations upon the so-called enemy. They have
vowed destruction and have not hesitated to take the name of God and
seek divine assistance for the destruction of the enemy. We in India
have endeavored to reverse the procss. We feel that the law that
governs brute creation is not the law that should guide the human
race. That law is inconsistent with human dignity.
I, personally, would wait, if need be, for ages rather than seek
to attain the freedom of my country through bloody means. I feel in
the innermost of my heart, after a political extending, over an
unbroken period of, close upon thirty-five years, that the world is
sick unto death of blood spilling. The world is seeking a way out,
and I flatter myself with the belief that perhaps it will be the
privilege of the ancient land of India to show the way out to the
hungering world.
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甘地（1869－1948），印度民族运动领袖。毕业于英国伦敦大学。1893年在南非进行反种族歧视斗争，多次被捕。第一次世界大战后返回印度，倡导对英国殖民政府“非暴力不合作运动”，曾两度出任国民大党主席，主张印度教徒和伊斯兰教徒团结，反对歧视妇女和贱民。二战后反对英国对印度和巴基斯坦分治，被一名狂热的印度教徒枪杀。毕生为印度的独立而斗争，获得了人们的广泛尊敬，被尊称为“圣雄”。
此篇文章是他1931年受英国BBC电台之邀所发表的演说。
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向美国呼吁
[印度] 莫罕达斯.卡拉姆纪德.甘地
在我看来，印度为争取自由的斗争不仅影响到印度和英国，而且影响了整个世界。她有着世界五分之一的人口，她代表了最古老的文明之一。她拥有流传了数万年的传统，并让世界感到惊奇的是，其中一些至今依然是完好无损的。当然，和其它文明和传统一样，印度文明的纯净也遭到了时光的侵蚀。
如果印度想恢复她古老的荣誉的话，只有当她获得自由了才能做到。我知道，世人的目光被这场印度人争取自由的斗争所吸引，不在于我们争取自由这件事，而在于我们为争取自由所采取的独特方式。从历史来看，并无记载有民族曾经采取过这种方式。
我们采取的方式不是暴力，不是流血，不是大家现在所熟知的手段，而是完全的、简单的理智和非暴力，所以并不奇怪世界的目光会被这种旨在一场无流血牺牲的成功革命的尝试所吸引。而迄今为止，人们仍然以野蛮动物的方式进行斗争，对他们所认定的敌人实行报复惩罚。
翻开一些大国的国歌，我们都会发现有诅咒所谓敌人的内容。他们发誓要消灭敌人，也毫不迟疑地以上帝的名义，并乞求神灵的帮助来消灭他们的敌人。而我们在印度的人努力使用相反的方法。我们觉得支配野蛮动物界的法则并不应该支配人类，因为那违背了人类的高贵本质。
如果需要的话，我自己情愿等待很多年，而不是用流血牺牲的手段来使我的国家获得自由。35年连续不断的政治生涯使我从内心深处由衷感受到，人类已对血肉横飞深恶痛绝，人类需要一种新的方式，我自以为，古老的印度大陆或许拥有为饥渴的人类展现这种新方式的优先权。
13、The Road of Life
William.S.Maugham
The lives of most men are determined by their environment. They
accept the circumstances amid which fate has thrown them not only
with resignation but even with good will. They are like streetcars
running contentedly on their rails and they despise the sprightly
flitter that dashes in and out of the traffic and speeds so jauntily
across the open country. I respect them; they are good citizens,
good husbands, and good fathers, and of course somebody has to pay
the taxes; but I do not find them exciting. I am fascinated by the
men, few enough in all conscience, who take life in their own hands
and seem to mould it to their own liking. It maybe that we have no
such thing as free will, but at all events, we have the illusion of
it. At a cross-road it does seem to us that we might go either to
the right or the left and, the choice once made, it is difficult to
see that the whole course of the world’s history obliged us to take
the turning we did.
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生活之路
威廉.S.毛姆
大多数人的生活都是由他们所处的环境决定。他们顺从地甚至乐意地接受命运把他们所扔进的环境。他们就像电车一样满足地行驶于他们的轨道上，并且瞧不起那些在敏捷地出没车水马龙中，快乐地奔驰于旷野上的车子。我尊重他们，他们是好公民、好丈夫和好父亲，当然总得要有人来交税。但是，他们并没有令人兴奋的地方。我被另外一些人深深吸引，他们将命运掌握在自己手中，并且似乎把它改造成他们所喜欢的样子，这样的人是很少的。而或许我们并没有所谓的自由意志，但不管怎样我们总有那样的幻觉。在一个十字路口前，似乎我们可以走这条路也可以走那一条路，不过一旦做出选择，我们很难意识到其实是整个世界历史进程迫使我们选择那个方向的。
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威廉.S.毛姆（1874－1965），英国著名小说家、剧作家、散文家。
14、Expressing One’s Individuality
Arnold Bennett
A most curious and useful thing to realize is that one never knows
the impression one is creating on other people. One may often guess
pretty accurately whether it is good, bad, or indifferent --- some
people render it unnecessary for one to guess, they practically
inform one --- but that is not what I mean. I mean much more than
that. I mean that one has one’s self no mental picture corresponding
to the mental picture which one’s personality leaves in the minds of
one’s friends. Has it ever struck you that there is a mysterious
individual going around, walking the streets, calling at houses for
tea, chatting, laughing, grumbling, arguing, and that all your
friends know him --- without saying more than a chance, cautious
word to you; and that that person is you? Supposing that you came
into a drawing-room where you were having tea, do you think you
would recognize yourself as an individuality? I think not. You would
be apt to say to yourself as guests do when disturbed in
drawing-rooms by other guests: “Who’s this chap? Seems rather queer.
I hope he won’t be a bore.” And your first telling would be slightly
hostile. Why, even when you meet yourself in an unsuspected mirror
in the very clothes that you have put on that very day and that you
know by heart, you are almost always shocked by the realization that
you are you. And now and then, when you have gone to the glass to
arrange your hair in the full sobriety of early morning, have you
not looked on an absolute stranger, and has not that stranger piqued
your curiosity? And if it is thus with precise external details of
form, colour, and movement, what may it not be with the vague
complex effect of the mental and moral individuality?
A man honestly tries to make a good impression. What is the
result? The result merely is that his friends, in the privacy of
their minds, set him down as a man who tries to make a good
impression. If much depends on the result of a single interview, or
a couple of interviews, a man may conceivably force another to
accept an impression of himself which he would like to convey. But
if the receiver of the impression is to have time at his disposal,
then the giver of the impression may just as well sit down and put
his hands in his pockets, for nothing that he can do will modify or
influence in any way the impression that he will ultimately give.
The real impress is, in the end, given unconsciously, not
consciously; and further, it is received unconsciously, not
consciously. It depends partly on both persons. And it is immutably
fixed beforehand. There can be no final deception…
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自我的展现
阿诺德.本涅特
一个人永远也不知道他给别人留有什么样的印象，明白这点是有益的，也是让人觉得奇怪的。一个人很容易准确猜出这种印象是好的、坏的，还是不好不坏的，因为有些人让你不用去猜，他们几乎直接就告诉你了。但那不是我要说的，我要说的不止这些。我要说的是，一个人对他在别人脑子里留有的印象毫无所知。你曾想过这样的事吗：有个神秘的人，到处闲逛，走在大街上，去茶馆喝茶，和人聊天，谈笑风生，发牢骚，与人争辩，你所有的朋友都认识他，都与他很熟，而且对他是什么样的人早下了定论，但除了一两次谨慎的只言片语外，他们从未对你提过他，但这个人就是你？假如“你”走进一个休息室，你正在里面喝茶，你会认出那个人是“你”吗？我想不会。你或许会对自己说，正如休息室里被人打扰的客人一样：
“这个家伙是谁？挺让人不舒服的，希望他不要讨人嫌。”你的第一反应会是带有点敌意。甚至当你自己在一面突然撞见的镜子里看到自己穿着那件你非常熟悉的衣服，从而你意识到那就是你自己时，你为何总会为这种念头而感到几乎震惊呢？时常，在清晨很清醒的时候，你在镜子前梳头，你是否看到了一个完全陌生的人，而且对他很好奇呢？如果说诸如形象、颜色、动作这些精确的外观细节都会让你感到这样，更不用说像精神、道德这样不易把握的、复杂的个性特征所形成的印象呢？
一个人极力试图给别人留下好印象，结果如何呢？结果仅仅是，他的朋友们在内心里会把他看作是一个努力给别人留有好印象的人罢了。如果仅仅是一次或几次会面，一个人也许可以使别人信服地接受他所期望展现出来的印象，可是如果接受者可以随意安排他的时间来认识这个人的话，那么印象制造者最好还是坐下来，什么事情都不做，因为他无论如何都无法改变或影响他所最终给别人的樱真实的印象，最终不是刻意地而是无意地做出的。此外，它也不是刻意地而是无意地被接收的，它取决于双方。而且是事先就已经确定了的，是没办法欺骗到底的……
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阿诺德.本涅特（1867-1931）, 本世纪初期英国著名小说家、散文家。他的文风受法国自然主义风格影响较深，行文冷静客观。
15、Shall We Choose Death?
Bertrand Russell
I am speaking not as a Briton, not as a European, not as a member
of a western democracy, but as a human being, a member of the
species Man, whose continued existence is in doubt. The world is
full of conflicts: Jews and Arabs; Indians and Pakistanis; White men
and Negroes in Africa; and, overshadowing all minor conflicts, the
titanic struggle between communism and anticommunism.
Almost everybody who is politically conscious has strong feelings
about one or more of these issues; but I want you, if you can, to
set aside such feelings for the moment and consider yourself only as
a member of a biological species which has had a remarkable history
and whose disappearance none of us can desire. I shall try to say no
single word which should appeal to one group rather than to another.
All, equally, are in peril, and if the peril is understood, there is
hope that they may collectively avert it. We have to learn to think
in a new way. We have to learn to ask ourselves not what steps can
be taken to give military victory to whatever group we prefer, for
there no longer are such steps. The question we have to ask
ourselves is: What steps can be taken to prevent a military contest
of which the issues must be disastrous to all sides?
The general public, and even many men in position of authority,
have not realized what would be involved in a war with hydrogen
bombs. The general public still thinks in terms of the obliteration
of cities. It is understood that the new bombs are more powerful
than the old and that, while one atomic bomb could obliterate
Hiroshima, one hydrogen bomb could obliterate the largest cities
such as London, New York, and Moscow. No doubt in a hydrogen-bomb
war great cities would be obliterated. But this is one of the minor
disasters that would have to be faced. If everybody in London, New
York, and Moscow were exterminated, the world might, in the course
of a few centuries, recover from the blow. But we now know,
especially since the Bikini test, that hydrogen bombs can gradually
spread destruction over a much wider area than had been supposed. It
is stated on very good authority that a bomb can now be manufactured
which will be 25, 000 times as powerful as that which destroyed
Hiroshima. Such a bomb, if exploded near the ground or under water,
sends radioactive particles into the upper air. They sink gradually
and reach the surface of the earth in the form of a deadly dust or
rain. It was this dust which infected the Japanese fishermen and
their catch of fish although they were outside what American experts
believed to be the danger zone. No one knows how widely such lethal
radioactive particles might be diffused, but the best authorities
are unanimous in saying that a war with hydrogen bombs is quite
likely to put an end to the human race. It is feared that if many
hydrogen bombs are used there will be universal death – sudden only
for a fortunate minority, but for the majority a slow torture of
disease and disintegration.
Here, then, is the problem which I present to you, stark and
dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or
shall mankind renounce war? People will not face this alternative
because it is so difficult to abolish war. The abolition of war will
demand distasteful limitations of national sovereignty. But what
&nsp; perhaps impedes understanding of the situation more than anything
else is that the term “mankind” feels vague and abstract. People
scarcely realize in imagination that the danger is to themselves and
their children and their grandchildren, and not only to a dimly
apprehended humanity. And so they hope that perhaps war may be
allowed to continue provided modern weapons are prohibited. I am
afraid this hope is illusory. Whatever agreements not to use
hydrogen bombs had be reached in time of peace, they would no longer
be considered binding in time of war, and both sides would set to
work to manufacture hydrogen bombs as soon as war broke out, for if
one side manufactured the bombs and the other did not, the side that
manufactured them would inevitable be victorious…
As geological time is reckoned, Man has so far existed only for a
very short period --- one million years at the most. What he has
achieved, especially during the last 6,000 years, is something
utterly new in the history of the Cosmos, so far at least as we are
acquainted with it. For countless ages the sun rose and set, the
moon waxed and waned, the stars shone in the night, but it was only
with the coming of Man that these things were understood. In the
great world of astronomy and in the little world of the atom, Man
has unveiled secrets which might have been thought undiscoverable.
In art and literature and religion, some men have shown a sublimity
of feeling which makes the species worth preserving. Is all this to
end in trivial horror because so few are able to think of Man rather
than of this or that group of men? Is our race so destitute of
wisdom, so incapable of impartial love, so blind even to the
simplest dictates of self-preservation that the last proof of its
silly cleverness is to be the extermination of all life on our
planet? – for it will be not only men who will perish, but also the
animals, whom no one can accuse of communism or anticommunism.
I cannot believe that this is to be the end. I would have men
forget the ir quarrels for a moment and reflect that, if they will
allow themselves to survive, there is every reason to expect the
triumphs in the future to exceed immeasurably the triumphs of the
past. There lies before us, if we choose continual progress in
happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death,
because we cannot forget our quarrels? I appeal, as a human being to
human beings: remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you
can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot,
nothing lies before you but universal death.
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伯兰特.罗素（1872-1970）,英国哲学家、逻辑学家。毕业于剑桥大学三一学院，英国皇家学会会员。第一次世界大战期间因宣传和平而被监禁。1950年获诺贝尔文学奖。1963年创立罗素和平基金。在数学上提出“罗素悖论”，对20世纪数学基础产生很大的影响。在哲学上，提出逻辑原子论即所谓“中立一元论”。在政治上，反对侵略战争，主张和平主义。在美国制造出氢弹并进行爆炸试验后，他成了核武器的积极反对者。本篇是他在这方面具有代表性的演说。
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我们该选择死亡吗？
[英国]伯兰特.罗素
在此，我不是以一个英国人，或是欧洲人，或是一位西方人民，而是仅作为一个人，作为人类这个生死未卜的种族中的一员来说这些话的。世界上充满了冲突：犹太人和阿拉伯人之间、印度人和巴基斯坦人之间、白人和非洲黑人之间，以及，让所有小的冲突相形见绌的共产主义和非共产主义之间的严重对抗。
几乎每个对政治敏感的人都会这些事情有强烈的感受，但是，如果可以的话，我希望你们此刻能把这些感受放到一边，而是只以你们是一个物种的一员来思考问题，这个物种有过辉煌的历史，谁也愿看到它消失。我努力做到不对任何群体说一个厚此薄彼的字眼，所有的人，都同样地处于危险之中，不过如果大家可以意识到这种危险的话，还是有希望共同避免它的。我们需要以一种新方式来思考。我们要学会不再问自己用什么样的方法才能使我们钟爱的那一方获得军事胜利，因为不会再有这些方法了。我们要问自己的是：我们如何才能阻止一个两败俱伤的军备竞赛？
公众，甚至许多当权者，都未曾意识到氢弹战争意味着什么。公众仍然以为那只是摧毁一些城市。大家已知道新型比旧的威力更大，一颗原子弹可以夷平广岛，而一颗氢弹可以毁灭像伦敦、纽约、莫斯科这样的大城市。毫无疑问氢弹战争中大城市会被毁灭，但那不过是我们可能遇到的小灾难之一。如果伦敦、纽约、莫斯科的人都死光了，人类也许要历经数个世纪才能从这种打击中恢复元气。可是现在，其在比基尼核试验后，我们很清楚，氢弹的破坏力可以慢慢扩散到一个比我们原先预料的更大的范围内。一个极具权威的机构声称如今可以制造出一种原子弹，它的威力是毁灭广岛那颗原子弹的25000倍。这样一个，如果在近地或者水下爆炸，会将放射性粒子送入高空，它们会慢慢下沉，然后以一种致命的灰尘或者雨水的形式抵达地面。就是这种灰尘感染了日本的渔民，影响了他们的捕鱼业，尽管他们处于美国专家们所认为的危险区域之外。没人知道这种致命的放射性粒子会扩散多广，不过所有最权威的机构一致认为氢弹战争很可能将整个人类毁灭。我们担心如果在战争中使用很多氢弹的话，所有人都会死光――而且只有少数幸运的人可以迅速死掉，而大部分人则会忍受长时间的疾病和核辐射的折磨。
在此，我向大家提出一个直接的、让人讨厌的，而不可回避的问题：我们要让人类灭绝吗，还是让人类放弃战争？人们不愿面对这个抉择，因为放弃战争实在是太难了。那意味着对主权的限制，这是让人不舒服的。但或许最阻止人们认清形式的原因是“人类”这个概念是让人感到模糊和抽象的。人们不仅对人类这个概念一知半解，甚至很少想到这种危险是针对他们自己以及他们的孩子、孙子们的。他们期待着，或许只要禁止使用现代武器，战争还是可以继续的。但我恐怕这种期望仅仅是幻想。无论在和平时期哪些禁止使用氢弹的条约曾经发挥效用，它们在战时都会失去效力。一旦战争爆发，双方就会立即着手制造氢弹，因为如果一方制造氢弹而另一方没有的话，胜利就会毫无疑问地属于前者。
按地质年代来计算，迄今为止人类只存在了很短的一段时间，至多一百万年。可是他们所取得的成绩，尤其在最近6000年里，是在我们所知道的宇宙历史上全新的。亿万年的岁月中，日升日落，月圆月缺，星空闪耀，而只有人类来到世界上才理解了这一切。在天文学的宏观世界和原子的微观世界，人类揭示了原先或许认为是不可了解的秘密。在艺术、文学和宗教领域，许多人展现了一种崇高的情感，这些崇高情感让人类这个种族是值得保全的。难倒说仅仅是因为很少有人不是仅仅考虑这群或那群人，而是考虑到整个人类,所有这一切都要消失在那毫无意义的恐怖活动中吗？
我们的种族真的如此缺乏智慧，不能毫无偏袒地去爱，并对自我保存这种最简单的要求都视而不见，以至于我们愚蠢的小聪明的最后证明就是毁灭地球上所有的生物？要知道，人类不仅会毁灭自己，所有的动物都会被毁灭，而无人可以指责它们是信奉共产主义还是非共产主义的。
我无法相信这就是结局。如果人类想继续生存下去，我希望人们能暂停忘却争吵，并仔细反省，这样我们很有理由期待未来我们将取得比过去大无数倍的成就。假如我们做此选择，我们未来会持续得到更多的快乐、知识、智慧。难倒仅仅因为我们不能忘却我们的争端，我们就要选择死亡吗？作为一个人，我向人类呼吁：记住你们是人类，忘记其它的。如果你们可以做到的话，一个新的天堂将会展现在我们面前，反之，只有整个世界的共同灭亡。
16、The Hippocratic Oath
I swear by Apollo the physician, by Aesculapius, Hygeia, and
Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to
keep according to my ability and my judgement the following oath.
To consider dear to me as my parents him who taught me this art,
to live in common with him, and if necessary to share my goods with
him, to look upon him children as my own brothers, to teach them
this art if they so desire without fee or written promise, to impart
to my sons and the sons of the master who taught me and the
disciples who have enrolled themselves and have agreed to the rules
of the profession, but to these alone, the precepts and the
instruction.
I will prescribe regimen for the good of my patients according to
my ability and my judgement and never do harm to anyone. To please
no one will I prescribe a deadly drug, nor give advice which may
cause his death. Nor will I give a woman a pessary to procure
abortion. But I will preserve the purity of my life and my art. I
will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is
manifest. I will leave this operation to be performed by
practitioners (specialist in this art). In every house where I come
I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far
from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction. All that may come
to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily
commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep
secret and will never reveal it.
If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice
my art, respected by all men and in all times, but if I swerve from
it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.
希波克拉底誓言(公元前5世纪)
仰赖医神阿波罗·埃斯克雷彼斯及天地诸神为证，鄙人敬谨宣誓愿以自身能力及判断力所急，遵守此约。凡授我艺者敬之如父母，作为终身同业伴侣，彼有急需我接济之。视彼儿女，犹我兄弟，如欲受业，当免费并无条件传授之。凡我所知无论口授书传俱传之吾子，吾师之子及发誓遵守此约之生徒，此外不传他人。
我愿尽余之能力与判断力所及，遵守为病家谋利益之信条，并检束一切堕落及害人行为，我不得将危害药品给予他人，并不作该项之指导，虽有人请求亦不与之。尤不为妇人施堕胎手术。我愿以此纯洁与神圣之精神，终身执行我职务。凡患结石者，我不施手术，此则有待于专家为之。
无论至于何处，遇男或女、贵人及奴婢，我之唯一目的，为病家谋幸福，并检点吾身，不作各种害人及恶劣行为，尤不作诱奸之事。凡我所见所闻，无论有无业务关系，我认为应守秘密者，我愿保守秘密。尚使我严守上述誓言时，请求神抵让我生命与医术能得无上光荣，我苟违誓，天地鬼神实共亟之。
注：希波克拉底约公元前460—371)，古希腊著名医生，治学严谨，医术精湛，医德高尚。
