英语名篇背诵74篇

英语名篇背诵74篇

英语名篇名段背诵精华(1-15) 1．Life is a chess-board

The chess-board is the world:the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. By Thomas Henry Huxley

参考译文

棋盘宛如世界：一个个棋子仿佛世间的种种现象：游戏规则就是我们所称的自然法则。竞争对手藏于暗处，不为我们所见。我们知晓，这位对手向来处事公平，正义凛然，极富耐心。然而，我们也明白，这位对手从不忽视任何错误，或者因为我们的无知而做出一丝让步，所以我们也必须为此付出代价。

2．Best of times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

Excerpt from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

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这是一个最好的时代，也是一个最坏的时代；这是明智的年代，这是愚昧的年代；这是信任的纪元，这是怀疑的纪元；这是光明的季节，这是黑暗的季节；这是希望的春日，这是失望的冬日；我们面前应有尽有，我们面前一无所有；我们都将直下地狱……

3．Equality and Greatness

Between persons of equal income there is no social distinction except

the

distinction

of

merit.

Money

is

nothing;character,conduct,and capacity are everything.Instead of all the workers being leveled down to low wage standards and all

the

rich

leveled

up

to

fashionbale

income

standards,everybody under a system of equal incomes would find his or her own natural level.There would be great people and ordinary people and little peolpe,but the great would always be those who had done great things,and never the idiot whose mother had spoiled them and whose father had left a hunred thousand a year;and the little would be persons of small minds and mean characters,and not poor persons who had never had a chance.That is why idiots are always in favour of inequality of income(their only chance of eminence),and the really great in favour of equality.

收入相当的人除了品性迥异以外没有社会差别。金钱不能说明什么；性格，行为，能力才代表一切。在收入平等制度下，每个人将会找到他或她正常的地位，而不是所有的工人被划到应拿低工资阶层，所有的富人被划到应得高收入的阶层。人有卓著伟人，平庸之辈和碌碌小人之别，然伟人总是那些有所建树之人，而非从小深受母亲溺爱，父亲每年留下一大笔钱之人；碌碌小人总是那些心胸狭窄，品德卑劣之人，而不是那些从未获取机会的穷人。愚蠢之众总是赞成收入不平等（他们职能凭借这种机会才能为人所知），而真正伟大之人则主张平等相待，原因就在于此。

4．Great Expectations

As the night was fast falling,and as the moon,being past the full,would not rise early,we held a little council:a short one,for clearly our course was to lie by at the first lonely tavern we could find.So,they plied their oars once more,and I looked out for anything like a house.Thus we held on,speaking little,for four or five dull miles.It was very cold,and,a collier coming by us,with her gallery-fire smoking and flaring,looked like a comfortable home.The night was as dark by this time as it would be until morning;and what light we had,seemed to come more from the river than the sky,as the oars in their dipping stuck at a few reflected stars.

天黑得很快，偏巧这天又是下弦月，月亮不会很早升起。我们就稍稍商量了一下，可是也用不着多讨论，因为情况是明摆着的，再划下去

我们一遇到冷落的酒店就得投宿。于是他们又使劲打起浆来，我则用心寻找岸上是否隐隐约约有什么房屋的模样。这样又赶了四五英里路，一路上好不气闷，大家简直不说一句话。天气非常冷，一艘煤船从我们近旁驶过，船上厨房里生着火，炊烟缕缕，火光荧荧，在我们看来简直就是个安乐家了。这时夜已透黑，看来就要这样一直黑到天明，我们仅有的一点光亮似乎不是来自天空，而是来自河上，一浆又一浆的，搅动着那寥寥几颗倒映在水里的寒星。

5．The doer of Deeds

It is not the critic who counts,not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arens,whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;who stives valiantly;who errs,and comes short again and again;because there is not effort without error and shortcoming;but who does actually strive to do the deeds;who knows the great enthusiasms,the great devotions;who spends himself in a worthy cause,who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement and who at the worst,if he fails,at least fails whiledaring greatly,so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

真正令人尊敬的并非那些评论家和那些指出强者是如何跌倒，实干家本该做得更好的人。

荣誉属于那些亲临竞技场，满脸污泥，汗水和鲜血的人。他们不懈努力，他们曾犯过过错，并一再失败。因为付出即意味着犯错和失败。他们满怀激情地努力做事，执着不懈，将生命奉献于崇高的事业。他们为经过艰辛努力最终取得的伟大成就而自豪，如果失败，他们夜败的荣耀。因而，这样的人永远不应与那些不知道胜利，也从未失败过的冷淡而胆怯的灵魂相提并论。

6．American dream

To Americans, industriousness, thrift and ambition are possitive values. We encourage our children to be competitive, to get ahead, to make money, to acquire possassion. In games and in business alike, the aim is to win the game, the trorphy, the contract. We go in for laboursaving devices, gadgets, speed and shortcuts. We think every young couple should set up a home of their own. And we pity the couple who must share their home with their parent, let alone with other relatives. Actually, of course, not all Americans hold all these values. And those who do may hold other, and at times controdictary values that affect their ways of behaving. In the main, however,the collective expectation of our society is that these are desirable goals, and the individual, whatever his personal inclination, is under considerable pressure to conform.

7．Shakespeare

Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern

writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life. His characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, unpractised by the rest of the world; by the peculiarities of studies or professions, which can operate but upon small numbers; or by the accidents of transient fashions or temporary opinions: they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will always find. His persons act and speak by the influnce of those general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated, and the whole system of life is continued in motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species.

Except from The Major Works by Sammuel Johnson

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莎士比亚的才华高于一切作家，至少高于当今的所有作家。他是一位自然的诗人，他的作品将人间百态真实地展现在读者眼前。他的人物塑造并不拘泥于只为一部分人所遵循的某个特定地区的习俗，也不局限于一小部分人所从事的特定的研究或职业，也不追随短暂的潮流或暂时的思想观点：他们据有人们一贯具备的、普遍的人性特点。就像世界能永不竭地供应，眼睛能永不停地发现。他笔下人物的一言一行都受那些能够触动所有人的大众化的情感和能使整个生命体系得以延续的普遍原则所影响。在其他诗人的作品中，一个人物往往就是一个个体，而莎翁笔下的人物通常代表着一类人。

8．Heart of a stranger

The most loved place, for me, in this country has in fact been many places. It has changed throughout the years, as I and my circumstances have changed. I haven't really lost any of the best places from the past, though. I may no longer inhabit them, but they inhabit me, portions of memory, presences in the mind...My best place at the moment is very different, although I guess it has some of the attributes of that long-ago place. It is a small cedar cabin on the Otonabee river in southern Ontario. I've lived three summers there, writing, birdwatching, riverwatching. I sometimes feel sorry for the people in speedboats who spend their weekends zinging up and down the river at about a million miles an hour. For all they're able to see, the riverbanks might just as well be green concrete and the river itself flowing with molten plastic. By Margaret Laurence

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在这个国家里我最喜欢的地方其实一直有很多。这些年来，由于我们自己和情况的变迁，我最爱的地方也随着改变。虽然如此，过去我喜爱过的任何一个地方我并没有真正地失去它们。我或许不再居住在那儿，但它们却存在于我的心里，成为我记忆中的片段，时常浮现在脑海中……此刻我最喜爱的地方相当不同，但我想它仍具有和老早的那个地方（即明湖，Clear Lake）相同的某些特质。这个地方是安大略

省南方奥托拿比河边的一间松木小屋。我在那儿居住了三个夏天：写作、赏鸟、观河。有时候我为那些来此地度周末，却驾着快艇以极速在河上往来呼啸的人感到难过，因为这些人看见的河岸只不过是绿色的混凝土岸，而河流本身也仿佛只是条闪亮的流动塑料。

9．Thoughts in a grave yard

When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, even inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents of themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hunderd years ago, I consider that great when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together.

Excerpt from Westminster Abbey by Joseph Addison

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当我瞻仰伟人的坟墓，心中所有的嫉妒顿时烟消云散；当我读到伟人的悼文，所有的非分之想顷刻消失殆尽；当我遇见在墓碑旁悲痛欲绝的父母亲，我的心中也满怀同情；当我看到那些父母亲自己的坟墓，

我不禁感慨：既然我们很快都要追随逝者的脚步，悲伤又有何用。当我看到国王与那些将他们废黜的人躺在一起，当我想到那些争斗一生的智者，或是那些通过竞争和争执将世界分裂的圣人们被后人并排葬在一起，我对人类的那些微不足道的竞争、内讧和争论感到震惊和悲伤。当我看到一些坟墓上的日期，有的死于昨日，而有的死于六百年前，我不禁想到，有那么一天我们都会在同一个时代同时出现在世人眼前。

10．I have as much soul as you

\"I tell you I must go!\" I retorted, roused to something like passion. \"Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton?--a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am souless and heartless? You think wrong!--I have as much soul as you,--and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor evern of mortal flesh;--it is my spirit that adresses your spirit; just as if both has passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal,--as we are!\"

Excerpt from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

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“我告诉你我非走不可！”我回驳着，感情很有些冲动。“你难道认为，我会留下来甘愿做一个对你来说无足轻重的人？你以为我是一架机器——一架没有感情的机器？能够容忍别人把一口面包从我嘴里抢走，把一滴生命之水从我杯子里泼掉？难道就因为我一贫如洗、默默无闻、长相平庸、个子瘦小，就没有灵魂和心肠了？你想错了！我的心灵跟你一样丰富，我的心胸跟你一样充实！要是上帝赐予我一点姿色和财富，我会使你难以离开我，就像现在我很难离开你一样。我不是根据习俗、常规，甚至也不是血肉之躯同你说话，而是我的灵魂同你的灵魂在对话，就仿佛我们两人穿过坟墓，站在上帝脚下，彼此平等，本来就如此！”

11．Frankness

You must study to be frank with the world:frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do, on every occasion. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot. You would wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one. The man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice. Deal kindly but firmly with all your classmates. You will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to others what you are not.

If you have any fault to find with any one, tell him, not others,

of what you complain. There is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to do one thing before a man's face and another behind his back. We should say and do nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only a matter of principle, but also the path of peace and hornor. By Robert E. Lee

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在世间必须学会以真诚示人：率真乃是诚实与勇敢之子。无论在何种场合，都应该道出自己的真实想法。如果朋友对你有所求，对于合情合理之请，应该欣然同意；不然，应该明明白白地告诉朋友拒绝的理由。任何模棱两可的话语将会让别人误解，也会使自己蒙受冤屈。 千万不要为了结交朋友或者挽留友情而做错一事。对你有这种要求的人也会付出沉重的代价。与同学真心相对，绝不背叛。你将发现这是最有效用的准则。总之，要以真实面目示人。

如果发现某人身有瑕疵，直接告诉他你的意见，而不是诉之他人。人前一套，背后又是一套，没有什么比这更加危机四伏。任何有损他人的言语或者事情我们都应该避免。这不仅是一种做人的原则，而且也是通向平和的人际关系、获得他人尊敬之道。

12．Letter to a Young Friend Letter to a Young Friend Benjamin Franklin My dear friend

I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural

inclination you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of man, and therefore the state in which you will find solid Happiness.Your Reason against entering into it at present appears to be not well founded. The Circumstantial Advantages you have in view by Postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that makes the complete human Being, Separate she wants his force of Body and Strength of Reason; he her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are most likely to succeed in the World. A single man has not nearly the value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal.He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissors. If you get a prudent, health wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient. Your Affectionate Friend

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给年轻朋友的一封信 本杰明?富兰克林

我知道没有药物能够消除你们所提到的那种疯狂的自然倾向;即使我知道,我想我也不该告诉你.婚姻是适当的药物。它是人类最本能的状态, 因此是一种最幸福的生活状态。你拒绝现在进入婚姻殿堂的理由显的不够充分.你认为推迟婚姻可能存在好处,不仅不一定实现，而且,

那些利益跟婚姻本身以及婚后的安定相比起来就微不足道了。男人和女人只有联合起来才能组成完整的人.女人缺乏男人的力量和周密的推理,而男人缺乏女人的温柔、感性和敏锐的洞察力。因此当男人和女人联合起来。就能够无往不胜。单身和离婚生活的男男女女不可能具有婚姻生活中的价值，是一种不完善的动物。他简直好比半把剪刀--孤掌难鸣。

如果你拥有一位健康而谨慎的妻子，你的辛勤工作，加上她的勤俭节约，必定会创造充足的财富。 您真挚的朋友

13．The meaning of life

Life is never just being.It is becoming a relentless, flowing on.Our parents live on through us,and we will live on through our children.The institutions we build endure,and we will endure through them.The beauty we fashion cannot be dimmed by death.Our flesh may perish,our hands will wither,but that which they creat in beauty and goodness and truth lives on for all time to come.

Don't spend and waste your lives accumulating objects that will only turn to dust and ashes.Pusue not so much the material as the ideal,for ideals alone invest life with meaning and are of enduring worth. Add love to a house and you have a home.Add righteousness to a city and you have a community.Add truth to a pile of red brick and you have a school.Add religion to the hublest of edifices and you have a sanctuary.Add justice to the

far-flung round of human endeavor and you have civilization.Put them all together,exalt them above their present imperfections, add to them the vision of humankind redeemed,forever free of need and strife and you have a future lighted with the radiant colors of hope.

14．Love your life

However mean your life is,meet it and live it ;do not shun it and call it hard names.It is not so bad as you are.It looks poorest when you are richest.The fault-finder will find faults in paradise.Love your life,poor as it is.You may perhaps have some

pleasant,thrilling,glorious

hourss,even

in

a

poor-house.The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode;the snow melts before its door as early in the spring.I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there,and have as cheering thoughts,as in a palace.The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any.May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving.Most think that they are above being supported by the town;but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means.which should be more disreputable.Cultivate poverty like a garden herb,like sage.Do not trouble yourself much to get new things,whether clothes or friends,Turn the old,return to them.Things do not change;we change.Sell your clothes and keep

your thoughts.

不论你的生活如何卑贱，你要面对它生活，不要躲避它，更别用恶言咒骂它。它不像你那样坏。你最富有的时候，倒是看似最穷。爱找缺点的人就是到天堂里也能找到缺点。你要爱你的生活，尽管它贫穷。甚至在一个济贫院里，你也还有愉快、高兴、光荣的时候。夕阳反射在济贫院的窗上，像身在富户人家窗上一样光亮；在那门前，积雪同在早春融化。我只看到，一个从容的人，在哪里也像在皇宫中一样，生活得心满意足而富有愉快的思想。城镇中的穷人，我看，倒往往是过着最独立不羁的生活。也许因为他们很伟大，所以受之无愧。大多数人以为他们是超然的，不靠城镇来支援他们；可是事实上他们是往往利用了不正当的手段来对付生活，他们是毫不超脱的，毋宁是不体面的。视贫穷如园中之花而像圣人一样耕植它吧！不要找新的花样，无论是新的朋友或新的衣服，来麻烦你自己。找旧的，回到那里去。万物不变，是我们在变。你的衣服可以卖掉，但要保留你的思想。

15．Build me a son Build Me a Son

General Douglas A. MacArthur

Build me a son, Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

啊，上帝，请请我造就这样一个儿子，他将坚强足以认识自己的弱点，

勇敢得足以面对恐惧，在遇到正当的挫折时能够昂首而不卑躬屈膝，在胜利时能谦逊而不趾高气扬。

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

请给我造就这样一个儿子，他不会用愿望代替行动，将牢记你的教诲――认识自己是认识世界的奠基石。

Lead him I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

我祈求，请不要把他引上平静安逸的道路，而要把他置于困难和挑战的考验和激励之下，让他学会在暴风雨中挺立，让他学会对那些失败者富于怜悯。

ll be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

请给我造就这样一个儿子，他将心地洁净，目标高尚；他将在征服别

人之前先征服自己，他将拥有未来，但永远不忘记过去。

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then, I, his father, will dare to whisper \"I have not lived in vain\" .

我祈求，除了上述的一切，请赐他足够的幽默感，这样他可以永远庄重，但不至于盛气凌人；赋他以谦卑的品质，这样他可能永远铭记在心：真正的伟人也要真诚率直，真正的贤人也要虚怀若谷，真正的强者也要温文尔雅。那么，作为他父亲的我就将敢于对人低语：“我这一生没有白过”。

英语名篇名段背诵精华(16-30) 16.The pleasant family

When in an hour they crowded into a cab to go home， I strolled idly to my club. I was perhaps a little lonely， and it was with a touch of envy that I thought of the pleasant family life of which I had had a glimpse. They seemed devoted to one another. They had little private jokes of their own which， unintelligible to the outsider， amused them enormously. Perhaps Charles Strickland was dull judged by a standard that demanded above all things verbal scintillation； but his

intelligence was adequate to his surroundings， and that is a passport， not only to reasonable success， but still more to happiness. Mrs. Strickland was a charming woman， and she loved him. I pictured their lives， troubled by no untoward adventure， honest， decent， and， by reason of those two upstanding， pleasant children， so obviously destined to carry on the normal traditions of their race and station， not without significance. They would grow old insensibly； they would see their son and daughter come to years of reason， marry in due course —— the one a pretty girl， future mother of healthy children； the other a handsome， manly fellow， obviously a soldier； and at last， prosperous in their dignified retirement， beloved by their descendants， after a happy， not unuseful life， in the fullness of their age they would sink into the grave.

——Excerpt from the Moon and Sixpennce by W. Somerset Maugham 一个钟头以后，这一家挤上一辆马车回家去了，我也一个人懒散地往俱乐部踱去。我也许感到有一点寂寞，回想我刚才瞥见的这种幸福家庭生活，心里不无艳羡之感。这一家人感情似乎非常融洽。他们说一些外人无从理解的小笑话，笑得要命。如果纯粹从善于辞令这一角度衡量一个人的智慧，也许查理斯。思特里克兰德算不得聪明，但是在他自己的那个环境里，他的智慧还是绰绰有余的，这不仅是事业成功的敲门砖，而且是生活幸福的保障。思特里克兰德太太是一个招人喜爱的女人，她很爱她的丈夫。我想象着这一对夫妻的生活，不受任何灾殃祸变的干扰，诚实、体面，两个孩子更是规矩可爱，肯定会继承和发扬这一家人的地位和传统。在不知不觉间，他们俩的年纪越来越

老，儿女却逐渐长大成人，到了一定的年龄，就会结婚成家——一个已经出息成美丽的姑娘，将来还会生育活泼健康的孩子；另一个则是仪表堂堂的男子汉，显然会成为一名军人。最后这一对夫妻告老引退，受到子孙敬爱，过着富足、体面的晚年。他们幸福的一生并未虚度，直到年寿已经很高，才告别了人世。—摘自《月亮与六便士》威廉?萨默塞特?毛姆 17.Two views of times

Imagine that you spent your whole life at a single house.Each day at the same hour you entered an artificially-lit room,undressed and took up the same position in front of a motion picture camera.It photographed one frame of you per day,every day of your life. On your seventy-second birthday,the reel of film was shown.You saw yourself growing and aging over seventy-two years in less than half an hour(27.4minites at sixteen frames per second). Images of this sort ,though terrifying, are helpful in suggesting unfamiliar but useful perspectives of time. They may ,for example ,symbolize the telescoped ,almost momentary charater of the past as seen through the eyes of an anxious or disa-ffected individual. Or they may suggest the remarkable brevity of our lifes in the cosmic scale of time. If the estimated age of the cosmos were shorted to seventy-two years, a human life would take about ten seconds.

But look at time the other way. Each day is a minor eternity of over 86000 seconds. During each second, the number of

distinct molecular functions going on with the human body is comparable to the mumber of seconds in the estimated age of the cosmos, A few seconds are long enough for a revolutionary idea, a startling communication, a baby's conception, a wounding insult, a sudden death. Depending on how we think of them, our lives can be infinitely long or infinitely short. 18.Youth

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter ofrosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, aquality 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 theappetite 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。 19.advice to a young man

Remember, my son, you have to work. Whether you handle a pick or a pen, a wheel-barrow or a set of books, digging ditches or editing a paper, ringing an auction bell or writing funny things, you must work. If you look around you will see the men who are the most able to live the rest of their days without work are the men who work the hardest. Don't be afraid of killing yourself

with overwork. It is beyond your power to do that on the sunny side of thirty. They die sometimes, but it is because they quit work at six in the evening, and do not go home until two in the morning. It’s the interval that kills, my son. The work gives you an appetite for your meals; it lends solidity to your slumbers, it gives you a perfect and grateful appreciation of a holiday.

There are young men who do not work, but the world is not proud of them. It does not know their names, even it simply speaks of them as “old So-and-So’s boy”. Nobody likes them; the great, busy world doesn’t know that they are there. So find out what you want to be and do, and take off your coat and make a dust in the world. The busier you are, the less harm you will be apt to get into, the sweeter will be your sleep, the brighter and happier your holidays, and the better satisfied will the world be with you.

By Robert Jones Burdette

谨记，我的年轻人，你们必须工作．不管你是使锄头还是用笔，也不管是推手推车还是编记账簿，也不管你是种地还是编辑报纸，是拍卖师亦或是作家，都必须有一份工作，并为之努力奋斗．如果仔细观察周围的人，你就会发现，那些工作最努力的人最有可能安享晚年而无须去工作．不要害怕超负荷的工作会缩短你的寿命，不足三十岁的年龄，你的承受能力远不止如此．如果说真的有人过早送命，那完全是因为他们在晚上六点结束工作，却要在外流连到凌晨两点才归家．我的年轻人，正是晚上六点到凌晨两点的这段时间的生活毁了他们自

己．工作会增加你的食欲，工作会使你安然入睡，工作将会使你心满意足地享受假日．

有的年轻人不工作，但世界并不会因他们自豪。它不知道他们的姓名，甚至简单地将他们概括为“老令人讨厌者的男孩 ” 。没有人喜欢他们;伟大，繁忙的世界不知道他们在那里。因此，找出哪些你想成为和做的，脱下你的外衣，把粉尘抛在世界上。越是繁忙的你越是少受伤害，甜蜜将成为您的睡眠，光明和幸福着您的假期，更好地满足你的意志世界。 20.What is immortal

TO see the golden sun and the azure sky, the outstretched ocean, to walk upon the green earth , and to be a lord of a thousand creatures to look down giddy precipices or over distant flowery vales, to see the world spread out under one's finger in a map, to bring the stars near, to view the smallest insects in a microscope, to read history and witness the revolutions of empirees and the succession of generations ,to hear the gloryof Sidon and Tyre of Babylon and Susa,as of a fade pegeant,anf ti say all these wereand are now nothing. to think that we exist in such a point of time, and in such a corner of space,to be at once spectators and a part of the moving scene to watch the return of the seasons, of spring and autumn, to hear--- The stock dove plain amid the forest deep, That drowsy rustles to the sighing gale.

---to traverse desert wildness, to listen to thedungeon's gloom,or sit in crowded theatres and see life itself mocked,

to feel heat and cold,pleasure and pain right and wrong,truth and falsehood, to study the works of art and refine the sense of beauty to agony, to worship fame and to dream ofimmortality, to have read Shakespeare and Beloit to the same species as Sir isaac Newton to be and to do all this and then in a moment to be nothing to have it all snatched from one like a juggler's ball or a phantasmagoria.....

我们看到金色的太阳，蔚蓝的天空，广阔的海洋；我们漫步在绿油油的大地上，做万物的主人；我们俯视令人目眩心悸的悬崖峭壁，远眺鲜花盛开的山谷；我们把地图摊开，任意指点全球；我们把星辰移到眼前观看，还在显微镜下观察极其微小的生物，我们学历史，亲自目睹帝国的兴亡，时代的交替；我们听人谈论西顿、推罗、巴比伦和苏撒的勋业，如同听一番往昔的盛会，听了以后，我们说这些事确实发生过，但现在却是过眼云烟了；我们思考着自己生活的时代，生活的地区；我们在人生的活动舞台上既当观众，又当演员；我们观察四季更迭，春秋代序，我们听见了___ 野鸽在浓密的树林中哀诉， 树林随微风的叹息而低语。

___ 我们横绝大漠；我们倾听了子夜的歌声；我们光顾灯火辉煌的厅堂，走下阴森森的地牢，或者坐在万头攒动的剧院里观看生活本身受到的摩拟；我们亲身感受炎热和寒冷，快乐和痛苦，正义和邪恶，真理和谬误；我们钻研艺术作品，把自己的美感提高到极其敏锐的程度；我们崇拜荣誉，梦想不朽；我们阅读莎士比亚，或者把自己和牛顿爵士视为同一族类，正当我们面临这一切，从事这一切的时候，自己却在一刹那之间化为虚无，眼前的一切像是魔术师手中的圆球，像是一

场幻影，一下子全都消失得无影无踪...... 21.The English character

The English seem as silent as the Japanese, yet vainer than the inhabitants of Siam. Upon my arrival I attributed that reserve to modesty, which, I now find, has its origin in pride. Condescend to address them first, and you are sure of their acquaintance; stoop to flattery, and you conciliate their friendship and esteem. They bear hunger, cold, fatigue, and all the miseries of life without shrinking, danger only calls forth their fortitude; they even exult in calamity, but contemp is what they cannot bear. An Englishman fears contempt more than death; he often flies to death as a refuge from its pressure, and dies when he fancies the world has creased to esteem him.by Oliver Goldsmith 22.The use of history

There are two ways of thinking of history. There is, first, history regarded as a way of look?ing at other things, really the temporal aspect of anything, from the universe to this nib with which I am writing. Everything has its history. There is the history of the universe, if only we knew it－and we know something of it, if we do not know much. Nor is the contrast so great, when you come to think of it, between the universe and this pen-nib. A mere pen-nib has quite a considerable history. There is, to begin with, what has been written with it, and that might be something quite important. After all it

was probably only one quill-pen or a couple that wrote Hamlet. Whatever has been written with the pen-nib is part of its history. In addition to that there is the history of its manufacture: this particular nib is a 'Relief' nib, No. 314, made by R. Esterbrook and Co. in England, who supply the Midland Bank with pen-nibs, from whom I got it—a gift, I may say, but behind this nib there is the whole process of manufacture. In fact a pen nib implies of universe, and the history of it implies its history. We may regard this way of looking at it—history as the time-aspect of all things: a pen-nib, the universe, the fiddled before me as I write, as a relative conception of history. There is, secondly, what we mat call a substantive conception of history, what we usually mean by it, history proper as a subject of study in itself.Excerpt from The Use of History by A.L.Rowse

23.The study of words

That if your vocabulary is limited your chances of success are limited.

That one of the easiest and quickest ways to get ahead is by consciously building up your knowledge of words.

The the vocabulary of the average person almost stops growing by the middle twenties.And that from then on it is necessary to have an intelligent plan if progress is to be made.No haphazard hit-or-miss methods will do.

The study of words is not merely something that has to do with

literature.Words are your tools of thought.You can't even think at all without them.Try it.If you are planning to go downtown thin afternoon you will find that you are saying to yourself,\"I think i will go downtown this afternoon.\"You can't make such a simple decision as this without using words.

Without words you could make no decisions and from no judgements whatsoever.A pianist may have the most beautiful tunes in his head,but if he had only five keys on his piano he would never get more than a fraction of these tunes out.

The study of words is not only to improve the processes of your mind.It

will

give

you

assurance;build

your

self-confidence;lend color to your personality;increase your popularity.Your words are your personality.Your vocabulary is you.And your words are all that we,your friends,have to know and judge you by.You have no other medium for telling us your thoughts-for convincing us,persuading us,giving us orders. 24.Did you deal with fotune fairly

Most people complain of fortune, few of nature; and the kinder they think the latter has been to them, the more they murmur at what they call the injustice of the former.

Why have not I the riches, the rank, the power, of such and such, is the common expostulation with fortune; but why have not I the merit, the talents, the wit, or the beauty, of such and such others, is a reproach rarely or never made to nature. The truth is, that nature, seldom profuse, and seldom niggardly,

has distributed her gifts more equally than she is generally supposed to have done. Education and situation make the great difference. Culture improves, and occasions elicit, natural talents I make no doubt but that there are potentially, if I may use that pedantic word, many Bacons, Lockes, Newtons, Caesars, Cromwells, and Mariboroughs at the ploughtail behind counters, and, perhaps, even among the nobility; but the soil must be cultivated, and the season favourable, for the fruit to have all its spirit and flavour.

If sometimes our common parent has been a little partial, and not kept the scales quite even; if one preponderates too much, we throw into the lighter a due counterpoise of vanity, which never fails to set all right. Hence it happens, that hardly any one man would, without reverse, and in every particular, change with any other.

Though all are thus satisfied with the dispensations of nature, how few listen to her voice! How to follow her as a guide! In vain she points out to us the plain and direct way to truth, vanity, fancy, affection, and fashion assume her shape and wind us through fairy-ground to folly and error.

很多人抱怨命运，却很少有人抱怨自然；人们越是认为自然对他们仁爱有加，便越是嘀咕命运对他们的所谓不公。

人们常常对命运发出诘难：我为何没有财富、地位、权力以及诸如此类的东西；但人们却很少或从不这样责怪过自然：我为何没有长处、天赋、机智或美丽以及诸如此类的东西。

事实是，自然总是将天赋公平地分配给人们，比人们通常认为的还要不偏不倚，很少过分地慷慨!也很少吝啬。人与人之间的巨大差异是由于教育和环境使然。文化修养改良了天赋，机遇环境诱发了天赋。我们并不怀疑在农田耕作，在柜台后营业，甚至在豪门贵族中间有很多潜在的培根们、洛克们、牛顿们、凯撒们、克伦威尔们和马尔伯勒们，如果允许我用“潜在的”这个学究味浓重的词的话；但是要使果实具有它全部的品质和风味，还必须有耕耘过的泥土，必须有适宜的季节。

倘若大自然有时候有那么一点偏心，没有将天平摆正；倘若有一头过重，我们就会在轻的一头投上一枚大小适当的虚荣的砝码，它每次都会将天平重新调平，从不出差错。因此就出现了这种情况：几乎没有人会毫无保留地和另一个人里里外外全部对换一下。

虽然对于自然的分配，人人都感到满意；然而肯听听她的忠告的人却是如此之少!能将她当作向导而跟随其后的人又是如此之少!她徒然地为我们指出一条通向真理的笔直的坦途；而虚荣、幻想、矫情、时髦却俨然以她的面貌出现，暗中将我们引向虚幻的歧途，走向愚笨和谬误。Excerpt: from Upon Affectation By Lord Chesterfield(切斯特菲尔德勋爵) 25.The lesson of a tree

I should not take either the biggest or the most picturesque tree to illustrate it. Here is one of my favorites now before me, a fine yellow poplar, quite straight, perhaps 90 feet high, and four thick at the butt. How strong, vital, enduring! how dumbly eloquent! What suggestions of imperturbability and being, as against the human trait of mere seeming. Then the qualities,

almost emotional, palpably artistic, heroic, of a tree; so innocent and harmless, yet so savage. It is, yet says nothing. How it rebukes by its tough and equable serenity all weathers, this gusty-temper’d little whiffet, man, that runs indoors at a mite of rain or snow. Science (or rather half-way science) scoffs at reminiscence of dryad and hamadryad, and of trees speaking. But, if they don’t, they do as well as most speaking, writing, poetry, sermons—or rather they do a great deal better. I should say indeed that those old dryad-reminiscences are quite as true as any, and profounder than most reminiscences we get. (“Cut this out,” as the quack mediciners say, and keep by you.) Go and sit in a grove or woods, with one or more of those voiceless companions, and read the foregoing, and think. One lesson from affiliating a tree—perhaps the greatest moral lesson anyhow from earth, rocks, animals, is that same lesson of inherency, of what is, without the least regard to what the looker on (the critic) supposes or says, or whether he likes or dislikes. What worse—what more general malady pervades each and all of us, our literature, education, attitude toward each other, (even toward ourselves,) than a morbid trouble about seems, (generally temporarily seems too,) and no trouble at all, or hardly any, about the sane, slow-growing, perennial, real parts of character, books, friendship, marriage—humanity’s invisible foundations and hold-together? by Walter Whitman 26.The joys of writing

The fortunate people in the world—the only reallyfortunate people in the world, in my mind, are those whose work is also their pleasure. The class is not a large one, not nearly so large as it is often represented to be; and authors are perhaps one of the most important elements in its composition.They enjoy in this respect at least a real harmony of life. To my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class distinction in the world worth striving for; and I do not wonder that others are inclined to envy those happy human beings who find their livelihood in the gay effusions of their fancy, to whom every hour of labour is an hour of enjoyment, to whom repose—however necessary—is a tiresome interlude. And even a holiday is almost deprivation. Whether a man writes well or ill, has much to say or little, if he cares aboutwriting at all, he will appreciate the pleasures of composition. To sit at one's table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of nice white paper, and a Squeezer pen—that is true happiness. The complete absorption of the mind upon an agreeable occupation—what more is there than that to desire? What does it matter what happens outside？The House of Commons may do what it likes, and so may the House of Lords. The heathen may rage furiously in every part of the globe. The bottom may be knocked clean out of the American market. Consols may fall and suffragettes may rise. Nevermind, for four hours, at any rate, we will withdraw ourselves from a common,

ill-governed, and disorderly world, and with the key of fancy unlock that cupboard where all the good things of the infinite are put away. by Winston Churchill 27.Three passions

Three passions, simple but overwhelming 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 very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy----ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for 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 the 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 sway 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 reverberate 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 can’t, and I too suffer. This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me. 28.The Americans

Americans are a peculiar people. They work like mad, then give away much of what they earn. They play until they are exhausted, and call this a vacation. They live to think of themselves as tough-minded business men, yet they are push-overs for any hard luck story. They have the biggest of nearly everything including government, motor cars and debts, yet they are afraid of bigness. They are always trying to chip away at big government, big business, big unions, big influence. They like to think of themselves as little people, average men, and they would like to cut everything down to their own size. Yet they boast of their tall buildings, high mountains, long rivers, big state, the best country, the best world, the best heaven. They also have the most traffic deaths, the most waste, the most racketeering. When they meet, they are always telling each other, \"Take it easy,\" then they rush off like crazy in opposite directions.

They play games as if they were fighting a war, and fight wars as if playing a game. They marry more, go broke more often, and make more money than any other people. They love children, animals, gadgets, mother, work, excitement, noise, nature, television shows, comedy, installment buying, fast motion, spectator sports, the underdog, the flag, Christmas, jazz, shapely women and muscular men, classical recordings, crowds, comics, cigarettes, warm houses in winter and cool ones in summer, thick beefsteaks, coffee, ice cream, informal dress, plenty of running water, do-it-yourself, and a working week trimmed to forty hours or less.

They crowd their highways with cars while complaining about the traffic, flock to movies and television while griping about the quality and the commercials, go to church but don't care much for sermons, and drink too much in the hope of relaxing － only to find themselves stimulated to even bigger dreams. There is of course, no typical American. But if you added them all together and then divided by 226 000 000 they would look something like what this chapter has tried to portray. excerpt:from Why We Behave Like Americans By Bradford Smith

美国人是一个与众不同的民族。他们拼命地工作，然后花掉了大量辛苦赚来的钱。他们玩得筋疲力尽，并称之为度假。他们向来把自己想成硬心肠的商人，可是任何不幸的故事都会使他们受骗。几乎所有最大的东西他们都有 ：政府，汽车和债务，可他们害怕庞大。所以他们

总是要想办法除去大的政府，大的买卖，大的团体，大的影响力。他们愿意把自己看成是小人物，平平常常的人，喜欢一切都是平等的。他们吹嘘自己的高楼大厦，高山，大河，吹嘘自己是大国，是最好的国家，是最好的世界，最好的天堂。 同时，他们的车祸最多，浪费最多，骗子也最多。

美国人一见面就对彼此说：“放轻松点，”然后就向相反的方向狂奔。他们做游戏象打仗一样，打起仗来象做游戏。跟任何人相比，他们结婚次数更多，离婚的频率更高，赚的钱更多。他们爱孩子，爱动物，爱小玩艺，爱母亲，爱工作，爱激动，爱吵吵嚷嚷，爱大自然，爱看电视节目，爱看喜剧，买东西喜欢分期付款，喜欢快节奏，爱买票看体育比赛，同情弱者，热爱国旗，爱过圣诞节，听爵士乐，爱看身材好的女子和肌肉发达的男人，爱收藏经典唱片，爱凑热闹，看连环画，抽烟，喜欢房子冬暖夏凉，爱吃切得厚厚的牛排，爱喝咖啡，吃冰淇淋，穿着随便，喜欢自来水一直淌着，一切自己动手，一周工作时间限制在40小时以内。

当然没有典型的美国人。但是如果你把他们加在一起，然后用226 000 000来除，他们的样子就象这一章要描述的。节选自布拉德福德所著《为什么我们的举止象美国人》 29.The English and the Americans

The contrasting English and American patterns have some remarkable implications, particularly if we assume that man, like other animals, has a built-in need to shut himself off from others from time to time. An English student in one of my seminars typified what happens when hidden patterns clash. He was quite obviously experiencing strain in his relationships

with Americans. Nothing seemed to go right and it was quite clear from his remarks that we did not know how to behave. An analysis of his complaints showed that a major source of irritation was that no American seemed to be able to pick up the subtle clues that there were times when he didn’t want his thoughts intruded on. As he started it, “I’m walking around the apartment and it seems that whenever I want to be alone my roommate starts talking to me. Pretty soon he’s asking ‘What’s the matter?’ and wants to know if I’m angry. By then I am angry and say something.”

It took some time but finally we were able to identify most of the contrasting features of the American and Britain problems that were in conflict in this case. When the American wants to be alone he goes into a room and shuts the door---he depends on architectural features for screening. For an American to refuse to talk to someone else present in the same room, to give them the “silent treatment,” is the ultimate form of rejection and a sure sign of great displeasure. The English, on the other hand, lacking rooms of their own since childhood, never developed the practice of using space as a refuge from others. They have in effect internalized a set of barriers, which they erect and which others are supposed to recognize. Therefore, the more the Englishman shuts himself off when he is with an American the more likely the American is to break in to assure himself that all is well. Tension lasts until the two get to

know each other. The important point is that the spatial and architectural needs of each are not the same at all. 30.Advice to Youth

Being told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth-something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice. Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young; for it is in one’s tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable. First, then. I will say to you my young friends—and I say it beseechingly, urgingly—

Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don’t, they will make you. Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition than you can by acting on your own better judgment. Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient. If you shall find that he had not intended any offense, come out frankly and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didn’t mean to. Yes, always avoid

violence; in this age of charity and kindliness, the time has gone by for such things. Leave dynamite to the low and unrefined. Go to bed early, get up early- this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark is really the best thing to get up with. It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every time—it’s no trick at all. by Mark Twain 英语名篇名段背诵精华(31-45) 31.Companionship of books

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book ----just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb: “love me, love my dog.”But there is more

wisdom in this: “love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

“Books”, said Hazlitt, “wind into the heart; the poet’s verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”

A good book is often the best urn of a life, enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

“They are never alone,”said Sir Philip Sidney, “that are accompanied by noble thoughts.”

The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their

author’s minds ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good. Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe. The great and good do not die ever in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.

32.A tribute to the dog

1. The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith.

2. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who

are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolute, unselfish friend a man may have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.

3. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the sores and wounds that come in the encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

4. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes and death takes its master in its embrace and the body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there, by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness faithful and true even to death.By George

Graham West

33.Three days to see

Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.

I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would tech him the joys of sound.

Now and them I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friends who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed.. \"Nothing in particular, \" she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such reposes, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In the spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully

in search of a bud the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush thought my open finger. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the page ant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips.Excerpt from Story of My Life Helen Keller 34.Golden Fruit

Of the fruits of the year I give my vote to the orange. In the first place it is a perennial----if not in actual fact, at least in the greengrocer’s shop. On the days when dessert is a name given to a handful of chocolates and a little preserved ginger, when macedoine de fruits is the title bestowed on two prunes and a piece of rhubarb, then the orange, however sour, comes nobly to the rescue; and on those other days of plenty when cherries and strawberries and raspberries, and gooseberries riot together upon the table, the orange, sweeter than ever, is still there to hold its own. Bread and butter, beef and mutton, eggs and bacon, are not more necessary to an order existence than the orange.

It is well that the commonest fruit should be also the best. Of the virtures of the orange I have not room fully to speak. It has properties of health giving, as that it cures influenza and establishes the complexion. It is clean, for whoever handles it on its way to your table, but handles its outer covering, its top coat, which is left in the hall. It is round, and forms an excellent substitute with the young for a cricket ball. The pip can be flicked at your enemies, and quite a small piece of peel makes a slide for an old gentleman.

But all this would count nothing had not the orange such delightful qualities of the taste. I dare not let myself go upon this subject. I am a slave to its sweetness. I grudge every marriage in that it means a fresh supply of orange blossom, the promise of so much golden fruit cut short. However, the world must go on.

Yet with the orange we do live year in and year out. That speaks well for the orange. The fact is that there is an honesty aboutthe orange which appeals to all of us. If it is going to be bad---for the best of us are bad sometimes---it begins to be bad from the outside, not from the inside. How many a pear which presents a blooming face to the world is rotten at the core. How many an innocent-looking apple is harbouring a worm in the bud. But the orange had no secret faults. Its outside is a mirror of its inside, and if you are quick you can tell the shopman so before he slips it into the bag.

35.The English humour

Fun seems to be the possession of the English race.Fun is JohnBulll's idea of humour，and there is no intellectualjudgment in fun.Everybody understands it be-cause it is practical.More than that，it unites allclasses and sweetens even political life.To studythe elemental form of English humour，you must look to the school-boy.It begins with the practical joke，and unless there is something of his natureabout it，it is never humour to an Englishman.Inan English household，fun is going all the time.The entire house resounds witn it.The father comes home and the whole family contribute to theamusement；puns，humorous uses of words，little things that are meaningless nonsense，if you like，fly round，and every one enjoys them thoroughly for just what they are.The Scotch are devoid ofthis trait，and the Americans seem to be，too.

If I had the power to give humour to the na-tions I would not give them drollery，for that isimpractical；I would not give them wit，for that isaristocratic，and many minds cannot grasp it；but Iwould be contented to deal out fun，which has nointellectual element，no subtlety，belongs to oldand young，educated and uneducated alike，and isthe natural form of the humour of the Englishman.

Let me tell you why the Englishman speaksonly one language.He believes with the strongest conviction that his own tongue is the one that allpeople ought to speak and will come

in time tospeak，so what is the use of learning any other？Hebelieves，too，that he is appointed by Providenceto be a governor of all the rest of the human race.From our Scottish standpoint we can never see anEnglishman without thinking that there is oozing from every pore of his body the conviction that he belongs to a governing race.It has not been his de-sire that large portions of the world should be un-der his care，but as they have been thrust uponhim in the proceedings of a wise Providence，hemust discharge his duty.This theory hasn't en-deared him to others of his kind，but that isn't amatter that concerns him.He doesn't learn anyother language because he knows that he couldspeak it only so imperfectly that other people would laugh at him，and it would never do that aperson of his importance in the scheme of the uni-verse should be made the object of ridicule. excerpt: from SCOTTISH HUMOUR By John Watson

36.The rewards of living a solitary life

The other day an acquaintance of mine, a gregarious and charming man, told me he had found himself unexpectedly alone in New York for an hour or two between appointments. He went to the Whitney and spent the \"empty\" time looking at things in solitary bliss. For him it proved to be a shock nearly as great as falling in love to discover that he could enjoy himself so much alone. What had he been afraid of, I asked myself? That, suddenly alone, he would discover that he bored himself, or that there was, quite

simply, no self there to meet? But having taken the plunge, he is now on the brink of adventure; he is about to be launched into his own inner space to the astronaut. His every perception will come to him with a new freshness and, for a time, seem startlingly original.

For anyone who can see things for himself with a naked eye becomes, for a moment or two, something of a genius. With another human being present vision becomes double vision, inevitably. We are busy wondering, what does my companion see or think of this, and what do I think of it? The original impact gets lost, or diffused.

\"Music I heard with you was more than music.\" Exactly. And therefore music itself can only be heard alone. Solitude is the salt of personhood. It brings out the authentic flavor of every experience.

\"Alone one is never lonely: the spirit adventures, walking in a quiet garden, in a cool house, abiding single there.\" Loneliness is most acutely felt with other people, for with others,even with a lover sometimes, we suffer from our differences of taste, temperament,mood. Human intercourse often demands that we soften the edge of perception, or withdraw at the very instant of personal truth for fear of hurting, or of being inappropriately present, which is to say naked, in a social situation. Alone we can afford to be wholly whatever we are, and to feel whatever we feel absolutely. That is a great

luxury!

For me the most interesting thing about a solitary life, and mine has been that for the last twenty years, is that it becomes increasingly rewarding. When I can wake up and watch the sun rise over the ocean, as I do most days, and know that I have an entire day ahead, uninterrupted, in which to write a few pages, take a walk with my dog, lie down in the afternoon for a long think (why does one think better in a horizontal position?), read and listen to music, I am flooded with happiness. I’m lonely only when I am overtired, when I have worked too long without a break, when from the time being I feel empty and need filling up. And I am lonely sometimes when I come back home after a lecture trip, when I have seen a lot of people and talked a lot, and am full to the brim with experience that needs to be sorted out.

Then for a little while the house feels huge and empty, and I wonder where my self is hiding. It has to be recaptured slowly by watering the plants and perhaps,by looking again at each one as though it were a person.

It takes a while, as I watch the surf blowing up in fountains at the end of the field, but the moment comes when the world falls away, and the self emerges again from the deep unconscious, bringing back all I have recently experienced to be explored and slowly understood, when I can converse again with my hidden powers, and so grow, and so be renewed, till death do us part.

37.Why I want a life

I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife who will keep my house clean. A wife who will pick up after my children, a wife who will pick up after me. I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need the minute I need it. I want a wife who cooks the meals, a wife who is a good cook. I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly, and then do the cleaning up while I do my studying. I want a wife who will care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time from school. I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation so that somesone can aomtinue to care for me and my children when I need a rest and change of scene.

I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a wife's duties. But I want a wife who will listen to me when I feel the need to explain a rather difficult point I have come across in my course of studies. And I want a wife who type my papers for me when I have written them.

I want a wife who will take care of the details of my social life. When my wife and I are invited out by my friends, I want a wife who will take care of the babysitting arrangements. When I meet people at school that I like who will have the house clean,

will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and not interrupt when I talk about things that interest me and my friends. I want a wife who will have arranged that the children are fed and ready for bed before my guests arrive so that the children do not bother us. I want a wife who takes care of the needs of my guests so that they feel comfortable, who makes sure that they have an sahtray, that they are offered a second helping of the food, that their wine glasses are replenished when necessary, that their coffee is served to them as they like it. And I want a wife who knows that sometimes I need a night out by myself.

I want a wife who is sensitive to my *ual needs, a wife who makes love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure that I am satisfied. And, of course, I want a wife who will not demand *ual attention when I am not in the mood for it. I want a wife who assumes the complete responsibility for birth control, because I do not want more children. I want a wife who will remain *ually faithful to me so that I do not have to clutter up my intellectual life with jealousies. And I want a wife who understands that my *ual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible.

If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I have the liberty to replace my present wife with another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh,

new life; my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free.

When I am through with school and have a job, I want my wife to quit working and remain at home so that my wife can more fully and completely take care of a wife's duties. My God, who wouldn't want a wife? 38.Of studies

Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgement and disposition of business.

For ecpert and execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best form those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgement wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar.

They perfect nature, and are perfectec by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take

for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things.

Reading maketh a full man； conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little， he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not.

Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in morse.

Nay there is no stand or impendiment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies: like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he

must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers'cases. So every defectof the mind may have a special receipt. (Francis Bacon) 39.The tragedy of old age

What is it like to be old in the United States? What will our own lives be like when we are old? Americans find it difficult to think about old age until they are propelled into the midst of it by their own aging and that of relatives and friends. Aging is the neglected stepchild of the human life cycle. Though we have begun to examine the socially taboo subjects of dying and death, we have leaped over that long period of time preceding death known as old age. In truth, it is easier to manage the problems of death than the problem of living as an old person. Death is a dramatic, one-time crisis while old age is a day-by-day and year-by-year confrontation with powerful external forces, a bittersweet coming to terms with one's own personality and one's life.

Old age is neither inherently miserable nor inherently sublime-like every stage of life it has problems, joys, fears and potentials. The process of aging and eventual death must ultimately be accepted as the natural progression of the life cycle, the old completing their prescribed life spans and making

way for the young. Much that is unique in old age in fact derives from the reality of aging and the imminence of death. The old must clarify and find use for what they have attained in a lifetime of learning and adapting they must conserve strength and resources where necessary and adjust creatively to those changes and losses that occur as part of the aging experience. The elderly have the potential for qualities of human reflection and observation which can only come from having lived an entire life span. There is a lifetime accumulation of personality and experience which is available to be used and enjoyed. But what are an individual’s chances for a “good ” old age in America, with satisfying final years and a dignified death ?Unfortunately , none too good. For many elderly Americans old age is a tragedy, a period of quiet despair, deprivation , desolation and muted rage. This can be a consequence of the kind of life a person has led in younger years and the problems in his or her relationships with others. There are also inevitable personal and physical losses to be sustained, some of which can become overwhelming and unbearable. All of this is the individual factor, the existential element. But old age is frequently a tragedy even when the early years have been fulfilling and people seemingly have everything going for them. Herein lies what I consider to be the genuine tragedy of old age in America—we have shaped a society which is extremely harsh to live in when one is old. The tragedy of old age is not

the fact that each of us must grow old and die but that the process of doing so has been made unnecessarily and at times excruciatingly painful, humiliating, debilitating and isolating through insensitivity, ignorance and poverty. The potentials for satisfactions and even triumphs in late life are real and vastly under explored. For the most part the elderly topsage to exist in an inhospitable world. 40.Three periods of my youth

About the twelfth year of my age, my father being abroad, my mother reproved me for some misconduct, to which I made an undutiful reply. And The next first-day, as I was with my father returning from meeting, he told me that he understood I had behaved amiss to my mother, and advised me to be more careful in future. I knew myself blamable, and in shame and confusion remained silent. Being thus awakened to a sense of my wickedness, I felt remorse in my mind, and on getting home I retired and prayed to the Lord to forgive me, and I do not remember that I ever afterwards spoke unhandsomely to either of my parents, however foolish in some other things.

Having attained the age of sixteen , I began to love wanton company and though I was preserved from profane language or scandalous conduct, still I perceived a plant in me which produced much wild grapes; my merciful Father did not, however, forsake me utterly, but at times, through his grace, I was brought seriously to consider my ways; and the sight of my

backslidings affected me with sorrow, yet for want of rightly attending to the reproofs of instruction, vanity was added to vanity, and repentance to repentance. Upon the whole, my mind became more and more alienated from the truth, and I hastened toward destruction. While I meditate on the gulf towards which I travelled, and reflect on my youthful disobedience,my heart is affected with sorrow.

Thus time passed on; my heart was replenished with mirth and wantonness, while pleasing scenes of vanity were presented to my imagination, till I attained the age of eighteen years, near which time I felt the judgments of God in my soul, like a consuming fire, and looking over my past life the prospect was moving. I was often sad, and longed to be delivered from those vanities; then again my heart was strongly inclined to them, and there was in me a sore conflict. At times I turned to folly, and then again sorrow and confusion took hold of me. In a while I resolved totally to leave off some of my vanities, but there was a secret reserve in my heart of the more refined part of them, and I was not low enough to find true peace. Thus for some months I had great troubles and Thus quite; there were meany on unsubjected, which rendered my labors fruitless. At length, through the merciful continuance of heavenly visitations, I was made to bow down in spirit before the most time. I remember One evening I had spent some time in reading a pious author, and walking out alone I humbly prayed to the Lord for his help, that

I might be delivered from all those vanities which so ensnared me. Thus being brought low, he helped me, and as I learned to bear the cross I felt refreshment to come from his presence, but not keeping in that strength which gave victory I lost ground again, the sense of which greatly affected me. and I sought deserts and lonely places, and there with tears did confess my sins to God and humbly craved his help. And I may say with reverence, he was near to me in my troubles, and in those times of humiliation opened my ear to discipline.Excerpt:From Journal by John Woolman 41.The lowest animal

Man is the only animal that robs his helpless fellow of his country-takes possession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him. Man has done this in all the ages. There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed.

Man is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. In our day he is always some man's slave for wages, and does the man's work; and this slave has other slaves under him for minor wages, and they do his work. The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living.

Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for \"the universal brotherhood of man\"-with his mouth.

Man is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion-several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven. He was at it in the time of Caesars, he was at it in Mahomet's time, he was at it in the time of the Inquisition, he was at it in France a couple of centuries, he was at it in England in Mary's day, he has been at it ever since he first saw the light, he is at it today in Crete-as per the telegrams quoted above*-he will be at it somewhere else tomorrow. The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out, in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste. Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal. Note his history, as sketched above. It seems plain to me that whatever he is he is not a

reasoning animal. His record is the fantastic record of a maniac. I consider that the strongest count against his intelligence is the fact that with that record back of him he blandly sets himself up as the head animal of the lot: whereas by his own standards he is the bottom one.

In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectionately. By Mark Twain 42.The art of living

The art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go. For life is a paradox: it enjoins us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains their eventual relinquishment. The rabbis of old put it this way:\" A man comes to this world with his fist clenched, but when he dies, his hand is open.\" Surely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wondrous, and full of a beauty that breaks through every pore of God' s own earth. We know that this is so, but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what was and then suddenly realize that it is no more.

We remember a beauty that faded, a love that waned. But we

remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered, that we failed to respond with love when it was tendered.

A recent experience re-taught me this truth. I was hospitalized following a severe heart attack and had been in intensive care for several days. It was not a pleasant place.

One morning, I had to have some additional tests. The required machines were located in a building at the opposite end of the hospital, so I had to be wheeled across the courtyard on a gurney.

As we emerged from our unit, the sunlight hit me. That's all there was to my experience. Just the light of the sun. And yet how beautiful it was -- how warming, how sparking, how brilliant! I looked to see whether anyone else relished the sun's golden glow, but everyone was hurrying to and fro, most with eyes fixed on the ground. Then I remembered how often I, too, had been indifferent to the grandeur of each day, too preoccupied with petty and sometimes even mean concerns to respond from that experience is really as commonplace as was the experience itself: life's gifts are precious -- but we are too heedless of them. Here then is the first pole of life' s paradoxical demands on us : Never too busy for the wonder and the awe of life. Be reverent before each dawning day. Embrace each hour. Seize each golden minute.

Hold fast to life...but not so fast that you cannot let go. This

is the second side of life' s coin, the opposite pole of its paradox: we must accept our losses, and learn how to let go. This is not an easy lesson to learn, especially when we are young and think that the world is ours to command, that whatever we desire with the full force of our passionate being can, nay, will, be ours. But then life moves along to confront us with realities, and slowly but surely this truth dawns upon us. At every stage of life we sustain losses -- and grow in the process. We begin our independent lives only when we emerge from the womb and lose its protective shelter. We enter a progression of schools, then we leave our mothers and fathers and our childhood homes. We get married and have children and then have to let them go. We confront the death of our parents and our spouses. We face the gradual or not so gradual waning of our strength. And ultimately, as the parable of the open and closed hand suggests, we must confront the inevitability of our own demise, losing ourselves as it were, all that we were or dreamed to be.

43.Art and life

My parents owned six books between them. Two of those were Bibles and the third was a concordance to the Old and New Testaments. The fourth was The House At Pooh Corner. The fifth，The Chatterbox Annual 1923 and the sixth, Malory’s Morte d’Artliur. I found it necessary to smuggle books in and of the house and I cannot claim too much for the provision of an outside toilet

when there is no room of one’s own. It was on the toilet that I first read Freud and D. H. Lawrence, and perhaps that was the best place, after all. We kept a rubber torch hung on the cistern, and I had to divide my money from a Saturday job, between buying books and buying batteries. My mother knew exactly how long her Ever Readys would last if used only to illuminate the hap that separated the toilet paper from its .

Once I had tucked the book back down my knickers to get it indoors again, I find somewhere to hide it, and anyone with a single bed, standard size, and paperbacks, standard size, will discover that seventy seven can be accommodated per layer under the mattress. But as my collection grew, I began to worry that my mother might notice that her daughter’s bed was rising visibly. One day she did. She burned everything.

I had been brought up to memorize very long Bible passages, and when I left home and was supporting myself so that I could continue my education, I fought off loneliness and fear by reciting. In the funeral parlor I whispered Donne to the embalming fluids and Marvell to the corpses. Later, I found that Tennyson’ s ‘Lady of Shalott’ had a soothing, because rhythmic, effect on the mentally disturbed. Among the disturbed I numbered myself at that time.

The healing power of art is not a rhetorical fantasy. Fighting to keep language, language became my sanity and my strength. It still is, and I know of no pain that art cannot assuage. For

some, music, for some, pictures, for me, primarily, poetry, whether found in poems or in prose, cuts through noise and hurt, opens the wound to clean it, and then gradually teaches it to heal itself. Wounds need to be taught to heal themselves. The psyche and the spirit do not share the instinct of damaged body. Healing is automatically triggered nor is danger usually avoided. Since we put ourselves in the way of hurt it seems logical to put ourselves in the way of healing. Art has more work to do than ever before but it can do that work. In a self-destructive society like our own, it is unsurprising that art as a healing force is despised.

For myself, when I returned to my to my borrowed room night after night, and there were my books, I felt relief and exuberance, not hardship and exhaustion. I intended to avoid the fate of Jude the Obscure, although a reading of that book was a useful warning. What I wanted did not belong to me by right and whilst it could not be refused tome in quite same way, we still have subtle punishments for anyone who insists on what they are and what they want. Walled inside the little space marked out for by family and class, it was the limitless world of imagination that it possible for me to scale the sheer face of other people’s assumptions. Inside books there is perfect space and it is that space which allows the reader to escape from the problems of gravity. By Jeanette Winterson 艺术与生命

我父母两人共有六本书。其中两本是圣经、第三本是新旧约用语索引、第四本是《噗噗熊街角的屋子》（The House at Pooh Corner）、第五本是《1923年话匣子年鉴》（The Chatterbox 1923 Annual），而第六本是马洛礼（Malory）的《阿瑟王之死》（Mortd’Arthur）。 我发现有必要把书偷运进出家里，而且没有属于自己的房间时，对于于屋外厕所的供应品，我不能要求太多。我第一次读到弗洛依德和D. H. 劳伦斯，是坐在马桶上的，而或许，那终究是最佳之处。我们在马桶水箱上悬吊了一个橡胶手电筒，而我必须将周六那份工作赚来的钱，平分花在买书和买电池上面。我母亲清楚知道，她那些永备牌电池，如果光是用来照明区分卫生纸和其功能的空隙，可以维持多久。 有一回我又把书塞在内裤里，好带进屋里。我必须找个地方把书藏起来，而任何人，若拥有一张单人床，标准尺寸的，以及平装书籍，标准尺寸的，就会发现，床垫底下每一层可容纳七十七本。可是当我的收集品增加时，便开始担心母亲会注意到，用眼睛就看得出女儿的床正逐渐升高。有一天她真的发现了。她全给烧了。

我成长过程中，必须背下很长的圣经段落。到我离开家庭，自己赚钱以便继续求学时，便靠背诵来抵挡寂寞和恐惧。在殡仪馆里，我稍稍对着防腐香料液念约翰 ?多恩（Donne）、对着尸体念安德鲁﹒马维尔（Marvel）。后来，我发现丁尼生（Tennyson）的〈夏洛特〉（“Lady of Shalott”），因为有节焰感，对于心智失衡者具有一种安抚作用。在那个时候我把自己也算在失衡者之列。

艺术的疗愈力量并非夸大其词的幻想。我奋力留住语言，语言因而让我心智正常，具有力量。到现在仍是如此，而且我所知道的痛苦，无一不透过艺术而得到舒缓。对某此人来说，是音乐，另一些人，是绘画，对我来说，是主要的是，不论出现在诗歌或散文中，诗能够切穿

嘈杂和伤痛，将伤口打开以清理之，然后逐渐教导它自我疗愈。 心灵和精神不像受损了的身体具有一种本能。疗愈不会自动给引发，而危险也通常无以避免。既然我们会让自己受伤，那么让自己得到疗愈也是合乎逻辑的。比起以往任何时候，艺术要做更多的工作，但是这份工作它是做得来的。像我们这样一个自我毁灭的社会里，艺术之为一种疗愈的力量，会受到鄙视，并不令人感到讶异。

对我自己而言，夜复一夜回到借来的房里时，我感到放心且满溢，而非困苦和疲惫，我意图避免《无名裘德》（Jude the Obscure）的命运，虽然阅读那本书是很有用的警告。我所想要的，并不理当属于我，而虽然它也不能以完全同样的方式拒我于外，但是任何人若坚持要做某种人或是想要某些东西，我们仍然会给他很微妙的惩罚。当我被关在家庭和阶级为我所划定的小小空间里，是想象力那片无限的天地，让我得以刮除他人那些假设的表层。书中自有完美的空间，就是这个空间，让读者能够逃避地心引力的诸般问题。 詹涅特．温特森 著 44.The winter of Wisconsin

Nothing. No tracks but my own are stitched into the dusting of fresh snow, white as birch bark, that fell during the night. No flittering shadows in the trees, not a sliver of bird song in the air.

天地一片空寂。昨夜刚刚飘落的一场大雪，像白桦树皮那样洁白，白雪皑皑的大地上只留下一行我自己的足迹，仿佛缝在白布上的一行细密针脚。树上没有飞鸟的影子掠过，空中也没有一丝鸟儿的歌声。 What sun there is this time of year shines weakly, halfheartedly through the white gauze of clouds, offering not even the slightest pretense of warmth. For nearly a week temperatures

around my Wisconsin cabin have not risen above zero. The mercury seems painted to the bottom of the thermometer.

一年中此时的太阳发出微弱的光线，懒洋洋地透过薄薄的云层，没有一丝暖意。几乎有一个星期了，我在威斯康星州的小屋里的气温还没有到过零度以上。温度计里的水银柱降到了底端。Excerpt:From A promise of spring.By Jeff Rennicke 45.New England weather

There is a sumptuous variety about the New England weather that compels the stranger’s admiration—and regret. The weather is always doing something there; always attending strictly to business; always getting up new designs and trying them on people to see how they will go. But it gets through more business in Spring than in any other season. In the Spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of twenty-four hours.

Probable nor’-east to sou’-west winds, varying to the southard and westard and eastard and points between; high and low barometer, sweeping round from place to place; probable areas of rain, snow, hail, and drought, succeeded or preceded by earthquakes with thunder and lightning. Excerpt :from speech at dinner of New England Society.By Mark Twain 英语名篇名段背诵精华(46-60) 46.A wet sunday in a country inn

A wet Sunday in a country inn! Whoever has had the luck to experience one can alone judge of my situation. The rain

pattered against the casements; the bells tolled for church with a melancholy sound. I went to the windows in quest of something to amuse the eye; but is seemed as if I had been placed completely out of the reach of all amusement. The windows of my bed-room looked out among tiled roofs and stacks of chimneys, while those of my sitting-room commanded a full view of the stable yard. I know of nothing more calculated to make a man sick of this world than a stable yard on a rainy day. The place was littered with wet straw had been kicked about by travelers and stable-boys. In one corner was a stagnant pool of water, surrounding an island of muck; there were several half-drowned fowls crowded together under cart, among which a miserable,crest-fallencock,drenchedoutofalllifeaandspirit;hisdroopingtailwasmatted, as it were, into a single feather, along which the water trickled from his back; near the cart was a half dozing cow, chewing her cud, and standing patiently to be rained on, with wreaths of vapour rising from her reeking hide; a wall-eyed horse, tired of the loneliness of a stable, was poking his spectral head out of a window, with the rain dripping on it from the eaves; an unhappy cur, chained to a dog-house hard by, uttered something every now and then between a bark and yelp; a drab of a kitchen wench tramped backwards and forwards through the yard in patterns, looking as sulky as the weather itself; everything, in short, was comfortless and forlorn, excepting a crew of hardened ducks, assembled like boon

companions round a puddle and making a riotous noise over their liquor. (by Washington Irving) 47.Summer

One has the leisure of July for perceiving all the differences of the green of leaves. It is no longer a difference in degrees of maturity, for all the trees have darkened to their final tone, and stand in their differences of character and not of mere date. Almost all the green is grave, not sad and not dull. It has a darkened and a daily color, in majestic but not obvious harmony with dark grey skies,and might look, to inconstant eyes, as prosaic after spring as eleven o'clock looks after the dawn. Gravity is the world—not solemnity as towards evening,nor menace as at night. The daylight trees of July are signs of common beauty, common freshness,and a mystery familiar and abiding as night and day. In childhood we all have a more exalted sense of dawn and summer sunrise than we ever fully retain or quite recover; and also a far higher sensibility for April and April evenings—a heartache for them, which in riper years is gradually and irretrievably consoled.

But, on the other hand,childhood has so quickly learned to find daily things tedious,and familiar things importunate,that it has no great delight in the mere middle of the day,and feels weariness of the summer that has ceased to change visibly. The poetry of mere day and of late summer becomes perceptive to mature eyes that have long ceased to be sated, have taken

leave of weariness, and cannot now find anything in nature too familiar; eyes which have, indeed, lost sight of the further awe of midsummer day break, and no longer see so much of the past in April twilight as they saw when they had no past; but which look freshly at the dailiness of green summer, of early afternoon, of every sky of any form that comes to pass, and of the darkened elms.Excerpt:From July.by Alice Meynell 48.At the edge of the sea

The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and se a there has been this place of the meeting of land and water. Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation and of the relentless drive of life. Each time that I enter it, I gain some new awareness of its beauty and it sdeeper meanings, sensing that intricate fabric of life by which one creature is linked with another, and each with its surroundings.

In my thoughts of the shore, one place stands apart for its revelation of exquisite beauty. It is a pool hidden within a cave that one can visit only rarely and briefly when the lowest of the year's low tides fall below it, and perhaps from that very fact it acquires some of its special beauty. Choosing such a tide , I hoped for a glimpse of the pool. The ebb was to fall early in the morning. I knew that if the wind held from the northwest and no interfering swell ran in f rom a distant storm the level of the sea should drop below the entrance to the pool.

There had been sudden ominous showers in the night, with rain like handfuls of gravel flung on the roof. When I looked out into the early morning the sky was full of a gray dawn light but the sun had not yet risen. Water and air were pallid. Across the bay the moon was a luminous disc in the western sky, suspended above the dim line of distant shore — the full August moon, drawing the tide to the low, low levels of the threshold of the alien sea world. As I watched, a gull flew by, above the spruces. Its breast was rosy with the light of the unrisen sun. The day was, after all, to be fair.

Later, as I stood above the tide near the entrance to the pool, the promise of that rosy light was sustained. From the base of the steep wall of rock on which I stood, a moss covered ledge jutted seaward into deep water. In the surge at the rim of the ledge the dark fronds of oarweeds swayed smooth and gleaming as leather. The projecting ledge was the path to the small hidden cave and its pool. Occasionally a swell, stronger than the rest, rolled smoothly over the rim and broke in foam against the cliff. But the intervals between such swells were lo ng enough to admit me to the ledge and long enough for a glimpse of that fairy pool, so seldom and so briefly exposed.

And so I knelt on the wet carpet of sea moss and looked back into the dark cavern that held the pool in a shallow basin. The floor of the cave was only a fewinches below the roof, and a mirror had been created in which all that grew on the ceiling

was reflected in the still water below.

Under water that was clear as glass the pool was carpeted with green sponge. Gray patches of sea squirts glistened on the ceiling and colonies of raft coral were a pale apricot color. In the moment when I looked into the cave a little e lfin starfish hung down, suspended by the merest thread, perhaps by only a single tube foot. It reached down to touch its own reflection, so perfectly delineated that there might have been, not one starfish, but two. The beauty of the refle cted images and of the limpid pool itself was the poignant beauty of things that are ephemeral, existing only until the sea should return to fill the little cave.By Rachel Carson 在海边

海岸是一个古老的世界。自从有地球和大海以来，就有这个水陆相接的地方。但人们却感觉它是一个总在进行创造、生命力顽强而又充沛的世界。每当我踏入这个世界，感觉到生物彼此之间以及每一生物与它周围环境之间，通过错综复杂的生命结构彼此相连的时候，我对它的美，对它的深层意蕴，都产生某种新的认识。

每当我想起海岸，就有一个地方因为它所表现出的独特美妙而占有突出的地位。那就是一个隐匿于洞中的水潭。平时，这个洞被海水所淹没，一年当中只有海潮降落到最低，以至低于水潭时，人们才能在这难得的短时间内看见它。也许正应如此，它获得了某种特殊的美。我选好这样一个低潮的时机，希望能看一眼水潭。根据推算，潮水将在清晨退下去。我知道，如果不刮西北风，远处的风暴不再掀起惊涛骇浪进行干扰，海平面就会落得比水潭的入口还低。夜里突然下了几场

预示不祥的阵雨，一把把碎石般的雨点被抛到屋顶上。清晨我向外眺望，只见天空笼罩着灰蒙蒙的曙光，只是太阳还没有升起。水和空气一片暗淡。一轮明月挂在海湾对面的西天上，月下灰暗的一线就是远方的海岸——8月的望月把海潮吸得很低，直到那与人世隔离的海的世界的门槛。在我观望的时候，一只海鸥飞过云杉。呼之欲出的太阳把它的腹部映成粉色。天终于晴了。

后来，当我在高于海潮的水潭入口处附近站着时，四周已是瑰红色的晨光。从我立脚的峭岩底部，一块被青苔覆盖的礁石伸向大海的最深处。海水拍击着礁石周围，水藻上下左右地飘动，像皮面般滑溜发亮。通往隐藏的小洞和洞中水潭的路径是那些凸现的礁石。间或一阵强于一阵的波涛悠然地漫过礁石的边缘并在岩壁上击成水沫。这种波涛间歇的时间足以让我踏上礁石，足以让我探视那仙境般的水潭，那平时不露面、露面也只是一瞬间的水潭。

我就跪在那海苔藓铺成的湿漉漉的地毯上，向那些黑洞里窥探，就是这些黑洞把水潭环抱成浅盆模样，只见洞的底部距离顶部只有几英寸。真是一面天造明镜。洞顶上的一切生物都倒映在底下纹丝不动的水中。 在清明如镜的水底铺着一层碧绿的海绵。洞顶上一片片灰色的海蛸闪闪发光，一堆堆软珊瑚披着淡淡的杏黄色衣裳。就在我朝洞里探望时，从洞顶上挂下一只小海星，仅仅悬在一条线上，或许就在它的一只管足上。它向下接触到自己的倒影。多么完美的画面!仿佛不是一只海星，而是一对海星。水中倒影的美，清澈的水潭本身的美，这都是些转眼即逝的事物所体现的强烈而动人心扉的美——海水一旦漫过小洞，这种美便不复存在了。雷切尔?卡森 49.I have a dream

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live

in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of \"interposition\" and \"nullification\" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; \"and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.\"?

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to topsage together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of

God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

50.Gettysburg address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who topsaged here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

可是，就更深一层意义而言，我们是无从奉献这片土地的－－ 无从使它成为圣地－－也不可能把它变为人们景仰之所。那些在这里战斗的勇士，活着的和死去的，已使这块土地神圣化了，远非我们的菲薄能力所能左右。世人会不大注意，更不会长久记得我们在此地所说的话，然而他们将永远忘不了这些人在这里所做的事。相反，我们活着的人应该献身于那些曾在此作战的人们所英勇推动而尚未完成的工作。我们应该在此献身于我们面前所留存的伟大工作－－由于他们的光荣牺牲，我们要更坚定地致力于他们曾作最后全部贡献的那个事业－－我们在此立志誓愿，不能让他们白白死去－－要使这个国家在上帝庇佑之下，得到新生的自由－－要使那民有、民治、民享的政府不致从地球上消失。

八十七年以前，我们的祖先在这大陆上建立了一个新的国家，它孕育于自由，并且献身给一种理念，即所有人都是生来平等的。 当前，我们正在从事一次伟大的内战，我们在考验，究竟这个国家，或任何一个有这种主张和这种信仰的国家，是否能长久存在。我们在那次战争的一个伟大的战场上集合。我们来到这里，奉献那个战场上的一部分土地，作为在此地为那个国家的生存而牺牲了自己生命的人永久眠息之所。我们这样做，是十分合情合理的。

51.President Bush addresses Nation on space shuttle Columbia tragedy

My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia. A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors.

On board was a crew of seven: Colonel Rick Husband; Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. These men and women assumed great risk in the service to all humanity.

In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth. These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more.

美国同胞们，今天我们接到噩耗，全国沉浸在巨大的悲痛中。今天早上九点，休斯顿控制中心失去了同我们的「哥伦比亚号」航天飞机的联系。此后不久，人们看到残骸从得克萨斯州上空落下。「哥伦比亚号」失事了；无一人生还。

机上的七名机组成员是：里克?赫斯本德(Rick Husband)空军上校；迈克尔?安德森(Michael Anderson)空军中校；劳雷尔?克拉克(Laurel Clark)海军中校；戴维?布朗(David Brown)海军上校；威廉?麦库尔(William McCool)海军中校；卡尔帕纳?舒拉(Kalpana Chawla)博士和以色列空军上校伊兰?拉蒙(Ilan Ramon)。这些男女宇航员为造福全人类而承担了巨大的风险。

在太空飞行似乎已基本成为常规作业的时代，人们易于忽视乘坐火箭飞行的危险和在险恶的地球外层空间飞行的难度。这些宇航员懂得这些危险，而且甘心情愿地面对这些危险，因为他们知道生命中有着远

大而崇高的目标。正是因为他们的勇气、胆识和理想主义精神，我们会更加怀念他们。

今天，所有美国人的思绪也都伸向经受了这种突如其来的震惊和悲伤的宇航员的家人。你们不是孤独的。我们整个国家和你们一同哀悼。你们所爱的人将永远得到美国的尊敬和感激。

他们为之献身的事业将继续下去。人类是在探索精神和求知欲望的引导下，超越我们的世界，进入黑暗的未知空间。我们的太空之旅将继续下去。

今天，我们在空中看到的是毁灭和悲剧。但在我们的视野之外存在着安慰和希望。先知以赛亚说：\"你们向上举目，看谁创造这万象？他逐一领出烁烁繁星，一一称其名。因为他的大力全能，一个都不缺。” 这位唱名群星的造物主也知道我们今天悼念的七个亡灵的名字。「哥伦比亚号」航天飞机的机组人员未能平安地返回地球；但我们可为他们的安息而祈祷。

愿上帝保佑悲伤的家人，愿上帝继续保佑美国。

All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You're not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you. And those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country.

The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on.

In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther

than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, \"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.\"

The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.

May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless America.

52.Remarks in welcoming ceremonies in Xi’an Mayor Fang, Governor Cheng, Secretary Li:

Ni Men Hao! Thank you for the key to your city and for this magnificent welcome. Here in this ancient capital, China seems very young to me tonight, blessed with both a proud history and promise of tomorrow1. I’m delighted to begin my journey in Xi’an, once the capital of China, still the heartland of the Chinese people. I was raised in the heartland of my country. I know that the character of a nation is determined by the hard-working people who live here.

Over a thousand years ago during the Tang Dynasty, which I have seen recreated tonight, Xi’an was perhaps the most open and culturally advanced city in the entire world. From this place trade routes extended through Asia to Europe and Africa. And

to this place great thinkers came, spreading philosophy and new ideas that have contributed to the greatness of China. I look forward to seeing the terra cotta warriors, the old city walls, the Muslim Quarter. I look forward to learning more about China’s great contributions to the store of human knowledge, from medince and printing to mathemetics and astronomy, discoveries on which so much of the whole world’s progress is based. Tonight I want to see more of a new country you are building on a scale even the emperors couldn’t have foreseen. The China that gave us printing now boasts fax machines, computers and cellular phones. Xi’an is home to filmmakers, Internet explorers, businesspeople of every description2. Here in this city famous for calligraphy a new chapter in China’s story is being written. We Americans admire your accomplishements, your economy, your hard work, creativity and vision, your efforts against hunger and poverty, your work with us on peace and stability in Korea and South Asia. A new day is dawning for the Chinese people, for China’s greatness lies as always with its people. Our own history has convinced Americans that the greatness of any country is measured in its people and in their shared reverence for family and community, for work and learning, and in their individual thoughts, beliefs and creativity. In this global information age where both ecnomic growth and individual opportunity are based on ideas. A commitment to providing all human beings the opportunity to develop their full

potential is vital to the strength and success of the New China as well. As I travel across China, I hope to learn as much as I can about the Chinese people, your history and your dreams for the future, and I hope to help the Chinese people understand more of America’s history, the lessons the American people have drawn from it, and the dreams we hold for the 21st century. I believe both Chinese and Americans aspire to many of the same things: to provide for our families, to teach our children, to build our community, to protect our earth, to shape our own future and pass brighter possibilities on to our children. There may be those here and back in America, who wonder whether close ties and deep friendship between America and China are good. Clearly the answer is Yes. We have a powerful ability to help each other grow. We can learn from each other. As two great nations, we have a special responsibility to the future of the world. The steps we take over the next week will lead to greater strides for our people in the years ahead.

Here in this city of your magnificent history, we must always remember that we too are ancestors. Someday our children and their children will ask if we did all we could to build just societies and a more peaceful world. Let our monument be their judgement that we did that. Let our progress include all people with all their differences, moving toward a common destiny. Let us give new meaning to the words written in the ancient book of rites, that you call, the Li Ji, “When the great way is

followed, all under heaven will be equal.”1 Xie Xie! Thank you very much. By US President Bill Clinton 53.The tribute

I stand before you today, the representative of a family in grief, in a country in mourning, before a world in shock.

We are all united, not only in our desire to pay our respects to Diana, but rather in our need to do so, because such was her extraordinary appeal that the tens of millions of people taking part in this service all over the world via television and radio who never actually met her feel that they too lost someone close to them in the early hours of Sunday morning.

It is a more remarkable tribute to Diana then I can ever hope to offer to her today.

Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty.

All over the world she was the symbol of selfless humanity. A standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden. A very British girl who transcended nationality. Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.

Today is our chance to say ‘thank you’ for the way you brightened our lives, even though God granted you but half a life. We will all feel cheated always that you were taken from us so young and yet we must learn to be grateful that you came

at all.

Only now you are gone do we truly appreciate what we are without, and we want you to know that life without you is very, very difficult.

We have all despaired for our loss over the past week and only the strength of the message you gave us through your years of giving has afforded us the strength to move forward. There is a temptation to rush, to canonize your memory. There is no need to do so. You stand tall enough as a human being of unique qualities, and do not need to be seen as a saint. Indeed, to sanctify your memory would be to miss out on the very core of your being—your wonderfully mischievous sense of humour with a laugh that bent you double, your joy for life transmitted wherever you took your smile and the sparkle in those unforgettable eyes, your boundless energy which you could barely contain.

But your greatest gift was your intuition and it was a gift you used wisely. This is what under pinned all your other wonderful attributes.

And if we look to analyse what it was about you that had such a wide appeal we find it in your instinctive feel for what was really important in all our lives.

Without your God-given sensitivity, we would be immersed in greater ignorance at the anguish of Aids and HIV sufferers, the plight of the homeless, the isolation of lepers, the random

destruction of land mines.

Diana explained to me once that it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected.

And here we come to another truth about her. For all the status, the glamour, the applause, Diana remained throughout a very insecure person at heart, almost childlike in her desire to do good for others so she could release herself from deep feelings of unworthiness of which her eating disorders were merely a symptom.

The world sensed this part of her character and cherished her vulnerability.

The last time I saw Diana was on July 1st, her birthday, in London when typically she was not taking time to celebrate her special day with friends but was guest of honour at a fund-raising charity evening. She sparkled, of course. But I would rather cherish the days I spent with her in March when she came to visit me and my children at our home in South Africa. I am proud of the fact that, apart from when she was on public display meeting President Mandela, we managed to contrive to stop the ever-present paparazzi from getting a single picture of her. That meant a lot to her.

These are days I will always treasure. It was as if we were transported back to our childhood when we spent such an enormous amount of time together as the two youngest in the family.

Fundamentally she hadn‘t changed at all from the big sister who mothered me as a baby, fought with me at school, who endured those long journeys between our parents’ home with me at weekends.

It is a tribute to her level-headedness and strength that despite the most bizarre life after her childhood, she remained intact, true to herself.

There is no doubt she was looking for a new direction in her life at this time. She talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment that she received at the hands of the newspapers.

I don‘t think she ever understood why her genuinely good intentions were sneered at by the media, why there appeared to be a permanent quest on their behalf to bring her down. It is baffling. My own and only explanation is that genuine goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum.

It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this: a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age.

She would want us today to pledge ourselves to protecting her beloved boys, William and Harry, from a similar fate, and I do this here, Diana, on your behalf.

We will not allow them to suffer the anguish that used

regularly to drive you to tearful despair. And beyond that, on behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you planned.

We fully respect the heritage into which they have both been born and will always respect and encourage them in their royal role. But we, like you, recognize the need for them to experience as many different aspects of life as possible to arm them spiritually and emotionally for the years ahead. I know you would have expected nothing less from us.

William and Harry, we all care desperately for you today. We are all chewed up with sadness at the loss of a woman who wasn‘t even our mother. How great your suffering is we cannot even imagine.

I would like to end by thanking God for the small mercies he has shown us at this dreadful time, for taking Diana at her most beautiful and radiant and when she had joy in her private life.

Above all, we give thanks for the life of a woman I‘m so proud to be able to call my sister the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds.By Earl Spencer

54.Inauguration address

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that

we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom -- and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special

pledge -- to convert our good words into good deeds in a new alliance for progress -- to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support -- to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective -- to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request -- that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course -- both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady

spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah -- to \"undo the heavy burdens...and let the oppressed go free.\"

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved. All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will

it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe. Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight topsage, year in and year out, \"rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation\" -- a topsage against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort? In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of mankind. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own. John F. Kennedy - January 20, 1961 55.fog

The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking.

Over harbor and cityon silent haunches and then moves on. By Carl Sandgurg 56.First Fig

“My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah,my foes, and oh,my friends- It gives a lovely light!\" -----Edna St. Vincent Millay 我的蜡烛两头燃烧， 天亮之前就要熄灭；

可是呵，我的敌人，我的朋友 ── 烛光闪烁多麽可爱！ ----埃德娜.文森特.默蕾 57.Quiet Girl I would liken you To a night without stars Were it not for your eyes. I would liken you To a sleep without dreams Were it not for your songs. By langston Hughes 58.My People

The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, is the sun.

Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people. by Langston Hughes 我的人民 夜色美丽，

我的人民的面孔亦美丽。 群星美丽，

我的人民的眼睛亦美丽。 太阳也美丽。

我的人们的心灵也美丽。 兰斯顿?休斯 59.Spring song

Spring is coming, spring is coming, Birdies, build your nest;

Weave together straw and feather, Doing each your best.

Spring is coming, spring is coming, Flowers are coming too: Pansies, lilies, daffodillies, Now are coming thought

Spring is coming, spring is coming, All around is fair,

Shimmer and quiver on the river, Joy is everywhere. By William Blake 春之颂

春天来了，春天来了， 小鸟儿，把你的巢筑好； 每一只都尽心又尽力， 用稻草和羽毛编好巢。 春天来了，春天来了， 千万朵花儿正绽放： 紫罗兰、百合花、水仙花， 一朵一朵笑弯了腰。

春天来了，春天来了， 春光明媚处处美。 河面上微波在荡漾， 山河处处喜洋洋。 ——威廉姆?布雷克 60.A Girl

The tree has entered my hands, The sap has ascended my arms,

The tree has grown in my breast--Downward, The branches grow out of me, like arms. Tree you are, Moss you are,

You are violets with wind above them. A child - so high - you are, And all this is folly to the world. By Ezra Pound

英语名篇名段背诵精华(61-74) 61.Do You Fear the Wind DO YOU FEAR THE WIND?

DO you fear the force of the wind, The slash of the rain? Go face them and fight them, Be savage again.

Go hungry and cold like the wolf, Go wade like the crane:

The palms of your hands will thicken, The skin of your cheek will tan,

You'll grow ragged and weary and swarthy, But you'll walk like a man! ----Hamlin Garland 你畏惧风吗？ 你可害怕寒风凛冽, 你可畏惧大雨滂沱 ？ 去迎着风雨努力拼搏 ， 还你原始本色 。 象狼一样去经受饥寒 ， 象鹤一般去跋涉河川 ： 你的手掌变得厚实粗壮 ， 你的脸庞晒得古铜发亮 ，

你会变得衣衫褴褛，皮肤黝黑，疲惫不堪， 但你步履沉稳，是个堂堂男子汉！ ----哈姆林?加兰

62.Hope Is the Thing with Feathers Hope is the thing with feathers Hope\" is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all—

And sweetest — in the Gale— is heart— And sore must be the storm—

That could abash the little bird— That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chilliest land— And on the strangest Sea— Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb — of me. ------Emily Dickinson 希望是鸟儿 希望是鸟儿， 在人们心灵栖居， 唱着无词的歌儿， 永无止息。

心灵是甜蜜的避风港 只有猛烈的风暴， 才能威胁希望， 这慰藉心灵的小鸟。 它歌唱在最寒冷的地方 最陌生的海洋 纵然身处绝境， 也不索取分毫。 ----爱米莉?狄更生 63.To Daffodils

Fair daffodils，we weep to see you haste away so soon； as yet the early-rising sun

has not attain'd his noon.

Stay，stay，until the hasting day has run but to the even-song；

and，having pray'd together， we will go with you along. We have short time to stay， as you； we have as short a spring； as quick a growth to meet decay， as you，or anything. we die，

as your hours do，and dry away

like to the summer's rain，

or as the pearls of morning's dew， ne'er to be found again. ----- Robert Herrick 咏黄水仙花

美的黄水仙，凋谢的太快， 我们感觉着悲哀； 连早晨出来的太阳 都还没有上升到天盖。 停下来，停下来， 等匆忙的日脚 跑进

黄昏的木暮霭； 在那时共同祈祷着，

在回家的路上徘徊。 我们也只有短暂的停留， 青春的易逝堪忧； 我们方生也就方死， 和你们一样， 一切都要罢休。 你们谢了， 我们也要去了， 如同夏雨之骤， 或如早上的露珠， 永无痕迹可求。 -----罗伯特?哈里克 64.Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blue black cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze..no one ever thanked him. I'dwake and hear the cold splintering ,breaking. When the rooms were warm,he'd call, and slowly i would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house Speaking indifferemtly to him, who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did i know, what did i know of love's austere and lonely offices? 65.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. By Robert Frost 66.A Red,Red Rose

O My luve’s like a red, red rose， That’s newly sprung in June； O my luve’s like the melodie，

That’s sweetly play’d in tune． As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I；

And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a’ the seas gang dry．

Till a’ the seas gang* dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun； I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o’ life shall run． And fare thee weel, my only luve, And fare thee weel a while! And I will come again, my luve, Tho’ it were ten thousand mile! By Robert Burns 67.Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (By William Shakespeare ) 我怎么能够把你来比作夏天？ 你不独比它可爱也比它温婉： 狂风把五月宠爱的嫩蕊作践， 夏天出赁的期限又未免太短： 天上的眼睛有时照得太酷烈， 它那炳耀的金颜又常遭掩蔽： 被机缘或无常的天道所摧折， 没有芳艳不终于雕残或销毁。 但是你的长夏永远不会雕落， 也不会损失你这皎洁的红芳， 或死神夸口你在他影里漂泊， 当你在不朽的诗里与时同长。 只要一天有人类，或人有眼睛， 这诗将长存，并且赐给你生命。 68.The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. 未选择的路

罗伯特．弗罗斯特(1874一1963)是在马萨诸塞州劳伦斯上的中学，也在达特第斯学院和哈佛大学读过一段时间。获得诗名之前，弗罗斯特时而务农，时而到中学教希腊语和拉丁语。他的第一部诗集出版于1913年。1916年后，他一直在著名学府任职，通常的身份是“住校诗人”。弗罗斯特的诗歌备受喜爱，原因之一是未受过多少学校教育的人都看得懂。当许多诗人热衷于搞诗歌试验时，他却坚持使用日常语言，描写自己观察入微的日常事件。弗罗斯特的许多诗歌反映了他与大自然的贴近。他通过自然来表达一种象征意义，而不是什么田园式的思乡情调。《未选择的路》是弗罗斯特的一首名诗，作于1915年。

黄叶林中出条岔路， 无奈一人难于兼顾， 顺着一条婉蜒小路， 久久伫立极目远眺， 只见小径拐进灌木。 接着选择了另一条， 同样清楚似乎更好， 引人踩踏铺满茂草， 踏在其间难分彼此， 尽管真有两条道。 清晨里躺着两条路， 一样叶被无人踏脏， 愿将第一条来日补， 但知条条相连远途， 怀疑日后怎能回返。 在很久以后某一地， 我将叹息诉说于人， 两路岔开在树林里， 我选的那条足迹稀， 而一切差别由此起. 69.She Walks in Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies； And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes；

Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies． One shade more, one ray less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face； Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place．And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent

The smiles that win, the tints that glow．But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! 她在美中徜徉， 她在美中穿行；

象深邃的苍穹缀满繁星， 象皎洁的夜空万里无云。 明和暗多么协调， 深与浅恰如其分； 白昼的光线过于炫耀， 柔和的夜色最为温馨。 美汇入她的举止， 美溶进她的眼神； 美在乌黑的发际游弋，

美在灿烂的脸上逡巡。 不多一丝辉光， 不少半点柔阴； 包容的思绪弥足珍贵， 潜藏的心灵更加香醇； 面颊，在眉宇， 无言胜似有声；

那里可以体察心绪的平静， 那里可以领会情感的温存。 那折服人心的微笑， 那淡淡泛起的红晕， 诉说着度过的优雅时光， 透露出沉积的善良品性。 人间万事平心以待， 恰似美的天神； 一颗心装着至爱， 一颗心永远真纯。

70.O Captain! My Captain

Captain!My Captain!Our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But heart!heart!heart! the bleeding drops of red!

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

Captain! my Captain!rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up -for you the flag is flung -for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths-for you the shores crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turing; Here, Captain!dear father! This arm beneath your head; It is some dream that on the deck You 've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm , he has no pulse nor will; The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; Exult, O shores!and ring, O bells! But I,with mourful tread, Walk the deck my captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. 啊，船长！我的船长

啊！般长！我的船长！可怕的航程已完成； 这船历尽风险，企求的目标已达成。 港口在望，钟声响，人们在欢欣。

千万双眼睛注视着船——平稳，勇敢，坚定。 但是痛心啊！痛心！痛心！ 瞧一滴滴鲜红的血！

甲板上躺着我的船长， 他倒下去，冰冷，永别。

啊，船长！我的船长！起来吧，倾听钟声； 起来吧，号角为您长鸣，旌旗为您高悬：

迎接您，多少花束花圈——候着您，千万人峰拥岸边； 他们向您高呼，拥来挤去，仰起殷切的脸； 啊，船长！亲爱的父亲！ 我的手臂托着您的头！ 莫非是一场梦：在甲板上 您倒下去，冰冷，永别。

我的船长不作声，嘴唇惨白，毫不动弹；

我的父亲没感到我的手臂，没有脉搏，没有遗言； 船舶抛锚停下，平安抵达；船程终了； 历经难险返航，夺得胜利目标。

啊，岸上钟声齐鸣，啊，人们一片欢腾！ 但是，我在甲板上，在船长身旁， 心悲切，步履沉重；

因为他倒下去，冰冷，永别。Walt Whitman 71.All the world’s a stage All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. 72.Mr. Holland’s opus

My - My apologies for my tardiness, and uh, Principle Walters, I’d like to know. Yes, I brought a note for my mother. Mr Holland

had a profound influence on my life, on a lot of lives, I know. And, yet, I get the feeling that he considers a great part of his own life misspent. Rumor had it, he was always working on this symphony of his and this was going to make him famous, rich - probably both. But Mr Holland isn’t rich and he isn’t famous, at least not outside of our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure. And he would be wrong, because I think he’s achieved a success far beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched. And each of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony, Mr Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. And we are the music of your life. Mr Holland, we would now live to give something back to you, to you and your wife, who, along with you, has waited 30 years for what we are about to hear. If you will, would you please come up here and take this baton and lead us in the first performance ever of “The American Symphony” by Glenn Holland. Gertrude Lang

73.Teachers Are People

Today, more than ever before, education is playing an important role in the teaching of children. The school has become a vital part of every community, drawing children from every walk of life.

The children are eager to take advantage of its opportunities, emerging from their sheltered confines, dipping easily into the

habits of the student. They are coming from far and near, struggling towards an education, whetting their appetites for knowledge, forming friendships for the future. Childish energy lets nothing stand in its way. In their tiny hands, they hold the future.

The person upon whose capable shoulders rests the responsibility for their education is that unsung hero, the teacher. He must be fair, honest, understanding, and intelligent. He must handle every situation with the utmost dignity. With a complete understanding of his pupils, the experienced teacher equips himself for the classroom. The students eagerly return to the classroom. Youthful minds are encouraged to develop their latent talents. Ah, yes, the creative outlets of the arts and the crafts. Tests and examinations fill out the day, as bright little minds gather knowledge form their teacher. But the little hands make the time pass quickly.

Contrary to popular belief, the teacher’s work is not through at the end of the school day. Oh, no. There’re many unfinished chores -- blackboards to be cleaned, erasers dusted, and of course the ever-present parent-teacher relationship. So it’s to this great profession and its halls of learning that we dedicate this. When the occasion arises, there’re times when disciplinary actions must be taken. 74.Scent of a Woman

(S = Lt. Colonel Frank Slade; T = Mr Trask, the headmaster of Baird School)

S: This is such a crock of shit.

T: Please watch your language, Mr. Slade, you are in the Baird school, not a barracks. Mr. Simms, I will give you one final opportunity to speak up.

S: Mr. Simms doesn’t want it. He doesn't need to be labeled, “still worthy of being a Baird man.” What the hell is that? What is your motto here? “Boys, inform on your classmates, save your hide, anything short of that we’re going to burn you at the stake’? Well, gentlemen, when the shit hits the fan, some guys run and some guys stay. Here’s Charlie, facing the fire, and there’s George, hiding in big daddy’s pocket. And what are you doing? You’re going to reward George and destroy Charlie.

T: Are you finished Mr. Slade?

S: No, I’m just getting warmed up. I don’t know who went to this place. William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bride, William Tell, whoever. Their spirit is dead, if they ever had one, it’s gone. You are building a rat ship here. A vessel for seagoing snitches. And if you think you’re preparing these minnows for manhood, you better think again. Because I say you are killing the very spirit this institution proclaims it instills. What a sham. What kind of a show are you putting on here today? I mean, the only class in this act is sitting next

to me, and I’m here to tell you that this boy’s soul is intact. It’s non-negotiable, and you know how I know? Someone here, and I’m not going to say who, offered to buy. Only Charlie here wasn’t selling.

T: Sir, you’re out of order.

S: I’ll show you out of order! You don’t know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I’d show you but I’m too old, I’m too tired, I’m too fucking blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I’d take a flame thrower to this place! Out of order, who the hell you think you’re talking to? I’ve been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But that is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that. You think you’re merely sending this splendid, foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs? But I say you are executing his soul. And why? Because he’s not a Baird man. Baird men. You hurt this boy, you’re gonna be Baird bums, the lot of you. And Harry, Jimmy, Trent wherever you are out there, fuck you too. T: Stand down, Mr. Slade.

S: I’m not finished. As I came in here, I heard those words, ‘cradle of leadership’. Well when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and it has fallen here, it has fallen! Makers of men, creators of leaders, be careful what kind of leaders you’re producing here. I don’t know if Charlie’s silence here today

is right or wrong, I’m not a judge or jury, but I can tell you this, he won’t sell anybody out to buy his future. And that, my friends, is called integrity. That’s called courage. Now that’s the stuff leaders should be made of. Synopsis