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人人想当别人(2)
Every Man’s Natural Desire to Be Somebody Else
Samuel McChord Crothers
The natural desire of every man to be somebody else explains many of the minor irritations of life。 It prevents that perfect organization of society in which everyone should know his place and keep it。 The desire to be somebody else leads us to practice on work that does not strictly belong to us。 We all have aptitudes and talents that overflow the narrow bounds of our trade or profession。 Every man feels that he is bigger than his job; and he is all the time doing what theologians call “works of supererogation。”
The serious…minded housemaid is not content to do what she is told to do。 She has an unexpended balance of energy。 She wants to be a general household reformer。 So she goes to the desk of the titular master of the house and gives it a thorough reformation。 She arranges the papers according to her idea of neatness。 When the poor gentleman returns and finds his familiar chaos transformed into a hateful order; he bees a reactionary。
The serious manager of a street railway pany is not content with the simple duty of transporting passengers cheaply and fortably。 He wants to exercise the functions of a lecturer in an ethical culture society。 While the transported victim is swaying precariously from the end of a strap he reads a notice urging him to practise Christian courtesy and not to push。
A man enters a barber’s shop with the simple desire of being shaved。 But he meets with the more ambitious desires of the barber。 The serious barber is not content with any slight contribution to human welfare。 He insists that his client shall be shampooed; manicured; massaged; steamed beneath boiling towels; cooled off by electric fans; and; while all this is going on; that he shall have his boots blacked。
Have you never marveled at the patience of people in having so many things done to them that they don’t want; just to avoid hurting the feelings of professional people who want to do more than is expected of them? You watch the stoical countenance of the passenger in a Pullman car as he stands up to be brushed。 The chances are that he doesn’t want to be brushed。 He would prefer to leave the dust on his coat rather than to be pelled to swallow it。 But he knows what is expected of him。 It is a part of the solemn ritual of traveling。 It precedes the offering。
The fact that every man desires to be somebody else explains many of the aberrations of artists and literary men。 The painters; dramatists; musicians; poets; and novelists are just as human as housemaids and railway managers and porters。 They want to do “all the good they can to all the people they can in all the ways they can。” They get tired of the ways they are used to and like to try new binations。 So they are continually mixing things。 The practitioner of one art tries to produce effects that are proper to another art。
人人想当别人(3)
A musician wants to be a painter and use his violin as if it were a brush。 He would have us see the sunset glories that he is painting for us。 A painter wants to be a musician and paint symphonies; and he is grieved because the uninstructed cannot hear his pictures; although the colors do swear at each other。 Another painter wants to be an architect and build up his picture as if it were made of cubes of brick。 It looks like brick…work; but to the natural eye it doesn’t look like a picture。 A prose…writer gets tired of writing prose; and wants to be a poet。 So he begins every line with a capital letter; and keeps on writing prose。
You go to the theatre with the simple…minded Shakespearean idea that the play’s the thing。 But the playwright wants to be a pathologist。 So you discover that you have dropped into a gruesome clinic。 You sought innocent relaxation; but you are one of the hon…elect and have gone to the place prepared for you。 You must see the thing through。 The fact that you have troubles of your own is not a sufficient claim for exemption。
Or you take up a novel expecting it to be a work of fiction。 But the novelist has other views。 He wants to be your spiritual adviser。 He must do something to your mind; he must rearrange your fundamental ideas; he must massage your soul; and generally brush you off。 All this in spite of the fact that you don’t want to be brushed off and set to rights。 You don’t want him to do anything to your mind。 It’s the only mind you have and you need it in your own business。
别让快乐远离我们
佚名
一个大学生曾告诉我:“我不需要快乐——我只要成功。”
这是一个奇怪的思想对比。她不需要快乐——“只要成功。”她将快乐与成功两者对立起来。
对学生而言,今天的言就是明天的行。他们所说的话很具有代表性,每个人都会努力奋斗,只是这种努力往往不易觉察。
记得上大学时,校报上有一篇文章的标题是这样的:“为什么我们不快乐?”这个标题的意思是:我们的生活缺少快乐。然而,我们的生活中有快乐,至少,我们仍在寻找快乐。像那个追求成功的学生一样,许多人宁愿放弃快乐,这是为什么呢?
为了确保周一的工作进度,我在周日也常常加班。这实际上是提前对未来一周的工作感到焦虑——担心会发生意想不到的麻烦或觉得自己在某些方面做不好。但我通常在正常上班的日子做得很不错。我担心的很多事从未发生过。
快乐自有其道德基础。快乐的完整性让我们不得不考虑自己应该做什么样的人。当然,一些不怎么光彩的行为也会衍生快乐。但是,要想体验快乐,我们就得付出更多;正是快乐,让我们体会到了事物的可贵之处。
真正的快乐需要作出选择,这些选择可以养成习惯从而形成性格。这是我们无法推脱的。
因此,获取真正快乐的首要一步就是减少忧虑——这个关键的第一步能让我们远离忧虑。它要求我们勇于接受毫无预想的一切,坦然面对生活中的所有烦恼。
■ 心灵小语
快乐是一种心境,跟财富、环境、年龄无关。功名利禄只能给我们短暂的快乐,唯有纯净的心灵,对生活的博爱,才能给我们永恒的喜悦。一个人要想获得真正的快乐,不需要获得成功,增加财富,而是要降低欲望,品味现在……
Don’t Let Happiness Run Away
from Us
Anonymous
A college student once told me: “I don’t need to be happy—just successful。”
It’s an odd juxtaposition。 She needn’t be happy—“just successful”。 She places one in opposition to the other。
Students are today’s expressions of tomorrow’s practices。 Their words can be the visible signs of the less visible struggles encountered by us all。
I have a memory from my own undergraduate years of a headline in my campus newspaper: “Why Aren’t We Happy?” As the headline suggests; we fell short of leading joyful lives。 Yet at least happiness was still on the agenda。 What underlies the tendency of many of us; like my success…seeking student; to give up genuinely trying?
I’ve often failed to enjoy Sunday because of my schedule on Monday。 At bottom; it was simply anticipatory anxiety over the work of the week ahead—fear that there would be unexpected plications or that I would fail to measure up in some way。 Usually; when Monday came; I did quite well。 Much of what I worried about never happened。
Joy has its own moral underpinning。 There’s a pleteness to joy that does not allow us to exclude our sense of the person we should be。 Pleasure is certainly possible in less…than…honorable actions。 But the experience of joy requires more; it is pleasure taken in worthy things。
True joy requires choices that develop into habits that evolve into character。 And that’s work we can’t delegate。
The essential first step is trying to live a less fearful life—one that avoids collapsing life’s possibilities before exploring them。 It entails weling uncertainty and fortable inpleteness。
。 想看书来
我们在享受快乐吗(1)
佚名
我们都被洗了脑!我们被灌输了这样的职业道德:“工作(和忍受)到生命的最后一刻,幸运的话,就直到退休。我们没有时间浪费在无聊的事情上。我们有体现自身价值的责任。我们一定要认真而努力地工作,在事业上进步,赚更多的钱,并把赚钱和事业进步看做是生活的首要目标。”
我希望变更自己的人生计划。我知道,做自己感兴趣的事情,我会做得更好;做自己憎恶的事,我会做得一塌糊涂;在压力下工作通常会事倍功半。
我们可以改变生活中衡量某事是否该做的标准。我们需要扪心自问的不应是“它是否会赚大钱,或能否让事业更上一层楼”,而是“我对这感兴趣吗?这事有意思吗?我要大干一番吗?”
如果你不能肯定地回答这些问题,那么,这些很有可能就不是你该做的事情!
如果是诸如