a shortguide to happiness.docVIP

A Short Guide to a Happy Life （有种感觉叫快乐） by Anna Quindlen Im not particularly qualified by profession or education to give advice and counsel. Its widely known in a small circle that I make a mean tomato sauce, and I know many inventive ways to hold a baby while nursing, although I havent had the opportunity to use any of them in years. I have a good eye for a nice swatch and a surprising paint chip, and I have had a checkered but occasionally successful sideline in matchmaking. (事实上，我不论在专业上还是学历水平上都不太够资格给人提供建议或指点迷 津。在我的社交圈里，我以会做番茄酱而出名;我知道许多抱着婴儿哺乳的创新招式，虽然已经多年没有用过这门技艺;我选购手表很有一套，也很会替车子挑选补 漆的颜色，我替人做媒偶尔也有成功的时候。） But Ive never earned a doctorate, or even a masters degree. Im not an ethicist, or a philosopher, or an expert in any particular field. Each time I give a commencement speech I feel like a bit of a fraud. Yogi Berras advice seems as good as any: When you come to a fork in the road, take it! （可是，我没修过博士，连硕士学位也没有。我既非哲人高士，也非心理学家， 更谈不上学有专精。每次获邀在典礼上致词，总免不了有一些招摇撞骗的感觉。但是我喜欢前纽约扬基棒球队球员约吉.贝拉说过的一句话：“要是前面是岔路，挑 一路走上去就是了！”所以我还是大着胆子写了。） I cant talk about the economy, or the universe, or academe, as academicians like to call where they work when theyre feeling kind of grand. Im a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is really all I know. （我无法像学术专家那样讲述经济＆宇宙或学术方面的话题;我是一个小说，我 所从事的是人性方面的工作，真实的人生，是我所知的一切。） Dont ever confuse the two, your life and your work. Thats what I have to say. The second is only a part of the first. Dont ever forget what a friend once wrote to Senator Paul Tsongas when the senator had decided not to run for reelection because hed been diagnosed with cancer: No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office. (我最想告诉你的就是千万别以为你的工作就是你的人生，前者只是后者的一部 分。请把这个小故事谨记在心：我有个朋友，写了封信给因为罹患癌症而决定放弃竞选连任参议员的保罗.聪格斯（Paul Tsongas),信上说：“我从没听过哪过人在临终时感叹说，但愿自己当初多腾点时间来处理公事。” ) Dont ever forget the words on a postcard that my father sent me last year: If you win the rat race, youre still a rat. Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down i