美文摘抄：生活的艺术.docxVIP

美文摘抄：生活的艺术 The art of living 生活的艺术 J. B. Priestley 约翰 ;博因顿 ;普里斯特利英国著名小说家 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 Godrsquo;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. 生活的艺术在于懂得什么时候追求， 什么时候放弃。 因为生活就 是一个矛盾体： 它要我们紧紧抓住它赐予我们的生命之礼， 然后最终 又让它们从我们手中跑掉。老先生们说： “人们紧握着拳头来到这个 世界上，离开这个世界时却摊开了双手。 ” 1 当然我们应该紧紧把握生活， 因为它美妙得不可思议， 充满了从 上帝的每个毛孔里蹦出来的美。 我们都清楚这一点， 但我们常常只有 在回首往事时才会想去过去， 才会突然意识到过去永远地消逝了， 才 会承认这个道理。 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. Here then is the first pole of lifersquo;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. 我们都记得美的褪去， 爱的老去。但我们更痛苦地记得美正艳时， 我们却没有发现，爱正浓时，我们却没有回应。 这就是生活对我们自己自相矛盾要求的第一步： 永远不要因为忙 碌而忽略了它的奇妙和庄严。 对即将到来的每一天， 我们都要心怀敬 意，拥抱没一小时，抓住每一分钟。 Hold fast to life... but not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of lifersquo;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 2 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. 抓住生活，但不要抓得太紧，以至你放不下手。这就是生活像硬 币一样也有另一面，也是生活矛盾的另一极：我们