下面是小编帮大家整理的简单英语励志故事短文（共含14篇），欢迎阅读，希望大家能够喜欢。同时，但愿您也能像本文投稿人“多米斯多多”一样，积极向本站投稿分享好文章。
Go to the Cinema
A lorry driver, David is driving 200 penguins to London Zoo. But his lorry breaks down on the motorway, when another lorry driver, Robert stops in the front of him, David asks for help, and explains that he is taking the penguins to the zoo. Robert says, “Ok. I can help you.”
Some hours later, Robert drivers back and passes David. David is still on the lorry, and look happy.
“I thought I told you to take those penguins to the zoo.” David says.
Robert replies, “I did, but I had some money left, so I’m going to the cinema now.”
去电影院
一个叫戴维的货车司机载着200只企鹅去伦敦动物园。可是他的车在高速公路上坏了。当一辆货车停在他面前的时候，戴维向司机罗珀特求救，并且解释自己要送这些企鹅去伦敦动物园。罗珀特说：“行，我帮你。”
几个小时过后，罗珀特又回来了，并经过戴维生病，戴维还等在高速公路上。那些企鹅也还在车上，特高兴的样子。
“我想我告诉过你吧这些企鹅送进动物园的。”戴维说。
罗珀特回答说：“是的，我去了。但是我的钱包丢在电影院了，所有我现在要回那里去。”
When Henry ford decided to produce his famous v-8 motor, he chose to build an engine with the entire eight cylinders cast in one block, and instructed his engineers to produce a design in one for the engine. The design was placed on paper, but the engineers agreed, to a man, that it was simply impossible to cast an eight-cylinder engine-block in .
Ford said, “Produce it anyway.”
“But,” they replied, “It’s impossible!”
“Go ahead.” Ford commanded, “And stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required.”
The engineers went ahead. There was nothing else for them to do, if they were to remain on the ford staff. Six months passed and nothing happened. Another six months passed, and still nothing happened. The engineers tried every conceivable plan to carry out the orders, but the thing seemed out of the question:“impossible!”
At the end of the year ford checked with his engineers, and again they informed him they had found no way to carry out his orders.
“go right head,” said ford, “I want it, and I’ll have it.”
They went ahead, and then, as if by a stroke of magic, the secret was discovered.
The ford determination had won once more!
This story may not be described with minute accuracy, but the sum and substance of it is correct. Deduce from it, you who wish to think and grow rich, the secret of the ford millions, if you can. You’ll not have to look very far.
Henry ford was successful, because he understood and applied the principles of success. One of these is desire: knowing out the lines in which the secret of his stupendous achievement have been described. If you can do this, if you can lay your finger on the particular group of principles which made Henry ford rich, you can equal his achievements in almost any calling for which you are suited.
A dog is very thirsty. But he only sees some empty pails. There is no water in them. The dog goes on looking for water. He comes to a small house. There is a girl in it. The girl goes out with a pail. “She goes to a well,” the dog thinks and follows her. The dog is right. The girl comes to a well and puts down the pail, and the pail is full of water, there the girl goes back to her house.
“ Water! Great!” the dog says and runs to the well. He jumps into the well without thought.”
The water is good. The dog is happy and drinks much. But he can’t jump out of the well. He waits and waits. But no one comes. “I’m hungry now. I must go out,” he thinks.
At the time a thirsty goat comes to the well. He looks at the water and the dog. “Is the water good?” the goat asks. “ Of course. Come down,” the dog says. Then the goat jumps into the well, too. Then dog is happy. He jumps on the goat’s back and jumps out of the well.
The dog has a look at the goat and says, “Goodbye!” Then he leaves.
An old woman having lost the use of her eyes, called in a physician to heal them, and made this bargain with him in the presence of witnesses:
That if he should cure her blindness, he should receive from her a sum of money; but if her infirmity remained, she should give him nothing.
This agreement being made, the physician, time after time, applied his salve to her eyes, and on every visit took something away, stealing all her property little by little.
And when he had got all she had, he healed her and demanded the promised payment.
The old woman, when she recovered her sight and saw none of her goods in her house, would give him nothing.
The physician insisted on his claim, and. as she still refused, summoned her before the judge.
The old woman, standing up in the court, argued: “this man here speaks the truth in what he says; for i did promise to give him a sum of money if i should recover my sight:
But if i continued blind, i was to give him nothing.
Now he declares that I am healed. I, on the contrary affirm that I am still blind; for when I lost the use of my eyes, I saw in my house various chattels and valuable goods: But now, though he swears i am cured of my blindness, i am not able to see a single thing in it.”
Sports brings us together
Sports are more than competitions. To me, they mean growth under the care of others. I learned this the hard way.
I used to be very shy and often felt lonely. Although I did well in all the academic subjects, I was afraid of physical education. My classmates often laughed at me.
“Look at that girl,” they said. “Her feet don’t leave the ground when she runs!”
Their words embarrassed me. Moreover, whenever the teacher organized some competitive games, no one in the class liked to have me as their partner or team member. As a result, I often ended up looking at others enjoy their games.
Things would go on like that if not for a sports meet in my high school. By mistake, my name was put on the list of those who would compete in the women’s 1500 meters race. By the time people found the mistake, it was too late to change.
My desk-mate was a natural athlete. She said to me, “I couldn’t run that race in your place, because I’ve signed up for three items already.” Other athletic girls of the class said the same.
I was utterly dumbfounded. 1500 meters! Running against the best runners from other classes! And in front of students of the entire school! It would be the worst nightmare I’d ever have!
“You still have time to catch up because there is still one month before the sports meet,” they all said this to me, including my teacher.
My desk-mate patted me on the shoulder, “Cool! You will run for our class! And we will do training together.” Yes, this is not just for myself, but for my class too, I said to myself. But still, 1500 meters to me was like Mount Everest to a beginning climber. I had no idea even how to start my preparation.
Fortunately, my desk-mate gave me a hand. Every afternoon after class, several of us ran together. When the fear of being laughed at struck me, I saw others running right beside me. They gave me strengths. While we were running, some others would stand by the tracks cheering for us.
One month certainly couldn’t make me a good runner. But when I was standing behind the start line, I no longer felt lonely or afraid. I saw my classmates standing by the tracks waving at me as if about to run beside me.
With the shot of the starting gun, I dashed out and ran as fast as I could, as if it were a 200-meter race. Soon I was out of breath and slowed down. Other runners passed me one by one, and gradually I had no idea how many of them were still behind me. My legs were getting heavier and heavier, and I might fall down at any moment. However, I suddenly heard my classmates chanting my name. My desk-mate even ran along the tracks beside me and cheered for me at the same time, just like the month-long training we did together.
As expected, I was almost the last to cross the finish line. Immediately, my classmates held my arms and urged me to walk on my feet and not to sit down. I was surrounded, with all kinds of drinks handed to me. I felt a kind of warmth I had never felt before. Even though I was almost the last to finish the race, I was full of confidence that I would improve in the future.
That sports meet was an unforgettable experience. The memory of my classmates cheering for me, holding my arms and handing me drinks stays fresh on my mind. Sports are no longer about winning or losing. They give me a lot of confidence, both confidence in my fellow students and confidence in my own potential. I am no longer lonely, no longer afraid. Sports have brought me close to my classmates and helped us grow together.
Now, I participate in the sports meet every year. Even if I am not competing, I would help my classmates with their practice, just like the way my desk-mate and others ran with me.
英语故事：园艺的快乐
A few years ago I went through a period of such severe depression that life didn't seem worth living. It was like permanent winter, so bleak and cold that the sun would never shine.
几年前，我曾有一段时间患了严重的抑郁症，生活于我几近无可眷恋。我感觉身处永久的严冬，连阳光也无法穿透刺骨的寒冷。
Then I saw snowdrops pushing through the freezing, iron-hard ground. I looked at them every day until I felt that if they could come back to life, then so could I.
后来我看到雪花莲从冰冷坚硬的泥土里钻出来了。我每天看着它们，心想，如果它们可以挺过这个寒冬，那我也可以。
Those green shoots gave me hope in a way that nothing else had.
唯独是这些绿色的嫩芽，用独特的方式给我带来了希望。
As spring came, I started to put in more and more plants, until the garden was ablaze with colour. Life was growing through my hands; gentle, peaceful, but, above all, optimistic. If I gave love, it was returned, a hundredfold.
春天来了，我开始不断地在花园里种各种花草，整个花园都充满了鲜艳的色彩。生命通过我的双手不断成长，迸发着柔和宁静、乐观向上的气息。我给它们的爱意，它们百倍地回报了我。
I could spend hours lost in gardening. The form of depressive illness I have is biological. It has affected generations of my family and follows no rhyme, reason nor circumstance. I can be depressed when the sun is shining or I am surrounded by a group of loving friends.
我陶醉在园艺中，不知不觉就会度过好几个小时。我患有的抑郁症是遗传性的，已经影响了我家里好几代人，无规律可循，原因不明，也不知道什么时候会发作。无论是阳光灿烂的时候，还是和一群好朋友在一起，我都有可能会郁郁寡欢。
Of course, fresh air and exercise help to alleviate depression, but for me gardening is more than that. It represents endurance as well as hope.
当然，呼吸新鲜空气和做运动能够减轻抑郁的症状，但对我来说，园艺不仅仅是一种治疗的手段。它代表着忍耐和希望。
At the end of the first garden I made stood a tree, huge and magnificent. It withstood freezing temperatures and gale-force winds. It bent but never broke.
在第一个花园的深处，我亲手种了一棵树，高大茂盛，经得住刺骨的严寒和凛冽的暴风，即使被吹弯了也从来没有折断过。
The leaves dropped until it looked no more than a stark skeleton, but it always, always came back to life. And so I learned that we may be battled and bruised, but hope is a living thing.
每次落叶纷飞，最后只剩下光秃秃的树枝，它总是可以恢复生机。从中我懂得了一个道理：我们会经受考验，会跌倒受伤，但希望是不灭的。
英语故事：孤岛上的故事
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.
在一场船难中，唯一的生存者随着潮水，漂流到一座无人岛上。
He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him,
他天天激动地祈祷神救他能够早日离开此处，回到家乡。
and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
他还每天注视着海上有否可搭救他的人，但却是除了汪洋一片，什么也没有。
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
后来，他决定用那片带他到小岛的木头造一个简陋的小木屋，以保护他在这险恶的环境中生存，并且保存他所有剩下的东西。
But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.
但有一天，在他捕完食物后，准备回小屋时，突然发现他的小屋竟然陷在熊熊烈火之中， 大火引起的浓烟不断向天上窜。
The worst had happened; everything was lost.
最悲惨的是：他所有的一切东西，在这一瞬间通通化为乌有了。
He was stunned with grief and anger. “God how could you do this to me!” he cried.
悲痛的他，气愤的对天呐喊着：神啊!你怎么可以这样对待我!顿时，眼泪从他的眼角中流出。
Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island.
第二天一早，他被一艘正靠近小岛的船只的鸣笛声所吵醒。
It had come to rescue him.
是的，有人来救他了。
“How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.
到了船上时，他问那些船员说：「你怎么知道我在这里?」
It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad.
「因为我们看到了信号般的浓烟。」他们回答说。 人在碰到困难时，很容易会沮丧。
But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.
不过无论受到折磨或者痛苦，都不用因此失去信心，因为上帝一直在我们心里面做着奇妙的工作。
Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.
记住：当下一次你的小木屋着火时，那可能只是上帝美妙恩典的表征而已。
For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves,God has a positive answer for it.
在所有我们所认为负面的事情，上帝都是有正面答案的。
什么才是真正的礼物?
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.- Eric Hoffer
世界上最难的算术题是如何清点我们的祝福。
According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet, he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher。
据传说，一个年轻的男子在漫游沙漠途中看到一泉如水晶般清澈而可口的水。水的味道非常甜美，于是他灌满了他的皮水壶，这样就可以带一些回去，送给曾经是他老师的部落长老。
After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart。
经过四天的旅程，他把水呈献给老人。老人深饮一口，和蔼地笑了笑，并深切感激学生赠予他甜美的水。年轻人怀着愉快的心情回到了村庄。
Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container。
后来，老师让他的另一个学生品尝水。学生吐了出来，说水太难喝了。它显然已经因为陈旧的皮革容器而变得不再新鲜。
The student challenged his teacher: “Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?”
学生质疑他的老师：“师父，水是臭的，你为什么要假装喜欢它?”
The teacher replied, “You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter.”
老师回答说，“你只品尝了水的味道，我却是在品尝礼物的味道。水仅仅是装载善与爱之行为的容器，而没有什么东西比善与爱更甜美了。”
I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift。
我认为当我们从天真的孩子们那里收到爱的礼物时，能够最透彻地明白这个道理。无论它是一个陶瓷托盘或通心粉手镯，我们自然而恰当的反应是欣赏，并表示感激，因为我们喜欢礼物所包含的心意。
Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart。
感恩并不总是自然而来的。不幸的是，大多数儿童和成人只看重被赠予的东西本身，而不是它体现的情谊。我们应该提醒自己，并教导我们的孩子，感情和对感激之情的表达是美丽而纯洁的。毕竟，发自内心给与的礼物才是真正的礼物。
伊索寓言：狐狸和山羊
A fox had fallen into a well, and had been casting about for a long time how he should get out again, when at length a goat came to the place, and wanting to drink, asked Reynard whether the water was good, and of there was plenty of it .The fox, dissembling the real danger of his case, replied :“come down, my friend, the water is so good that I can not drink enough of it, and so aboundant that it can not be exhausted .”Upon this the goat without any more ado leaped in, when the fox, taking advantage of his friend's horns, as nimbly leaped out, and coolly remarked to the poor deluded goat :“if you had half as much brains as you have beard, you would have looked before you leaped.”
一只狐狸掉在一口井里，转了很久怎样再跳上去，最后一只山羊来到这里，他正想喝水，便问狐狸这水好不好，还多不多，狐狸掩饰起他的真实危险处境，回答说：“下来吧，我的朋友，这水好得使我喝不够，而且多的用不完。”于是山羊立刻跳了井里，狐狸踩着他朋友的角，敏捷地跳了上去，并且冷淡地对受了骗的可怜的山羊说：“如果你的脑子有你胡子一半多，你就会先思而后行了。”
伊索寓言：熊与狐狸
A bear used to boast of his excessive love for man.saying that he never worried or mauled him when dead .The fox observed .with a smile :“I should have thought more of profession if you never eaat him alive .”
Better save a man from dying than slalve him when dead.
一只熊总喜欢夸耀自己很爱人，他说人死了之后，他从来不咬他或伤害他，狐狸笑着说：“假如你从来不吃活人的话，我就会更重视你所说的话了。”
拯救一个人使他不死，胜过在他死后说些安慰的话。
伊索寓言：豹和狐狸
A Leopard and a fox had a contest which was the finer creature of the two ,the leopard put forward the beauty of its numberless spots ,but the fox replied: “It is better to have a versatile mind than a variegated body.
一只豹和一只狐狸在争论谁好谁不好，豹提出他有数不尽的美丽斑点，而狐狸回答说：”有多方面的智力比有多种颜色的身体强。
The love world is big, which can hold hundreds of disappointments;
the love world is small which is crowded even with three people inside.
原来爱情的世界很大，大到可以装下上百种委屈;
原来爱情的世界很小，小到三个人就挤到窒息。
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
对于世界而言，你是一个人;但是对于某个人，你是他的整个世界。
Don’t waste your time on a man/woman, who isn’t willing to waste their time on you.
不要为那些不愿在你身上花费时间的人而浪费你的时间。
Don’t try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.
不要着急，最好的总会在最不经意的时候出现。
Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one,
so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.
在遇到梦中人之前，上天也许会安排我们先遇到别的人;
在我们终于遇见心仪的人时，便应当心存感激。
It is better bo have love and lost than never to have loved at all.
宁可曾经爱过而失败，也不要从来未曾有过一次爱。
Love me little, love me long.
爱不贵亲密，而贵长久。
To live in a world without you is more painful than any punishment.
Do you know that no one can replace you in my heart?
生活在没有的你的世界，比任何一种惩罚都要痛苦，
你知道吗，对我而言，你是任何人都无法取代的。
If love is a mountain, then if men go up,
more women they will see while women will see fewer men.
如果爱情像座山，那么男人越往上走可以俯视的女人就越多，
而女人越往上走可以仰视的男人就越少。
Love makes man grow up or sink down.
爱情，要么让人成熟，要么让人堕落。
The only thing you can do when you no longer have something is not to forget.
当你不能再拥有的时候，唯一可以做的就是令自己不要忘记。
To forgive is not to forget, nor remit, but let it go;
to be lonely is not because you have no friends, but no one is living in your heart.
宽恕、原谅并不代表忘记，也不代表赦免，而是放自己一条生路。
孤单不是有没有朋友，而是有没有人住在你心里。
The worst way to miss someone is to be
sitting right beside them knowing you can’t have them.
失去某人，最糟糕的莫过于，他近在身旁，却犹如远在天边。
To keep someone around you is not love; love is to let the one you love go freely.
不是把对方留在自己身边才叫爱，能放手让所爱的人离开，也是爱的一种。
During the whole life, you will regret for two things:
one is that you don’t get the one you love and the other is the one you love is not happy.
人的一生，有两种遗憾最折磨人：一是得不到你心爱的人;二是心爱的人得不到幸福。
Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.
不要因为结束而哭泣，微笑吧，为你的曾经拥有。
Never expect the perfect man,
it’s not because that you cannot find, but just because there is no perfect man.
不要期待完美的男人，不是因为你期待不到，而是根本没有完美的男人。
An unacceptable love needs no sorrow but sometime for forgetting.
A badly-hurt heart needs no sympathy but understanding.
一段不被接受的爱情，需要的不是伤心，而是时间，一段可以用来遗忘的时间。
一颗被深深伤了的心，需要的不是同情，而是明白。
I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.
我爱你，不是因为你是一个怎样的人，而是因为我喜欢与你在一起时的感觉。
No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won’t make you cry.
没有人值得让你为他/她流泪，值得让你这么做的人不会让你哭泣。
It’s often said that you will have the same life as the person you find.
Therefore, different choices make different endings.
人们说，找到了什么样的人就有了什么样的生活，于是不同的选择，就有不同的童话结尾。
Sometimes you need to look back,
otherwise you will never know what you have lost in the way of forever searching.
偶尔要回头看看，否则永远都在追寻，而不知道自己失去了什么。
Most of people are looking forward the crystal-like love—pure without any defect.
However the truth is most people are having the glass-like love.
许多人向往水晶般的爱情，晶莹剔透没有瑕疵。但更多人拥有的是玻璃般的爱情。
The one you love also loves you. This is a miracle.
And the god names this as falling in love with each other.
自己爱的人同时也爱着自己，这简直是一种奇迹，
神明为这种奇迹取了一个名字，叫做恋爱。
How it feels when you are loved by the one you love? How could it be like?
If you want to answer it immediately, you shall know how happy you are.
被自己所爱的人深爱着是什么样的感觉呢?会是什么样子呢?
想要立刻回答的人，你要知道自己是多么幸福。
Hope and trust is the tail of a lizard, which can reproduce even after being cut off.
希望和信任是蜥蜴的尾巴，即使被切断，但它们还会再长出来。
Do you think that the sourest feeling is to be jealous?
No, the sourest thing is that you have no rights to be jealous.
That’s the sourest thing.
你以为最酸的感觉是吃醋吗?不是的，最酸溜溜的感觉是没权吃醋，
根本就轮不到你吃醋，那才是…
The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can't have them.
失去某人，最糟糕的莫过于，他近在身旁，却犹如远在天边。
To lost in something you love is better than to win in something you hate.
宁可失败在你喜欢的事情上，也不要成功在你所憎恶的事情上。
It is better bo have love and lost than never to have loved at all.
宁可曾经爱过而失败，也不要从来未曾有过一次爱。
I know that love shall not be compared, but I still used to complaining what he is lack of.
我知道感情不能拿来比较，但无意中还是习惯抱怨他所缺少的。
Never frown, even when you are sad,
because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.
纵然伤心，也不要愁眉不展，因为你不知是谁会爱上你的笑容。
Love is an impossible meeting.
For example, I am a bird flying in sky,
you are a leopard in forest. We just fall in love accidentally.
缘分是不可能的相遇。比如我是空中的鸟，你是林中的豹，只是我们碰巧相爱。
When someone abandons you, it is him that gets loss
because he lost someone who truly loves him
but you just lost one who doesn’t love you.
当你认为被抛弃的时候，受损失的其实是对方：
因为他失去了一个真正喜欢他的人，而你只不过少了一个不喜欢你…
Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to,
doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.
爱你的人如果没有按你所希望的方式来爱你，那并不代表他们没有全心全意地爱你。
Good love makes you see the whole world from one person
while bad love makes you abandon the whole world for one person.
好的爱情是你通过一个人看到整个世界，坏的爱情是你为了一个人舍弃世界。
Why to ask so much when you are in love?
The mature never ask the past,
the wise never ask the present
and the open-minded never ask the future.
爱，又何必多问?成熟的人不问过去，聪明的人不问现在，豁达的人不问未来。
The key for happiness is not to find a perfect person,
but find someone and build a perfect relationship with him.
幸福的关键不在于找到一个完美的人，
而在找到一个人，然后和他一起努力建立一个完美的关系。
If you leave me, please don’t comfort me
because each sewing has to meet stinging pain.
离开我就别安慰我，要知道每一次缝补也会遭遇穿刺的痛。
31 Three Days to See
Helen Keller
All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live.
Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours.
I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.
Such stories set up thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow.
Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come.
There are those, of course, who would adopt the epicurean motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry,” most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.
Most of us 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 task, hardly aware of our listless attitude towards life.
The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of our faculties and senses.
Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight.
Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life.
But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties.
Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation.
It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we conscious of health until we are ill.
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 teach him the joys of sound.
Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see.
Recently I was visited by a very good friend 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 responses, 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 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 in a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have cool waters of a brook rush through my open fingers.
To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.
To me the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips.
At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight.
Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little. The panorama of color and action fill the world is taken for granted.
It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great pity that in the world of light and the gift of sight is used only as mere convenience rather that as a means of adding fullness to life.
Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for three days!
The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob starred to stand up and jostled the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. “How embarrassing. I am getting so clumsy in my old age.”
Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said,“ Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment.”
Frank began,“ I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed he family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still and home.” He looked at us and said,“ I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled the ocean.”
Frank's voice dropped a bit.“ When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me good-bye!”
He paused and then went on,“ I remember the day I thought I was too old for a good-bye kiss. When we got the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said,' No, Dad.' It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised looked on his face.
I said,' Dad, I'm too old for a good-bye kiss. I'm too old for any kind of kiss.' My Dad looked at me for the longest tine, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked our the windshield.' You're right,' he said.' You are a big boy…… a man. I won't kiss you anymore.'”
For the moment, Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes. “It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back.”
I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again.“ Guys, you don't know what I woud give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek…… to feel his rough old face…… to smell the ocean on him…… to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a good-bye kiss.”
董事会议结束了，鲍勃站起身时不小心撞到了桌子，把咖啡洒到了笔记本上。“真丢脸啊，这把年级了还毛毛糙糙的。”他不好意思地说。
所有人都哈哈大笑起来，然后我们都开始讲述自己经历的最尴尬的时刻。一圈过来，轮到一直默默坐在那儿听别人讲的弗兰克了。有人说：“来吧，弗兰克，给大家讲讲你最难为情的时刻。”
弗兰克开始了他的讲述。“我是在桑派德罗长大的。我爸爸是一位渔夫，他非常热爱大海。他有自己的小船，但是靠在海上捕鱼为生太艰难了。他辛勤的劳动着，一直待在海上直到捕到足以养活全家的鱼为止。他不仅要养活我们的小家，还要养活爷爷奶奶以及还未成年的弟弟妹妹，”弗兰克看着我们，继续说，“我真希望你们见过我的爸爸，他是一个身材高大的男人。因长期拉网捕鱼，与大海搏斗的缘故，他十分强壮。走进他时，你能够闻到他身上散发出来的大海的气息。”
弗兰克的声音低了一点：“天气不好的时候，爸爸会开车送我们去学校。他会把车停在学校正门口，好像每个人都能站在一旁观看。然后，他弯下身子在我脸上重重的亲了一口，告诉我要做一个好孩子。这让我觉得很难为情。那时我已经12岁，而爸爸还俯身给我一个道别的亲吻。”
弗兰克停顿了一下，又继续说道：“我还记得那天。我认为自己已经长大到不再适合一个道别亲吻了。当我们到了学校停下来的时候，像往常一样爸爸露出了灿烂的笑容，他开始向我俯下身来，然后我抬手挡住了他，‘不，爸爸。’那是我第一次那样对他说话，他十分吃惊。”
“我说道：‘爸爸，我已经长大了，大到不再适合接受一个道别亲吻了。也不再适合任何的亲吻了。’爸爸盯着我看了好长时间，潸然泪下。我从来未见过他哭泣。他转过身子，透过挡风玻璃向外望去：“没错，你已经是一个大男孩儿……一个男子汉了。我以后再也不这样亲吻你了。”
讲到这儿，弗兰克脸上露出了古怪的表情，泪水还是在眼眶里打转。“从那之后没多久，爸爸出海后就再也没回来了。”
我看着弗兰克，眼泪正顺着他的脸颊流下来。弗兰克又开口了：“伙计们，你们不知道，如果我爸爸能在我脸上亲一下……让我感觉一下他那粗糙了脸……闻一闻他身上海洋的气息……享受他搂着我脖子的感觉，那么我付出什么都愿意。我真希望那时候我是一个真正的男子汉。如果我是，我绝不会告诉爸爸我已经长大到不再适合一个道别的亲吻了。”
Run, Patti, Run!
Mark V. Hansen
At a young and tender age, Patti Wilson was told by her doctor that she was an epileptic. Her father, Jim Wilson, is a morning jogger. One day she smiled through her braces and said, “Daddy what I'd really love to do is running with you every day, but I'm afraid I'll have a seizure.” Her father told her, “If you do, I know how to handle it, so let's start running!”
That's just what they did every day. It was a wonderful experience for them to share and there were no seizures at all while she was running. After a few weeks, she told her father, “Daddy, what I'd really love to do is break the world's long-distance running record for women.”
Her father checked the Guiness Book of World Records and found that the farthest any woman had run was 80 miles. As a freshman in high school, Patti announced, “I'm going to run from Orange County up to San Francisco.” (A distance of 400 miles.) “As a sophomore,” she went on, “I'm going to run to Portland, Oregon.” (Over 1500 miles.) “As a junior I'll run to St. Louis.” (About miles) “As a senior I'll run to the White House.” (More than 3000 miles away.) In view of her handicap, Patti was as ambitious as she was enthusiastic, but she said she looked at the handicap of being an epileptic as simply “an inconvenience.” She focused not on what she had lost, but on what she had left.
That year, she completed her run to San Francisco wearing a T-shirt that read, “I Love Epileptics.” Her dad ran every mile at her side, and her mom, a nurse, followed in a motor home behind them in case anything went wrong. In her sophomore year, Patti's classmates got behind her. They built a giant poster that read, “Run, Patti, Run!” (This has since become her motto and the title of a book she has written.) On her second marathon, en route to Portland, she fractured a bone in her foot. A doctor told her she had to stop her run. He said, “I've got to put a cast on your ankle so that you don't sustain permanent damage.”
“Doc, you don't understand,” she said. “This isn't just a whim of mine, it's a magnificent obsession! I'm not just doing it for me, I'm doing it to break the chains on the brains that limit so many others. Isn't there a way I can keep running?” He gave her one option. He could wrap it in adhesive instead of putting it in a cast. He warned her that it would be incredibly painful, and he told her, “It will blister.” She told the doctor to wrap it up. She finished the run to Portland, completing her last mile with the governor of Oregon. You may have seen the headlines: “Super Runner, Patti Wilson Ends Marathon For Epilepsy On Her 17th Birthday.”
After four months of almost continuous running from West Coast to the East Coast, Patti arrived in Washington and shook the hand of the President of United States. She told him, “I wanted people to know that epileptics are normal human beings with normal lives.”
I told this story at one of my seminars not long ago, and afterward a big teary-eyed man came up to me, stuck out his big meaty hand and said, “Mark, my name is Jim Wilson. You were talking about my daughter, Patti.” Because of her noble efforts, he told me, enough money had been raised to open up 19 multi-million-dollar epileptic centers around the country.
If Patti Wilson can do so much with so little, what can you do to outperform yourself in a state of total wellness?
I was now five, and still I showed no real sign of intelligence. I showed no apparent interest in things except with my toes – more especially those of my left foot. Although my natural habits were clean I could not aid myself, but in this respect my father took care of me. I used to lie on my back all the time in the kitchen or, on bright warm sunny days, out in the garden, a little bundle of crooked muscle and twisted nerves, surrounded by a family that loved me and hoped for me and that made me part of their own warmth and humanity. I was lonely, imprisoned in a world of my own, unable to communicate with others, cut off, separated from them as though a glass wall stood between my existence and theirs, thrusting me beyond the sphere of their lives and activities. I longed to run about and play with the rest, but I was unable to break loose from my bondage.
Then, suddenly, it happened! In a moment everything was changed, my future life moulded into a definite shape, my mother’s faith in me rewarded and her secret fear changed into open triumph. It happened so quickly, so simply after all the years of waiting and uncertainty that I can see and feel the whole scene as if it had happened last week. It was the afternoon of a cold, grey December day. The streets outside glistened with snow; the white sparkling flakes stuck and melted on the window-panes and hung on the boughs of the trees like molten silver. The wind howled dismally, whipping up little whirling columns of snow that rose and fell at every fresh gust. And over all, the dull, murky sky stretched like a dark canopy, a vast infinity of greyness.
Inside, all the family were gathered round the big kitchen fire that lit up the little room with a warm glow and made giant shadows dance on the walls and ceiling.
In a corner Mona and Paddy were sitting huddled together, a few torn school primers before them. They were writing down little sums on to an old chipped slate, using a bright piece of yellow chalk. I was close to them, propped up by a pillow against the wall, watching.
It was the chalk that attracted me so much. It was a long slender stick of vivid yellow. I had never seen anything like it before, and it showed up so well against the black surface of the slate that I was fascinated by it as much as if it had been a stick of gold.
Suddenly I wanted desperately to do what my sister was doing. Then – without thinking or knowing exactly what I was doing, I reached out and took the stick of chalk out of my sister’s hand – with my left foot.
I do not know why I used my left foot to do this. It is a puzzle to many people as well as to myself, for, although I had displayed a curious interest in my toes at an early age, I had never attempted before this to use either of my feet in any way. They could have been as useless to me as were my hands. That day, however, my left foot, apparently on its own volition, reached out and very impolitely took the chalk out of my sister’s hand.
I held it tightly between my toes, and, acting on an impulse, made a wild sort of scribble with it on the slate. Next moment I stopped, a bit dazed, surprised, looking down at the stick of yellow chalk stuck between my toes, not knowing what to do with it next, hardly knowing how it got there. Then I looked and became aware that everyone had stopped talking and were staring at me silently. Nobody stirred. Mona, her black curls framing her chubby little face, stared at me with great big eyes and open mouth. Across the open hearth, his face lit by flames, sat my father, leaning forward, hands outspread on his knees, his shoulders tense. I felt the sweat break out on my forehead.
My mother came in from the pantry with a steaming pot in her hand. She stopped midway between the table and the fire, feeling the tension flowing through the room. She followed their stare and saw me, in the corner. Her eyes looked from my face down to my foot, with the chalk gripped between my toes. She put down the pot.
The she crossed over to me and knelt down beside me, as she had done so many times before. ‘I’ll show you what to do with it, Chris,’ she said, very slowly and in a queer, jerky way, her face flushed as if with some inner excitement.
Taking another piece of chalk from Mona, she hesitated, then very deliberately drew, on the floor in front of me, the single letter ‘A’. ‘Copy that,’ she said, looking steadily at me. ‘Copy it, Christy.’ I couldn’t.
I looked about me, looked around at the faces that were turned towards me, excited faces that were at that moment frozen, immobile, eager, waiting for a miracle in their midst. The stillness was profound. The room was full of flame and shadow that danced before my eyes and lulled my taut nerves into a sort of waking sleep. I could hear the sound of the water-tap dripping in the pantry, the loud ticking of the clock on the mantelshelf, and the soft hiss and crackle of the logs on the open hearth.
I tried again. I put out my foot and made a wild jerking stab with the chalk which produced a very crooked line and nothing more. Mother held the slate steady for me. ‘Try again, Chris,’ she whispered in my ear. ‘Again.’
I did. I stiffened my body and put my left foot out again, for the third time. I drew one side of the letter. I drew half the other side. Then the stick of chalk broke and I was left with a stump. I wanted to fling it away and give up. Then I felt my mother’s hand on my shoulder. I tried once more. Out went my foot. I shook, I sweated and strained every muscle. My hands were so tightly clenched that my finger nails bit into the flesh. I set my teeth so hard that I nearly pierced my lower lip. Everything in the room swam till the faces around me were mere patches of white. But – I drew it – the letter ‘A’. There it was on the floor before me. Shaky, with awkward, wobbly sides and a very uneven centre line. But it was the letter ‘A’. I looked up. I saw my mother’s face for a moment, tears on her cheeks. Then my father stooped down and hoisted me on his shoulder.
I had done it! It had started – the thing that was to give my mind its chance of expressing itself. True, I couldn’t speak with my lips, but now I would speak through something more lasting than spoken words – written words.
That one letter, scrawled on the floor with a broken bit of yellow chalk gripped between my toes, was my road to a new world, my key to mental freedom. It was to provide a source of relaxation to the tense, taut thing that was me which panted for expression behind a twisted mouth.
Never Judge a Book by Its Cover
A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the president of Harvard’s outer office .The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods country folk had not business at Harvard, and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge .She frowned. ”We want to see the president,” the man said softly.” He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped.” We’ll wait,” the lady replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president. ”Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she told him. He signed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend with nobodies, but he detested gingham and homespun suits cluttering his office.
The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple .The lady told him, ”We had a son that attended Harvard for one year .He loved Harvard, and was very happy here. But he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him somewhere on campus. ”The president wasn’t touched, and she was shocked, ”Madam,” he said gruffly, ”we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died, this place would look like a cemetery.
“Oh, no“ the lady explained quickly, “we don’t want to erect a statue .We thought we would give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, ”A building! Do you have and earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard.
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased .He could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly.” Is that all it costs to start a university?” Her husband nodded .The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name -------a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.
In my dual profession as an educator and health care provider, I have worked with numerous children infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The relationships that I have had with these special kids have been gifts in my life. They have taught me so many things, but I have especially learned that great courage can be found in the smallest of packages. Let me tell you about Tyler.
Tyler was born infected with HIV: his mother was also infected. From the very beginning of his life, he was dependent on medications to enable him to survive. When he was five, he had a tube surgically inserted in a vein in his chest. This tube was connected to a pump, which he carried in a small backpack on his back. Medications were hooked up to this pump and were continuously supplied through this tube to his bloodstream. At times, he also needed supplemented oxygen to support his breathing.
Tyler wasn’t willing to give up one single moment of his childhood to this deadly disease. It was not unusual to find him playing and racing around his backyard, wearing his medicine-laden backpack and dragging his tank of oxygen behind him in his little wagon. All of us who knew Tyler marveled at his pure joy in being alive and the energy it gave him. Tyler’s mom often teased him by telling him that he moved so fast she needed to dress him in red. That way, when she peered through the window to check on him playing in the yard, she could quickly spot him.
This dreaded disease eventually wore down even the likes of a little dynamo like Tyler. He grew quite ill and, unfortunately, so did his HIV-infected mother. When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to survive, Tyler’s mom talked to him about death. She comforted him by telling Tyler that she was dying too, and that she would be with him soon in heaven.
A few days before his death, Tyler beckoned me over to his hospital bed and whispered, “I might die soon. I’m not scared. When I die, please dress me in red. Mom promised she’s coming to heaven, too. I’ll be playing when she gets there, and I want to make sure she can find me.”
作为一名教育和保健护理工作者，我曾经和数不清的感染上艾滋病病毒的孩子打过交道。我和这些特殊的孩子之间的关系是生活赋予的恩赐.他们教会我许多东西,我尤其懂得了即使在最弱小的人物身上也能发现其所蕴含的巨大勇气.让我告诉你泰勒的故事.
泰勒出生前就从母体感染上艾滋病病毒.自他来到人间就一直靠药物维持生命.他5岁时做手术,胸部插了一根管子,管子连着他背的背包里的泵,泵不断地把药通过管子输入他的血液.有时他还需要补充氧气帮助呼吸.
泰勒不愿把童年的一分一秒屈服于致命的疾病.经常能发现他背着装药的背包和拖着载有氧气罐的小车在他家后院玩耍奔跑.我们所有认识泰勒的人都惊叹生命带给他那纯朴的欢乐和赋予他的活力.泰勒的妈妈经常逗他说,他动的那么快,得给他穿件红衣服.这样她透过窗户查看他在院子里玩的怎样时,能一眼发现他.
可怕的疾病最终还是拖垮了精力充沛的像台小电动机似的泰勒.他的病情越来越严重,不幸的是身染艾滋病病毒的妈妈也病入膏肓.泰勒即将撒手人寰时,妈妈和他谈起死亡.她安慰他说,她也将要离开人世,不久会和他在天堂见面.
泰勒病逝前几天,招呼我到他病床前,低声对我说,“我可能就要死了,我不害怕.我死时请给我穿上红色的衣服.妈妈答应我她也会来天堂的,她来的时候我会在玩,我得保证她能找到我.”
锁之国
鲍伯·格林Bob Greene
1 In the house where I grew up， it was our custom to leave the front door on the latch at night。 I don't know if that was a local term or if it is universal; “on the latch” meant the door was closed but not locked。 None of us carried keys; the last one in for the evening would close up， and that was it。
小时候在家里，我们的前门总是夜不落锁。我不知道这是当地的一种说法还是大家都这么说;“不落锁”的意思是掩上门，但不锁住。我们谁都不带钥匙;晚上最后一个回家的人把门关上，这就行了。
2 Those days are over。 In rural areas as well as in cities， doors do not stay unlocked， even for part of an evening。
那样的日子已经一去不复返了。在乡下，在城里，门不再关着不锁上，哪怕是傍晚一段时间也不例外。
3 Suburbs and country areas are， in many ways， even more vulnerable than well-patroled urban streets。 Statistics show the crime rate rising more dramatically in those allegedly tranquil areas than in cities。 At any rate， the era of leaving the front door on the latch is over。
在许多方面，郊区和农村甚至比巡查严密的城市街道更易受到攻击。统计显示，那些据称是安宁的地区的犯罪率上升得比城镇更为显著。不管怎么说，前门虚掩不落锁的时代是一去不复返了。
4 It has been replaced by dead-bolt locks， security chains， electronic alarm systems and trip wires hooked up to a police station or private guard firm。 Many suburban families have sliding glass doors on their patios， with steel bars elegantly built in so no one can pry the doors open。
取而代之的是防盗锁、防护链、电子报警系统，以及连接警署或私人保安公司的报警装置。郊区的许多人家在露台上安装了玻璃滑门，内侧有装得很讲究的钢条，这样就没人能把门撬开。
5 It is not uncommon， in the most pleasant of homes， to see pasted on the windows small notices announcing that the premises are under surveillance by this security force or that guard company。 在最温馨的居家，也常常看得到窗上贴着小小的告示，称本宅由某家安全机构或某个保安公司负责监管。
6 The lock is the new symbol of America。 Indeed， a recent public-service advertisement by a large insurance company featured not charts showing how much at risk we are， but a picture of a child's bicycle with the now-usual padlock attached to it。
锁成了美国的新的象征。的确，一家大保险公司最近的一则公益广告没有用图表表明我们所处的危险有多大，而是用了一幅童车的图片，车身上悬着如今无所不在的挂锁。
7 The ad pointed out that， yes， it is the insurance companies that pay for stolen goods， but who is going to pay for what the new atmosphere of distrust and fear is doing to our way of life? Who is going to make the psychic payment for the transformation of America from the Land of the Free to the Land of the Lock?
广告指出，没错，确是保险公司理赔失窃物品，但谁来赔偿互不信任、担心害怕这种新氛围对我们的生活方式所造成的影响呢?谁来对美国从自由之国到锁之国这一蜕变作出精神赔偿呢?
8 For that is what has happened。 We have become so used to defending ourselves against the new atmosphere of American life， so used to putting up barriers， that we have not had time to think about what it may mean。
因为那就是现状。我们已经变得如此习惯于保护自己不受美国生活新氛围的影响，如此习惯于设置障碍，因而无暇考虑这一切意味着什么。
9 For some reason we are satisfied when we think we are well-protected; it does not occur to us to ask ourselves： Why has this happened? Why are we having to barricade ourselves against our neighbors and fellow citizens， and when， exactly， did this start to take over our lives?
出于某种原因，当我们觉得防范周密时就感到心满意足;我们没有问过自己：为什么会出现这种情况?为什么非得把自己与邻居和同住一城的居民相隔绝，这一切究竟是从什么时候开始主宰我们生活的?
10 And it has taken over。 If you work for a medium- to large-size company， chances are that you don't just wander in and out of work。 You probably carry some kind of access card， electronic or otherwise， that allows you in and out of your place of work。 Maybe the security guard at the front desk knows your face and will wave you in most days， but the fact remains that the business you work for feels threatened enough to keep outsiders away via these “keys。”
这一切确是主宰了我们的生活。如果你在一家大中型公司上班，你上下班很可能不好随意进出。你可能随身带着某种出入卡，电子的或别的什么的，因为这卡能让你进出工作场所。也许前台的保安认识你这张脸，平日一挥手让你进去，但事实明摆着，你所任职的公司深感面临威胁，因此要借助这些“钥匙”不让外人靠近。
11 It wasn't always like this。 Even a decade ago， most private businesses had a policy of free access。 It simply didn't occur to managers that the proper thing to do was to distrust people。
这一现象并非向来有之。即使在十年前，大多数私营公司仍采取自由出入的做法。那时管理人员根本没想到过恰当的手段是不信任他人。
12 Look at the airports。 Parents used to take children out to departure gates to watch planes land and take off。 That's all gone。 Airports are no longer a place of education and fun; they are the most sophisticated of security sites。
且看各地机场。过去家长常常带孩子去登机口看飞机起飞降落。这种事再也没有了。机场不再是一个有趣的学习场所;它们成了拥有最精密的安全检查系统的场所。
13 With electronic X-ray equipment， we seem finally to have figured out a way to hold the terrorists， real and imagined， at bay; it was such a relief to solve this problem that we did not think much about what such a state of affairs says about the quality of our lives。 We now pass through these electronic friskers without so much as a sideways glance; the machines， and what they stand for， have won。
凭借着电子透视装置，我们似乎终于想出妙计让无法近身，无论是真的还是凭空臆想的。能解决这一问题真是如释重负，于是我们不去多想这种状况对我们的生活质量意味着什么。如今我们走过这些电子搜查器时已经看都不看一眼了，这些装置，还有它们所代表的一切已经获胜。
14 Our neighborhoods are bathed in high-intensity light; we do not want to afford ourselves even so much a luxury as a shadow。
我们的居住区处在强光源的照射下;我们连哪怕像阴影这样小小的享受也不想给自己。
15 Businessmen， in increasing numbers， are purchasing new machines that hook up to the telephone and analyze a caller's voice。 The machines are supposed to tell the businessman， with a small margin of error， whether his friend or client is telling lies。
越来越多的商人正购置连接在电话机上、能剖析来电者声音的新机器。据说那种机器能让商人知道他的朋友或客户是否在撒谎，其出错概率很小。
16 All this is being done in the name of “security”; that is what we tell ourselves。 We are fearful， and so we devise ways to lock the fear out， and that， we decide， is what security means。
所有这一切都是以“安全”的名义实施的：我们是这么跟自己说的。我们害怕，于是我们设法把害怕锁在外面，我们认定，那就是安全的意义。
17 But no; with all this “security，” we are perhaps the most insecure nation in the history of civilized man。 What better word to describe the way in which we have been forced to live? What sadder reflection on all that we have become in this new and puzzling time?
其实不然;我们虽然有了这一切安全措施，但我们或许是人类文明史上最不安全的国民。还有什么更好的字眼能用来描述我们被迫选择的生活方式呢?还有什么更为可悲地表明我们在这个令人困惑的新时代所感受到的惶恐之情呢?
18 We trust no one。 Suburban housewives wear rape whistles on their station wagon key chains。 We have become so smart about self-protection that， in the end， we have all outsmarted ourselves。 We may have locked the evils out， but in so doing we have locked ourselves in。
我们不信任任何人。郊区的家庭主妇在客货两用车钥匙链上挂着防强暴口哨。我们在自我防卫方面变得如此聪明，最终聪明反被聪明误。我们或许是把邪恶锁在了门外，但在这么做的同时我们把自己锁在里边了。
19 That may be the legacy we remember best when we look back on this age： In dealing with the unseen horrors among us， we became prisoners of ourselves。 All of us prisoners， in this time of our troubles。
那也许是我们将来回顾这一时代时记得最牢的精神遗产：在对付我们中间无形的恐惧之时，我们成了自己的囚徒。在我们这个问题重重的时代，所有的人都是囚徒。
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