勵志美文精華: 生命在時間的土壤裏
What I believe, what I value most, is transitoriness.
短暫是我的信仰，也是我認爲最重要的東西。
But is not transitoriness - the perishableness of life - something very sad? No! It is the very soul of existence. It imparts value, dignity, interest to life. Transitoriness creates time - and "time is the essence." Potentially at least, time is the supreme, most useful gift.
然而短暫，如生命的消逝，不是非常哀傷的事情嗎？不！它正是生命存在的精髓。它賦予了生命價值、尊嚴和情趣。短暫創造了時間——而“時間正是其本質”。至少，時間是至高的，是最有用的禮物。
Time is related to - yes, identical with - everything creative and active, every process toward a higher goal.
時間與所有富有創造力和活力的事物，及每一個達到更高目標的進步息息相關——是的，它甚至等同於這一切。
Without transitoriness, without beginning or end, birth or death, there is no time, either. Timelessness - in the sense of time never ending, never beginning - is a stagnant nothing. It is absolutely uninteresting.
沒有短暫，沒有開始與結束、生與死，時間也就不復存在。永恆是毫無意義的停滯，它意味着時間永遠沒有結束，也永遠沒有開始，絕對令人乏味。
Life is possessed by tremendous tenacity. Even so its presence remains conditional, and as it had a beginning, so it will have an end. I believe that life, just for this reason, is exceedingly enhanced in value, in charm.
生命頑強無比。即便如此，它的存在也依賴於一定的條件，正如它有始亦有終。也因如此，我堅信，生命的價值與魅力將會不斷地增長。
One of the most important characteristics distinguishing man from all other forms of nature is his knowledge of transitoriness, of beginning and end, and therefore of the gift of time.
人同自然界其他事物之間最重要的區別之一就是，人懂得短暫、始與終，所以也瞭解時間是一種恩賜。
In man transitory life attains its peak of animation, of soul power, so to speak. This does not mean alone would have a soul. Soul quality pervades all beings. But man's soul is most awake in his knowledge of the interchangeability of the term "existence" and "transitoriness".
可以這麼說，在人身上，短暫的生命達到了其活力與精神力量的巔峯。這並不是說只有人擁有靈魂。萬物皆有靈性。但是對於“存在”與“短暫”的可互換性，只有人的大腦才能最清楚地意識到。
To man time is given like a piece of land, as it were, entrusted to him for faithful tilling; a space in which to strive incessantly, achieve self-realization, more onward and upward. Yes, with the aid of time, man becomes capable of wresting the immortal from the mortal.
對於人類來說，時間就如賜予的一片土地，等待他去辛勤耕種；是一個讓他不斷奮鬥進取，實現自我價值，不斷前進向上的空間。是的，在時間的幫助下，人可以從有限的生命中獲得永恆。
Deep down, I believe - and deem such belief natural to every human soul - that in the university prime significance must be attributed to this earth of ours. Deep down I believe that creation of the universe out of nothingness and of life out of inorganic state ultimately aimed at the creation of man. I believe that man is meant as a great experiment whose possible failure of man's own guilt would be paramount to the failure of creation itself.
在內心深處，我相信宇宙中最爲重要的當屬我們的地球，並認爲這樣的信念存在於每一個人的心中。從內心深處，我相信混沌中宇宙的創造，無機中生命的萌芽，最終都是爲了創造人類。我相信人類本身便是一項偉大的實驗，它可能會因人類自身的罪惡而失敗，但這也成爲創造本身最主要的失敗。
Whether this belief be true or not, man would be well advised if he behaved as though it were.
無論這個信仰是否真實，人類如果能依此行事，將會獲得更爲有益的忠告。
