英語長篇美文勵志欣賞
"人不可以選擇出身，但可以改變命運。"這是倪振年常說的一句給他人勵志的話。下面小編整理了英語長篇勵志美文，希望大家喜歡!
My Father’S Evening Star
父親的金星
by William O. Douglas
威廉.奧維爾.道格拉斯
During Moments of sadness or frustration, I often think of a family scene years ago in the town of Yakima, Washington. I was about seven or eight years old at the time. Father had died a few years earlier. Mother was sitting in the living room talking to me, telling me what a wonderful man Father was.
悲傷或受挫的時候，我常常想起幾年前在華盛頓州亞基馬城家中的一幕。那時我大約七八歲，父親幾年前去世了，母親坐在客廳裏向我描述父親是多麼了不起。
She told me of his last illness and death. She told me of his departure from Cleveland, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, for what proved to be a fatal operation. His last words to her were these: “If I die it will be glory, if I live it will be grace.”
她講到他最後一次生病去世的情景，講到他在離開華盛頓州的克利夫蘭趕往俄勒岡州的波特蘭做手術，正是這次手術要了他的命。臨終前，父親對母親說：“我死了，是天國的榮耀;我活着，是上帝的恩惠。”
I remember how those words puzzled me. I could not understand why it would be glory to die. It would be glory to live, that I could understand. But why it would be glory to die was something I did not understand until later.
我記得那些話曾讓我多麼困惑，因爲我無法理解死亡爲什麼是一種榮耀。活着是一種榮耀倒還可以理解，但爲什麼死了會是一種榮耀，我直到後來才明白。
Then one day in a moment of great crisis I came to understand the words of my father. “If I die it will be glory, if I live it will be grace.” That was his evening star. The faith in a power greater than man. That was the faith of our fathers.
有一天在危急關頭，我終於領悟了父親的遺言。“我死了，是天國的榮耀;我活着，是上帝的恩惠。”那是他的金星，即信仰一種比人類更偉大的力量，這也是我們祖先的信仰
A belief in a God who controlled man in the universe, that manifested itself in different ways to different people. It was written by scholars and learned men in dozens of different creeds. But riding high above all secular controversies was a faith in One who was the Creator, the Giver of Life, the Omnipotent.
相信上帝主宰宇宙中的人類，並以各種方式向形形色色的人證實自身的存在。學者和有學問的人在各種信條中曾予以記載，而讓人在一切世俗論戰中獲得成功的祕訣是相信上帝創造了世界和生命，是無所不能的神。
Man’s age-long effort has been to be free. Throughout time he has struggled against some form of tyranny that would enslave his mind or his body. So far in this century, three epidemics of it have been let loose in the world.
人類長久以來努力爲自由而奮鬥，不斷與某種奴役其身心的獨裁形式作鬥爭。半個世紀已經爆發了三次由獨裁滋生的傳染病。
We can keep our freedom through the increasing crisis of history only if we are self-reliant enough to be free—dollars, guns, and all the wondrous products of science and the machine will not be enough. “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.”
只有當我們能自立，足以享有自由時，才能在歷史上不斷升級的危機中牢牢地把握自由——金錢、武器、科學和機器製造的所有令人歎爲觀止的產品都不足以保障我們的自由。“今夜必要你的靈魂。”
These days I see graft and corruption reach high into government. These days I see people afraid to speak their minds because someone will think they are unorthodox and therefore disloyal.
這些日子我目睹貪污腐敗在政府機構甚囂塵上;這些日子我看到人們害怕被視爲信仰異端邪說、對上帝不忠而不敢坦言心聲;
These days I see America identified more and more with material things, less and less with spiritual standards.
這些日子我發覺美國越來越沉溺於物質享受，卻越來越疏離於道德標準
These days I see America drifting from the Christian faith, acting abroad as an arrogant, selfish, greedy nation, interested only in guns and dollars, not in people and their hopes and aspirations.
這些日子我眼見美國偏離____的信仰，在海外的所作所爲使其淪爲一個傲慢、自私、貪婪、只對武器和金錢感興趣的國家……而不關注國民及其希望與追求
These days the words of my father come back to me more and more. We need his faith, the faith of our fathers. We need a faith that dedicates us to something bigger and more important than ourselves or our possessions. Only if we have that faith will we be able to guide the destiny of nations, in this the most critical period of world history.
這些日子我越來越回想起父親的話。我們需要他那樣的信仰，我們祖先的信仰;我們需要一種信仰鞭策自己投身於比發展自身與積聚私產更重要的事業。只有具備這種信仰，我們才能在世界歷史最關鍵的時期決定國家的命運。
英語長篇勵志美文鑑賞What Does God Say to Me?
上帝對我說了什麼?
by Dame Edith Evans
伊迪絲.埃文斯夫人
I believe that good is stronger than evil. I have found that if applied with complete faith, it can obliterate evil.
我相信善可以壓倒惡，並發現如果我們完全相信善的力量，便能以善除惡。
Knowledge like this gives one great strength in time of oppression or tyranny. I believe that hatred is destructive. It is not always easy or possible to love people, nations, or ideas, but at least, I say to myself, Do not hate them: try to turn thoughts toward God. Someone once said, “It is better to love the good than hate the bad.”
這樣的認識在壓迫和暴政時期給人巨大的力量。我相信仇恨有毀滅性的力量，熱愛人民、民族或思想總是不容易或不可能，但至少我勸誡自己：“別恨他們，努力把思緒轉向上帝。”有人曾說：“與其憎惡，不如揚善。”
I have all of my share of the artist’s temperament, and one of our faults is that we think people are being unfair to us, or that we are suffering from other people’s jealousy — the persecution complex, in fact. The one and only way in which I have been able to clear this away is to turn my mind and thoughts to good and to God. I say, Never mind what he or she or they say, what does God say to me? Where does my life come from? Who is the source of all my qualities, and can anything prevent those qualities from being used?
我擁有藝術家的稟賦，而藝術家的缺點之一是認爲自己受的待遇不公，或者苦於遭受他人嫉妒。這實際上是一種受迫害情結。而我能擺脫這種情結困擾的一種也是唯一的一種方法是將心靈和思想轉向從善和信仰上帝。我告誡自己：“別介意他人說什麼，上帝對我說了什麼?我的生命從何而來?誰賜予我所有的優點——有什麼能阻擋我發揮那些優點?”
I believe, today, that a great flood of good would be released in the world if all of us concentrated upon following the simple commands of Christ: “Love God first, and your neighbor as yourself.” As “yourself,” I try to remember. So if I think kindly of myself, then I think kindly of my neighbor. When Christ was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” what did He say? He told the story of the Samaritan.
今天我相信，如果我們所有人都一心一意遵循耶穌質樸的教導——“首先愛上帝，然後像愛自己一樣愛你的鄰居”，世界便會善舉如潮。我努力記住“像愛你自己一樣”。所以，如果我好好爲自己着想，就會好好爲鄰里着想。有人問耶穌：“誰是我的鄰居”時，他怎麼回答呢?他講述了撒馬利亞人救助落難的陌生人的故事。
People are always demanding of us British, “Don’t you dislike Americans?” And conversely to you Americans, “Don’t you dislike the British?” I can’t bear classing people together nationally, and liking or disliking them. People are people wherever you meet them. They are all the children of the one God.
人們總是要求我們英國人回答：“難道你們不喜歡美國人嗎?”反過來問美國人：“難道你們不喜歡英國人嗎?”我無法接受按國籍劃分人，然後決定喜歡還是厭惡他們。不管你身在何處，遇見的人都是一樣的，都是同一個上帝的孩子。
I have been asked how I felt in the Blitz. Most of the time, I was in London, terribly excited by fear. But the only way I could keep going about my work at all was by constantly assuring myself that the all-powerful God would take care of me.
有人問我閃擊戰期間的感受。大多數時候我在倫敦，由於恐懼而特別激動，但讓我能繼續工作的唯一辦法根本上說就是不斷讓自己確信，全能的上帝會眷顧我。
On looking round the world today, one is impressed by the amount of fear that is expressed by everybody: fear of war, fear of ill health, fear of not being able to hold a job, fear of people getting ahead of you, fear of losing opportunity; fear of losing friends, lovers, advantages; fear of death.
環顧當今的現實世界，我們深感每一個人受着許多恐懼的折磨;害怕戰爭，害怕疾病，害怕失業，害怕落後，害怕喪失機會，害怕失去朋友、心上人、優勢，害怕死亡。
We are constantly reading articles, and hearing speeches, where the writers and the speakers tell us that we must cease being so material. But what most of us want to know is how? If a busy man at his office is faced with a seemingly insuperable problem, how is he to solve this problem by other than material means?
我們經常讀文章、聽演講，那些作者和演講者提醒我們必須停止如此沉湎於物質追求。但我們大多數人想知道的是該怎麼停止。如果一個在辦公室忙碌的人碰到一個似乎無法克服的困難，該如何通過非物質手段解決呢?
But, of course, the answer is so simple. Like Naaman, who said, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?” we tend to disregard is always to turn our thoughts immediately, and with absolute confidence, away from the difficulty, and if, as I said at the beginning, one believes in the power of good, one must quietly know that the power of good will give all the right answers to the problem, even if the answer is required within a few minutes or half an hour.
當然答案很簡單，正如乃縵所言：“大馬士革的河亞罷拿和法珥法，豈不比以色列的一切水更好嗎?”我們常常忽略了這一點，常常把思緒萬分自信地立即從困難轉移開。倘若如我在開始所說，人們相信善的力量，就必須明白，善的力量會恰當地解決這個問題，即使需要在幾分鐘或半小時之內解決它。
And when I say these things, I say them because I have proved them. In fact, throughout the ups and downs of my theatrical life, if I had not had some simple code — because I am not a highly intellectual woman — I should not be doing happily and successfully the work that I love
我談論這些事情，是因爲我已見證過這些事。實際上，我並非一個智商很高的女人，我的戲劇生涯充滿了挫折，要不是我相信一種簡單的信條，我決不會如此快樂地從事自己熱愛的工作並獲得成功。
英語長篇勵志美文賞析Spiritual Handholds on Life
生命的精神支撐
by Dr. Fred Dow Fagg, JR
小弗雷德.道.法格博士
The view of the high Sierra Lake, nestled in the snow and rock slightly below the timber line, was beautiful from my vantage point some five hundred feet above its shimmering surface.
坐落在高山上的謝拉湖，依偎在積雪與岩石的懷抱中，岩層往上是一片森林。從高出湖面約500英尺的觀景點看下去，湖面微波盪漾，美不勝收。
I was anxious to rejoin my companions and try the fishing before are afternoon shadow - edging out from the surrounding array of peaks - entirely covered the lake.
我着急與同伴再次會合，準備在午後周圍羣山的陰影尚未籠罩全湖之前，一起釣魚。離錯層的頁岩不遠，便是一條通往山谷的蜿蜒小路。
Just a short distance beyond the intervening shale, the trail zigzagged down to the valley. I disliked the thought of returning by the long, tedious trail I had ascended, and decided to chance the shale - even though part of it lay above a sheer drop-off of several hundred feet.
我不想再走上山時所走的那條漫長而乏味的小道，便決定試着走上頁岩——雖然這其中一段路的下面是幾百英尺的垂直峭壁。
I started working my way over the loose rock with considerable caution and had covered about half the distance when I became aware of a slight but persistent yielding of the shale under my feet.
我小心翼翼地走在鬆動的頁岩上。大約走到一半時，我發現腳下的頁岩正一點點地不斷下滑。我急忙尋找可以抓住的東西。我向前一撲，抓住了一塊露出地表的堅硬岩石。
Desperately, I looked for something that would offer support and lurched forward to grasp a light outcropping of solid rock just as the surface shale underfoot - loosened from its foundation by the warm noonday sun - cascaded downward and disappeared over the cliff. Several seconds passed before I heard it rattle into the lake.
就在這時，腳下被午後陽光照射的發熱的頁岩表層開始鬆動，從山上滑了下去，消失在峭壁上。幾秒鐘後，我聽到它落進湖中的聲音。稍微考慮了一下抄近路這愚蠢行爲的後果後，我想辦法從一個支撐點挪到另一個支撐點
Finally - after due consideration of the folly of short cuts - I managed to move from handhold to handhold and, at last, pulled myself to the trail by the aid of a dwarf juniper root. I have forgotten how many trout I caught that afternoon, but I have not forgotten the value of handhold.
最終藉助一棵矮鬆的根將自己拉到小路上。那天下午釣了多少鮭魚，我已經不記得了，但我絕對忘不了支撐點的重要性。
Handholds are needed also during the course of everyday life. They provide security when the things we depend upon seem to be slipping out from under us. What are the spiritual handholds I have found to be most value?
在日常生活中，支撐點也是非常重要的。當我們的依靠即將從腳下溜走時，支撐點會帶給我們安全的保障。我發現的最有價值的精神支撐是什麼呢?
First, the teachings of the humble carpenter of Nazareth - for their insistence on the supreme worth of the individual, for their stressing of the significance of sympathetic understanding, and for their unsurpassed evidence of dauntless faith.
首先，是拿撒勒卑微的木匠的教誨——他堅決主張個人價值至上，強調同情與理解的重要性，併爲堅定的信仰提供了無可厚非的證明。
Second, the conviction that, while every person should delight in making a courageous and self-reliant effort to live up to his capabilities, there are well-springs of power outside himself that can be tapped - if he will avail himself of them.
其次，儘管我們每個人都應該樂於勇敢、獨立地發揮自己的能力，但也要相信，只要我們願意，我們也能從外界獲得力量之源。
Third, that the nature of this world and of the people in it is determined more by our individual vision, understanding and conduct than by any material environmental factors, and that - in other words - nothing will produce the good world but the good man.
再次，除了物質環境因素外，世界和人類的本質更多的是取決於我們個人的視野、理解和行爲。也就是說，唯有出色的人才能創造出美好的世界。
These are the principal spiritual handholds I have found to possess enduring value. They offer both an exciting challenge and a calm assurance. They are the things I believe.
這些便是我所發現的精神支撐點，它們具有永恆的價值。它們給予我們的不僅是刺激的挑戰，還有令人安心的承諾。這就是我信仰的一切。
