經典英語美文名人勵志故事
不夠灑脫，但這就是人生。不夠豁達，但這就是人生。不夠勵志也不夠美好，但這就是人生啊。下面小編整理了英語美文名人勵志故事，希望大家喜歡!
A Straight Wall Is Hard to Build
人格的力量
by Lou R. Crandall
盧.R.克蘭德爾
As I try to outline my thoughts, the subject becomes more and more difficult. I have many basic beliefs but as I try to pick and choose it seems to me that they all can be summarized in the word "character." Obviously, what you believe is a fundamental thing. There can be no fanfare, no embellishments. It must be honest.
我努力清理思路時，主題變得越來越難講述。我有諸多信仰，但試圖挑選時，似乎都可用“人格”一詞概括。顯然，一個人的信仰是根本，無需炫耀，無需修飾，是什麼就是什麼。
An architect once told me that the most difficult structure to design was a simple monumental shaft. The proportions must perfect to be pleasing. The hardest thing to build is a plain straight wall. The dimensions must be absolute.
一位建築師告訴我，最難設計的建築是一尊簡單的紀念柱，比例必須完美無缺，賞心悅目;最難砌的是一堵簡樸筆直的牆，尺寸必須一絲不差。
In either case there is no ornamentation to hide irregularities, no moldings to cover hidden defects and no supports to strengthen concealed weaknesses.
在這兩種情況下，都無法用修飾掩蓋不平整，以造型遮蓋暗藏的缺陷，以支撐物來加固不牢的根基。
I am using this example to illustrate human character, which to me is the most important single power in the world today. The young people of toady are in reality foundations of structures yet to be built.
我以此例來說明人格，在我看來它是當今世界上最重要的唯一的力量。今天的年輕人實際上是世界待建結構的根基。
It is obvious that the design of these human structures is the combined efforts of many human architects. Boys and girls are influenced first by their parents, then by their friends and finally by business associates. During this period of construction, the human character is revised and changed until at maturity a fairly well-fixed form of character is found.
顯而易見，設計這些人格結構需要衆多人類建築師的共同努力。孩子們的成長，先後要受到父母、朋友和事業夥伴的影響。在這一成長過程中，人格一直在改變，直到在成熟期定型。
There are few human straight walls and fewer human monumental shafts. Such men and women are personalities of great beauty and are so rare that history records their being and holds them up as examples for the future.
人類中堪稱牆一般筆直挺立的人少有，像紀念柱一樣矗立的人更少，這樣的人是美的化身，世所罕見，歷史記錄他們的存在，奉之爲後世的楷模。
The Biblical characters are for me the closest examples of human perfection. They were unselfish, steadfast in their faith and unstinting in their help to others.
《聖經》中的人物在我心中是最接近完人的範例，他們無私，信仰堅定，幫助他人，不遺餘力。
Today in this world of turmoil and trouble we could use more of such people, but they do not just happen along. I believe that they are the result of concentrated effort on the part of parents and associates, and the more we build with character the better the world will become.
在今天這個混亂不安的世界，我們可以多用這樣的人，但他們並非從天而降。我相信他們是父母、同伴傾力鍛造的結果。我們越重視人格的建構，世界會越美好。
This may sound like a dreamer's hope and a theoretical goal which can never be reached. I do not think so.
這聽起來像癡人說夢，是永遠無法實現的理論目標，我卻不這麼想。
The world as a whole has progressed tremendously material-wise, and we are a fortunate nation in that we are leading the procession. It is, I believe, natural that nations not so fortunate should look upon us with envy. We would do the same if the positions were reserved, so we should not judge too harshly the efforts of others to equal our standard of living. In either case, the fortunate or the unfortunate character in the individual and collectively in a nation stands out.
全世界在物質生產上已取得巨大進步，美利堅榮幸地成爲引導這一進程的國家。我相信，沒有這樣好運氣的國家可能會嫉妒我們，如果換個位置，我們也會如此，因此對於別人奮力向我們的生活標準看齊，我們不應該草率地評判。無論是哪種情況，個人或民族的幸運或不幸的品格都會凸顯出來。
I agree that it is easier to build character under ideal conditions but cannot forget that character is also required to give as well as receive.
我贊同在理想條件下更容易塑造人格的說法，但我認爲不能忘記人格的塑造不僅需要外界條件的薰陶，也需要自身的努力。
It should be to the benefit of humanity if all individuals - and this includes myself - did a renovation or remodeling job on our own character. It may merely be a case of removing rough edges or tossing away molding to expose irregularities, in some cases to remove a prop and stand on one's own feet.
如果所有人——也包括我自己——都更新或重鑄自己的人格，這應該是有益於人類的。這也許僅僅是抹去粗糙的邊緣或丟棄固有的模式，從而顯露出不平整，有時則需要拿走支撐物，完全靠自己站立。
In any event if some of us set example, others will follow and the result should be good. This I believe.
不論何種情況，只要我們有人樹立榜樣，其他人就會效仿，結果就應該是好的。對此我深信不疑。
經典的英語美文名人勵志故事Freedom is Worth the Risk
爲了自由，冒險又何妨 埃爾默·戴維斯
The philosopher George Santayana, at the age of eighty-eight, admitted that things no longer seemed so simple to him as they did fifty years ago.
哲學家喬治·桑塔亞那在八十八歲高齡時坦言在他眼裏事物不再像五十年前那麼簡單。
Even those of us who have not reached Mr. Santayana’s age must share that feeling; but we must act by the best light we have, hoping that the light will grow brighter- and we have reason to hope it will, so long as men remain free to think. The most important thing in the world, I believe, is the freedom of the mind. All progress, and all other freedoms, spring from that.
我們當中那些即使未到桑塔亞那先生那個年紀的人一定也有同感，但我們必須在最充足的光線下活動，並且希望光線會更明亮——只要人類仍然有思想的自由，我們有理由希望它會更明亮。我相信世上最重要的事情是思想的自由，所有的進步及其他一切自由皆源於此。
It is a dangerous freedom, but this is a dangerous world. You cannot think right without running the risk of thinking wrong; but for any evils that may come from thinking, the cure is more thinking. Over much of the world, at present, the freedom of the mind is suppressed.
這種自由是危險的，但這個世界本身就危險。不冒犯錯誤的風險就無法正確地思考，但是對於任何思想可能帶來的邪惡，治療的藥方是進一步思考。目前世界上許多地方思想的自由受到壓制。
We have got to preserve it here, despite the efforts of very earnest men to suppress it—men who say, and perhaps believe, that they are actuated by patriotism, but who are doing their best to destroy the liberties which above all are what the United States of America has meant, to its people and to humanity.
我們必須在這裏保留思想的自由，即使有些一本正經的人竭力遏制它——這些人口口聲聲說他們這樣做是基於愛國，也許他們真這樣想，但他們卻在竭盡所能摧毀自由，而擁有自由正是美利堅合衆國對它的民衆和整個人類的首要意義之所在。
This is perhaps a less personal statement than most of those in “ This I believe”. If so, it is because a man of my age, in his relation to himself, runs mostly on momentum; and it is a little difficult to look back and figure out what give him the push, or the various pushes.
這種觀點也許不像這個節目大多數觀點那樣帶個人感情色彩，如果真是如此，則是因爲一個人到我這個年紀大多靠衝動處理與自己的關係，讓他回過頭來想清楚是什麼激勵了他是有點困難的。
What he has to consider now is what he can contribute to the present, or the future, as a member of a very peculiar species—possibly even a unique species—which has immense capacities for both good and evil, as it has amply demonstrated during its recorded history.
現在他要考慮的是作爲一個非常特殊的種羣(也許甚至是獨一無二的種羣)的一員，能爲現在或將來做出什麼貢獻。歷史記載已充分證明這一種羣無論行善還是作惡，能力都很強。
That history to date is ---barring some unpredictable cosmic disaster---the barest beginning of what may lie ahead of us. But we happen to live in one of the turning points of history—by no means the first, as it will not be the last; and the future of mankind will be more than usually affected by what we do in this generation.
那需要標註日期的歷史阻止了一些不可預知的宇宙災難，也許是擺在我們眼前的最原初的開端，而我們碰巧身處歷史轉折點之一——絕不是第一個也不會是最後一個;我們這一代的所作所爲將對人類的未來造成較大的影響。
What should we do? Well, first of all and above all, preserve freedom, and extend it if we can. Beyond that I don’t know how better to define our business than to say we should try to promote an increase of decency. Decency in the sense of respect for other people; of taking no advantage; of never saying,”
我們該怎麼辦?嗯，首先也是最重要的是保留自由，盡我們所能拓展自由。除此之外，除了說我們應該努力促使人們不斷端正行爲之外，我不知道該如何更好地說明我們的這一事業。行爲端正意味着尊重他人、不利用人、永遠不說：“得讓這個人吃些苦頭我心裏才舒服。”
This man must be miserable in order that I may be comfortable.” This is not as easy as it looks; it’s impossible to exist without hurting somebody, however unintentionally. But there are limits. I do not believe that human life is accurately represented by Viggeland’s famous sculptured column in Oslo, of people climbing over one another and trampling one anther down. The Nazis, when they occupied Norway, greatly admired that sculpture.
這看起來容易，做起來難，因爲我們不可能在生活中不傷害他人，無論這種傷害多麼無心，但是傷害是有限度的。我不相信挪威奧斯陸市維格蘭雕塑公園著名的“生命之柱”上人們從別人身上爬過去再把人往下踩的情景準確地表現了人類的生活。納粹在佔領挪威時對那根石柱頂禮膜拜。
They would. But the rest of us can do better than that; many men and women in every age have done better, and are doing it still.
他們會照此行事，可我們其他人的行爲可以比他們有人性，每個時代的衆多男男女女都是如此，現在仍然如此。
The Scottish scientist ane once said that the people who can make a positive contribution to human progress are few; that most of us have to be satisfied with merely staving off the inroads of chaos.
蘇格蘭科學家約翰·伯登·桑德斯·霍爾丹曾說能爲人類發展做出積極貢獻的人寥寥無幾，大多數人只能滿足於避開亂世的侵擾。能那樣已經夠難了，尤其是當今這個動盪不安的時代
That is a hard enough job—especially in these times, when those inroads are more threatening that they have been for a long time past. But if we can stave them off, and keep the field clear for the creative intelligence, we can feel that we have done our part toward helping the human race get ahead.
人們的生存在過去很長一段時間都不曾像現在這樣遭到威脅。但如果我們能夠避開這些混亂的侵擾，爲人類創造性的智慧創造空間，我們就能感到自己已經爲推動人類前進的步伐盡了綿薄之力。
關於英語美文名人勵志故事What Makes Me Feel Big
什麼使我胸懷寬廣
by J. Frank Dobie
J.弗蘭克.多比
"My mind is big when I look at you and talk to you," Chief Eagle of the Pawnees said to George Bird Grinnell when, after years of absence, that noble writer appeared at his friend's tepee.
並非所有堅定的真理都是美好的，但“美即是真”。所有偉大的藝術都追求這樣的目標，即美融合愛，也被愛所融合。它無處不在，唾手可得。
It is very difficult in drawing up a credo to be severely honest about oneself, to avoid all traditional cant. We actually believe in what we value most. Outside of the realms of ccarnality and property, which men appearing in public generally pretend not to notice, I believe in and draw nourishment from whatever makes me "feel big".
在離開朋友波尼族印第安人首領雄鷹的獸皮帳篷幾年後，作家喬治.伯德.格林又回到那裏。這位首領對他高尚的朋友說：“凝視着你，與你交談，讓我感到心胸寬廣。”我們很難爲自己擬出一個既能嚴格遵守又能避免傳統教條的信念。事實上，我們最爲珍視的東西便是我們的信仰。除了人們在公共場合總會假裝視而不見的俗念與財產之外，所有能讓我胸懷寬廣的都是我的信仰，它們是我力量的源泉。
I believe in a Supreme Power, unknowable and impersonal, whose handiwork the soul-enlarging firmament declares. However, I believe in questionings, doubtings, searchings, skepticism, and I discredit credulity or blind faith. The progress of man is based on disbelief of the commonly accepted.
我相信有一種至高無上且無法控制的未知力量，它的創造，宣告了靈魂擁有無限伸展的空間。然而，我也相信詢問、質疑、探索與懷疑，但拒絕輕信或盲從的信仰。人類的進步是基於對普遍接受的質疑。
The noblest minds and natures of human history have thought and sung, lived and died, trying to budge the status quo towards a larger and fuller status. I am sustained by a belief in evolution - the increasing purpose of life in which the rational is, with geological slowness, evolving out of the irrational.
人類歷史上，擁有最高尚思想的人們曾經思考過，歌唱過，生活過，最終離去，他們也曾努力擴展並充實現狀。我始終相信進化論，即生活目的在不斷增加，而其中從非理性到理性的進化時間就像地質變化一樣漫長。我相信，伊甸園中完美的善良、智慧與正義就在遙遠的前方，給予我希望，並或多或少地解釋了生存的意義。這是一個長遠的觀點。
To believe that goodness and wisdom and righteousness, in Garden of Eden perfection, lie somewhere far ahead instead of farther and farther behind, gives me hope and somewhat explains existence. This is a long view. I do not pretend that it is a view always present in me. It does raise me when I have it, however.
我不會假裝認爲，自己始終擁有這樣的觀點。然而，當我擁有它時，我的靈魂的確得到了昇華。使人不敢坦誠言論的勢力，是我最爲憎恨的。當看到受壓迫的個人與民族奮起反抗時，我便會心生敬慕，感到滿足。我並不僞稱自己已經摒棄了所有的偏見，但有時當我發現自己擺脫了某些偏見時，我就會狂喜不已。
I feel no resentment so strongly as that against forces which make men and women afraid to speak out forthrightly. The noblest satisfaction I have is in witnessing the up movement of suppressed individuals and people. I make no pretense to having rid myself freed from certain prejudices, but at times when I have discovered myself freed from certain prejudices, I have felt rare exhilaration.
我認爲，美雖然存在於肉體，但卻屬於精神。我從未聽說過，有哪句佈道詞能從言辭或事實上表現出這樣的精神美：“夜晚繁星點點，湖水自由盪漾。”
For me, the beautiful resides in the physical, but it is spiritual. I have never heard a sermon as spiritual in either phrase or fact us, "Waters on a starry night are beautiful and free." No hymn lifts my heart higher than the morning call of the bobwhite to the long fluting cry of sandhill cranes out of the sky at dusk. I have never smelled incense in a church as refining to the spirit as a spring breeze laden with aroma from a field of bluebonnets. Not all hard truths are beautiful, but "beauty is truth."
北美鳩清晨的鳴唱或黃昏時天空中沙丘鶴笛鳴般的長吟，是任何讚美詩都無法媲美的。柔和的春風中瀰漫着田野間矢車菊的芳香，讓我的靈魂也更加高尚，這是教堂中任何焚香都無法比擬的。並非所有堅定的真理都是美好的，但“美即是真”。
It incorporates love and is incorporated by love. It is the goal of all great art. Its presence everywhere makes it free to all. It is not so abstract as justice, but beauty and intellectual freedom and justice, all incorporating truth and goodness, are constant sustainers to my mind and spirit.
所有偉大的藝術都追求這樣的目標，即美融合愛，也被愛所融合。它無處不在，唾手可得。它不像正義那樣抽象，但美、心智的自由及正義，都與真與善融合，這便是我思想與精神的永恆支柱。
