第一篇：雙語哲理美文：倘若人類真能再活五百年

人，可以從生物、精神與文化等各個層面來定義，或是這些層面定義的結合。生物學上，人被分類為人科人屬人種，是一種高級動物。精神層面上，人被描述為能夠使用各種靈魂的概念，在宗教中這些靈魂被認為與神圣的力量或存在有關。文化人類學上，人被定義為能夠使用語言、具有復雜的社會組織與科技發展的生物，尤其是能夠建立團體與機構來達到互相支持與協助的目的。

人類對長生不老的癡迷 For ever and ever

Immortality

For ever and ever

人類對長生不老的癡迷

Four narratives and an actuary

四個說法和一個精算師

Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilisation.By Stephen Cave.Crown;320 pages;$25.Biteback Publishing;￡20.Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

《長生不老：對永生的追求及其如何推動人類文明》作者：斯蒂芬。卡夫，皇冠出版社。

IMMORTALITY is an age-old obsession.Plenty of literature deals with the subject, from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamish to the poems of Homer and the writings of the Old Testament.The quest to live for ever has motivated medieval alchemists, modern techno-Utopians and mystics through the centuries。

長生不老是人類世世代代所癡迷的目標。從蘇美爾的吉爾伽美什史詩到荷馬史詩，再到舊約故事，數不清的文學作品觸及到這個主題。從中世紀的煉金術士到現代的科幻烏托邦主義者和神秘主義者，千百年來人們孜孜不倦地追求著永生。

In his survey of the subject, Stephen Cave, a British philosopher, argues that man’s various tales of immortality can be boiled down into four basic “narratives”.The first is the simplest, in theory at least: do what the medieval alchemists never managed and discover an elixir to simply avoid dying.The second concerns resurrection, or coming back to life after dying, a belief found in all three of the Abrahamic religions.The idea of an immaterial soul that can persist through death dates back, in a formal form, at least to Plato, and forms Mr Cave’s third narrative.His fourth narrative deals with immortality through achievement, by becoming so famous that one’s name lives on through the ages。

英國哲學家史蒂芬。卡夫在對這個主題的研究中，把人們關于永生的觀念概括為四個基本的“說法”。第一個，也是最簡單的(至少在理論上)：找到中世紀煉金術士們從未找到的一種神藥，從而避免死亡。第二個是再生，即在死后又恢復生命，這是所有三個亞伯拉罕系宗教(基督教、猶太教和伊斯蘭教)所共有的信仰。第三個“說法”是關于非物質的靈魂不死的理念，這種理念的正式形態，至少可以追溯到柏拉圖。第四個，是通過個人成就獲得永生，即，一個人可以使自己變得非常有名，以至于人們將世代記住他的名字。

For the aspiring undying, Mr Cave unfortunately concludes that immortality is a mirage.But his demolition project is fascinating in its own right.The section on the soul is an able attack on the related doctrines of “vitalism”，the soul and mind-body dualism—the intuitive and still widely held body of ideas that hold that living creatures are animated by some sort of supernatural spark, and that an individual’s personality or consciousness can survive death.The chapters on resurrection will interest Christians, as Mr Cave examines how the literal recreation, by God, of dead people’s bodies remains the doctrine of most branches of Christianity.The idea of one’s soul, as opposed to one’s body, ending up in heaven or hell is a subsequent embellishment。

談到那令人神往的永生，很不幸，卡夫先生的結論是，長生不老只是一種幻想。不過，他摧毀這種幻想的論證過程還是很精彩的。在關于靈魂的章節里，作者對與永生相關的“活力論”信條作了有力的抨擊。活力論是一種靈魂(及心靈)與肉體的二元論，這種理念很直觀，并且仍然被廣為接受。它認為，生物是被某種超自然的力量所激活的，個人的特性和知覺在死后仍然存在。書中關于復活的章節肯定會使基督徒們感興趣，卡夫先生在其中討論了上帝使死人復活的故事，解釋了為什么復活到現在仍然是大多數基督教派的信條。在接下來的章節中，卡夫涉及到人的靈魂上天堂或入地獄的話題。

If anything, readers might want more of Mr Cave’s crisp conversational prose.There could be more on living longer;Mr Cave barely has time to give even the briefest overview of the emerging science of life extension, which has allowed researchers to lengthen the lifespans of mice by a third or more in the lab。

卡夫先生的文體清新，像對話式的散文。但讀者可能會覺得他應當涉及更多的話題。比如怎樣能夠更長壽。卡夫先生甚至沒有對新興的抗老醫學做簡單的介紹，抗老醫學的研究者們已經可以在實驗室里把老鼠的壽命延長三分之一甚至更多。

There are a few quibbles.Mr Cave’s repeated claim that the quest for immortality drives every human activity feels overdone.Others might dispute his definition of immortality itself.Mr Cave’s chief argument against the desirability of living for ever(even assuming it is possible)is the familiar one of boredom.As the uncountable billions of years tick away, the argument runs, even the most vivacious will come to realise that they have done everything there is to do, hundreds of times.With yet more billions of years looming ahead they will be struck down with a debilitating ennui。

對卡夫先生的書，我有幾點吹毛求疵的意見。例如，他反復強調，對永生的追求是人類所有行為的推動力，這一點似乎言過其實了。另外，他對永生的定義本身可能也會引起爭議。再者，卡夫先生不贊成追求永生(假定能夠實現)的主要論點，仍然是常見的“永生會造成厭倦”的見解。這種見解認為：在活過了算不清的數百萬年之后，即便是最生動活潑的人也終會意識到，世上所有能做的事都被做了幾百次了；如果再活數百萬年的話，只會越來越無聊了。

That argument only applies if these notional immortals are also invincible, and therefore impervious to accident.But that is an odd definition, and not one that crops up very often, especially in scientific research into ageing.The holy grail there is simply to arrest the ageing process.Indeed, Mr Cave quotes an actuary who has estimated that the average “medical immortal” would persist for around 6,000 years before dying in a plane accident or a car crash or the like.And besides, boredom seems to be a non-problem: after all, if an immortal does ever get truly bored of his vastly extended life, there would be nothing to prevent him from ending it。

然而，這種見解能夠成立的前提是：這些假想的長生不老者同時也是刀槍不入者，因而不會被任何事故所損傷。但這種前提是難以成立的，特別是與研究老化的科學成果相悖。這種科學的目的僅僅是延緩老化。確實，卡夫先生引用了一位精算師的估算結果：即使在醫學意義上能夠長生不老的人，平均壽命大約也只有六千年，因為他們也終會由于飛機失事或汽車事故而死去。此外，厭倦看起來不是什么問題：假如一個長生不老的人實在由于活得太長而厭倦了，他隨時可以結束自己的生命嘛。

第二篇：雙語哲理美文：生活的一課

雙語哲理美文：生活的一課A lesson of life

“everything happens for the best,”my mother said whenever I faced disappointment.“If you can carry on, one day something good will happen.And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment.”

每當我遇到挫折時,母親就會說:“一切都會好的。如果你堅持下去,總有一天會有好事發生。你會認識到,如果沒有以前的挫折就不會有現在的一切。”

Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932.I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports announcer.I hitchhiked to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station-and got turned down every time.母親是對的,發現這個是在1932年,我剛從大學畢業。我已決定試著在電臺找個事兒做,然后爭取做體育節目的播音員。我搭便車到了芝加哥,挨個電臺地敲門推銷自己——但每次都被拒絕了。

In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring inexperienced person-“Go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance,”she said.在一個播音室里,一位好心的女士告訴我,大的廣播電臺是不會冒險雇用沒經驗的新手的。”去鄉下找一家給你機會的小電臺吧,“她說。

I thumbed home to Dixon, Illinois.While them was no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father sad Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department.Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied.The job sounded just right for me.But I wasn't hired.我搭車來到我的家鄉,那是伊利諾斯州的迪克森。在迪克森當時還沒有電臺播音員這樣的工作,父親說,蒙哥馬利·沃德開了一家新商店,想雇請一個本地的運動員管理店里的體育部。我中學時曾在迪克森打過橄欖球,出于這個原因我去申請了這份工作。工作聽起來挺適合我的,但是我沒被聘用。

My disappointment must have shown.”Everything happens for the best,“ Mom reminded me.Dad offered me the car to job hunt.I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa.The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.我的沮喪心情一定表現出來了。”一切總會好的,“母親提醒我說。爸爸給我買了一輛汽車找工作用。我試著到愛荷華州達文波特的woc電臺去求職。那里的電臺節目總監是一個很棒的蘇格蘭人,名叫彼得·麥克阿瑟,他告訴我他們已經雇到播音員了。

As I left his office, my frustration boiled over.I asked a1oud,”How can a fellow get to be a sport announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?“

離開他辦公室時,我的挫折感達到了極點。我大聲地說:”一個連在電臺都找不到工作的家伙又怎么能成為體育節目的播映員呢？

I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?”Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game.等電梯時，我聽到麥克阿瑟喊道：“你說什么體育？你懂橄欖球嗎？”接著他讓我站到麥克風前面，請我解說一場想象中的比賽。

On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother's words: “if you carry on, one day something good will happen.Something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment” I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I’d gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.在回家的路上——以后也有很多次的，我思考著母親的那句話：“如果你堅持下去，總要一天會有好事發生。如果沒有以前的挫折，就不會有現在的一切。”我常想，如果當年我得到蒙哥馬利·沃德的那份工作，我的人生之路又會怎樣走呢？

第三篇：雙語哲理美文：你可以富足

雙語哲理美文：你可以富足

富足還有另外一層意思，在這個意義上你也可以很富足。

Abundance is a life style, a way of living your life.It isn’t something you buy now and then or pull down from the cupboard, dust off and use once or twice, and then return to the cupboard.富足是一種生活方式。它不是你偶爾買來，從架子上拿下來，抹去灰塵用上一兩次然后又放回到架子上的東西。

Abundance is a philosophy;it appears in your physiology, your value system, and carries its own set of beliefs.You walk with it, sleep with it, bath with it, feel with it, and need to maintain and take care of it as well.富足是一種哲學，它體現于你的生理機能和價值觀之中，并帶有自己的一套信仰。無論走路，睡覺，洗澡你都會感受到它，你還要維護并照顧它。

Abundance doesn’t always require money.Many people live with all that money can buy yet live empty inside.Abundance begins inside with some main self-ingredients, like love, care, kindness and gentleness, thoughtfulness and compassion.Abundance is a state of being.It radiates outward.It shines like the sun among the many moons in the world.富足并不一定需要金錢。許多人擁有金錢所能買到的一切，但卻內心空虛。富足源自內心，其中包含一些重要的自我成分，比如愛，關心，善良和溫柔，體貼與同情。富足是一種存在狀態，它向處發散，像處于眾多星球之間的太陽那樣發光發亮。

Being from the brightness of abundance doesn’t allow the darkness to appear or be in the path unless a choice to allow it to.The true state of abundance doesn’t have room for lies or games normally played.The space is too full of abundance.This may be a challenge because we still need to shine for other to see.來自富足的光亮不允許黑暗的出現或存在，除非選擇允許它存在。真正的富足不給謊言或通常玩的游戲留有空間，因為富足已經把空間填得太滿了。這可能是一個挑戰，因為我們仍然需要為了讓別人看見而發光。

Abundance is seeing people for their gifts and not what they lack or could be.Seeing all things for their gifts and not what they lack.富足是看到人們的天賦，而不是他的缺陷。所有的事物都要看其天賦而不是缺陷。

Start by knowing what your abundances are, fill that space with you, and be fully present from that state of being.Your profession of choice is telling you of knowing and possibilities.That is their gift.Consultants and customer service professionals have the ministrative assistants and virtual assistants have an abundance of coordination and time management.Abundance is all around you, and all within.See what it is;love yourself for what it is, not what you’re missing, or what that can be better, but for what it is at this present moment.從知道自己的富足是什么時開始，填寫滿空間，全身心投入生活。你的選擇已經告訴你。例如：教練能夠了解隊員并激發其潛力，那是他們的天賦；顧問和客服專業人士通常能夠提供很多成功且很具實用性的案例；行政助理和虛擬助理熟識直轄市配合和時間管理的技巧。富足充盈于你的四周以及你的內心。明白富足的內容，愛本色的自己，不要為自己缺少的或是能變得更好的方面愛自己，而是為此時此刻的富足而愛自己。

Learning to trust in your own abundance is required.When you begin to be within your own space of abundance, whatever you need will appear whenever you need it.That’s just the way the higher powers set this universe up to work.Trust the universal energy.The knowing of it all will humble you to its power yet let the brightness of you shine everywhere it needs to.Just by being from a state of abundance, it is being you.你需要學會信任自己的富足。當你開始處在自己富足的空間之內時，你需要的東西都會在你需要的時刻出現。這就是更高的力量設置這個宇宙動轉的方式。要相信宇宙的能量。知道這一點會讓你在其力量面前保持謙卑，但也會讓你的光亮閃耀在所有需要的地方。只要處于富足的狀態，就是做你自己。

第四篇：雙語哲理美文：風雨中的雄鷹

雙語哲理美文：風雨中的雄鷹Eagle in a Storm

Eagle in a Storm 風雨中的雄鷹

Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?

你知道嗎？鷹在暴風雨爆發之前就知道暴風雨就要來了。

The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come.When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm.While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.鷹會飛到一個很高的地方，等待著暴風雨的來臨。當暴風雨來臨的時候，它會展開翅膀，這樣暴風就可以把它拖起，將它置于暴雨之上。當暴風雨肆虐的時候，鷹已經翱翔于暴雨之上了。

The eagle does not escape the storm.It simply uses the storm to lift it higher.It rises on the winds that bring the storm.鷹沒有逃避暴風雨，它只是利用暴風雨讓它飛得更高，它翱游于帶來暴風雨的颶風之上。

When the storms of life come upon us—and all of us will experience them—we can rise above them by setting our belief that we can make it.The storms do not have to overcome us.We can allow our inner power to lift us above them.當生活中的暴風雨降臨的時候--這是我們每個人都要經歷的--我們可以堅定我們的必勝信念,這樣我們就可以凌駕于暴風雨之上.暴風雨并不一定會摧毀我們,我們內部的能量可以讓我們超越暴風雨。

We can enable ourselves to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives.We can soar above the storm.在生活中，我們可以駕駛那些帶來疾病、災難、失敗、失望的暴風雨.我們可以翱翔在暴風雨之上。

Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.請記住,把你壓垮的不是生活中的重擔,而是你的態度。

第五篇：雙語哲理美文：心態具有的力量

雙語哲理美文：心態具有的力量

say, you can not change the environment, but can change their own;you can not change the facts, but can change attitudes;you can not change the past, but can be changed now;you can not control other people, but can be masters of our own;you can not do everything well, but can be conscientious in everything;you can not about the weather, but you can change the mood;you can not choose looks, but it can show a smile.Indeed, one key to the success lies in his(her)mind.The difference between successful people and the losers are: winners will be setbacks and difficulties due to personal ability, experience, imperfect, to emphasize the inherent, they are willing to continuously improve and develop the right direction;and the losers will blame on the opportunity, and the environment injustice, emphasizing external and uncontrollable factors that created the position of their life, they always complain, wait and give up!

In many cases, is a humble person who is looked down upon his own.Person's appearance, his family, and so a priori condition that can not be changed, but at least inner state, the spirit of the will is entirely their own control.Mentality, the final decision of life high.There is no absolute bad thing, only the mentality of the absolute poor people.If even the state of mind will not adjust, how they deal with things more complicated than the mentality of it!

No matter what the situation, a person's attitude is very important.Passion put to work, and numbness sluggish to work completely different.Emerson said: “A move toward their goals is always people who gave him the whole world to give way.” On the contrary, failure is not because we do not have the strength, but because we are susceptible to all around us, used to go along with the lack of assertive, attitude unstable, easily frustrated reason.As long as we believe that the strength of mind, change their attitude and courage to face a number of disappointments in life, do not despair, brave go on.I believe the power of mind, mind you're in the height of the final decision

人說，你改變不了環境，但可以改變自己;你改變不了事實，但可以改變態度;你改變不了過去，但可以改變現在;你不能控制他人，但可以掌握自己;你不能樣樣順利，但可以事事盡心;你不能左右天氣，但可以改變心情;你不能選擇容貌，但可以展現笑容。的確，一個人能否成功的關鍵還在于他(她)的心態。成功人士與失敗者的差異是：成功者將挫折、困難歸因于個人能力、經驗的不完善，強調內在，他們樂意不斷向好的方向改進和發展;而失敗者則怪罪于機遇、環境的不公，強調外在、不可控制的因素造就了他們的人生位置，他們總是抱怨、等待與放棄!

很多時候，是出身卑微的人是自己看低了自己。人的相貌、家境等等先天條件是無法改變的，但至少，內心狀態、精神意志完全是自己控制的。心態，最終決定人生的高度。世上沒有絕對不好的事情，只有心態絕對不好的人。如果連心態都不會調整，他們又怎么處理比心態更為復雜的事情呢!

無論做什么事情，一個人的態度非常重要。激情投入地工作，與麻木呆滯地工作，完全不同。愛默生說：“一個朝著自己目標永遠前進的人，整個世界都給他讓路。”反之，失敗不是因為我們不具備實力，而是我們易被環境左右，慣于附和，缺乏主見，心態不穩定，容易沮喪的緣故。

只要我們相信心態的力量，調整好心態，勇敢的去面對生活上的一些不如意，不要氣餒，勇敢的走下去。

相信心態的力量，心態最終決定你所處的高度。