《了不起的盖茨比》菲茨杰拉德 我们奋力前行，小舟逆水而上，不断地被推回到过去。我们总向往远方那盏绿光，以为只要不停奔跑，就能触达梦想。可梦想永远在前方，它吸引我们不停向前。纵然我们一次次被现实击退，也依然保有奔赴希望的本能。许多人穷尽一生追逐幻梦，却在追逐的路上遗忘了真实的自己。 So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. We always yearn for that green light far away, thinking that as long as we keep running, we can touch our dreams. But the dream always stays ahead, drawing us forward nonstop. Even if we are pushed back by reality time and again, we still keep the instinct to chase hope. Many people spend their whole lives chasing illusions, yet forget their true selves along the way.

《莎士比亚十四行诗73》 在我身上，你能看见暮秋的光景，黄叶零落，或寥寥几片，悬在那抵御寒风的枯枝之上。破败的歌坛，曾有百鸟婉转歌唱，如今只剩下沉寂。在我身上，你看见黄昏，夕阳缓缓西沉，黑夜慢慢吞没落日余晖。死亡的第二自我，将一切封存安息。在我的身上，你看见火焰的余烬，躺在青春的灰烬之上，等待被自己的残火吞噬。 That time of year thou mayst in me behold, When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold. Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west; Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou seest the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie.

《瓦尔登湖》亨利·戴维·梭罗 我步入丛林，是因为我希望审慎地生活，直面生命最本质的真相。我想看看生命能教会我什么，免得在弥留之际，才发觉自己从未真正活过。我不愿去过那种算不上生活的日子，生命何其珍贵。若非万不得已，我也不愿选择消极隐忍。我想要深入生活，汲取生活的精髓，勇敢地去迎接生活的一切悲欢。 I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, and bravely embrace all joys and sorrows life brings.

《人性的枷锁》毛姆 大多数人过完一生，都如同随波逐流。他们出生，结婚，生子，最后死去，一辈子被偶然的际遇推着向前。他们好像机械完成一件任务，从来不会停下来思考，自己究竟想要什么。你不必像旁人一样，遵循社会既定的轨道。你可以停下脚步，审视生活，去寻找属于你自己的道路，哪怕这条路孤独又艰难。 Most people go through life drifting with the tide. They are born, marry, have children, and die. They are pushed forward by random chances all their lives. They seem to finish tasks mechanically and never pause to think about what they truly want. You do not need to follow the same path set by society like everyone else. You can stop, examine your life, and seek your own way, even if the road is lonely and difficult.

《简·爱》夏洛蒂·勃朗特 生命太短暂，不该用来满怀怨恨，记挂仇怨。人生在世，人人都背负过错，但总有一天，我们会卸下尘世的皮囊，平等站在上帝面前。不必因为出身卑微而自我轻视，灵魂不分贫富高低。就算外表平凡，你依然拥有独立完整的灵魂。真正的尊严，从来不是别人给予，而是源于内心对自我的坚守。 Life is too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs. We are all sinful creatures in life, but one day we shall cast off this mortal flesh and stand equally before God. Do not belittle yourself just because of humble origins. Souls know no difference between rich and poor. Even with an ordinary appearance, you still possess an independent and complete soul. True dignity is never given by others, but comes from the inner faith in yourself.

人不是为失败而生的。一个人可以被毁灭，但不能被打败。他想，不过我很痛心，把这鱼给杀了。现在倒霉的时刻要来了，可我连鱼叉也没有。这条鲨鱼残忍、强悍又聪明，可我曾经战胜了它。也许并非我比它聪慧，或许只是我的武器更强。不要胡思乱想，老家伙，沿着航线继续航行，遇到什么就坦然承受什么。 A man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated. He thought, I am sorry that I killed the fish though. Now the bad time is coming and I do not even have the harpoon. The dentuso is cruel and able and strong and intelligent. But I fought and conquered it. Perhaps I was not more intelligent than it. Maybe I only had better weapons. Don’t think, old man. Sail on this course and take it when it comes.

幸运所生的德性是节制，厄运所孕育的德性是坚忍。从道德层面来说，后者才是更伟大的品质。幸运是《旧约》中的福祉，而逆境是《新约》里的恩典。逆境承载着更深沉的祝福。当你遭遇困境，你会更清楚地看见自己，看清内心藏着的力量。顺境容易暴露人的恶习，逆境却能磨炼人的美德。 The virtues brought forth by prosperity are temperance, while the virtues bred by adversity are fortitude. Morally speaking, the latter is the greater quality. Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, and adversity is the blessing of the New Testament. Adversity carries deeper blessings. When you meet hardships, you will know yourself better and discover the strength hidden inside your heart. Prosperity tends to reveal human vices, but adversity can temper human virtues.

There are no absolute right or wrong choices in a person’s life. We simply make choices and bear the consequences that follow. Many people spend their whole lives chasing an imagined perfection, ignoring that life itself is full of imperfections. We struggle to search for meaning, yet meaning does not inherently exist in the world. Instead, it is gradually created through our own experiences. You do not have to treat one single failure as the ruin of your whole life. Suffering itself can teach us to see what our hearts truly desire. 人这一生，所做的选择并没有绝对的对错之分。我们只是做出选择，然后承担随之而来的结果。很多人耗费一生追逐幻想中的完美，却忽略了生活本身充满缺憾。我们苦苦追寻意义，可意义并非本来就存在于世界之中，而是由我们亲身的经历一点点创造出来。不必因为一时的失败认定自己全盘皆输，苦难本身也能教会我们看清自己内心真正想要的东西。

向前看的人，永远会看见新的地平线。虽然我们居住在小小的星球，终日纠缠琐碎的事务，生命也短短数十年，但人类天生就怀有遥不可及的希望，如同天上星辰。期盼会一直延续，直到生命终点。真正的幸福，取决于我们如何启程，而非如何落幕；在于我们渴求什么，而非我们拥有什么。一种向往便是永恒的喜悦，如同一份不动产，源源不断带给我们精神的欢愉。 There is always a new horizon for onward-looking men, and although we dwell on a small planet, immersed in petty business and not enduring beyond a brief period of years, we are so constituted that our hopes are inaccessible, like stars, and the term of hoping is prolonged until the term of life. To be truly happy is a question of how we begin and not of how we end, of what we want and not of what we have. An aspiration is a joy for ever, a possession as solid as a landed estate, a fortune which we can never exhaust and which gives us year by year a revenue of pleasurable activity. To have many of these is to be spiritually rich. Life is only a very dull and ill-directed theatre unless we have some interest in the piece.

《热爱生活》亨利·戴维·梭罗 不论你的生活如何卑贱，你要面对它生活，不要躲避它，更别用恶言咒骂它。它不像你所想那么糟糕。你最富有的时候，倒是看似最穷。爱找缺点的人就是到天堂里也能找到缺点。你要爱你的生活，尽管它贫穷。甚至在济贫院里，你也还有愉快、惊喜、光荣的时刻。夕阳映照在济贫院的窗上，和富豪宅邸的窗一样明亮；门前积雪同样在早春消融。 However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you suppose. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man’s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring.