And that is best，to smile not in scorn，but in all for bearance，without too much self-compassion.After all，that dreadful aspect of the thingnever really took hold of me；I could put it by without much effort.Life is done—and what matter？Whether it has been，in sum，painful or enjoyable，even now I cannot say—a fact which in itself should prevent me from taking the loss too seriously.What does it matter？Destiny with the hidden face decreed that I should come into being，play my little part，and pass again into silence；is it mine either to approve or to rebel？Let me be grateful that I have suffered no intolerable wrong，no terrible woe of flesh or spirit，such as others—Alas！Alas！—have found in their lot.Is it not much to have accomplished so large a part of the mortal journey with so much ease？If I find myself astonished at its brevity and small significance，why，that is my own fault；the voices of those gone before had sufficiently warned me.Better to see the truth now，and accept it，than to fall into dread surprise on some day of weakness，and foolishly to cry against fate.I will be glad rather than sorry，and think of the thing no more.
人生苦短。每一个清晨，当你发现你还活着，这就是福气，就该珍惜。
参考译文（王伟明）
不管怎么样，我的人生结束了。生命是多么渺小的一件事情！我知道哲学家总是这样说。我曾反复揣摩他们所说的，关于人生苦短的每一个字，但时至今日我才了解其中的含义。这就是人生的全部吗？一个人的生命怎么可以如此的短暂、如此的没有意义？我试着自我安慰，其实真正意义上来讲，生活才刚刚开始。那些夹杂着辛苦、恐惧的日子并不是真正的生活。我想生命是否有意义还是取决于我自己。也许这是种自我安慰，但是它丝毫不能掩盖一个事实，那就是我永远也看不到在我眼前的无限可能和承诺。我已经退休了，对于我，确切地说，对于这样一个退休的商人来说，人生结束了。我回顾整个过程才发现生命是如此渺小。我忍不住想笑。但我控制住自己，只是微笑了一下。
对此最好的方式就是一笑而过，没有蔑视、只有忍受，更没有过多的自怜。毕竟我还没有深陷人生最糟的境地，还可以不太费力地避开它。人生已经结束了，不管是痛苦的亦或是愉悦的，我也始终不能得出结论，但这又有什么关系呢？也许生命本来就是这般患得患失，可这又有什么关系呢？不露真容的命运只会注定我出生，演好我的小角色，管好自己的部分就够了，然后再一次陷入死寂。它是已经默许，还是反对我这么做呢？让我心存感激吧！毕竟我没有像别人那样遭受无法忍受的冤屈，受到精神上或肉体上可怕、痛苦的折磨。哎！哎！这难道不足以让人轻松地面对一生的旅程吗？就算我哀叹生命的短暂和无聊，可这些却都是我一手造成的啊。那些逝者的声音已经给了我深深的警示。最好的办法就是认清事实，勇敢的接受它，而不是被自己的脆弱击垮，并且愚蠢的哭泣抗拒命运。我会开心的去生活而不是遗憾的度过，并且也将不再胡思乱想。
Opportunity 机遇
Anonymous 佚名
The air we breathe is so freely available that we take it for granted.Yet without it we could not survive more than a few minutes.For the most part，the same air is available to everyone，and everyone needs it.Some people use the air to sustain them while they sit around and feel sorry for themselves.Others breathe in the air and use the energy it provides to make a magnificent life for themselves.
Opportunity is the same way.It is everywhere.Opportunity is so freely available that we take it for granted.Yet opportunity alone is not enough to create success.Opportunity must be seized and acted upon in order to have value.So many people are so anxious to“get in”on a “ground floor opportunity”，as if the opportunity will do all the work.That’s impossible.
Just as you need air to breathe，you need opportunity to succeed.Ittakes more than just breathing in the fresh air of opportunity，however.You must make use of that opportunity.That’s not up to the opportunity.That’s up to you.It doesn’t matter what“floor”the opportunity is on.What matters is what you do with it.
积极的人在每一次忧患中都看到一个机会，而消极的人则在每个机会中都看到某种忧患。
参考翻译（高昆）
我们自由自在地呼吸着无处不在的空气，这看起来是件很平常的事。然而，如果没有空气，我们便只能存活几分钟。正常来说，空气是人人必须的，也是人人都可以获得的。只不过有的人呼吸只是为了自怨自艾的虚度光阴，有些人则是利用它所提供的能源为自己创造了一个绚丽的人生。
机会也是如此，它无处不在，正因为这样，人们常常忽略它。但是，机会本身并不能带来成功。只有抓住机会，采取行动，才能创造成功。很多人都渴望得到“优先获利的机会”，他们认为只要有机会就什么都有了。但那是不可能的。
就像人们有空气才能呼吸一样，成功也要有机会才能成功。但是，机会远远不是呼吸新鲜空气那么简单，你必须很好地利用它。成功并不取决于机会本身，而是取决于你。你拥有怎样的机会并不重要，重要的是，你怎样把握手中的机会。
The Lover And The Beloved 爱与被爱
Carson McCullers 卡森·麦卡勒斯
First of all，love is a joint experience between two persons—but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean it is a similar experience of the two people involved.There are the lover and the beloved，but these two come from different countries.Often the beloved is only a stimulus for all the stored-up love which has lain quiet within the lover for a long time hitherto.And somehow every lover knows this.He feels in his soul that his love is a solitary thing.He comes to know a new，strange loneliness and it is this knowledge which makes him suffer.So there is only one thing for the lover to do.He must house his love within himself as best as he can；he must create for himself a whole new inward world—a world intense and strange，complete in himself.Let it be added here that this lover about whom we speak need not necessarily be a young man saving for a wedding ring—this lover can be man，woman，child，or indeed any human creature on this earth.
Now，the beloved can also be of any description.The most out-landish people can be the stimulus for love.A man may be a doddering great-grandfather and still love only a strange girl he saw in the streets of Cheehaw one afternoon two decades past.The preacher may love a fallen woman.The beloved may be treacherous，greasy-headed，and given to evil habits.Yes，and the lover may see this as clearly as anyone else—but that does not affect the evolution of his love one whit.A most mediocre person can be the object of a love which is wild，extravagant，and beautiful as the poison lilies in the swamp.A good man may be the stimulus for a love both violent and debased，or a jabbering madman may bring about in the soul of someone a tender and simple idyll.Therefore，the value and quality of any love is determined solely by the lover himself.
It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved.Almost everyone wants to be the lover.And the curt truth is that，in a deep secret way，the state of being beloved is intolerable to many.The beloved fears and hates the lover，and with the best of reasons.For the lover is forever trying to strip bare his beloved.The lover craves any possible relation with the beloved，even if this experience can cause him only pain.
成熟的人不问过去，聪明的人不问现在，豁达的人不问未来。
参考翻译（胡艳）
爱，首先是两个人共有的体验——但这并不意味着他们的经历有何相似之处。爱分为两种，即爱与被爱，施爱者和被爱者分属于不同的世界。被爱者常常是作为一种刺激因素，能激起施爱者长久埋藏于心底的爱。对于施爱者，这一点他很清楚，因为他常能感受到灵魂深处爱的孤寂，这是一种全新、怪异的孤寂，正是这种认识，让他痛苦万分。因而，施爱者也只有一种选择，即尽量将爱深埋于心，重塑一个全新的内心世界——热切而陌生。这里所说的施爱者不一定指为买结婚钻戒而努力存钱的小伙子，它囊括了男人、女人、孩子，或者说是全人类。