04
Ambition 抱负

Joseph Epstein

约瑟夫·爱泼斯坦

导读

一个缺乏抱负的世界将会怎样？没有竞争？难道你能确定同样消失的不是竞争所能带来的教益与乐趣；没有焦虑？难道你能确定同样消失的不是人类丰富而敏锐的情感；没有重压？难道你能确定同样消失的不是人类不屈不挠、抗压前进的可爱品质。虽然我们无法选择自己的出生、父母、国家，但我们的确可以选择自己的生活方式：是勇敢无畏还是胆小怯懦，是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻，是目标坚定还是随波逐流：这些便是抱负所在，也是我们为实现抱负而努力的动力所在、方向所在。

It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: without demands, without abrasions, without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. Conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart. Ah, how unrelievedly boring life would be?

一个缺乏抱负的世界将会怎样，这不难想象。或许，这将是一个更为友善的世界：没有渴求，没有摩擦，没有失望。人们将有时间进行反思。他们所从事的工作将不是为了他们自身，而是为了整个集体。竞争永远不会介入；冲突将被消除。人们的紧张关系将成为过往云烟。创造的重压将得以终结。艺术将不再惹人费神，其功能将纯粹为了庆典。人的寿命将会更长，因为由激烈拼争引起的心脏病和中风所导致的死亡将越来越少。焦虑将会消失。时光流逝，抱负却早已远离人心。啊，长此以往，人生将变得多么乏味无聊！

There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events? Now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one's own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity.

有一种盛行的观点认为，成功是一种神话，因此抱负亦属虚幻。这是不是说实际上并不存在成功？成就本身就是一场空？与诸多运动和事件的力量相比，男男女女的努力显得微不足道？显然，并非所有的成功都值得景仰，也并非所有的抱负都值得追求。对值得和不值得的选择，一个人自然而然很快就能学会。但即使是最为愤世嫉俗的人暗地里也承认，成功确实存在，成就的意义举足轻重，而把世上男男女女的所作所为说成是徒劳无功才是真正的无稽之谈。认为成功不存在的观点很可能造成混乱。这种观点的本意是一笔勾销所有提高能力的动机、求取业绩的兴趣和对子孙后代的关注。

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.

我们无法选择出生，无法选择父母，无法选择出生的历史时期与国家，或是成长的周遭环境。我们大多数人都无法选择死亡，无法选择死亡的时间或条件。但是在这些无法选择之中，我们的确可以选择自己的生活方式：是勇敢无畏还是胆小怯懦，是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻，是目标坚定还是随波逐流。我们决定生活中哪些至关重要，哪些微不足道。我们决定，用以显示我们自身重要性的，不是我们做了什么，就是我们拒绝做些什么。但是不论世界对我们所做的选择和决定有多么漠不关心，这些选择和决定终究是我们自己做出的。我们决定，我们选择。而当我们决定和选择时，我们的生活便得以形成。最终构筑我们命运的就是抱负之所在。

Look at the following sentences and tell whether they are right or wrong.

1. The author thinks that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham.

2. The author believes that we can decide what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do.

3. Forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.

4. As time stretches on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart, life would be more interesting.

5. Our lives are formed as we decide and choose.

Key

1. × 2. √ 3. √ 4. × 5. √

Emulation 美文自己写得出——学生仿写

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仿写范例

The Secret of Success

The secret of success is to know when to be strenuous and when to be carefree. For success itself is relative. It enjoins us to struggle, sparing no effort while it advocates that relaxation betters us off. Perplexed people are unmotivated, and sometimes lose their directions.

For those who are afflicted with indolence and idle away every precious minute, “If I rest, I rust” might be the most effective incentive. Even a moron one thinks of himself/herself, he/she is necessarily in need of constant and challenging work. Otherwise, not even the flicker of success he would glimpse. In a word, when you notice your inertia rising up, repress it and work diligently.

For those who are highly motivated and resolved to be some great men, industry is always their motto and belief. For most of the time, their nerves are extremely tense and they are like dynamos spinning as much as they could. Unfortunately, some shoulders are not strong enough to bear the tension and collapse, while some are on the brink of freaking out. Therefore, as soon as physical or mental signals are spreading, one must put down the work and make them intermittent.