考研复试练口语的好材料
Imagination is more important than knowledge. 想象力比知识更重要
Light is the symbol of truth.光是真理的象征。
A sweet and innocent compliance is the cement of love.温柔天真的依从是爱情的粘合剂。
Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.贫穷常使人丧失全部精神与美德,空袋子是难以直立的。
To persist in efforts without losing the aim will finally result in success.不失目标地坚持努力终将导致成功。
Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.凡事都比你思考的简单,同时比你想象的复杂。
Proper words in proper places make the true definition of style.风度的准确定义就是在适当的场合说适当的话。
The reason why a great man is great is that he resolves to be a great man.伟人之所以伟大,是因为他立志要成为伟人。
Optimism assumes, or attempts to prove, that the universe exists to please us, and pessimism that it exists to displease us.乐观主义假定或企图证明宇宙存在是为了使我们快乐;悲观主义则假定或企图证明那是为了使我们不快乐。
When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.当一个人承担了公众的信任,就应该视自己为公众财产。
They who assume a character that does not belong to them generally betray themselves by overacting.装模作样的人常常由于表现过火而露出原形。
An overdose of praise is like ten lumps of sugar in coffee; only a very few people can swallow it.过量的赞扬有如在咖啡里放了十块糖,只有极少数的人能咽得下去。
Growth is the only evidence of life.成长是生命的唯一证明。
Collection of famous quotes and collection of mottoes are the most important treasure of the society.名言集和格言集是社会最可贵的财富。
Let us learn to treasure only good and reject the evil in everything.让我们学会只珍视善,而排斥一切事物中的恶。
Economy is of itself a great revenue.节约本身就是一大笔收入。
consultant — someone who will take your watch off your wrist and tell you what time it is 顾问——把你的手表从你手腕上摘下来,然后告诉你时间的人。
There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.世上没有一种关系、交流或陪伴比美满的婚姻更愉快、友好和迷人。
The relation of genius to talent is the same as that of instinct to reason.天赋与才能的关系一如本能与理智的关系。
A real genius possesses talents in many aspects, but they are brought into play only by chance and in a single field.真正的天才具有多方面的才能,只是处于偶然而仅在单一的领域中得到施展。
As long as the world shall last there will be wrong, and if no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever.只要世界继续存在就会有不公正,如果没有人反抗,这些不公正将永远存在下去。
No one can go on being a rebel too long without turning into an autocrat.没有人能一直做叛逆者而不变成独裁者。
As a Roman Catholic I thank God for the heretics. Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought. 身为天主教徒,我为异端者的存在而感谢上帝,异端不过是思想自由的别名。
Harsh counsels have no effect: they are like hammers which are always repulsed by the anvil.刺耳的劝告不会收效:它们就像总是被铁砧弹回的锤。
Superstition comes from fear, while fear in turn comes from ignorance.迷信来自恐惧,恐惧又来自无知。
Envy is more difficult to eliminate than hate between two people.在两个人之间,忌妒比仇恨更难消除。
A long dispute means that both parties are wrong.持久的争论意味着双方都是错的。
Manifesto of the Communist Party 《共产党宣言》。
Silence is the perfect expression of scorn.沉默是轻蔑的充分表达。
In the very books in which philosophers bid us scorn fame, they inscribe their names.正是在教导我们蔑视名声的书籍中,哲人们题下了自己的大名。
I believe that man will not merely endure. He will prevail.我相信人不会仅仅是忍受,他终将胜利。
Culture has one great passion — the passion for sweetness and light. It has one even yet greater, the passion for making them prevail.教养有种强烈地对友善的渴望,还有一种甚至更强烈的渴望,即渴望使友善盛行。
Bad habits are as infectious by example as the plague itself is by contact.恶习易于由实例传播,就像瘟疫的传播借助于接触。
One was never married, and that's his hell; another is, and that's his plague.一个人从未结婚,这是他的痛苦;另一个结了婚,这是他的灾难。
The beginning of all war may be discerned not only by the first act of hostility, but by the counsels and preparations foregoing.一切战争的开端不仅可由首次敌对行动区分,也可由事前的策划和准备识别。
We drink without thirst, and we make love any time, Madame. Only this distinguishes us from the other animals.我们不渴而饮,随时示爱,夫人。使我们与其它动物相区别的只有这一点。
An interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises.笑,名词——一种体内痉挛,造成面容的变形并伴有说不出话的阵阵难听的声音。
The invention of the wheel was a milestone in the history of the world.发明轮子是世界历史上的重大事件。
The music at a marriage procession always reminds me of the music of soldiers marching to battle.结婚行列行进时的音乐总是使我想起士兵们投入战斗的音乐。
Taking to pieces is the trade of those who cannot construct.拆卸是那些不会建造的人的行为。
Nothing is so easy as to deceive one's self; for what we wish, that we readily believe.再没有比欺骗自己更容易的事了,因为对于希望的事,我们总是乐于相信。
Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, not less wise, to balance it.几乎所有的格言都有意思相反的一句,其智慧并不逊色,以便使之平衡。
The opposite of love is indifference.爱的对立物是冷漠。
Circumstances are the rulers of the weak, instruments of the wise.弱者受制于环境,智者利用环境。
The whole significance of life lies in the unremitting efforts to explore the unknown and increase knowledge.生活的全部意义在于不懈努力探索未知事物与增加知识。
It is undesirable to try to damage the significance of all life simply for love.仅仅由于爱情就试图抹杀全部生活的意义是不可取的。
The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease. The happy man inevitably confines himself within ancient limits.世界的全部前进动力都归功于对现状不满的人们,感到愉快的人必然把自己限制在旧框架之内。
We live in reference to past experience and not to future events, however inevitable.我们参照过去的经验而非未来的事件生活,不管那些事件如何必然发生。
The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.自我并非现成之物,而是通过行为的选择不断形成的。
mutability of human affairs 人世沧桑
A parliament is nothing less than a big meeting of more or less idle people.议会无非是多少有些懒散的人们的一个大聚会。
parliament — the longest running farce in the West End 议会——伦敦西区连续演出时间最长的闹剧。
a incurably disease 不治之症。
euthanasia — ①a way of putting old people out of their family's misery ②never having to tell your parents you're sorry 安乐死——①将老人从家庭的痛苦中解脱出来 ②绝对不必向父母道歉。
I must discard riches, the certificate of slavery.我必须抛弃财富这张奴隶证书。
All poets pretend to write for immortality, but he whole tribe have no objection to present pay and present praise.所有诗人都自称是为不巧的名声而写作,可这些家伙对眼前的稿酬与眼前的赞扬却全无异议。
God creates by intuition; man creates by inspiration, strengthened by observation.上帝凭着直觉创造,人类凭着由观察加强的灵感创造。
It is better to deserve honors and not to have them than to have them and not deserve them.理应拥有荣誉而不拥有它们胜过拥有荣誉而不应拥有它们。
A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.给狗一根骨头算不上仁慈,仁慈是在你跟狗一样饥饿时与狗分享的骨头。charity — ①giving someone the washing machine it wasn't worth having mended ②the only thing that can persuade us to get rid of old clothes and shoes 慈善——①将已经不值得修理的洗衣机送给别人 ②唯一能够说服我们清除破旧衣鞋的理由。
If we encountered a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he read.若遇到才智非凡的人,就应该问他读的是哪些书。
The worth of a state, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it.归根结底,国家的价值就是组成它的个人的价值。
In science, the total absorption of the individual event in the generalization is the goal; on the other hand, the humanities are concerned rather with providing for the special meaning of the individual event within an appropriate general system.自然科学以在归纳中全部吸收个别情况为目标,人文科学则更关心在适当的一般性体系之内提供个别情况的特殊意义。
individual — a multitude of one million divided by one million 个人——一百万除一百万所得的人数。
Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently.对于独立思考的人,自由永远是也只能是自由。
Some women seem to be able to entertain everybody but their husband.有些女人似乎能够使任何人愉快,自己的丈夫除外。
Man can survive only when he has the substance; man can live only when he has ideal.人有了物质才能生存,有了理想才能生活。
Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.任何形式的瘾都是不好的,无论上瘾的是酒精、吗啡还是唯心主义。
psychologist — a man who, when a beautiful girl walks into room, watches other men's reactions 心理学家——当一个漂亮女孩走进房间时,那个观察其他人反应的人。
cocaine — God's way of saying you're making too much money 可卡因——上帝的一种说法,意思是“你赚的钱太多了”。
Eternity is a negative idea clothed with a positive name.永恒是一个冠以肯定名称的否定概念。
Suspicion is the poison of friendship.怀疑是毒害友谊的毒药。
When your soul experiences thirst, it needs water to quench it, no matter the water is poisonous or not.心灵感到干渴时需要水来止渴,无论这水是否有毒。
What's your poison? 想喝点什么酒?
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as you please.首先要掌握事实,然后你可以随意歪曲它们。
The only tolerance in the world, the only tolerance that earns the name, is that toward intolerance.世间唯一的宽容,唯一名副其实的宽容,是对不宽容的宽容。
tolerance — ①the ability to love people when they don't deserve it ②the positive and cordial effort to understand another's beliefs, practices, and habits without sharing or accepting them ③another name of indifference 宽容——①爱那些不值得爱的人的本领 ②积极、真诚地理解别人的信仰、行为和习惯,虽然并不同意或接受它们 ③冷漠的另一个名称。
The first symptom of true love in a man is timidity, in a girl it is boldness.真正的爱情的首要征候,在男子是胆怯,在女子是大胆。
I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.我独居乡间,注意到平静生活的单调是如何地激发着创造力。
Some actors think they are elevating the stage when they're merely depressing the audience.当一些演员不过是在败坏观众情绪的时候,他们还以为自己在提高着戏剧艺术。
Heaven is above all yet: there sits a judge that no king can corrupt.苍天高于所有的人:那里坐着一位法官,任何国王都无法贿赂。
A democracy in which everybody had an equal responsibility in everything would be oppressive for the conscientious and licentious for the rest.所有的人对所有的事都负有同等义务的民主,对勤恳负责的人是重负,对其余的人是放纵。
responsibility — the price every man must pay for freedom 责任——每个人都必须为自由而付出的代价。
Property has its duties as well as its rights.财产既有权力也有义务。
Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs.懊悔是老年人的天性。
The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.耳朵往往偷懒,渴望熟悉的东西,为意料之外的事情而震惊;眼睛则偏于急躁,渴望新奇的东西,由于重复而生厌。
Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make latitudes and longitudes.没有什么比得上有朋在远方更使地球显得如此巨大,他们构成了纬度和经度。
An epigram is a half-truth so stated as to irritate the person who believes the other half.警句是一半的真理,只讲一半以便激怒相信另一半的人。
All life is essentially the contributions that come form compromise.整个人生基本上是妥协的结果。
compromise — ①the art of dividing a cake so that everybody believes he or she got the biggest piece ②simply changing the question to fit the answer ③the most honest way to dissatisfy both parties 折中——①将一个蛋糕分开,让每个人都相信自己分得的一块最大的艺术 ②简单地改变一下问题,使之适合于答案 ③使双方都不满意的最可靠办法。
He knew the precise psychological moment when to say nothing.他知道那个心理上的精确瞬间,那时什么都不该说。
Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right? 你有没有过这种感觉,即我们举行选举的唯一理由就是弄清民意测验是否准确?
In marriage, a man becomes slack and selfish, and undergoes a fatty degeneration of his moral being.婚后男人变得懒散自私,经历着道德生命的脂肪变性。
Everybody who plays an instrument, even a little, understands music in a difficult way from somebody who has never felt the thrill of making music himself? 每个演奏乐器的人,哪怕只会一点点,理解音乐的方式都与从未感受过自己奏出音乐的激动的人不同。
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.时间是了不起的教师,但不幸的是,它杀死所有的学生。
Fortunately psychoanalysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflict. Life still remains a very effective therapist.幸运的是,心理分析并非消除内心冲突的唯一方法,生活依然是十分有效的治疗专家。
Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself.不要向不如你幸运的人讲述你的幸福。
If you are too fortunate, you will not know yourself. If you are too unfortunate, nobody will know you.若过于幸运,就不会认识自己;若过于不幸,就没人会认识你。
The computer is not intelligent at all, but very stupid indeed, and that, in fact, is one of its great values — its blind stupidity.计算机一点都不聪明,反而实在非常愚蠢,实际上,这才是它的非凡价值之一——它的盲目的愚蠢。
Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure.言论自由只有在政府认为自己安全时才能存在。
He that publishes a book runs a very great hazard, since nothing can be more impossible than to compose one that may secure the approbation of every reader.出版一本书的人冒着极大的危险,因为创作一部可能受到所有读者欢迎的作品是最不可能的事。
That government is not best which best secures more life and property — there is a more valuable thing — manhood.最完善地保护更多的生命财产的政治不是最好的政治——还有更重要的东西——人的地位。
What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character? 除了事件的规定,人物还是什么?除了人物的说明,事件还是什么?
We do not content ourselves with the life we have in ourselves and in our own being; we desire to live an imaginary life in the mind of others, and for this purpose we endeavour to shine.我们不满足于为我们自身、为自己的存在而拥有的人生,我们想过一种存在于别人心目中的虚构的生活,为了这个目的而极力出人头地
Babies do not want to hear about babies, they like to be told of giants and castles, and that which can stretch and stimulate their little minds.幼童不愿听关于幼童的故事,他们喜欢给他们讲巨人和城堡,那可以扩张和刺激他们小小的心灵。
My slogan is "Four hours for work, four hours for study, eight hours for sleep, and eight hours for play."我的口号是“四小时工作,四小时学习,八小时睡眠,八小时游戏”。
Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.官僚政治是一种由侏儒操纵的庞大机构。
bureaucracy — ①a continuing congregation of people who must act more or less as one ②the only form of human organization that can manage to pass a hot potato through a small crack ③the art of making the possible impossible 官僚主义——①一群人不断聚集在一起,因为他们多少必须像一个人那样行事 ②唯一一种能够通过小裂缝传递土豆的人类组织形式 ③变可能为不可能的艺术。
We drink one another's healthes and spoil our own.我们为彼此的健康干杯而损害自身的健康。When you "spoil" a child you are practically saying, "I know you aren't capable of being civilized and considerate and contributing and I won't expect it of you."“宠”孩子的时候,你实际上是在说:“我知道要你有教养、为人着想和奉献都是做不到的,我也不指望你做到。”
taxpayer — someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take a civil service examination 纳税人——为联邦政府工作,却不必参加文职雇员考试的人。
Every scene, even the commonest, is wonderful, if only one can detach oneself, casting off all memory of use and custom and beholding it as if for the first times.生活中的每个情景,甚至最普通的一幕,都是奇妙的——只要一个人能够离开自我,抛弃对习惯的全部记忆,就像第一次一样观察。
dividends — hush money to shareholders 股息——给股东的封口钱。
Nothing in the world renders a man indispensable save love.世上唯有爱能够使一个人变得不可缺少。
The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth.我们向别人提供的服务实在是为自己在这个世界上的住所付出的租金。
Freedom is a way of life which requires authority, discipline, and government of its own kind.自由是一种生活方式,它需要权威、纪律,以及具有自由本身性质的统治。
discipline — ①remembering what you want ②the bridge between goals and accomplishment ③the refining fire by which talent becomes ability 磨练——①记住你需要什么 ②目标与成就之间的桥梁 ③使天赋变成能力的冶炼炉火。
Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.永远不要在谈判时忘记惧怕,而要永远不惧怕谈判。
Gestures are a nonverbal means of expression.打手势是一种非言语的表达方式。
incentive — the possibility of getting more money than you can earn 奖励——得到比你挣的钱更多的可能性。
fundamentalist — anyone who takes the Word of God too seriously 原教旨主义者——任何对上帝的话太认真的人。
motivation — the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it 动机——使人们因为自己想做而做你想让他们做的事情的能力。
To eat is human, to digest, divine.能吃的是人,能消化的是神。
I don't know him, but I know of him.我不认识他,但听说过他。
Men always want to be a women's first love; women have a more subtle instinct; what they like is to be a man's last romance.男人总想成为女人的第一个恋人,女人则具有更微妙的本能,她希望成为男人追求的最后一个对象。
Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity.每个人的行动都不仅处于外部的推动,也同样依据内在的需要。
Victory is not the end but a phase to the end. It is no more than the removal of obstacles.胜利不是目的而是达到目的的一个阶段。它不过是对障碍的消除。
obstacles — things a person sees when they take their mind off their goal 障碍——当一个人的大脑脱离自己的目标时所看到的东西。
Curiosity is a scholar's virtue.好奇心是学者的美德。curiosity — ①the key to creativity ②a willing, a proud, an eager confession of ignorance ③the first step to betrayal 好奇心——①打开创造力的钥匙 ②心甘情愿地、自豪地、急切地承认自己的无知 ③背叛的第一步。
It would facilitate matters if you were more co-operative.如果你再合作一点的话,事情就变得更容易了。
It is not helps, but obstacles, not facilities, but difficulties, that make men.成就人的不是帮助而是障碍,不是便利而是困难。
I am not in the least disturbed when people regard my legs intently. I know they are doing so in pursuance of their inherent artistic instinct.当人们目不转睛地盯着我的双腿时,我丝毫不觉得不安。我明白他们这样做是出于天生的艺术直觉。
The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.一种正确说法的对立物是一种错误的说法。一种深刻的真理的对立物则很可能是另一种深刻的真理。
Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? Is it because we are not the person concerned? 为什么我们在有人出生时高兴,在有人入葬时悲伤?是否由于自己不是当事者?
Literature happens to be the only occupation in which wages are not given in proportion to the goodness of the work done.文学碰巧是唯一的这么一种职业,其报酬与所做工作的优异不成比例。
Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.劳动高于资本,理应得到多得多的报酬。
A child that lives with sharing learns to be considerate.同意分享的孩子知道为人着想。
Be sure not to tell a first falsehood, and you needn't fear being detected in any subsequent ones.千万别说第一个谎话,这样就不用害怕在随后的谎话中被人发现。
It is not the strength but the duration of great sentiment that makes great men.造就伟人的不是力量,而是伟大情操的持久。
Most contemporary books give the impression of having been manufactured in a day, out of books read the day before.大部分当代书籍给人的印象,是花一天工夫用前一天读过的书加工而成的。
I don't go along with all this talk of a generation gap. We're all contemporaries. There's only a difference in memories, that's all.我对代沟这种说法完全不能苟同。我们都是同时代的人,只是记忆有所不同,仅此而已。
Any man over thiry identifies his youth with the worst fault he thinks he is capable of.任何过了三十岁的人都把自己的青年时代视为自认所能犯下的最大错误。
The discovery and use of knowledge has always been relevant to a humane future.对于一个人道的未来,知识的发现与运用一直是关系重大的。
Next to love, sympathy is the divinest passion of the human heart.同情心是人类心中仅次于爱的最神圣的情感。
Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success.人人都能同情朋友的痛苦,然而共享朋友的成功需要非常优良的品性。
To be sympathetic without discrimination is so very debilitating.有同情心而无识别力是多么虚弱。
The more alternative, the more difficult the choice.可选择的东西越多,就越难选择。
Love's alternate joy and woe.爱情就是交替的欢乐与痛苦。
The danger doesn't lie in the hypothetical disasters of revolution, but in conventions impeding progress.危险不在于革命的臆测的灾难,而在于阻碍进步的成规。
Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.烈性药物对于重病是非常适宜的。
People don't resent having nothing nearly as much as too little.人们所不满的往往是太少,而不是没有。
There is a black sheep in every flock.害群之马;败家子。
As sheer casual reading-matter, I still find the English dictionary the most interesting books in our language.作为纯粹随意浏览的读物,我还是觉得英语词典是以我们的语言写成的最有趣的书。
Lord, deliver me from myself.主啊,解放不能自拔的我吧。
The day of the printed word is far from ended. Swift as is the delivery of the radio bulletin, graphic as is television's eyewitness picture, the task of adding meaning and clarity remains urgent.印刷文字的时代远未结束。尽管广播新闻传递迅速,电视现场画面生动,补充事件含义进而澄清事实的任务仍旧是迫切的。
The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new.作家最吸引人的两种力量,是使新鲜的事物变得熟悉,和使熟悉的事物变得新鲜。familiarity — the opiate of the imagination 熟悉——想象力的麻醉剂。
We exaggerate misfortune and happiness alike. We are never either so wretched or so happy as we say we are.不幸和幸福被我们同样夸大了。我们从不像我们所说的那么痛苦,也从不那么快乐。
exaggeration — a truth that has lost its temper 夸张——发脾气的真理。
To have become a deeper man is the privilege of those who have suffered.变得更加深谋远虑是受过磨难的人的特权。
The most effective water power in the world — women's tears.世界上最有效的水力——女人的眼泪。
effective communication — 20 per cent what you know and 80 per cent how you feel about what you know 有效的交际——20%你所了解的东西加80%你对所了解的东西的感受。
What a heavy burden is a name that has become famous.广为人知的名字是多么沉重的负担啊。
Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way.外交就是以最优雅的方式办最nasty的事,说最nasty的话。
compulsion — a highbrow term for a temptation we're not trying too hard to resist 强制——对人们并不想坚持拒绝的诱惑的一种高雅说法。
Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.强制的身体锻炼不会损害身体,但被迫学习的知识占据不了头脑。
In most communities it is illegal to cry "fire" in a crowded assembly.在大多数社会中,在拥挤的集会上喊“着火啦”是违法的。
It's all right to have a train of thoughts, if you have a terminal.想法成串并没关系,只要有个止点。
A day is a miniature of eternity.一天是永恒的缩影。
Time and again I have emerged from a course of reading in philosophy with the conviction that the authors were really avoiding specific problems by converting them into tenuous sophistries that have very little real meaning.我一再退出对哲学的钻研,深信作者们确实是在以将具体问题换成几乎没有实际意义的贫乏诡辩来躲避它们。
Without criticism and reliable and intelligent reporting, the government can not govern.没有批评和可靠而明智的新闻报道,政府无法统治。
Of all artificial relations formed between mankind, the most capricious and variable is that of author and reader.在人与人之间形成的所有人为关系中,最变化无常的是作者与读者的关系。artificial intelligence — the art of making computers that behave like the ones in movies 人工智能——制造电脑的艺术,使它们的行为像电影里的人一样。
The perception of beauty is a moral test.对美的理解是道德的检验。
I never blame failures — there are too many complicated situations in life, but I am absolutely merciless toward lack of effort.我从不责备失败——生活中复杂的情况实在太多,但对于不努力,我绝不宽恕。
A creative artist works on his next composition because he is not satisfied with his previous one.有创造性的艺术家致力于自己的下一个作品,因为他不满意前一个。
Plagiarists are always suspicious of being stolen from.剽窃者总是疑心文字被人盗用。
There are no new truths, but only truths that have not been recognised by those who have perceived them without noticing.没有什么新的真理,只有人们不经意地感觉到但没有认识到的真理。
People decline invitations when they are "indisposed" physically, and I wish they would do likewise when they fell indisposed emotionally.人们在身体“不适”时谢绝邀请,我希望他们在觉得情绪上不适时也能同样做。
We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.我们由仅余两人时的局促不安察觉爱情于何时发生,何时减退。
More powerful creation may scare many people away, but more intrepid people will be captivated by it.更加强有力的作品可能吓退许多人,但比较勇敢的人们会被它吸引住。
Inflation: When nobody has enough money because everybody has too much.通货膨胀:由于人人钱太多而谁的钱都不够的时候。
Love is the flame of life, without it, everything in life becomes gloomy.爱是生命的火焰,没有它,生命中的一切都变得暗淡无光。
A society that gives to one class all the opportunities for leisure, and to another all the burdens of work, dooms both classes to spiritual sterility.一个将闲暇的全部机会都给予一个阶级,而将劳作的全部重负都给予另一个阶级的社会,注定了两个阶级都处于精神贫瘠。
The best of men cannot suspend their fate.最好的人也无法推迟死亡。
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.逃避责任很容易,但逃避责任的后果我们却无法逃避。
With books, as with companions, it is of more consequence to know which to avoid, than which to choose.读书如交友,懂得避开哪些比懂得选择哪些更重要。
A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.不具备某种变革手段的国家也不具备保存自己的手段。
Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.引人注目地挥霍贵重财物是有闲绅士取得名声的手段。
We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.我们没有权利享用幸福而不创造幸福,正像没有权力享用财富而不创造财富一样。
Well, one can always consult a man and ask him: "Would you like your head cut off tomorrow?" and after he has said: "I would rather not", cut it off. Consultation is a vagues and elastic term.是的,什么时候都可以跟一个人商量,问他:“你愿意明天被砍头吗?”接着,在他说了“我不愿意”之后,砍掉他的脑袋。磋商是个含糊的带弹性的词。←这是英国老流氓丘吉尔说的,意思是:既然不愿意明天砍头,那么就在今天砍吧。
Gross Domestic Product,即GDP(国民生产总值)。
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,即OECD(经济合作与发展组织)。
True modesty does not consist in an ignorance of our merits, but in a due estimate of it.真正的谦虚不在于对自己的长处一无所知,而在于对它们的恰当评价。
The best things carried to excess are wrong.最好的东西超过限度也会变坏。
He is poor whose expenses exceed his income.开支超过收入的人就是穷人。
You can tell the size of a man by the size of the things that make him mad.根据使一个人发怒的事情的大小,可以判断这个人的气量。
An art is only great and significant if it is one that all may enjoy.艺术作品只有在所有人都可以欣赏时才是伟大的、重要的。
Love has various lodgings; the same word does not always signify the same thing.爱拥有形形色色的住所,同一个词不总是意味着同样的东西。
Every suicide is a solution to a problem.每件自杀都是对一个问题的解决。
suicide — the only perfect crime that remains unpunished 自杀——唯一不受惩罚的完美罪行。
Why is woman persistently regarded as a mystery? It is not that she has labored to conceal the organic and psychological facts of her constitution, but that men have showed no interest in exploring them.为什么女人总是被视为神秘的事物?原因并不是她极力隐瞒了关于自身生理与心理的事实,而是男人从来就没有对探索这些事实表现过兴趣。
The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.在我看来,造就智者的两种力量是忍受和克制。
When a fellow says, "It isn't the money but the principle of the thing," it's the money.当一个人说“这不是钱的问题而是原则问题”时,那就是钱的问题。
He who foresees calamities suffers them twice over.预见灾难的人承受了它们两次。
Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.生活是从不足的前提得出足够的结论的艺术。
He who tells a lie is not sensible how great a task he undertakes; for he must invent twenty more to maintain that one.说谎者没有意识到自己要承担多么艰巨的任务,因为他必须再说二十个谎言来维持这个谎言。
If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considered his work important.我如果是医生,就会开处方给所有认为自己的工作非同小可的病人放一天假。
Debate is the best catalyst of thought.争论是思想最好的催化剂。
Man is made in such a way that he continually has to define himself and continually escape his own definitions.人注定要不断地给自己下定义,又不断地逃避他自己的定义。
If the failures of this world could realize how desperate half the present-day geniuses once felt, they would take heart and try again.世上的失败者若能了解到当今的天才有半数一度感到过多么绝望,他们就会振作精神再次努力。
It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.不做孤注一掷之事是智者的特征。
Love is a special affection for a man or a woman, which is stronger than that for any other person.爱情是对一个男人或女人的特殊的好感,它比对其他任何人的好感都强烈。
specialist — a doctor whose patients can be ill only during office hours 专科医生——一位医生:他的病人只有在上班时间才能生病。
specialist — one who knows more and more about less and less 专家——对越来越少的东西懂得越来越多的人。
The sartorial artist no less than the sculptor, the painter and the musician dreams of creations that will awaken a response in the soul of the world.好裁缝跟雕塑家、画家和音乐家一样,梦想着能在世人灵魂中引起反响的作品。
University are full of knowledge; the freshmen bring a little in and the seniors take none away, and knowledge accumulates.大学里充满了知识,新生带进来一些,高年级学生则一点也不带走,于是知识就积累了下来。
In love woman are professionals, men are amateurs.在恋爱中女子是专业者,男子是业余者。
Every artist was once an amateur.所有的艺术家都曾经是业余爱好者。
Success seems to be that which forms the distinction between confidence and conceit.成功似乎是形成自信与自负区别的东西。
We participate in a tragedy; at a comedy we only look.悲剧我们参加,喜剧我们仅仅观看。
A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.没有什么比一个人所反感的笑话更能显露他的为人。
If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.你如果把秘密泄露给风,就不应责怪风把秘密泄露给树。
I sometime wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement.有时候我但愿人们多把重点放在遵守法律上,而非强调其实施。
It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain.说一个人从不给人造成痛苦,这几乎是下了一个关于君子的定义。
Books only partially represent their authors.图书只是部分地体现了作者。
There are two ways of spreading light: To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.散布光的方法有两种:当蜡烛或者当反射烛光的镜子。
Who reflects too much will accomplish little.思虑过多者一事难成。
We sleep in separate rooms, we have dinner apart, we take separate vacations — we're doing everything we can to keep our marriage together.我们在分开的房间睡觉,我们分开吃饭,我们分开度假——我们做着能做的一切以维持婚姻。
You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.你无法将安宁与自由分开,因为得不到自由谁都不会安宁。
Never delay that should be done today until tomorrow.不要把今天应做的事推迟到明天。
I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.我把生病当作人生一大乐趣,只要病得不太严重,并且在好转之前不被要求工作。
The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best.心理学的用途是告诉我们对最熟悉事物的完全不同的观念。
psychology — ①the science that tells you what you already know, in words you can't understand ②the theology of the twentieth century 心理学——①一门科学:它用你听不明白的语言告诉你已经知道的事 ②20世纪的神学。
The only way on earth to multiply happiness is to divide it.世上唯一能使幸福成倍增加的方法是将其分作几份。
Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.悲伤只需其自身就足够了,然而要获取一件乐事的充分价值,你就必须找人分享。
Instead of this absurd division into sexes they ought to class people as static and dynamic.为取代性别这种荒唐的区别,他们应该把人分成静态与动态两种。
Good manners are the settled medium of social, as specie is of commercial life.礼貌是社会生活固定的中介,就像硬币之于商业生活。
commercialism — doing well that which should not be done at all 商业主义——把根本不该做的事做得很好。
Envy is the most universal passion.忌妒是最普遍的情感。
universe — merely a fleeting idea in God's mind — a pretty uncomfortable thought, particularly if you're just made a down payment on a house 宇宙——不过是上帝头脑里一个稍纵即逝的想法——一种让人很不舒服的想法,特别是在你刚预付过房子的定金之后。
Prejudice is the child of ignorance.偏见是无知的产物。
prejudice — a device enabling you to form opinions without getting the facts 偏见——使你能在不了解事实的情况下形成观点的一种装置。
All the great religions are fundamentally equal. We must have innate respect for other religions as we have for our own.一切伟大的宗教在根本上都是等同的。我们对于其它宗教,必须像对自己的宗教一样怀着天然的敬意。
respect — to admire from a distance 尊敬——从远处赞赏。
Men in great places are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state; servants of fame; and servants of business.身居高位者是三重仆人:统治者或国家的仆人,名声的仆人,以及事务的仆人。
An idea isn't responsible for the people who believe in it.一种思想对信仰它的人并不负有责任。To be a man is, precisely, to be responsible.确切地说,做男人就是负责任。
credibility gap — what happens to the same news between the morning telecast and the evening paper 信用差距——早间电视新闻与晚报之间同一条新闻发生的情况。
An informal survey shows that what most people wanted for Christmas was two more weeks to prepare for it.一项非正式调查显示,大多数人圣诞节想要的东西是再给两个星期准备过节。
Maintain outside interests — volunteer in not-for-profits and stay physically fit.保持业余爱好——自愿做无利可图的事情而保持身体健康。
The longest word in the English language is the one following the phrase: "And now a word from our sponsor."英语中最长的单词是由此引发的:“现在请赞助者×××。”
Assertion is not argument, to contradict the statement of an opponent is not proof that you are correct.坚定的看法不是论据,反驳对手的说法不能证明你是正确的。
The man of science, like the artist, may easily have more facts than he can use. Both seek the one fact out of a million that will illuminate their idea. Both find that it is rarely to be had without research.与艺术家一样,科学家可以轻易得到用不尽的事实。他们都在上百万的事实中寻求能说明自己想法的那一个,都发现未经调查研究而得到它几乎是不可能的。
To know things well, we must know them in detail; but as that is almost endless, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.为了充分认识事物,我们必须详细了解它们,然而那几乎是没有穷尽的,所以我们的知识总是肤浅和不完善的。
If a pupil looks up at the teacher as a model, but not as a rival, he can never surpass the teacher.弟子如果视老师为榜样而非对手,他就永远超不过老师。
No fine work can be done without concentration and self-sacrifice and toil and doubt.没有全神贯注、自我牺牲、辛劳和怀疑,就做不出优秀的工作。 |