书城外语当英语也成为时尚——生活全由你创造
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第42章 The Value of Time

Anonymous

时间的价值

心灵寄语

我们若要生活,就该为自己建造一种充满感受、思索和行动的时钟,用它来代替这个枯燥、单调、以愁闷来扼杀心灵,带有责备意味和冷冷地滴答着的时间。——高尔基

“Time”,says the proverb,“is money”。This means that every moment well-spent may put some money into our pockets。If our time is usefully employed,it will either turn out some

useful and important piece of work which will fetch its price in the market,or it will add to our experience and increase our capacities so as to enable us to earn money when the proper opportunity comes。Let those,who think nothing of wasting time,remember this。

Our life is nothing more than our time。To kill time is therefore a form of suicide1.We are shocked when we think of death,and we spare no pains,no trouble,and no expense to preserve life。But we are too often indifferent to the loss of an hour or of a day,forgetting that our life is the sum total of the days and of the hours we live。A day or an hour wasted is therefore so much life forfeited2.Our life is a brief span measuring some seventy or eighty years in all。But nearly one third of this has to be spent in sleep;some years have to be spent over our meals;some in making journeys on land and voyages by sea;some in merry-making;some in watching over the sick-beds of our nearest and dearest relatives。Now if all these years were to be deducted from the term over which our life extends,we shall find about twenty or thirty years at our disposal for active work。Whoever remembers this can never willingly waste a single moment of his life。

All time is precious;but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion3of our existence。For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our capacities。If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away,we shall never be able to recoup4the loss。Just as money laid out at interest doubles and trebles itself in time,so the precious hours of childhood and youth,if properly used,will yield us incalculable5advantages。

佚名

有句谚语说:“时间就是金钱。”这句话告诉我们,只要珍惜时间,好好地把握住每分每秒,就会增加我们的财富。如果我们好好地利用时间,要么能生产出有用的、重要的产品,在市场交易中赢得一定的利润;要么能充实我们的经验,增长我们的才干,待到适当时机,我们就能获取财富。让那些肆意挥霍时间的人牢记这一点!

我们的生命无非就是由时间组成的。浪费时间是另一种形式的自杀。一想到死亡,我们就紧张万分,因而不遗余力、不厌其烦、不惜代价地要保护自己的生命。但是,我们往往对于一个小时或是一天的损失毫不在意,忘记了生命原本就是由我们生活的每一天、每一小时组成的。因此,一天或一个小时的浪费就等同于放弃那么长时间的生命。人生如白驹过隙,总共不过七八十年。但是,几乎三分之一的时间不得不用于睡眠;吃饭的时间加起来也有好几年;在陆路上的旅行和海上的航行又是几年;寻欢作乐又是几年;在病榻边照料我们的至亲至爱又花费了好几年时间。现在,如果把这些岁月从寿命中去除,我们会发现,我们可以好好利用的时间只不过二三十年。明白这个道理的人,想必决不愿多浪费一秒钟的时间。

一切的时间都是珍贵的,而我们的童年和青年时期的时间比一生中其他任何时期都更为珍贵。因为,在这两个时期,我们可以无忧无虑地获取知识,增长才干。倘若我们任凭这些生命的最佳时期悄悄流逝,我们将永远无法弥补这些损失。正如理财的道理,我们储蓄金钱,到时候它的利息会带来两三倍的价值,如果我们好好利用童年和青年时期的珍贵时光,必将带给我们不可估量的价值。

V

词汇空间

ocabulary

1.suicide n。 自杀

2.forfeited adj。 放弃的

3.portion n。 一部分

4.recoup v。 重获,补偿

5.incalculable adj。 不可估量的,数不清的

文化链接

Culture Background

关于时间的名言警句

完成工作的方法是爱惜每一分钟。(达尔文)

合理安排时间,就等于节约时间。(培根)

应当仔细地观察,为的是理解;应当努力地理解,为的是行动。(罗曼 罗兰)

放弃时间的人,时间也放弃他。(莎士比亚)

人的全部本领无非是耐心和时间的混合物。(巴尔扎克)

任何节约归根到底是时间的节约。(马克思)

时间最不偏私,给任何人都是二十四小时;时间也是偏私,给任何人都不是二十四小时。(赫胥黎)

妙语拾珠

1.“Time”,says the proverb,“is money”。This means that every moment well-spent may put some money into our pockets。

有句谚语说:“时间就是金钱。”这句话告诉我们,只要珍惜时间,好好地把握住每分每秒,就会增加我们的财富。

2.All time is precious;but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence。For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our capacities。

一切的时间都是珍贵的,而我们的童年和青年时期的时间比一生中其他任何时期都更为珍贵。因为,在这两个时期,我们可以无忧无虑地获取知识,增长才干。