It is a mistake for anyone to think he has lived too long in his own unsatisfactory ways to make the great change. If you switch on the light in a dark room, it makes no difference how long it was dark because the light will still shine. Be teachable. That is the whole secret.

如果有人覺得，自己按照過往差強人意的習慣活得太久而不能做出任何重大的改變，那他就錯了。你打開黑暗房間裡的燈，無論之前暗了多久都沒有區別，燈依然會亮。能被教導，就是訣竅所在。

問：“假如有这么一间铁屋子，绝无窗户而且是万难破毁的。
里边有许多熟睡的人们，不久就要被闷死，然而从昏睡入死，他们全然不知就要死的悲哀。
现在你大嚷一声，惊醒这几个较为清醒的人，但是这不幸的少数者要去承受这无可挽救的临终的苦楚，你倒以为你对得起他们？”

答：“如果我嚷几声，能叫醒那几个人。你就绝不能说，他没有毁坏这铁屋的希望。”

It was a time when wise men
Were not silent, but stifled
By vast noise. They took refuge
In books that were not read.

Two counsellors had the ear
Of the public. One cried 'Buy'
Day and night, and the other,
More plausibly, 'Sell your repose.'

——R. S. Thomas｜Period



这样的时代：智者并不沉默，
只是被无尽的嘈杂声
窒息了。于是退避于
那些无人阅读的书。

两位策士的话
得到公众倾听。一位日夜不停地
喊：“买！”另一位更有见地，
他说：“卖，卖掉你们的宁静。”

—— [英国] R. S. 托马斯｜《时代》
翻译 / 王佐良
选自 / 《读书》 1988.10

Any mind that is capable of a real sorrow is capable of good.
真正悲伤过的人都是心存善念的。

如果有一天，
你不再寻找爱情，只是去爱。
你不再渴望成功，只是去做。
你不再追求空泛的成长，
只是开始修养自己的性情。
你的人生一切，才真正开始。
———纪伯伦

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying," I will try again tomorrow."

勇氣並不總是大声咆哮, 有時它只是一天結束後一個輕柔的聲音，說“明天我再試一次。”

Trying to "fix" the people in your life that cause you pain is like messaging your shoes because your feet ache.

試圖“修理”在生活中帶給你痛苦的人, 就如同因為腳疼而給鞋子做按摩。