1. Most of it doesn’t matter.

拥有一颗平常心。

So much of what I got excited about, anxious about, or wasted my time and energy on, turned out not to matter. There are only a few things that truly count for a happy life. I wish I had known to concentrate on those and ignore the rest。

我曾经为其兴奋，为其焦虑，亦或是浪费了我时间以及精力的事情到最后却被证明是无关紧要的。它们只是幸福生活里极其微小的一部分。我多么希望早点知道这些，以便能把精力都投入到这些关乎幸福的事，而不是其他。

2. The greatest source of misery¹ and hatred² in this world is clinging to past hurts.

这个世界上痛苦与仇恨最大源泉是对过去的执迷。

Look at all the terrorists and militant³ groups that hark back to some event long gone, or base their justification⁴ for killing⁵ on claims of some supposed historical right to a bit of land, or redress⁶ for a wrong done hundreds of years ago.

看看那些恐怖组织和激进分子，他们总是抓住过去的一些事情不放，或把一小片土地的历史归属问题作为他们进行杀戮的理由，更或是为了修正几百年前的所谓的历史错误。

3. Waiting to do something until you can be sure of doing it exactly right means waiting for ever.

等待有把握时再去做一件事，往往意味着永远的等待。

One of the greatest advantages anyone can have is the willingness to make a fool of themselves publicly and often. There’s no better way to learn and develop. Heck, it’s fun too.

一个人能做的最大的冒险事情，就是乐意在公共场合经常暴露自己的愚昧。没有什么能比这样学得更快。“哎呀”，也是一种乐趣。

4.Following the latest fashion, in work or in life, is spiritual and intellectual suicide.

盲目追赶潮流是对精神和智力的扼杀。

You can be a cheap imitation of the ideal of the moment; or you can be a unique individual. The choice is yours. Religion isn’t the opiate of the masses, fashion is.

你可以成为一个廉价的时尚木偶，也可以成为独一无二的你，这些都在于自己的选择。信仰不是群众的鸦片，流行才是。

5. If people complain that you’re too fond of going your own way and aren’t fitting in, you must be on the right track.

如果有人抱怨你太特立独行，恭喜你，你正走在正确的路上。

Who wants to live life as a herd⁷ animal? The guys in power don’t want you to fit in for your own sake; they want you to stop causing them problems and follow their orders. You can’t have the freedom to be yourself and meekly⁸ fit in at the same time。

谁愿意像动物一样活着？那些强有力的家伙们不希望你按照自己的意愿去做，他们希望你停止给他们制造麻烦并听从他们的命令。但你得知道，你无法做到在卑躬屈膝的同时又能活出自我。

6. If you make your work your life, you’re making your life into hard work.

如果你将工作等同于生活，那么你将为工作而生活。

Like most people,I confused myself by looking at people like artists and musicians whose life’s “work” fills their time. That isn’t work. It’s who they are. Unless you have some overwhelming passion that also happens to allow you to earn a living doing it, always remember that work should be a means to an end: living an enjoyable life. Spend as little time on the means as possible consistent with achieving the end. Only idiots live to work。

和很多人一样，当看到那些艺术家和音乐家的工作几乎是全部的生活，我感到很困惑。其实那不是工作，那是他们的自我。除非你有无法抵挡的激情，恰巧也能让你从中得以谋生，否则请永远记住，工作只是一种手段，而不是目的，我们的最终目的是享受生活。在实现目的的同时，尽可能地少花时间在手段上。只有傻瓜才是为工作而生活。

7. The quickest and simplest way to wreck⁹ any relationship is to listen to gossip.The worst way to spend your time is spreading more.

破坏关系的最快最简单的方法就是听信谣言。

People who spread gossip are the plague-carriers of our day. Cockroaches¹⁰ are clean, kindly¹¹ creatures in comparison。

浪费你时间的最糟糕方式是传播这些谣言。传播流言蜚语的人好比瘟疫的携带者，相比之下，蟑螂都比他们干净、善良。

8. Trying to please other people is largely a futile¹² activity.

试图取悦别人是徒劳无益的做法。

Everyone will be mad at you sometime.Most of the people you deal with will dislike, disparage¹³, belittle¹⁴, or ignore what you say or do most of the time. Besides, you can never really know what others do want, so a good deal of whatever you do in that regard will go to waste. Be comforted. Those who love you will probably love you regardless, and they are the ones whose opinions are worth caring about. The rest aren’t worth five minutes of thought between them.

总有些人会对你发飙。很多你接触的人，在很多时候也会不喜欢、贬低、轻视或忽略你。另外，你永远也不知道别人真正的需要，因此你为此所做的所有努力都会付诸东流。放松些吧，爱你的人终究会包容你的过失，他们才是值得我们在乎的人。其他那些人，他们甚至都不值得花5分钟去考虑。