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如何度过一天24小时(3)
添加时间:2024-06-18 17:06:34 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • III

    PRECAUTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING

    Now that I have succeeded (if succeeded I have) in persuading you to admit to yourself that you are constantly haunted by a suppressed dissatisfaction with your own arrangement of your daily life; and that the primal1 cause of that inconvenient2 dissatisfaction is the feeling that you are every day leaving undone3 something which you would like to do, and which, indeed, you are always hoping to do when you have "more time"; and now that I have drawn4 your attention to the glaring, dazzling truth that you never will have "more time," since you already have all the time there is—you expect me to let you into some wonderful secret by which you may at any rate approach the ideal of a perfect arrangement of the day, and by which, therefore, that haunting, unpleasant, daily disappointment of things left undone will be got rid of!

    I have found no such wonderful secret. Nor do I expect to find it, nor do I expect that anyone else will ever find it. It is undiscovered. When you first began to gather my drift, perhaps there was a resurrection of hope in your breast. Perhaps you said to yourself, "This man will show me an easy, unfatiguing way of doing what I have so long in vain wished to do." Alas, no! The fact is that there is no easy way, no royal road. The path to Mecca is extremely hard and stony5, and the worst of it is that you never quite get there after all.

    The most important preliminary to the task of arranging one's life so that one may live fully and comfortably within one's daily budget of twenty-four hours is the calm realisation of the extreme difficulty of the task, of the sacrifices and the endless effort which it demands. I cannot too strongly insist on this.

    If you imagine that you will be able to achieve your ideal by ingeniously planning out a time-table with a pen on a piece of paper, you had better give up hope at once. If you are not prepared for discouragements and disillusions6; if you will not be content with a small result for a big effort, then do not begin. Lie down again and resume the uneasy doze7 which you call your existence.

    It is very sad, is it not, very depressing and sombre? And yet I think it is rather fine, too, this necessity for the tense bracing8 of the will before anything worth doing can be done. I rather like it myself. I feel it to be the chief thing that differentiates9 me from the cat by the fire.

    "Well," you say, "assume that I am braced10 for the battle. Assume that I have carefully weighed and comprehended your ponderous11 remarks; how do I begin?" Dear sir, you simply begin. There is no magic method of beginning. If a man standing12 on the edge of a swimming-bath and wanting to jump into the cold water should ask you, "How do I begin to jump?" you would merely reply, "Just jump. Take hold of your nerves, and jump."

    As I have previously13 said, the chief beauty about the constant supply of time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoilt, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your career. Which fact is very gratifying and reassuring14. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose. Therefore no object is served in waiting till next week, or even until to-morrow. You may fancy that the water will be warmer next week. It won't. It will be colder.

    But before you begin, let me murmur15 a few words of warning in your private ear.

    Let me principally warn you against your own ardour. Ardour in well-doing is a misleading and a treacherous16 thing. It cries out loudly for employment; you can't satisfy it at first; it wants more and more; it is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers. It isn't content till it perspires17. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration18 on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, "I've had enough of this."

    Beware of undertaking19 too much at the start. Be content with quite a little. Allow for accidents. Allow for human nature, especially your own.

    A failure or so, in itself, would not matter, if it did not incur20 a loss of self-esteem and of self-confidence. But just as nothing succeeds like success, so nothing fails like failure. Most people who are ruined are ruined by attempting too much. Therefore, in setting out on the immense enterprise of living fully and comfortably within the narrow limits of twenty-four hours a day, let us avoid at any cost the risk of an early failure. I will not agree that, in this business at any rate, a glorious failure is better than a petty success. I am all for the petty success. A glorious failure leads to nothing; a petty success may lead to a success that is not petty.

    So let us begin to examine the budget of the day's time. You say your day is already full to overflowing21. How? You actually spend in earning your livelihood—how much? Seven hours, on the average? And in actual sleep, seven? I will add two hours, and be generous. And I will defy you to account to me on the spur of the moment for the other eight hours.



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    1 primal [ˈpraɪml] bB9yA   第11级
    adj.原始的;最重要的
    参考例句:
    • Jealousy is a primal emotion. 嫉妒是最原始的情感。
    • Money was a primal necessity to them. 对于他们,钱是主要的需要。
    2 inconvenient [ˌɪnkənˈvi:niənt] m4hy5   第8级
    adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的
    参考例句:
    • You have come at a very inconvenient time. 你来得最不适时。
    • Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting? 他参加那次会议会不方便吗?
    3 undone [ˌʌn'dʌn] JfJz6l   第7级
    a.未做完的,未完成的
    参考例句:
    • He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。
    4 drawn [drɔ:n] MuXzIi   第11级
    v.(draw的过去式)拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
    参考例句:
    • All the characters in the story are drawn from life. 故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
    • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside. 她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
    5 stony [ˈstəʊni] qu1wX   第8级
    adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的
    参考例句:
    • The ground is too dry and stony. 这块地太干,而且布满了石头。
    • He listened to her story with a stony expression. 他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。
    6 disillusions [ˌdisiˈlu:ʒənz] ab4ca8b69ba1d56d4bcfb3f976f18e40   第7级
    使不再抱幻想,使理想破灭( disillusion的第三人称单数 )
    参考例句:
    • My life is full of disillusions. 我生活中充满了破灭的梦想。
    7 doze [dəʊz] IsoxV   第8级
    vi. 打瞌睡;假寐 vt. 打瞌睡度过 n. 瞌睡
    参考例句:
    • He likes to have a doze after lunch. 他喜欢午饭后打个盹。
    • While the adults doze, the young play. 大人们在打瞌睡,而孩子们在玩耍。
    8 bracing ['breisiŋ] oxQzcw   第7级
    adj.令人振奋的
    参考例句:
    • The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
    • The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。
    9 differentiates [ˌdifəˈrenʃieits] e1a5ca2c9946ac040edc6427341f59db   第7级
    区分,区别,辨别( differentiate的第三人称单数 ); 区别对待; 表明…间的差别,构成…间差别的特征
    参考例句:
    • This genus of plants differentiates into many species. 这种植物可分为许多种类。
    • Our fax machine differentiates between an incoming fax signal and a voice call. 我们的传真机能区分接收传真信号和语音信号。
    10 braced [b'reɪst] 4e05e688cf12c64dbb7ab31b49f741c5   第7级
    adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来
    参考例句:
    • They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    11 ponderous [ˈpɒndərəs] pOCxR   第11级
    adj.沉重的,笨重的,(文章)冗长的
    参考例句:
    • His steps were heavy and ponderous. 他的步伐沉重缓慢。
    • It was easy to underestimate him because of his occasionally ponderous manner. 由于他偶尔现出的沉闷的姿态,很容易使人小看了他。
    12 standing [ˈstændɪŋ] 2hCzgo   第8级
    n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
    参考例句:
    • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing. 地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
    • They're standing out against any change in the law. 他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
    13 previously ['pri:vɪəslɪ] bkzzzC   第8级
    adv.以前,先前(地)
    参考例句:
    • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point. 自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
    • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously. 让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
    14 reassuring [ˌri:ə'ʃuəriŋ] vkbzHi   第7级
    a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的
    参考例句:
    • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
    • With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。
    15 murmur [ˈmɜ:mə(r)] EjtyD   第7级
    n.低语,低声的怨言;vi.低语,低声而言;vt.低声说
    参考例句:
    • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur. 他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
    • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall. 大厅里有窃窃私语声。
    16 treacherous [ˈtretʃərəs] eg7y5   第9级
    adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的
    参考例句:
    • The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers. 路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
    • The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on. 在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。
    17 perspires [pəˈspaɪəz] 323c7cf1970455339413636c1f4de885   第10级
    v.出汗,流汗( perspire的第三人称单数 )
    参考例句:
    • The latter has neither hens nor chicks, and only thinks of himself and perspires verdigris. 那风信公鸡既没有母鸡,也没有小鸡。他只想着自己,满身铜绿! 来自互联网
    • On an average day you take 15,000 steps and foot perspires 200 ml of sweat. 平均每一天你的脚要迈15,000步,同时分泌出200毫升的汗液。 来自互联网
    18 perspiration [ˌpɜ:spəˈreɪʃn] c3UzD   第9级
    n.汗水;出汗
    参考例句:
    • It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration. 天太热了,我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
    • The perspiration was running down my back. 汗从我背上淌下来。
    19 undertaking [ˌʌndəˈteɪkɪŋ] Mfkz7S   第9级
    n.保证,许诺,事业
    参考例句:
    • He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back within a year. 他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
    • He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking. 他太胆小,不敢从事任何事业。
    20 incur [ɪnˈkɜ:(r)] 5bgzy   第7级
    vt.招致,蒙受,遭遇
    参考例句:
    • Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full. 你的所有花费都将全额付还。
    • An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business. 一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。
    21 overflowing [əʊvə'fləʊɪŋ] df84dc195bce4a8f55eb873daf61b924   第7级
    n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的,充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式
    参考例句:
    • The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
    • The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

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