To be or not to be
Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: I think, therefore am.
But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: To be is to be in relations. If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.
Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a new accomplishment--you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy; the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China~ if youre interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.
To be or not to be--to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!
英语四级快速阅读绝技:5个单词得高分
英语四级考试阅读主旨题解题技巧(15)
大学英语四级考试阅读15选10词汇结构题攻略
备考:6月英语四级考试阅读理解
英语四级阅读理解模拟题及解析(15)
大学英语四级考试基础阅读综合辅导
四级阅读:日本核幅射或蔓延
英语四级考试阅读理解必会方法
12月英语四级考试快速阅读命题剖析与预测
大学英语四级短期阅读全攻略(下)
英语四级考试阅读主旨题解题技巧(19)
四级阅读资料:奥巴马称利比亚行动正在取得成功
四级阅读快速全面提高
大学英语四级阅读部分解题宝典
四级考试阅读理解辨析
大学英语四级短期阅读全攻略(上)
:大学英语四级基础阅读名师指导
大学英语四级阅读理解(A卷)答案
英语四级阅读理解模拟题及解析(7)
英语四级阅读备考:不可忽视的真题
用新概念破解英语四级阅读理解(一)
用新概念破解英语四级阅读理解(二)
英语四级考试仔细阅读练习(6)
英语四级阅读预测:日本人希望灾后重建带动经济发展
用新概念破解英语四级阅读理解(三)
6月英语四级阅读理解专项练习题(13)
英语四级阅读解题攻略:如何排除干扰选项
四级阅读:日民众担忧食品受辐射污染问题
英语四级语段题常考八种文章
四级阅读:苹果超谷歌 登顶最具价值品牌榜
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |