Bertrand Russell
心灵寄语
罗素博学多艺，一生的杰出贡献涉及众多领域，并于1950年获得了诺贝尔文学奖。本文是他为自传所写的一篇激情洋溢的文章。
Three passions， simple but overwhelmingly1 strong， have governed my life：the longing for love， the search for knowledge， and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions， like great winds， have blown me hither2 and thither3，in a wayward course， over a deep ocean of anguish， reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love， first， because it brings ecstasy4—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it， next， because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world， into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss5. I have sought it， finally， because in the union of love I have seen， in a mystic miniature， the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought， and though it might seem too good for human life， this is what—at last—I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux6. A little of this， but not much I have achieved.
Love and knowledge， so far as they were possible， led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine， victims tortured by oppressors， helpless old people a hated burden to their sons， and the whole world of loneliness， poverty， and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil， but I cannot， and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living， and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.
伯特兰·罗素
有三种简单而无比强烈的激情左右了我的一生：对爱的渴望，对知识的探索和对人类苦难的不可遏制的怜悯。这些激情如肆意的飓风般，越过痛苦至深的海洋，直抵绝望的边缘。
我义无反顾地追求爱情，因为它使人心醉神迷，这种陶醉是如此的美妙，使我甘愿舍弃余生换取片刻的欢娱；我孜孜不倦追求爱情，也因为它可以驱逐孤独，那种可以让颤抖的灵魂洞穿世界，触及生机尽灭、深不可测的冰冷深渊的蚀骨孤独；我不知倦怠地追求爱情，还因为在爱的交融中，神秘而又具体入微地，它让我看见圣贤和诗人们所想象出的天堂的前景。这正是我孜孜以求的最美丽激荡的人生，虽然看似过于美妙，但这也是我终于找到了的。
怀着同样的赤诚，我如饥似渴地追求真知。我渴望能够听得到人类的心声，渴望得知缘何繁星璀璨，我试图领悟毕达哥拉斯所景仰的数字的力量，它支配着此消彼长。然而只可窥视其万一，更多的却未可得见。
知识与爱情，指引着通往天堂的捷径。但是怜悯总能把我带回尘世。痛哭的声音回荡在心涧，饥荒中的饿得脸色紫青的孩子，饱经压迫者无情折磨的幸存者，被儿女们视作累赘负担的老人。满溢着孤独、贫穷、痛苦的这个世界冷酷地讥笑着芸芸众生的生活。我渴望消减所有的罪恶，但却无能为力，因为我亦深陷其中。
这就是我的一生。我自认为活得有价值，如果生命从头来过，我会毫不犹豫一如既往地生活。
词汇空间 ocabulary
1.overwhelmingly adv. 无法抵抗地
2.hither adv.〈古〉到此处；向此处
3.thither adv. 到那边，向那边
4.ecstasy n. 狂喜，陶醉
5.abyss n. 深渊，深不可测的事物
6.flux n. 不稳定的状态
文化链接 Culture Background
伯特兰·罗素简介
伯特兰·罗素（Bertrand Russell）是20世纪英国哲学家、数学家、逻辑学家、历史学家，无神论或者不可知论者，也是上世纪西方最著名、影响最大的学者和和平主义社会活动家之一，1950年诺贝尔文学奖得主。罗素也被认为是与弗雷格、维特根斯坦和怀特海一同创建了分析哲学。他与怀特海合著的《数学原理》对逻辑学、数学、集合论、语言学和分析哲学有着巨大影响。1950年，罗素获得诺贝尔文学奖，以表彰其“多样且重要的作品，持续不断的追求人道主义理想和思想自由”。
妙语拾珠
1.Three passions， simple but overwhelmingly strong， have governed my life：the longing for love， the search for knowledge， and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
有三种简单而无比强烈的激情左右了我的一生：对爱的渴望，对知识的探索和对人类苦难的不可遏制的怜悯。这些激情如肆意的飓风般，越过痛苦至深的海洋，直抵绝望的边缘。
2.I have sought love， first， because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy.
我义无反顾地追求爱情，因为它使人心醉神迷——这种陶醉是如此得美妙，使我甘愿舍弃余生换取片刻的欢娱。