真正的高贵

In a calm sea every man is a pilot.

But all sunshine without shade, all pleasure without pain, is not life at all. Take the lot of the happiest - it is a tangled yarn.

Bereavements and blessings, one following another, make us sad and blessed by turns. Even death itself makes life more loving. Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life, under the shadows of sorrow and loss.

In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells so much as character, not brains so much as heart, not genius so much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated by judgment.

I have always believed that the man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without. In an age of extravagance and waste, I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are.

To regret one's errors to the point of not repeating them is true repentance. There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.

by Ernest Miller Hemingway

New Words and Expressions

It is a tangled yarn. 他们的命运是一团纠缠不清的纱线
bereavement n. 丧亲丧友之痛
sober adj. 清醒的
In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells so much as character, not brains so much as heart, not genius so much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated by judgment. 在生活中，性格比才智更能指导我们，心性比头脑更能引导我们，而克制、耐心和教养比天分更能让我们受益。
within adv. 内部，在心中
without adv. 在外部
repentance n. 悔悟