你可以給他們愛 但別把你的思想也給他們

文：卡里．紀伯倫（Kahlil Gibran）

孩子
On Children

一個懷裡抱著嬰兒的婦人說，跟我們說說「孩子」吧。
於是他說：

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said,
“Speak to us of Children.” And he said:

你的孩子不是你的，
他們是「生命」的子女，是生命自身的渴望。
他們經你而生，但非出自於你，
他們雖然和你在一起，卻不屬於你。
你可以給他們愛，但別把你的思想也給他們，
因為他們有自己的思想。
你的房子可以供他們安身，但無法讓他們的靈魂安住，
因為他們的靈魂住在明日之屋，
那裡你去不了，哪怕是在夢中。
你可以勉強自己變得像他們，但不要想讓他們變得像你。
因為生命不會倒退，也不會駐足於昨日。

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

你好比一把弓，
孩子是從你身上射出的生命之箭。
弓箭手看見無窮路徑上的箭靶，
於是祂大力拉彎你這把弓，希望祂的箭能射得又快又遠。

You are the bows
from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends
you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

欣然屈服在神的手中吧，
因為祂既愛那疾飛的箭，
也愛那穩定的弓。

Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

教育
On Teaching

然後，一位教師說，跟我們說說「教育」吧。
他回答：

Then said a teacher, “Speak to us of Teaching.”
And he said:

任何人能夠給你的啟發，
其實都已經在你知識的曙光中半睡半醒。
老師漫步在神殿的暗影中，
走在門徒之間，
他們奉獻的不是智慧，而是信念與愛心。
若他確實睿智，就不會吩咐你進入他的智慧之屋，
而是引導你跨越自己心靈的門檻。

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half
asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple,
among his followers,
gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his
wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

天文學家或許可以與你暢談他對太空的了解，
卻無法把他的理解給你；
音樂家或許可以對你唱出盈滿天地之間的韻律，
卻無法給你掌握節奏的耳朵，
或是應和韻律的歌喉；
精通數字科學的人或許可以告訴你計算和度量的方法，
卻無法帶領你到達彼方。
因為一個人不能把想像力的翅膀借給別人，

The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space,
but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space,
but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the
voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions
of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.

就像在神的心中，你們是各自獨立的，
因此，你們也必須獨自認識神和地球。

And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge,
so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his
understanding of the earth.

https://www.thenewslens.com/article/72302

人的天性

「對女人的特殊的愛必須不違背對人的普遍的愛。詩人們歌頌這種對女人的特殊的愛，女人們自己也認為這種愛是美好的，但如果它不是建築在對人類的愛的基礎之上，它就沒有資格稱為愛。它就只是一種動物性的肉欲，並且常常轉變為恨。」
「任何僅僅建築在個人幸福基礎上的婚姻，都不可避免地要導致爭吵，就像在動物以及與動物很少區別的人中間，不爭吵不打鬥就順順當當地獲取食物是不可能的一樣。」
「基督徒只有當他知道他與女人的結合不會產生任何痛苦的時候，他才會感到那個女人的吸引力。」
「難道能這樣嗎？」尤里反問道「難道人能控制自己的迷戀嗎？」
「當意志被迷戀操縱了的時候，這是不可能的。但我們能保持振作和清醒，不讓意志被迷戀操縱。」「情欲能夠變得非常微弱，因為它的基礎是對女兒、對母親、對姐妹的愛的感情。為什麼你不願意相信在男人身上可以培養和鞏固這樣一種對女人的感情，它就像對母親、女兒和姐妹的感情一樣，而夫妻間的愛情可以在這種感情的基礎上成長起來。」「只有當他感到自己的愛情不會傷害任何人時，他才會允許這種感情在心裡產生。」
「人的天性是怎樣的？人除了動物性以外還有理性，不錯，我所說的這種對女人的態度是不符合人的動物性的，但它符合人的理性。當人用他的智力為他的動物性服務時，他就比動物更壞，甚至會強姦和亂倫，而這是任何一種動物都不會做的事。但當用自己的理性去駕馭動物性，當動物性為理性服務的時候，也只有在那時，人才能獲得使自己感到滿意的幸福。」

－－《迎著光，向光明邁進》托爾斯泰

I no longer have patience

“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that’s why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals. And on top of everything I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience.” _ Meryl Streep


http://ioadicaeu.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/i-no-longer-have-patience/

無論跑步與人生都沒有所謂失敗

我學到無論跑步與人生都沒有所謂失敗，只要你拒絕停下來。
－－波士頓馬拉松冠軍，安比‧波爾富

I have learned that there is no failure in running, or in life, as long as you keep moving.
－－Amby Burfoot

run a marathon

如果你想跑步，跑個一英里就好。
如果你想體驗不同的人生，
那就跑場馬拉松吧。
－－現代長跑之父，艾米爾‧扎托貝克

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon."
－－Emil Zatopek

對這些自我意識太強的人來說

我強迫自己微笑以對這些負面的誤會，我知道自己過去的形象太黑暗，有許多人堅信我不可能好起來、不可能走出來；對這些自我意識太強的人來說，我今日的正面、陽光就形同給了他們重重一拳。他們會試圖用各種方式、用各種難聽的字眼把我打回黑暗以證明自己的判斷。

－－歐陽靖

完整

如果你正面對一堆挫折與不被預期的改變
那麼 應該慶幸著
我們的生命將如同小說一般
如此完整且值得回味


－－方文山