Being Superior to Your Previous Self
歐內斯特 · 海明威 / Ernest Hemingway
First listen and then answer the questions.
1. Is it true that the man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without？
2. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self. What’s your opinion？
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.
在風平浪靜的大海上，每個人都是領航員。
但是，隻有陽光而無陰影，隻有歡樂而無痛苦，那就不是人生。以最幸福的人的生活為例——它是一團糾纏在一起的紗線。喪親之痛和幸福祝願，彼此相接，使我們悲喜交加。甚至死亡本身也會使生命更加可親。在人生的清醒時刻，在哀痛和傷心的陰影之下，人們與真實的自我最為接近。
在人生或者職業的各種事務中，性格的作用比智力大得多，頭腦的作用不如心情，天資不如由判斷力所節製著的自製、耐心和規律。