Alfred Nobel， the Swedish inventor and industrialist①， was a man of many contrasts. He was the son of a bankrupt， but became a millionaire， a scientist with the love of literature， an industrialist who managed to remain an idealist. He made a fortune but lived a simple life， and although cheerful with company he was often sad in private.
A lover of mankind， he never had a wife or family to love him； a patriotic② son of his native land， he died alone on foreign soil. He invented a new explosive dynamite③ to improve the peacetime industries of mining and road building， but saw it used as a weapon of war to kill and injure his fellow men.
During his useful life he often felt he was useless. “Alfred Nobel，” he once wrote to himself， “ought to have been put to death by a kind doctor as soon as， with a cry， he entered life.” World-famous for his works he was never personally well known， for throughout his life he avoided publicity. “I do not see，” he once said， “that I have deserved④ any fame and I have no taste for it.” But since his death his name had brought fame and glory to others.
① industrialistn. 企业家，工业家，实业家
② patrioticadj. 爱国的
③ dynamiten. 炸药
④ deservev. 应受，该得
一个反差鲜明的人
阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔是瑞典的发明家、实业家，他是一个集多种对立现象于一身的人。他是破产者的儿子，日后却成了百万富翁；他是一位科学家，却又爱好文学；他是一位始终保持理想主义本色的实业家。他发了财，但是生活却非常简朴；虽然他与人相处的时候笑逐言开，可是在独处之时却经常落落寡欢。
他热爱人类，但是却从没有妻子或儿女来爱他；他热爱祖国，然而却客死异乡。为了发展和平时期的采矿业以及筑路业，他发明了一种新型炸药，但是却看到这项发明竟然被用在残杀、伤害同类的战争武器上面。
在他颇有成就的一生中，他常常觉得自己毫无用处。他曾经这样写到他自己，“阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔，本该在呱呱坠地之时就让一位好心的大夫给弄死。”他虽因自己的发明而闻名世界，然而世人对其个人生活却知之甚少，因为他毕生都避免抛头露面。他曾经说过，“我真不明白自己为何得此虚名，我对虚名不感兴趣。”可是在他死后，他的名字却给别人带来了名望以及荣誉。