“Encourage your child to be merry and laugh aloud; a good hearty laugh expands the chest and makes the blood bound merrily along. Commend me to a good laugh—not to a little snickering laugh, but to one that will sound fight through the house. It will not only do your child good, but will be a benefit to all who hear, and be an important means of driving the blues away from a dwelling. Merriment is very catching, and spreads in a remarkable manner, few being able to resist its contagion. A hearty laugh is delightful harmony; indeed, it is the best of all music.”
“Children without hilarity,” says an eminent author, “will never amount to much. Trees without blossoms will never bear fruit.”
在美国巨富威廉?范德比尔特上次游览君士坦丁堡期间，以演喜剧而闻名的演员科克兰恰好也来到了这里。一天，威廉?范德比尔特去拜访科克兰，当时科克兰正在博斯普鲁斯海峡的游艇上进行私人朗诵，他一共诵读了3段独白。几天后，这位百万富翁寄给科克兰一张便笺，内容如下：
你的表演使我们热泪盈眶，也使我们开心大笑。既然哲学家说笑比哭好，所以我应付给你的款项如下所示：
6次落泪：600美元。
12次欢笑：2400美元。
共计3000美元。
随信附赠，收到敬请复函告之。
塔列朗认为：“这种做法虽然听起来有些荒诞，但别具一番心意。”这段话很好地解释了“心宽体胖”的哲学道理。如果每个人都知道把欢笑的力量当成健康、长寿的催化剂，那么，我们脸上的哀愁就会烟消云散，许多医生也将失业。
欢笑的力量能积极地作用于我们的身体，它是大自然的鬼斧神工，在加强内脏器官活动的同时，也给我们带来了快乐。
笑是从肺和横膈膜开始的，使肝、胃等其他内脏器官同时快速地振动，让人获得快乐的感觉和体验，其锻炼效果与骑马的效果相差无几。
在消化时，胃部的活动类似于搅拌，每一次深呼吸或大笑，横膈膜都会下降，使胃部受到额外的挤压和振动。
不时地笑一笑，会使胃不断运动，从而加快消化的过程；心脏这时也会跳得更快，不停地把血液输送到全身。格林医生说：“人身体的所有部位，不管多么细小的血管，每一处都能感觉到放声大笑所带来的振动。”用医学术语阐述就是，笑触动了血管收缩神经中枢，间歇性的血管收缩导致了血液流动速度加快。笑还能够促进呼吸，让全身产生热量。笑能使双眼更加明亮，增加排汗量，扩张胸腔，强迫排出肺部细胞中的有害气体，恢复和谐的生理平衡。所谓生理平衡，也就是我们所说的健康状态，这种理想的平衡状态是由身体所有器官的协调运动得来的。失眠、噩耗、悲痛或焦虑的情绪都可能会破坏这种平衡，通常一次放声大笑就能解决问题。
人类生命的天敌莫过于悲痛、焦虑和恐惧。一个沮丧、尖酸刻薄和忧郁的人，不会相信自己的信仰、能力和使命，终日自怨自怜，生活毫无目标，那么这样的生命便是残缺、没有价值的。所以，我们既要摆脱所有导致情绪低落的影响，又要抵制犯罪的诱惑。毋庸置疑，强健的心理才能延长青春，保持健康和美丽，使生活稳定而充满活力。
前几天我看到一则消息，说邻城的一个人生命危在旦夕，于是便叫所有亲戚到他的病榻前见最后一面。可是，来看望的人中，有一个老熟人笑着对他保证，说他根本没什么，不久就会没事的。这个老熟人坚定的语气使得病人开心地笑了，最终唤醒了他的身体机能，使他再次拥有了活力，不久后便康复了。
这个例子恰好印证了莎士比亚的那句名言——“豁达者长寿”。
根据生理学原理，交感神经都是相互紧密联结的，当一条传递坏消息的神经到达大脑时，抵达胃部的神经也会受到牵连，导致消化不良，他的面容就会憔悴不已。敞开胸怀，大声欢笑吧，它才是世界上最便宜的药物。
快乐是一门深奥的哲学。名医查瓦希说，我们应该从婴儿着手，从小就开始培养孩子们欢笑的习惯：
“鼓励你的孩子享受快乐，放声欢笑。发自内心的大笑能扩张胸腔，让血液欢快地跳跃。我所提倡的是会心的欢笑——不是私下里窃笑，而是那种放声的大笑。那样的话，不但有益于你的孩子，听到笑声的人也会受益匪浅，这是赶走忧郁的一剂良方。欢乐极具感染力，它可以快速传播到周围，很少有人能阻挡它的魅力。会心的笑声是一种令人愉悦的和谐，确实，它是最完美的音乐。”
一位著名作家曾经说过：“闷闷不乐的孩子，将来也不会有很大的成就，如同不开花的树永远结不出硕果一样。”
记忆填空
1. If everybody knew the_______ of laughter as a health tonic and life prolonger, the tinge of _______ which now clouds our face would largely disappear, and many physicians would find their occupation_______ .
2. A depressed, sour, melancholy _______ , a life which has ceased to believe in its own sacredness, its _______ power, its own mission, a life which sinks into querulous egotism or vegetating aimlessness, has become crippled and_______ .
3.“Children without hilarity,”says an eminent author,“will _______ amount to much. Trees _______ blossoms will never bear fruit.”
佳句翻译
1. 你的表演使我们热泪盈眶，也使我们开心大笑。
2. 人类生命的天敌莫过于悲痛、焦虑和恐惧。
3. 快乐是一门深奥的哲学。
短语应用
1. ... to give a private recital on board his yacht...
on board：在船（火车、飞机、汽车）上
2. Frequent laughing sets the stomach to dancing, hurrying up the digestive process.
hurry up：匆忙；（使）赶紧；匆匆完成
休息日你怎么过
What Happened to Sunday
佚名 / Anonymous
Today our life and work rarely feel light, pleasant or healing. Instead, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into one enormous obligation. It becomes the standard greeting everywhere: “I am so busy.”
We say this to one another with no small degree of pride. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, to be unable to find time for the sunset, to whiz through our obligations without time for a single mindful breath — this has become the model of a successful life.
Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We lose the nourishment that gives us help. We miss the quiet that gives us wisdom. Poisoned by the belief that good things come only through tireless effort, we never truly rest.
This is not the world we dreamed of when we were young. How did we get so terribly rushed in a world saturated with work and responsibility, yet somehow bereft of joy and delight?
We have forgotten the Sabbath. Sabbath is the time to enjoy and celebrate what is beautiful and good—time to light candles, sing songs, worship, tell stories, bless our children and loved ones, give thanks, share meals, nap, and walk. It is time to be nourished and refreshed as we let our work, our chores and our important projects lie fallow, trusting that there are larger forces at work taking care of the world when we are at rest.
Sabbath is more than the absence of work. Many of us, in our desperate drive to be successful and care for our many responsibilities feel terrible guilt when we take time to rest. But the Sabbath has proven its wisdom over the ages. Many of us still recall when, not long ago, shops and offices were closed on Sundays. Those quiet Sunday afternoons are embedded in our cultural memory.
如今，生活和工作已经很难让人感到轻松愉悦或是颐养身心。相反，生活的全部体验里都融入了巨大的职责。“我很忙”变成了一种标准问候语。
对他人说这句话时，我们会引以为豪。我们以为，自己越忙，于人于己，我们就显得越重要。抽不开身来与亲朋好友相聚，没有时间欣赏日落，为履行职责奔忙不停而无暇用心呼吸——这一切已成为成功人士的生活模式。
因为得不到休息，我们迷失了方向；失去了于己有益的滋养；错过了赐予我们智慧的宁静。我们深受这个信条的毒害，而永远得不到真正的休息——成功源于不懈地努力。
我们年轻时梦想的世界并不是这样。我们怎么就一头扎进了如此可怕的世界——一个充斥着工作和责任，却又被剥夺了欢乐和喜悦的世界。
安息日，我们已经忘却。它是享受和庆贺美好事物的日子——是点上蜡烛、唱歌、做礼拜、讲故事、为孩子和爱人祈福、感恩祷告、共享午餐、小憩和散步的日子，也是将工作、家务杂事和重要规划搁置一边，滋养放松身心的日子。我们坚信，休息过后可以更好地应对这个世界。