我并不是在贬低经商，而是在说它并不适合我。我经商是为了赚钱，除了贴补家用为我带来一点满足感之外，我所能得到的一切就是钱。但这并不够。我觉得时光正从我的身边溜走。对职业的不满使得我痛苦不堪。我唯一的愿望就是挣够钱，然后辞职去欧洲学习音乐。因此，我常常早起练琴，然后去市区上班，匆忙中都来不及吃仓促准备的早餐，这使可怜的妈妈担忧不已。我不与业务合作人共进午餐，而是找个便宜的咖啡馆，随便吃点东西，写写和音练习曲。我不断地挣钱，终于，一点一点地攒够了出国的费用。家中的经济压力也有所缓解，不再需要我的帮助。我放弃了商业生涯，那感觉就像刚获释的犯人一样，然后我漂洋过海去了欧洲。这一去便是4年，我的学习比以前想象的还要刻苦，却很快乐。
“快乐”还不足以形容我的心情。我变得乐不思蜀，飘飘欲仙。我感觉自己是在真正地生活。我成为了一个自由人，做着自己喜欢且注定要做的事。
如果我一直留在商界，现在也许是一个相当富有的人了，但我不觉得自己已经拥有了成功的人生。也许我会放弃所有无形的、金钱无法买到的心灵满足，而这些正是以发财致富为基本目标所付出的代价。
我离开商界的做法，几乎违背了所有家人及朋友的意愿。因为，我们很多人都早已习惯将成功与金钱联系在一起，并认为放弃高薪去追求理想简直是发疯。如果真是这样，我只能说：“噢，疯狂的感觉真好。”
金钱是极好的东西，但为了金钱，我们很可能已经付出了太昂贵的代价。
记忆填空
1. The turning_______ of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study _______. My parents, although sympathetic1, and sharing my love of music, disapproved _______ it as a profession.
2.Before my _______ from Columbia, the family met with severe financial reverses and I felt it my _______ to leave college and take a job. Thus was I launched upon a business career―which I always think of as the wasted _______.
3. I would have given up all those intangibles, those_______satisfactions that money can never_______ , and that are too often sacrificed when a man’s primary_______is financial success.
佳句翻译
1. 我觉得时光正从我的身边溜走。
2. 我变得乐不思蜀，飘飘欲仙。
3. 金钱是极好的东西，但为了金钱，我们很可能已经付出了太高昂的代价。
短语应用
1. In order to tell what I believe, I must briefly sketch something of my personal history.
in order to：为了
2. The turing point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music.
give up：放弃
像国王一样富有
Rich as a King
佚名 / Anonymous
William I, who conquered England some 930 years ago, had wealth, power and a ruthless army. Yet although William was stupefyingly rich by the standard of his time, he had nothing remotely resembling a flush toilet. No paper towels, no riding lawn mower. How did he get by?
History books are filled with wealthy people who were practically destitute compared to me. I have triple-tracked storm windows, Croesus did not. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn’t buy cat food in bulk. Czar Nicholas II lacked a compound-miter saw.
Given how much better off I am than so many famous dead people, you’d think I’d be content. The trouble is that, like most people, I compare my prosperity with that of living persons: neighbors, school classmates, TV personalities. The covetousness I feel toward my friend Howard’s new kitchen is not mitigated by the fact that no French monarch ever had a refrigerator with glass doors.
There is really no rising or falling standard of living. Over the centuries people simply find different stuff to feel grumpy about. You’d think that merely not having bubonic plague would put us in a good mood, but no, we want a hot tub too.
Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to realize that even by contemporary standards the things I own are pretty nice. My house is smaller than the houses of many investment bankers, but even so it has a lot more rooms than my wife and I can keep clean.
Besides, to people looking back at our era from a century or two in the future, those bankers’ fancy counter tops and my own worn Formica will seem equally shabby. I can’t keep up with my neighbor right now. But just wait.
大约在930年前，威廉一世征服了英格兰，他拥有财富、权势和无情的军队。尽管以他那个时代的标准，他确实富得令人咂舌，可他连一个类似抽水马桶的东西都没有。没有纸巾，没有坐式割草机，他是如何勉强度日的呢？
历史上的富人不计其数，可比起我来，他们却是穷酸至极。我有三层隔离风暴的窗户，克罗伊斯王却没有。面对亚历山大大帝，全国的百姓都会瑟瑟发抖，可他连散装的猫食都买不到。沙皇尼古拉二世甚至没有一把复式轴锯。
比起这些逝去的著名人物，我是如此富有，你一定认为我已经心满意足了吧。可问题是，我像大多数人一样，把自己的财富与这些活着的人作比较：邻居、同学、电视剧中的人物。尽管法国的君主没能拥有带玻璃门的冰箱，但这并不能减轻我对朋友霍华德新厨房的强烈羡慕。
生活水平确实既没有提高也没有降低。几个世纪以来，人们只是寻找不同的素材来发牢骚而已。也许，你以为，只要没有黑死病，人们就会心情愉快，但是，不，我们还想要个热水浴盆。
当然，一个获得幸福快乐的方法是，要认识到，即使是按当代标准，我拥有的这些东西也是很不错的。比起许多投资银行家的豪宅，我的房子是小了点儿，但是，这些房间我和妻子还收拾不过来呢！
此外，要是让未来一两个世纪的人看来，那些银行家上等的精致柜台，看起来和我家陈旧的福米加塑料贴面一样简陋。现在我还不能与邻居相比，但是，等着瞧吧！
记忆填空
1. Given how much _______ off I am than so many famous dead people, you’d think I’d be _______ . The trouble is that, like most people, I compare my prosperity that of living persons: neighbors, school classmates, TV personalities. The covetousness I feel toward my friend Howard’s new kitchen is not mitigated by the that no French monarch _______ had a refrigerator with glass doors.
2. Of course, one way to achieve _______ would be to realize that even by contemporary standards the things I own are_______ nice.
佳句翻译
1. 他是如何勉强度日的呢？
2. 历史上的富人不计其数，可比起我来，他们却是穷酸至极。
3. 生活水平确实既没有提高也没有降低。
短语应用
1. How did he get by?
get by：通过；过得去；过活；获得认可
2. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn’t buy cat food in bulk.
in bulk：大批；大量；整批；散装
追忆逝去的美好
Try to Remember the Good Things
佚名 / Anonymous
When times become difficult (and you know they sometimes will), remember a moment in your life that was filled with joy and happiness.
Remember how it made you feel, and you will have the strength you need to get through any trial.
When life throws you one more obstacle than you think you can handle, remember something you achieved through perseverance and by struggling to the end.
In doing so, you’ll find you have the ability to overcome each obstacle brought your way.
When you find yourself drained and depleted of energy, remember to find a place of sanctuary and rest.
Take the necessary time in your own life to dream your dreams and renew your energy, so you’ll be ready to face each new day.
When you feel tension building, find something fun to do. You’ll find that the stress you feel will dissipate and your thoughts will become clearer.
When you’re faced with so many negative and draining situations, realize how minuscule problems will seem when you view your life as a whole—and remember the positive things.