人类既具有独立性，又具有群居性。作为一个独立的个体，他试图保护自己以及身边最亲近的人的生活，同时满足自己个人的愿望，发展自身的内在潜能；作为群居者，他试图获得其他人的认同和友爱，希望他们分享自己的快乐，安慰自己受伤的心灵，同时改善他们的生活条件。一个人的个性正是在这些复杂多变、冲突频繁的抗争中显现出来的。两者的特定结合决定了一个人维持内心平衡的程度，以及他对社会作出贡献的大小。
遗传很可能是决定这两种驱动力相对强度的最主要因素。一个人最终的个性，大部分取决于他在自我发展期间所处的环境，他成长时的社会结构、所在社会的传统，以及社会对于某种特定行为的评价。对于个人来说，“社会”这个抽象的概念，意味着他与当代人和所有上代人之间直接或间接关系的总和。个体都能独立思考、感受、奋斗和工作，但是，他对社会的依赖性也非常强——在他的身体、思想和情感方面——如果他脱离了社会的结构，就不可能对自身有所思考或者了解。“社会”为人类提供了食物、衣服、家、劳动工具、语言、思维模式和大部分思考内容。正是小小的“社会”二字背后，所隐藏的过去和现在成千上万人的劳动成就，才使人的生活成为可能。
社会，其实就是小家组成的大家，小家又是以个人为单位组建的。所以，人本身就具有多重性，不管是满足个人愿望也好，试图在小家中获得别人的友爱与认同也好，还是在大家中贡献出自己的力量，让社会认知，我们都只是在做一件事，那就是在为这个社会的发展提供自己所能提供的劳动力。
inheritance [in'heritns] n. 遗传；遗产
The flavor of the Great is no inheritance.
伟人的一大优点是不留任何遗产。
emerge [i'm:d] v. 浮现；（由某种状态）脱出；（事实）显现出来
The sun emerged from behind the clouds.
太阳从云层后面露出来了。
evaluation [i,v鎙ju'ein] n. 估价；评价
The evaluation is unfair.
这种评估是不公平的。
contemporary [kn'temprri] n. 同时代的人；同代人；同龄人；同时
期的东西
He is a contemporary of mine, but our experiences are completely
different.
他和我是同龄人，但我们的经历截然不同。
人类既具有独立性，又具有群居性。
对于个人来说，“社会”这个抽象的概念，意味着他与当代人和所有上代人之间直接或间接关系的总和。
正是小小的“社会”二字背后，所隐藏的过去和现在成千上万人的劳动成就，才使人的生活成为可能。
It is quite possible that the relative strength of these two drives is, in the main, fixed by inheritance.
It is possible that...：有可能
...but he depends so much upon society — in his physical, intellectual, and emotional existence — that it is impossible to think of him, or to understand him, outside the framework of society.
depend upon：依赖；靠；取决于；依赖于
激发意志的人生
Will Inspired Life
佚名 / Anonymous
The little country school house was heated by an old-fashioned, pot bellied coal stove. A little boy had the job of coming to school early each day to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates arrived.
One morning they arrived to find the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. They dragged the unconscious little boy out of the flaming building more dead than alive. He had major bums over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital. From his bed the dreadfully burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die—which was for the best, really—for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body.
But the brave boy didn't want to die. He made up his mind that he would survive. Somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. When the mortal danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost be better if he had died, since he was doomed to be a lifetime cripple with no use at all of his lower limbs
Once more the brave boy made up his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately from the waist down, he had no motor ability.
His thin legs just dangled there, all but lifeless. Ultimately he was released from the hospital. Every day his mother would massage his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever. When he wasn't in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air.
This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair. He pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He worked his way to the white picket fence bordering their lot. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs. Ultimately through his daily massages, his iron persistence and his resolute determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk haltingly, then to walk by himself—and then—to run. He began to walk to school, then to run to school, to run for the sheer joy of running. Later in college he made the track team. Still later in Madison Square Garden this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run—this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile!
一座乡村校舍靠一种老式的大腹陶制煤炉取暖。一个小男孩的工作就是每天早早来到学校，在老师和同学们到校前把炉子生好，让屋子暖和起来。
一天早上，老师和同学来到学校，看到房子起火了。他们把昏迷的小男孩从烟火弥漫的教室拉出来时，小男孩已奄奄一息。他被烧得面目全非，下半身伤势尤为严重，人们把他送到最近的乡村医院。他昏迷着躺在床上，听到了医生和妈妈的谈话。医生告诉妈妈，他肯定活不了多久——要是这样，那最好不过了——要知道，他的下半身肌肉已被可怕的大火烧坏了。
但这个勇敢的小男孩不想死，他下定决心要活下去。让医生惊讶的是，他竟真的活了下来。脱离生命危险后，他又听到医生小声地告诉妈妈，大火烧掉了他下半身那么多肌肉，生不如死，因为他下肢已经烧得没用了，注定要终生残废。
他不想成为残疾，他要走路。勇敢的小男孩再一次下定决心，他要学会走路。不幸的是，他的腰部以下都失去了知觉。
他那两条孱弱的腿在裤管里打晃，了无生机。最终，他出院了。妈妈每天都给他按摩小腿，但它没有知觉，小腿根本不受大脑支配。他不在床上时，就坐在轮椅上。然而，他要学会走路的决心丝毫未减。一个晴朗的日子，妈妈把轮椅推到院内，让他呼吸新鲜空气。
这一天，他没有一直坐在轮椅里，而是爬了出来。他艰难地拖着两条腿，穿过草地，努力挪到包围着他们院子的白色尖桩栅栏处，费了好大劲儿，扶着栅栏站了起来。然后，他开始沿着栅栏，一个木桩一个木桩地向前挪动两条腿。他下定决心要学会走路。他开始每天都这样做，最后居然在栅栏边走出了一条平整的小路。没有什么事比给自己的腿注入生命更让他斗志昂扬了。最后，通过每天的按摩，凭借钢铁般的意志和坚定的决心，他最终站了起来，从蹒跚学步到独立行走——直至跑步！开始，他步行上学，然后，为了体验跑步的快乐，他开始跑步上学。后来，上大学时，他组织了田径队。再后来，在麦迪逊广场花园，这个意志坚强，曾被认为不能活下来、肯定不能走路、永远别指望会跑步的年轻人——格伦·坎宁安博士，他的奔跑速度竟打破了世界纪录！
没有做不成的事，只有没想到的事。这个世界总是给我们奇迹，而那奇迹不是上天赐予的，而是那么一批勇敢的、有斗志的人应该得到的回报。这个世界没有预言家，自己的命运掌握在自己手里。
waist [weist] n. 腰；腰部；腰围；背心
Her hair nearly reached down to her waist.
她的头发几乎垂到了腰部。
drag [dr鎔] v. 拖累；拖拉；慢条斯理地走
He dragged the heavy chest across the floor.
他在地板上拉着沉重的箱子。
picket ['pikit] n. 尖木桩（前哨）；标杆；支柱
Quirk is more than this one picket.