To Live Is to Function
Guidance for Reciting
Oliver Wendell Holmes（1841-1935），was known as“the Great dissenter”. In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He served until he was almost 91 years old.
I
n this symposium，better is it to only sit in silence. To express one's feelings as the end draws near is too intimate a task. That I would mention only one thought that comes to me as a listener-in：the riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal，there is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill，there is time to hear the kind voice of friends，and to say to oneself，the work is done. But just as one says that，the answer comes，the race is over，but the work never is done while the power to work remains. The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only coming to rest；it cannot be while you still live. But to live is to function，that is all there is in living. So I end with a line from a Latin voice：death，death，clutches my ear，and says，live，I am coming.
活着就要工作
诵读导言
奥利佛？文德尔？荷默斯（1841-1935）以“大反对家”而著称。1902年，西奥多？罗斯福总统任命他为美国最高法院陪审法官。他任此职一直到他将近91岁。
此刻，沉默是金。要在生命即将完结之时表达个人感受并非易事。但我只是想谈谈作为一名倾听者的看法。骑士们并非一到终点就立刻止步。他们继续缓步向前，倾听朋友们的欢呼。他们虽然告诉自己行程已经结束了。正如人们所说结果出来了，比赛结束了。但只要动力仍在，人生之旅就尚未结束。终点之后的慢跑并非停止不前，因为活着便不能如此。活着就要工作，这才是生命的真谛。最后谨以一句古拉丁格言与各位共勉：死神不至，奋斗不止。
口语点津
我们所知道的沉默是金其实并不是中国的说法，而是从英文谚语中翻译过来的。英文谚语：Speech is silver，silence is gold.（能言是银，沉默是金。）