“快乐的日子使人睿智。”――约翰？梅斯菲尔德
第一次读到英国桂冠诗人梅斯菲尔德的这行诗时，我感到很惊讶。他说的是什么意思？我以前从未对此仔细考虑，总是认定这行诗反过来才正确。但他冷静而又确信的表达引起了我的注意，令我无法忘怀。
终于，我似乎领会了他的意思，并意识到这行诗意义深刻。快乐带来的睿智存在于敏锐的洞察力之中，不会因忧虑而琢磨不透，也不会因绝望和厌倦而感到模糊不清，更不会因恐惧而造成盲点。
积极的快乐――并非单纯的满意或满足――通常不期而至，就像四月里突然下起的春雨，或是花蕾的
突然绽放。然后，你就会发觉与快乐结伴而来的究竟是何种智慧。草地更为青翠，鸟鸣更为甜美，朋友的缺点也变得更能让人理解，宽容。快乐就像是一副眼镜，能矫正你的精神视力。
快乐的视野并不仅限于你周围的事物。你不快乐时，你的思维陷入情感上的悲哀，你的眼界就像是被一道墙给阻隔了，而当你快乐时，这道墙就会轰然倒塌。
你的眼界变得更为宽广。你脚下的大地，你身边的世界，包括人，思想，情感和压力，现在都融入了更为广阔的景象之中，每件事物的比例都更加合理。而这就是睿智的开始。
The Best Teacher
There is a story from many years ago of a primary school teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of the 5th grade class on the very first day of school， she told the children a lie. Like most teachers， she looked her students and said that she loved them all the same.
But that was impossible because there in the front row， slumped in his seat， was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn‘t play well with the other children， his clothes were messy and constantly need a bath. And， Teddy could be unpleasant.
It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in making his papers with a broud red pen， making bold Xs and then putting a “F” at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught， she was required to relieve each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last.
However， when she relieved his file， she was in a surprise， Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote，“ Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around.”
His second grade teacher wrote， “Teddy is an excellent student， well liked by his classmates. But he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.”
His third grade teacher wrote， “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tried to do his best but his father doesn‘t show much interest in him.”
Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote， “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn‘t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class.”
By now， Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents， wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with pretty ribbons， except for Teddy’s .His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy， brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.
Mrs. Thompson opened it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing， and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was， putting it on， and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy stayed after school that day just long enough to say， “Mrs. Thompson， today you smelled just like my mom used to.”
After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On the very day， she quit teaching reading， and writing， and arithmetic. Instead she began to teach children how to be a man.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him， his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him， the faster he responded. By the end of the year， Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
A year later， she found a note under her door， from Teddy， telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Six years later went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school， third in his class， and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Four years after that， she got another letter， saying that he would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. Then four more years past and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree， he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer—the letter was signed ， Theodore F. Stoddard， MD.
The story doesn‘t end there. You see， there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he’d met his girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of yeas ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course Mrs. Thompson did.
At the wedding ceremony， they hugged each other， and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear， “Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me， thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson， with tears in her eyes， whispered back. She said， “Teddy， you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn‘t know how to teach until I met you.