This has been my life. I have found it worth living， and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.
我为何而生
［英］罗素
对爱情的渴望、对知识的追求、对人类苦难不可遏制的同情，是支配我一生的单纯而强烈的三种感情。这些感情如阵阵飓风，吹拂在我动荡不定的生涯中，有时甚至吹过深沉痛苦的海洋，直抵绝望的边缘。
我所以追求爱有三方面的原因。首先，爱有时给我带来狂喜，这种狂喜竟如此有力，以致使我常常会为了体验几小时爱的喜悦，而宁愿牺牲生命中其他一切。其次，爱可以使人摆脱孤寂——身历那种可怕孤寂的人的战栗意识会由世界的边缘，观察到冷酷无生命的无底深渊。最后，在爱中，我看到了古今圣贤及诗人们所梦想的天堂的缩影，这正是我所追寻的人生境界。虽然它对一般的人类生活来说也许太美好了，但这正是我透过爱所得到的最终发现。
我曾以同样的情感追求知识，我渴望去了解人类的心灵，也渴望知道星星为什么会发光，同时我还想理解毕达哥拉斯的力量。
爱与知识的可能领域，总是引领我到天堂的境界，可对人类苦难的同情却经常把我带回现实世界。那些痛苦的呼唤经常在我内心深处引起回响。饥饿中的孩子，被压迫被折磨者，给子女造成重担的孤苦无依的老人，以及全球性的孤独、贫穷和痛苦的存在，是对人类生活理想的无视和讽刺。我常常希望能尽自己的微薄之力去帮人们减轻这不必要的痛苦，但我发现我完全失败了，因此我自己也感到很痛苦。
这就是我的一生，我发现人是值得活的。如果有谁再给我一次生活的机会，我将欣然接受这难得的赐予。
Three Days to See
Helen Keller
All of us have read thrilling thrilling adj.毛骨悚然的， 颤动的， 发抖的stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year； sometimes as short as twentyfour hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomeddoomed adj.命定的 man chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak， of course， of free men who have a choice， not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimiteddelimit vt.定界限， 划界.
Such stories set us thinking， wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events， what experiences， what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings？ What happiness should we find in reviewing the past， what regrets？
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasizeemphasize vt.强调， 着重 v.强调 sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness， a vigor， and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those， of course， who would adopt the Epicurean motto of “Eat， drink， and be merry，” but most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.
In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune， but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live， or have lived， in the shadow of death bring a mellowmellow adj.（因熟透而）醇香的、甘美的， （颜色）柔美的， （声音）圆润的， 成熟的， 老练的 vt.& vi.使（变）醇香， 使（变）柔美， 使成熟 sweetness to everything they do.
Most of us， however， take life for granted. We know that one day we must die， but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health， death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty tasks， hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.
The same lethargylethargy n.无生气， I am afraid， characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing， only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazilyhazily adv.朦胧地， 模糊地， without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it， of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciativeappreciative adj.欣赏的， 有欣赏力的， 表示感激的， 承认有价值的 of sight； silence would teach him the joys of sound.
Now and them I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods， and I asked her what she had observed. “Nothing in particular， ” she replied. I might have been incredulousincredulous adj.怀疑的， 不轻信的 had I not been accustomed to such reposes， for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.
How was it possible， I asked myself， to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note？ I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch， or the rough， shaggy bark of a pine. In the spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud the first sign of awakening nature after her winter，s sleep. I feel the delightful， velvety texture of a flower， and discover its remarkable convolutionsconvolution n.回旋， 盘旋， 卷绕； and something of the miracle of nature is revealed to me. Occasionally， if I am very fortunate， I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush through my open finger. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the page ant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama， the action of which streams through my finger tips.
At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch， how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet， those who have eyes apparently see little. the panoramapanorama n.全景 全景画，全景摄影 of color and action which fills the world is taken for granted. It is human， perhaps， to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not， but it is a great pity that in the world of light the gift of sight is used only as a mere conveniences rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.
If I were the president of a university I should establish a compulsory course in “How to Use Your Eyes”. The professor would try to show his pupils how they could add joy to their lives by really seeing what passes unnoticed before them. He would try to awake their dormant and sluggishsluggish adj.行动迟缓的 faculties.