By heart
Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night after night. One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have cause to falter. Yet this is not always the case.
A famous actor in a highly successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for twenty years. In the last act, a gaoler would always come on to
the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner. Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that it should be written out in full. One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not been written out in full as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see if his fellow-actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then, squinting his eyes, he said: 'The light is dim. Read the letter to me.' And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler. Finding that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied: 'The light is indeed dim, sire. I must get my glasses.' With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat's amusement, the gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the usual copy of the letter which he proceeded to read to the prisoner.
有些剧目十分成功，以致连续上演好几年。这样一来，可怜的演员们可倒霉了。因为他们需要一夜连着一夜地重复同样的台词。人们以为，这些演员一定会把台词背得烂熟，绝不会临场结巴的，但情况却并不总是这样。
有一位名演员曾在一出极为成功的剧目中扮演一个贵族角色，这个贵族已在巴士底狱被关押了20年。在最后一幕中，狱卒手持一封信上场，然后将信交给狱中那位贵族。尽管那个贵族每场戏都得念一遍那封信。但他还是坚持要求将信的全文写在信纸上。
一天晚上，狱卒决定与他的同事开一个玩笑，看看他反复演出这么多场之后，是否已将信的内容记熟了。大幕拉开，最后一幕戏开演，贵族独自一人坐在铁窗后阴暗的牢房里。这时狱卒上场，手里拿着那封珍贵的信。狱卒走进牢房，将信交给贵族。但这回狱卒给贵族的信没有像往常那样把全文写全，而是一张白纸。狱卒热切地观察着，急于想了解他的同事是否记熟了台词。贵族盯着纸看了几秒钟，然后，眼珠一转，说道：“光线太暗，请给我读一下这封信。”说完，他一下子把信递给狱卒。狱卒发现自己连一个字也记不住，于是便说：“陛下，这儿光线的确太暗了，我得去眼镜拿来。”他一边说着，一边匆匆下台。贵族感到非常好笑的是：一会儿工夫，狱卒重新登台，拿来一副眼镜以及平时使用的那封信，然后为那囚犯念了起来。
Three Days to See
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 appreciative of sight; silence would tech him the joys of sound.
Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friends 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 incredulous 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 convolutions; 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 thought 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.
我常常想，如果每个人在他成年的早期有一段时间致瞎致聋，那会是一种幸事，黑暗会使他更珍惜视力，寂静会教导他享受声音。
我不时地询问过我的能看见东西的朋友们，以了解他们看到什么。最近，我的一个很好的朋友来看我，她刚从一片森林里散步许久回来，我问她看到了什么，她答道：“没什么特别的。”如果我不是习惯了听到这种回答，我都可能不相信，因为很久以来我已确信这个情况：能看得见的人却看不到什么。
我独自一人，在林子里散步一小时之久而没有看到任何值得注意的东西，那怎么可能呢？我自己，一个不能看见东西的人，仅仅通过触觉，都发现许许多多令我有兴趣的东西。我感触到一片树叶的完美的对称性。我用手喜爱地抚摸过一株白桦那光潮的树皮，或一棵松树的粗糙树皮。春天，我摸着树干的枝条满怀希望地搜索着嫩芽，那是严冬的沉睡后，大自然苏醒的第一个迹象。我抚摸过花朵那令人愉快的天鹅绒般的质地，感觉到它那奇妙的卷绕，一些大自然奇迹向我展现了。有时，如果我很幸运，我把手轻轻地放在一棵小树上，还能感受到一只高声歌唱的小鸟的愉快颤抖，我十分快乐地让小溪涧的凉水穿过我张开的手指流淌过去。对我来说，一片茂密的地毯式的松针叶或松软而富弹性的草地比最豪华的波斯地毯更受欢迎。对我来说四季的壮观而华丽的展示是一部令人激动的、无穷尽的戏剧。这部戏剧的表演，通过我的手指端涌淌出来。
YOUTH
Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a tempera-mental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.
We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spring back to dust. Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living.
In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
青春
塞缪尔·厄尔曼
青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象，炙热的恋情；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。
青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生而有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，并非垂老，理想丢弃，方堕暮年。
岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓废必致灵魂。忧烦，惶恐，丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。
无论年届花甲，拟或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。
一旦天线下降，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二十，实已垂垂老矣；然则只要树起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉希望。
Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore
prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
您好，芝加哥
如果还有人仍在怀疑美国是否是一个一切皆有可能的国度的话，如果还有人仍在疑虑我们美国的缔造者的梦想是否还存在于我们这个时代的话，如果还有人仍在质疑我们民主的力量的话，今晚你就可以得到答案。
它的答案告诉延伸线，围绕学校和教堂的人数这个民族从未见过的，等待三个小时，四个小时的人们，许多第一次在他们的生活，因为他们认为，这次一定是不同的，他们的声音可能是不同的。
不管你是年轻人还是老年人，是富人还是穷人，是民主党人还是共和党人，是黑人还是白人，也不管你是拉丁美洲人或亚洲人还是本土美国人，更无论你是否为同性变者、是否是残疾人，这是美国人共同的答案。美国人向全世界传递一个声音，那就是我们的选举从不分红州或蓝州。
我们属于，而且永远只属于美利坚合众国。 它的答案，导致这些谁一直在说这么长时间这么多的是玩世不恭和恐惧和怀疑是我们能够实现把他们手中的弧的历史和弯曲再次向希望一个更美好的一天。
虽然等待了很长时间，但在今晚的这一决定性时刻，由于我们在这次选举中的努力，美国终于迎来了变革。 一名男子降落在月球上，墙上下来在柏林，世界是连接我们自己的科学和想象力。
今年，在这次选举中，她谈到她的手指到屏幕上，她和演员投票，因为106年后，在美国，通过最好的时候和最黑暗的时间，她知道怎样可以改变美国。
是我们能够做到。 美国，我们来到迄今。我们已经看到这么多。但有这么多事情要做。因此，今夜，让我们反问一下我们自己，如果我们的孩子能够活到下个世纪；如果我的女儿能够幸运地活得像安-尼克森-库珀那样长，他们将会看到什么样的变化？我们那时将会取得什么样的进步？
这是我们来回答问题的机会，这是我们的时刻。
这是我们的时代，要使我们的人民重新工作并将机会留给我们的子孙；重新恢复繁荣并促进和平；回归我们的美国梦想并重申一个基本事实--在众人之中，我们也是其中一个；当我们呼吸，当我们充满希望的时候，我们遭遇冷嘲热讽和质疑，那些人认为我们无法做到。我们将用一句话来做出回应：不，我们可以！
谢谢您。上帝保佑你。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
We are on a Journey
Wherever you are, and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are just alike at this moment, and in all the moments of our existence. We are not at rest; we are on a journey.
Our life is a movement, a tendency, a steady ceaseless progress toward an unseen goal. We are gaining something, or losing something, everyday. Even when our position and our character seem to remain precisely the same, they are changing. For the mere advance of time is a change. It is not the same thing to have a bare field in January and in July. The season makes the difference. The limitations that are childlike in the children are childish in the man.
Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action of the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pole. To decline is to accept — the other alternative.
Are you nearer to your port today than you were yesterday? Yes, — you must be a little nearer to some port or other; for since your ship was first launched upon the sea of life, you have never been still for a single moment; the sea is too deep, you could not find an anchorage if you would; there can be no pause until you come into port.
无论你身处何处，也不管你是谁，此刻，抑或是我们生命存在的每一个瞬间，有一件事对我们来说都是一样的：我们没有停留；我们正在旅途上。
生命是一种运动，是一种趋势，是一个向着未知目标奋进的无休止的行进。每天，我们有所得亦有所失。 我们时时刻刻都在改变，即使我们的状态和角色看上去没有丝毫的变化。只因为时间推移的本身就是一种变化。对于一块荒芜的土地，一月和七月是截然不同的。因为季节的变化让他有所区别。能力的局限在孩子们的身上只是一种天真，而在大人的身上却表现出一种幼稚。
我们做的所有事情都是向着某个方向迈出了一步。即使是失败，本身也是一个作为，左右着我们的进退。磁针的负极作用与正极作用是一样的真实。
对比昨天的你，今天你是否离自己的目标更近了？答案是肯定的，你一定离某个港口更近了些。因为自从你的航船在生命的海洋中起航的那一刻起，你就从来没有停泊过。海水太深了，你寻找不到抛锚之处。你永远都不可能停下来，除非你到达自己的港口。
《海上钢琴师》 经典英文对白
1900: Moonlight city. You just couldn’t see an end to it. It wasn’t what I saw that stopped me ,Max.
It was what I didn’t see.
Take the piano.
Keys begin. Keys end.
You know there are 88 of them.
They’re not infinite. You’re infinite.
And on those keys, the music that you can make is infinite. I like that. That I can live by.
But you get me up on that gangway, and you roll them out in front of me.
Keyboards have millions and billions of keys that never end. That keyboard is infinite.
Then on that keyboard there’s no music you can play. That’s God’s piano.
Did you see the streets?
There’re thousands of them.
How do you choose just one?
One woman, one house, one way to die…….
You don’t even know where it comes to an end.
Aren’t you ever just scared of breaking apart with the thought of it?
I was born on this ship.
And the world passed me by.
But 2000 people at a time and there’re old wishes here . But nevermore that fit between prow and stern..
You played out your happiness bit on a piano that was not infinite.
I learned to live that way.
Land?
Land is a ship too big for me,
It’s a woman too beautiful, a bridge too long, perfume to strong, music I don’t know how to play.
I can never get off this ship.
At best, I didn’t step off my life.
After all, I don’t exist for anyone.
偌大的城市，绵延无尽。
并非是我眼见的让我停住了脚步，
而是我所看不见的。你能明白吗？
拿钢琴来说。
键盘有始亦有终。
你确切地知道88个键就在那儿，错不了。
它们并不是无限的，而你，才是无限的。你能在键盘上表现的音乐是无限的。 我喜欢这样，我能轻松应付。
而你现在让我走过跳板，走到城市里，
等着我的是一个没有尽头的键盘。
我又怎能在这样的键盘上弹奏呢？
那是上帝的键盘啊！
你看到那数不清的街道吗？
如何只选择其中一条去走？
一个共渡一生的女人，一幢属于自己的屋子，一种生与死的方式~~~~ 你甚至不知道什么时候才是尽头。
一想到这个，难道不会害怕、会崩溃吗？
我在这艘船上出生。
世事千变万化，然这艘船每次只载2000人。
这里有着希望，但仅在船头和船尾之间。
你可以在有限的钢琴上奏出你的欢欣快乐。
我习惯了这样的生活。
陆地？
陆地对我来说是一艘太大的船，
太漂亮的女人，太长的旅程，太浓烈的香水，无从着手的音乐。 我永远无法走下这艘船，
这样的话，我宁可舍弃我的生命。
毕竟，我从来没有为任何人存在过
If I Were a Boy Again
If i were a boy again, I would practise perseverance more often, and never give up a thing because it was hard or invonvenient. If we want light, we must conquer darkness.Perseverance can sometimes equal genius in its results."There are only two creatures," says a proverb, "who can surmount the pyramides-the eagle and the snail."
If i were a boy again, I would school myself into a habit of attention; I would let nothing come
between me and the subject in hand. I would remember that a good skater never tries to skate in two directions at once. The habit of attention becomes part of our life, if we begin early enough. I often hear grown-up people say,"I could not fix my attention on the lecture or book, althought i wished to do so," and the reason is, the habit was not formed in yourth.
If I were to live my life over again, I would pay more attention to the cultivation of memory. I would strengthen that faculty by every possible means, and , on every possible occasion. It takes a little hard work at first to remember things accurately,but memory soon helps itself, and gives very little trouble. It only needs early cultivation to become a power.
If i were a boy again, I would look on the cheerful side. Life is very much like a mirrow. If you smile upon it, it smiles back upon you; but if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in return. Inner sunshine warms not only the heart fo the owner, but of all that come in contact with it. Who shuts love out, in turn shall be shut from love.
If I were a boy again, I would school myself to say"No" oftenner. I might write pages on the
importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand erect, and decline doing a unworthy act because it is unworthy.
If I were a boy again, I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends, and indeed towards stangers as well. The smallest courtesies along the rough roads of life are like the little birds that sing to us all winter long, and make that season of ice and snow more endurable. Finally, instead of trying hard to be happy, as if that were the sole purpose of life, I would , if I werea boy again, try still harder to make others happy..
假如我又回到了童年
假如我又回到了童年，我做事要更有毅力，决不因为事情艰难或者麻烦而撒手不干，我们要光明，就得征服黑暗。毅力在效果上有时能同天才相比。俗话说：“能登上金字塔的生物，只有两种——鹰和蜗牛。”
假如我又回到了童年，我就要养成专心致志的习惯；有事在手，就决不让任何东西让我分心。我要牢记：优秀的滑冰手从不试图同时滑向两个不同的方向。如果及早养成这种专心致志的习惯，它将成为我们生命的一部分。我常听成年人说：“虽然我希望能集中注意听牧师讲道或读书，但往往做不到。”而原因就是年轻时没有养成这种习惯。
假如我现在能重新开始我的生命，我就要更注意记忆力的培养。我要采取一切可能的办法，并且在一切可能的场合，增强记忆力。 要正确无误地记住一些东西，在开始阶段的确要作出一番小小的努力；但要不了多久，记忆力本身就会起作用，使记忆成为轻而易举的事，只需及早培养，记忆自会成为一种才能。
假如我又回到了童年，我就要培养勇气。一位明智的作家曾说过：“世上没有东西比勇气更温文尔雅，也没有东西比懦怯更残酷无情。” 我们常常过多地自寻烦恼，杞人忧天。“怕祸害比祸害本身更可怕。”凡事都有危险，但镇定沉着往往能克服最严重的危险。对一切祸福做好准备，那么就没有什么灾难可以害怕的了。
假如我又回到了童年，我就要事事乐观。生活犹如一面镜子：你朝它笑，它也朝你笑；
如果你双眉紧锁，向它投以怀疑的目光，它也将还以你同样的目光。内心的欢乐不仅温暖了欢乐者自己的心，也温暖了所有与之接触者的心。“谁拒爱于门外，也必将被爱拒诸门外。”
假如我又回到了童年，我就要养成经常说“不”字的习惯。一个少年要能挺得起腰，拒绝做不应该做的事，就因为这事不值得做。我可以写上好几页谈谈早年培养这一点的重要性
假如我又回到了童年，我就要要求自己对伙伴和朋友更加礼貌，而且对陌生人也应如此。在坎坷的生活道路上，最细小的礼貌犹如在漫长的冬天为我们歌唱的小鸟，那歌声使冰天雪地的寒冬变得较易忍受。 最后，假如我又回到了童年，我不会力图为自己谋幸福，好像这就是人生唯一的目的；与之相反，我要更努力为他人谋幸福.
No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!
In 1989 an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. In the midst of utter devastation and chaos, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, only to discover that the building was as flat as a pancake.
After the unforgettably initial shock, he remembered the promise he had made to his son: "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!" And tears began to fill his eyes. As he looked at the pile of ruins that
once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his commitment to his son. He began to direct his attention towards where he walked his son to class at school each morning. Remembering his son's classroom would be in the back right corner of the building; he rushed there and
started digging through the ruins.
As he was digging, other helpless parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying: "My son!" "My daughter!" Other well-meaning parents tried to pull him off what was left of the school, saying: "It's too late! They're all dead! You can't help! Go home! Come on, face reality, there's nothing you can do!" To each parent he responded with one line: "Are you going to help me now?" And then he continued to dig for his son, stone by stone. The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off the school's ruins saying, "Fires are breaking out, explosions are happening everywhere. You're in danger. We'll take care of it. Go home." To which this loving, caring American father asked, "Are you going to help me now?"
The police came and said, "You're angry, anxious and it's over. You're endangering others. Go home. We'll handle it!" To which he replied, "Are you going to help me now?" No one helped.
Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead?"
He dug for eight hours...12 hours...24 hours...36 hours...then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a large stone and heard his son's voice. He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!" He heard back, "Dad!?! It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised, No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you! You did it, Dad!" "What's going on in there? How is it?" the father asked.
"There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We're scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you're here. When the building collapsed, it made a triangle, and it saved us."
"Come out, boy!"
"No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, cause I know you'll get me! No matter what happens, I know you'll always be there for me!"