Dreams Are the Stuff of Life
Read the article quickly and answer the following questions.
1. How does the author think of job?
2. What’s the world like in the author’s mind?
I believe I’ m a very lucky man.
My entire life has been lived in the healthy area between too little and too much. I’ve never experienced financial or emotional insecurity, but everything I have, I’ve attained by my own work, not through indulgence, inheritance or privilege.
Never having lived by the abuses of any extreme, I’ve always felt that a workman is worthy of his hire, a merchant entitled to his profit, an artist to his reward.
As a result of all this, my bargaining bump may be a little underdeveloped, so I’ve never tried to oversell myself. And though I may work for less than I know I can get, I find that because of this, I’m never so afraid of losing a job that I’m forced to compromise with my principles.
Naturally in a life as mentally, physically, emotionally and financially fortunate as mine has been, a great many people have helped me. A few meant to, most did so by accident. I still feel I must reciprocate. This doesn’t mean that I’ve dedicated my life to my fellow man. I’m not the type. But I do feel I should help those I’m qualified to help, just as I’ve been helped by others.
What I’m saying now is, I feel, part of that pattern. I think everyone should, for his own sake, try to reduce to six hundred words the beliefs by which he lives—it’s not easy—and then compare those beliefs with what he enjoys—not in real estate and money and goods, but in love, health, happiness and laughter.
I don’t believe we live our lives and then receive our reward or punishment in some afterlife. The life and the reward... the life and the punishment—these to me are one. This is my religion, coupled with the firm belief that there is a Supreme Being who planned this world and runs it so that “no man is an island, entire of himself...” The dishonesty of any one man subverts all honesty. The lack of ethics anywhere adulterates the whole world’s ethical content. In these—honesty and ethics—are, I think, the true spiritual values.
I believe the hope for a thoroughly honest and ethical society should never be laughed at. The most idealistic dreams have repeatedly forecast the future. Most of the things we think of today as hard, practical and even indispensable were once merely dreams.
So I like to hope that the world need not be a dog-eat-dog jungle. I don’t think I’m my brother’s keeper. But I do think I’m obliged to be his helper. And that he has the same obligation to me.
In the last analysis, the entire pattern of my life and belief can be found in the words “Do not do unto others that which you would not have others do unto you.” To say “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” somehow implies bargaining, an offer of favor for favor. But to restrain from acts which you, yourself, would abhor is an exercise in will power that must raise the level of human relationship.
“What is unpleasant to thyself,” says Hillel, “That do not unto thy neighbor. This is the whole law.” and he concluded. “All else is exposition.”
我相信自己是一个幸运的人。
我一生生活都平稳，毫无波澜。我从未经历过经济危机或情感危机，但我拥有的一切并不是依靠溺爱、遗产或特权，而是通过自身努力工作得来的。
生活中的我从不滥走极端，我始终认为工人就应当工作，商人就应当获利，艺术家就应当获取报酬。
正因如此，我讨价还价的能力没有丝毫长进，所以我从不试图过分吹嘘自己。尽管我知道自己的酬劳少于实际应得的，但我仍会继续工作。我发现，这样一来，我从未因害怕失业而做出任何违背原则的事。
的确，像我这种在精神、身体、情感与经济上都如此幸运的人，少不了很多人曾给予的帮助。有些帮助是刻意的，但大多数则是偶然为之，尽管如此，我依然认为必须报答他们。这并不是说我为同胞们奉献出了自己的一生，我也不是那样的人。但我觉得应该尽自己所能去帮助他人，就像别人帮助我一样。
我认为，现在所说的这些正是我信仰中的一部分。即使很难，但为了自身利益，每个人都应将生活的信仰缩减至600字，并将其与他所享有的东西做比较——不比拥有的房产、金钱和物品，而是比爱、健康、幸福和欢笑。
我不相信，今生的生活方式会在来世遭到报应。生活与奖赏，生活与惩罚，对我而言，都是同一回事。这就是我的信仰，与之紧紧相连的，是我坚信上帝创造并操纵着这个世界，使“任何人都不是独立的孤岛！”某一个人的欺诈会破坏所有人的正直。无论何处的道德沦丧了，都会使整个社会的道德变质。我认为，只有诚实与道德才拥有真正的精神价值。
我相信，永远不应嘲笑对构建拥有诚实与道德的社会的期望。最理想化的梦想往往预示着未来。如今我们觉得实在、实用甚至不可或缺的许多东西，曾经也只是梦想。
因此，我希望这个世界不再是自相残杀的世界。我不认为自己是多管闲事的人。但我觉得自己有义务去帮助他人，就像他人也有义务帮助我一样。
总而言之，“无论做什么，你希望别人如何待你，就要如何对待别人。”这句话正好涵盖了我的生活与信仰的全部。“要想别人如何待你，你也要如何对待别人。”暗示着礼尚往来的交易。然而，不做连自己都痛恨的事则是对意志力的一种磨炼，这也会使人际关系有所改善。
希勒尔说：“己所不欲，勿施于人。这就是全部法则。”他还概括说，“余下的所有只是对它的阐述。”
心灵小语
梦想可以激发一个人生命中所有的潜能，并使人走向成功。任何人的成功和任何奇迹的产生都是梦想发挥作用的结果，都是苦心经营策划追求奋斗的结晶。梦想可以成就未来，可以使美好化为现实。
Ace in the Hole
Keywords and expressions
oblige, obliged, obligation
oblige
作动词：帮助别人，特别是别人曾经向你求助过，常用于oblige to do sth。
例：We only went to the party to oblige some old friends who especially
asked us to be there.
我们去参加聚会，一些老朋友迫切要求我们过去。
obliged
作形容词：感激的，多用于对别人帮助的感激。
例：I’m much obliged to you for helping us.
非常感谢你能帮助我们。
obligation
作名词：义务，职责。
例：We were under obligation to finish the work in a satisfactory way.
我们有义务圆满地完成工作。
Chunks in Practice
Translate the following sentences into English or Chinese.
1. Great benefits accrue to society as a result of education.
______
2. 有这样一个对手，倒是我们的幸运。
______
3. 他的社会职责使得他不得不进行一系列访问。
Now a Try
What do you think about the author’s attitude towards life?
