Life grows in the soil of time

　　生命在時(shí)間的土壤里成長(zhǎng)

　　What I believe, what I value most, is transitoriness.But is not transitoriness - the perishableness of life - something very sad? No! It is the very soul of existence. It imparts value, dignity, interest to life. Transitoriness creates time - and "time is the essence." Potentially at least, time is the supreme, most useful gift.

　　短暫是我的信仰，也是我認(rèn)為最重要的東西。然而短暫，如生命的消逝，不是非常哀傷的事情嗎?不!它正是生命存在的精髓。它賦予了生命價(jià)值、尊嚴(yán)和情趣。短暫創(chuàng)造了時(shí)間——而“時(shí)間正是其本質(zhì)”。至少，時(shí)間是至高的，是最有用的禮物。

　　Time is related to - yes, identical with - everything creative and active, every process toward a higher goal.

　　Without transitoriness, without beginning or end, birth or death, there is no time, either. Timelessness - in the sense of time never ending, never beginning - is a stagnant nothing. It is absolutely uninteresting.

　　時(shí)間與所有富有創(chuàng)造力和活力的事物，及每一個(gè)達(dá)到更高目標(biāo)的進(jìn)步息息相關(guān)——是的，它甚至等同于這一切。

　　沒(méi)有短暫，沒(méi)有開(kāi)始與結(jié)束、生與死，時(shí)間也就不復(fù)存在。永恒是毫無(wú)意義的停滯，它意味著時(shí)間永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有結(jié)束，也永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有開(kāi)始，絕對(duì)令人乏味。

　　Life is possessed by tremendous tenacity. Even so its presence remains conditional, and as it had a beginning, so it will have an end. I believe that life, just for this reason, is exceedingly enhanced in value, in charm.

　　One of the most important characteristics distinguishing man from all other forms of nature is his knowledge of transitoriness, of beginning and end, and therefore of the gift of time.

　　生命頑強(qiáng)無(wú)比。即便如此，它的存在也依賴于一定的條件，正如它有始亦有終。也因如此，我堅(jiān)信，生命的價(jià)值與魅力將會(huì)不斷地增長(zhǎng)。

　　人同自然界其他事物之間最重要的區(qū)別之一就是，人懂得短暫、始與終，所以也了解時(shí)間是一種恩賜。

　　In man transitory life attains its peak of animation, of soul power, so to speak. This does not mean alone would have a soul. Soul quality pervades all beings. But man's soul is most awake in his knowledge of the interchangeability of the term "existence" and "transitoriness".

　　To man time is given like a piece of land, as it were, entrusted to him for faithful tilling; a space in which to strive incessantly, achieve self-realization, more onward and upward. Yes, with the aid of time, man becomes capable of wresting the immortal from the mortal.

　　可以這么說(shuō)，在人身上，短暫的生命達(dá)到了其活力與精神力量的巔峰。這并不是說(shuō)只有人擁有靈魂。萬(wàn)物皆有靈性。但是對(duì)于“存在”與“短暫”的可互換性，只有人的大腦才能最清楚地意識(shí)到。

　　對(duì)于人類來(lái)說(shuō)，時(shí)間就如賜予的一片土地，等待他去辛勤耕種;是一個(gè)讓他不斷奮斗進(jìn)取，實(shí)現(xiàn)自我價(jià)值，不斷前進(jìn)向上的空間。是的，在時(shí)間的幫助下，人可以從有限的生命中獲得永恒。

　　Deep down, I believe - and deem such belief natural to every human soul - that in the university prime significance must be attributed to this earth of ours. Deep down I believe that creation of the universe out of nothingness and of life out of inorganic state ultimately aimed at the creation of man. I believe that man is meant as a great experiment whose possible failure of man's own guilt would be paramount to the failure of creation itself.

　　Whether this belief be true or not, man would be well advised if he behaved as though it were.

　　在內(nèi)心深處，我相信宇宙中最為重要的當(dāng)屬我們的地球，并認(rèn)為這樣的信念存在于每一個(gè)人的心中。從內(nèi)心深處，我相信混沌中宇宙的創(chuàng)造，無(wú)機(jī)中生命的萌芽，最終都是為了創(chuàng)造人類。我相信人類本身便是一項(xiàng)偉大的實(shí)驗(yàn)，它可能會(huì)因人類自身的罪惡而失敗，但這也成為創(chuàng)造本身最主要的失敗。

　　無(wú)論這個(gè)信仰是否真實(shí)，人類如果能依此行事，將會(huì)獲得更為有益的忠告。