生活的艺术（节选）
By J.B. Priestley
陈玉娇 译
The art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go. For life is a paradox: It enjoins us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains their eventual relinquishment. The rabbis of old put it this way, “A man comes to this world with his fist clenched,but when he dies, his hand is open.”
生活的艺术在于懂得何时牢牢坚持，何时放弃。因为生活本身就是自相矛盾的：它一面告诫我们要紧紧抓住它的诸多恩赐，一面又注定将它们全部收回。古时候的拉比学者如此诠释这个道理：“一个人是紧握拳头来到这个世界的，而撒手人寰时，他的手掌却是摊开的。”
Surely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wondrous. We know that this is so,but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what was and then suddenly realize that it is no more.
我们当然应该牢牢抓住生活，因为它无比美妙。我们明白这是对的，却常常直到追忆往事，在回首间突然发现美好生活已然不再时，才领会这个道理。
We remember a beauty that faded,a love that waned.But we remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered, that we failed to respond with love when it was tendered.
我们忘不掉凋零的美好，忘不掉消退的爱情，但更痛苦的是，我们忘不掉在美丽绽放时自己没有欣赏那份美丽，在柔情蜜意时没有用爱去回应。
Never too busy for the wonder and the awe of life. Be reverent before each dawning day. Embrace each hour.Seize each golden minute. 永远不要因为过于忙碌而忽视了生活的美好和庄严。虔诚地迎接每一个黎明。拥抱每一个小时。抓住美好的每一分钟。
Hold fast to life..,but not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of life's coin, the opposite pole of its paradox:We must accept our losses,and learn how to let go.
牢牢抓住生活，但不要抓得太紧，以至于你无法放手。这便是人生硬币的另一面，是矛盾的另一极：我们必须接受失去，并学会如何放手。
