True Nobility

真正的高贵

In a calm sea

在风平浪静的海面上

every man is a pilot

每一个人都可以成为领航员

But all sunshine without shade

但是假如只有阳光而没有阴影

all pleasure without pain

只有欢乐而没有痛苦

is not life at all

那就全然不是人生

Take the lot of the happiest

就拿最幸福的人来说吧

-it is a tangled yarn

——他们的命运是一团纠缠的纱线

Bereavements and blessings one following another

丧亲之痛和神恩赐福此起彼伏

make us sad and blessed by turns

让我们悲欢交替

Even death itself makes life more loving

甚至连死亡本身都让人生更为可爱

Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life

人们在生命的庄严时刻

最接近真实的自我

under the shadows of sorrow and loss

在哀伤和丧亲的阴影之下

In the affairs of life or of business

在生活或事业的各种事务之中

it is not intellect that tells so much as character

才智的效用远不如性格

not brains so much as heart

头脑的效用远不如心性

not genius so much as self-control

patience

and discipline

regulated by judgment

天资远不如由判断力所约束的自制、耐心与教养

I have always believed that

我一向认为

the man who has begun to live more seriously

内心开始生活得更为严谨的人

within begins to live more simply without

他外在的生活会开始变得更为简朴

In an age of extravagance and waste

在一个奢侈浪费的时代

I wish I could show to the world

但愿我能够向世人表明：

how few the real wants of humanity are

人类真正的需求是多么的稀少

To regret one's errors

反思自己的过错

to the point of not repeating them is true repentance

以至于不重蹈覆辙才是真正的悔悟

There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man

比他人优越并无任何高贵之处

The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self

真正的高贵在于超越过去的自我