如果我们感到很疲惫,就算是在走路,也会入睡的。举个例子:我13岁时,父亲要将一车肥猪运往密苏里州的圣桥城,因为他有两张免费的火车票,就带我一起去了。在那之前,我从未到过一个人口在四千人以上的镇子。当我来到了这个人口达六千人的圣桥城时,我激动万分。看到六层高楼和电车,我惊愕极了。时至今日,当我闭上眼睛,电车仍然历历在目。当我经历了人生中最刺激和兴奋的一天后,父亲和我坐上回家的火车。火车到站时已经是凌晨两点,我们不得不步行四英里回到农场。我感到非常疲惫,几乎是边走边睡。我过去经常骑着马就睡着了。这些往事到现在我还记忆犹新。
当一个人感到非常疲惫时,就算是雷鸣声或面临战争的恐怖和危险,他都可以安然入睡。著名的神经科医师福斯特·肯尼迪博士对我说,1918年,英国第五军退军时,他亲眼目睹筋疲力尽的士兵昏迷般地倒地而睡,即使拨弄他们的眼皮,也无法醒来。他说他注意到,所有熟睡的人的眼球都是向上翻的。“从那以后,”肯尼迪医士说,“当我睡不着时,我就把眼球往上翻,一会儿我就开始打哈欠,并感到非常困倦了。这是一种不受自我支配的条件反射。”
没有人可以用不睡觉的方法来自杀的,从来没有。无论一个人的意志多顽强,都逃不过自然的力量。我们可以长时间不吃东西,不喝水,但是我们绝对不能长时间不睡觉。
说到自杀,我就想起一个事例来,那出自亨利·林克所著的《人类的再发现》一书。林克博士是心理社团的副团长,他经常会与一些心理焦虑和沮丧的人交谈。在《消除恐惧与忧虑》那一章中,他谈到了一个想要自杀的人,林克博士明白争辩只会让事情更糟,所以他对这个人说:“如果你选择了这条自杀之路,那你至少要勇敢一些。绕着街区一直跑,跑到累死为止。”
这个人真的这样做了,他试了很多次,每次都会感到舒服一些,这种感觉只表现在心理上,而不是身体上。到了第三天晚上,林克博士终于达到了他的最初目的——这个人非常疲惫地像一块圆木似的睡着了(身体上的放松)。之后,他加入了体育俱乐部,开始参加竞技运动。不久,他再次感到心情愉悦,并希望好好地活下去。
无论一个人的意志多顽强,都逃不过自然的力量。
hypnosis [hip'nusis] n. 催眠状态;催眠
No one can explain exactly what hypnosis is.
没有人能解释清楚催眠术是怎么回事。
tuck [tk] v. 卷起;挤进;用某物舒适地裹住
Please tuck up the chair and put it side.
请把椅子折起来放在一边。
agog ['] adj. 兴奋的;有强烈兴趣的
The villagers were agog for the news.
村民们很兴奋地急于听那消息。
horror ['hr] n. 惊骇;极端厌恶;令人恐怖的事物
Do you like horror movies?
你喜欢恐怖电影吗?
如果我们感到很疲惫,就算是在走路,也会入睡的。
无论一个人的意志多顽强,都逃不过自然的力量。
他再次感到心情愉悦,并希望好好地活下去。
She was depressed and worried and had difficulty in going to sleep.
have difficulty in:对……有困难;在某方面有困难
If you have trouble sleeping, get hold of Dr. Fink' s book, Release from Nervous Tension, which I have mentioned earlier.
get hold of:抓住;得到;把握
46超越自我
True Nobility
欧内斯特·海明威 / Ernest Hemingway
In a calm sea every man is a pilot.
But all sunshine without shade, all pleasure without pain, is not life at all. Take the lot of the happiest—it is a tangled yam.
Bereavements and blessings, one following another, make us sad and blessed by turns. Even death itself makes life more loving. Men come closest to their ture selves in the sober moments of life, under the shadows of sorrow and loss.
In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells so much as character, not brains so much as heart, not genius so much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated by judgment.
I have always believed that the man who has begun to live more seriously within beginning to live more simply without. In an age of extravagance and waste, I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are.
To regret one' s errors to the point of not repeating them is true repentance. There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
风平浪静的海面上,人人都可以成为舵手。
然而,没有阴影只有阳光,没有痛苦只有快乐,那根本不是人生。即便对于最幸福的人来说,生活也只是一团纠缠的纱线。
亲人的死亡和上天的赐福交替而来,让我们既悲伤又快乐。即便死亡本身也会让人生显得更加可爱,在悲伤及失去的阴影下,人生清醒的时刻,人们才最接近他们真实的自我。
在生活或事业中,智力所发挥的作用不及品格,头脑不及心境,天才不及由判断力所规范的自制、耐心和纪律。
我一直相信,内心生活越严谨的人,他的外在生活越俭朴。在这个奢侈浪费的时代,我希望能让人们知道,人类真正的需求是多么少。
悔恨自己的过失,并做到不再犯错,才是真正的悔过。超越他人算不上什么高尚,真正的高尚在于超越自我。
tangled ['t鎙d] adj. 纠缠的;缠结的;紊乱的;复杂的
We were caught in a tangled web of relationships.
我们陷进了错综复杂的关系网。
discipline ['disiplin] n. 纪律;学科;训练;惩罚
The soldiers showed perfect discipline under fire.
士兵在枪林弹雨中严守军纪。
extravagance [ik'str鎣ns] n. 奢侈;浪费;过度;放肆的言行
We must combat extravagance and waste.
我们必须反对铺张浪费。
previous ['pri:vjs] adj. 以前的;早先的;过早的
He was there the previous day.
他前一天还在那儿。
风平浪静的海面上,人人都可以成为舵手。
悔恨自己的过失,并做到不再犯错,才是真正的悔过。
超越他人算不上什么高尚,真正的高尚在于超越自我。
Bereavements and blessings, one following another, make us sad and blessed by turns.
by turns:轮流;交替
There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man.
be superior to:优越于
48摆脱贫困的七大秘籍
Seven Cures for a Lean Purse
乔治·克拉森 / George Clason
Good King Sargon was lamenting the state of the city. The rich were getting richer and poor poorer. All of the gold of the city has found its way into the hands of "a few very rich men of our city."
"Why should so few men be able to acquire all the gold?" said the King.
"Because they know how," replied the Chancellor. "One may not condemn a man for succeeding because he knows how."
"Who knows best in all our city how to become wealthy, Chancellor?" Asked the King.
"Your question answers for itself, your majesty. Who has amassed the greatest wealth in Babylon? Arkad." replied the Chancellor.
Arkad was invited to appear before the King. The start of the conversation sums up the topic.
"How makes you so wealthy?" asked the King.
"Only a great desire for wealth. Besides this, nothing." stated Arkad.
"Is there any secret to acquiring wealth? Can it be taught?" asked the King.
"It is practical, your majesty. That which one man knows can be taught to others." replied Arkad.
The King wished for the knowledge that Arkad had accrued to be shared with the city folk. The King selected the "Chosen Hundred" to sit with Arkad.
The great man stood before the hundred and explained how he had had nothing as a youth other than an empty purse. He sought every remedy for a lean purse and found seven. The Seven Cures for a Lean Curse:
1. Start your purse to fattening.