如何简化你的生活：英语精读讲义

It's well understood by good parents, 短語搭配

优秀的父母都明白，

that life should only ever get so exciting for a baby. 語法

对婴儿来说，生活中的刺激应该适可而止。

After friends have come round and brought presents and made animated faces, 短語動詞

当朋友们来访，带来礼物并做着夸张的表情逗弄之后，

after there's been some cake and some cuddles, 表達脈絡

在吃过蛋糕、有过很多拥抱之后，

after there's been a lot of bright lights and perhaps some songs too,

在经历了许多闪烁的灯光，也许还有一些歌曲之后，

enough is enough. 習語

就已经足够了。

The baby will start to look stern and then burst into tears 習語

婴儿会开始表情严肃，然后放声大哭。

and the wise parent knows that nothing is particularly wrong,

明智的父母知道并没有什么大问题，

though the baby may by now be wailing. 講解

尽管婴儿此时可能正在嚎啕大哭。

It's just time for a nap.

这只是到了该小睡的时间。

The brain needs to process,

大脑需要处理、

digest and divide up the welter of experiences that have been ingested. 講解

消化并分类那些刚摄入的杂乱体验。

And so the curtains are drawn, 語法

于是拉上窗帘，

baby is laid down next to the soft toys and soon it's asleep and calm descends. 習語

把宝宝放在毛绒玩具旁躺下，很快他就会睡着，平静降临。

Everyone knows that life is going to be a lot more manageable again in an hour.

大家都知道，一小时后生活就会再次变得更加井然有序。

Sadly, we exercise no such caution with ourselves. 短語搭配

遗憾的是，我们对自己却没有这种谨慎。

We schedule a week in which we're going to see friends every night,

我们会把一周的日程排满，每天晚上都要去见朋友，

in which we're going to do 12 meetings,

在这一周里我们要参加12个会议，

three of them requiring a lot of preparation,

其中3个还需要大量的准备工作，

where we'll make a quick overnight dash to another country on the Wednesday, 短語搭配

周三还要连夜匆匆飞往另一个国家，

where we'll watch three films, read 14 newspapers,

我们要看3部电影，读14份报纸，

change six pairs of sheets,

换6套床单，

have five heavy meals after 8:00 p.m. and drink 30 cups of coffee.

晚上8点后吃5顿大餐，喝30杯咖啡。

And then we lament that our lives are not as calm as they might be 語法

然后我们却抱怨自己的生活不够平静，

and that we're close to mental collapse.

抱怨自己濒临精神崩溃。

We refuse to take seriously how much of our babyhood is left inside our adult selves 短語搭配

我们拒绝认真审视在我们成人的外表下，还残留着多少婴儿的特性，

and therefore how much care we have to take to keep things simple and very, very calm.

因而忽略了我们需要花多少心思来保持生活的简单和极其平静。

What registers as anxiety is typically no freakish phenomenon. 講解

那些被视为焦虑的情绪，通常并非什么反常现象。

It is the mind's logical,

它是我们的大脑在进行合乎逻辑、

enraged plea not to be continuously and exhaustingly overstimulated.

愤怒的恳求，请求不要再经受持续不断且令人筋疲力尽的过度刺激了。

These are some of the things we may need to do to simplify our lives.

以下是我们可能需要采取的一些简化生活的措施。

It is theoretically a privilege to have a lot of people to see and things to do.

从理论上讲，有很多人要见、有很多事要做是一种特权。

It is also, psychologically speaking, 表達脈絡

但从心理学角度来说，这也会

exhausting and ultimately therefore rather dangerous.

令人精疲力竭，最终因此变得相当危险。

The manner of expression is a little dated and brutal

尽管表达方式有些过时和残酷，

and one might want to quibble over the exact timings, 短語動詞

人们可能也会对具体的时间划分有所挑剔，

but this point from Friedrich Nietzsche remains acute. 用詞

但弗里德里希·尼采的这个观点依然犀利。

Today, as always,

如今，和过去一样，

men fall into two groups,

人被分为两类：

slaves and free men.

奴隶和自由人。

Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself is a slave, 語法

任何不能将一天中三分之二的时间留给自己的人，就是奴隶，

whatever else he may be, 語法

不管他还有什么其他身份，

a statesman, a businessman, an official or a scholar.

无论他是政治家、商人、官员还是学者。

We need to recognize that what is physically possible for us to achieve in a day

我们需要认识到，我们在一天内能够突破体能去实现的事情，

is not for that matter psychologically wise or plausible. 表達脈絡

在心理上却未必是明智或合理的。

It may well be feasible to nip over to a foreign capital or two in a day and run a company alongside managing a household, 講解

一天之内飞往一两个外国首都、在经营公司的同时兼顾家庭，或许确实可行，

but nor should we be surprised if such routines ultimately contribute to a breakdown. 語法

但如果这样的日常安排最终导致了精神崩溃，我们也不应感到惊讶。

Plenty of it, of course,

当然，需要很多，

at least seven hours

至少七个小时，

or if we can't manage it,

如果我们做不到，

we need at a minimum fully to recognize how much we are deprived, 短語搭配

我们至少需要充分认识到自己被剥夺了多少休息时间，

so that we won't aggravate our sorrows by searching for abstruse explanations for them. 講解

这样我们就不会因为寻找深奥的理由来解释自己的悲伤，而加重了痛苦。

We don't necessarily have to get divorced, 語法

我们不一定非要离婚、

retrain in a completely different profession or move country.

完全换个行业重新接受培训，或者移居国外。

We may just need to get some more rest.

我们可能只是需要多休息一下。

What we're taking in when we check our phones is perhaps the single greatest contributor to our mental ill health. 短語動詞

我们查看手机时吸收的信息，可能是导致我们心理健康问题的最大单一因素。

For most of history,

在历史的长河中，绝大多数时候，

it was inconceivable that there could ever be such a thing as too much news. 短語搭配

新闻太多这种事是无法想象的。

Information from political circles or foreign countries was rare, prized and expensive.

来自政界或国外的信息罕见、珍贵且昂贵。

But since the middle of the 20th century,

但自20世纪中叶以来，

news has been commodified and in the process it's become a major, though still too little known, risk to our mental survival. 講解

新闻被商品化了，在此过程中，它已成为我们精神生存的一个重大却鲜为人知的风险。

Every minute of every day presents us with untold options for filling our minds with the mania, exploits, disasters, furies, reversals, triumphs, 短語搭配

每一天的每一分钟，都给我们提供了无数选择，让我们的头脑被周围这个愚昧星球上完全陌生的人的狂热、功绩、灾难、愤怒、逆转、胜利、

insanity and cataclysms of complete strangers all around our benighted planet.

疯狂和灾变所填满。

Always news organizations speak of our need to know and the need to know right now. 表達脈絡

新闻机构总是大谈我们需要知道，而且需要马上知道。

But what they've left out is our equally great and often even greater need not to know 短語動詞

但他们遗漏的是，我们同样强烈、甚至更强烈地需要“不知道”，

because we can't change anything,

因为我们改变不了任何事，

because the stories are too violent, dispiriting and sad,

因为这些故事太暴力、令人沮丧和悲伤，

because our minds are fragile,

因为我们的内心是脆弱的，

because we have responsibilities closer to home, 習語

因为我们在离家更近的地方有责任要尽，

because we need to lead our own lives rather than be torn apart by stories of the lives of others 習語

因为我们需要过自己的生活，而不是被别人的故事撕裂，

who are ultimately as remote from and irrelevant to us as the inhabitants of the Egyptian court of King Sneferu in late 2613 BC. 語法

这些人对我们来说，最终就像公元前2613年底埃及斯尼夫鲁国王宫廷里的居民一样遥远且无关紧要。

Insomnia and anxiety are the mind's revenge for all the thoughts we refuse to have consciously during the day. 習語

失眠和焦虑是大脑对我们白天拒绝有意识地去想的那些念头的报复。

In order to be able to find rest,

为了能够找到内心的安宁，

we need to carve off chunks of time where we have nothing to do other than lie in bed with a pad and paper in order to think. 講解

我们需要划出大块的时间，在这段时间里我们除了带着纸笔躺在床上思考之外，什么都不做。

We need to consider three topics in particular.

我们需要特别思考三个问题。

Firstly, what's making me anxious?

第一，是什么让我焦虑？

Secondly, what's causing me pain and how?

第二，是什么让我感到痛苦，又是如何引起的？

And thirdly, what's exciting me?

第三，是什么让我感到兴奋？

We need to sift through the chaotic contents of our minds. 短語動詞

我们需要筛选大脑中混乱的内容。

Every hour of living requires at least 10 minutes of sifting.

活着的每一个小时，都至少需要10分钟的筛选。

Of course, it might be pleasant to be extraordinary, famous and world-beating, 表達脈絡

当然，能成为非凡、出名和举世无双的人可能会很愉悦，

but maybe it will be an even greater achievement to stay sane and kind.

但也许，保持理智和善良将是一个更大的成就。

We might opt not to conquer the world in favor of living a longer and more serene life. 語法

我们可能会选择不去征服世界，而是去过一种更长久、更宁静的生活。

We're not backing away from a challenge, 短語動詞

我们不是在退缩以逃避挑战，

we're simply shifting our sense of what the real challenge might be

我们只是在改变对什么是真正挑战的看法，

and more importantly, where the real rewards may lie. 習語

更重要的是，在改变对真正的回报在哪里的看法。

A quiet life isn't necessarily one of resignation or flight. 語法

宁静的生活并不一定意味着屈服或逃避。

It may constitute a supremely wise recognition

它可能构成了一种极其明智的认知，

that the truly satisfying things are available away from the spotlight and the big cities, 習語

即真正令人满足的事物是在远离聚光灯和大城市的地方，

on modest salaries

领着微薄的薪水，

and as far as possible from the manic, sleepless competition to win the professional status race. 習語

尽可能远离为了赢得职业地位而进行的疯狂、不眠不休的竞争。

As we're discovering, 表達脈絡

正如我们正在发现的，

excitement can be fun for a time,

兴奋感在一段时间内可能很有趣，

but also it kills.

但它也会致命。

Simplicity is true wisdom.

简单才是真正的智慧。

We may need a lot more naps.

我们可能需要更多的小睡。

Do you need a detox from your devices?

你需要戒断你的电子设备吗？

Our phone detox is designed to help give you a well-deserved break from your phone.

我们的手机戒断方案旨在帮助你从手机中获得当之无愧的休息。