今天用英语20170714

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在《傅雷家书》中，傅雷曾在写给儿媳的信中写道：

“如果你可以在旧书店里找到一本罗素的《幸福之路》，也请用心阅读，这本书虽然是三十年前写的，可是因为书中充满智慧及富有哲理的话很多，这些话永远不会过时，所以对今日的读者，仍然有所裨益。”（当时写信的时间为1961年6月）

刚好我读到以上文字的时候已经读过《幸福之路》部分内容，印象极为深刻，感觉非常认同傅雷先生的评价。现将书中第十四章第一段摘抄如下：

WORK

“Whether work should be placed among the causes of happiness or among the causes of unhappiness may perhaps be regarded as doubtful question. There is certainly much work which is always very irksome, and an excess of work is always very painful. I think, however, that, provided work is not excessive in amount, even the dullest work is to most people less painful than idleness. There are in work all grades, from mere relief of tedium up to the profoundest delights, according to the nature of the work and the abilities of the worker. Most of the work that most people have to do is not in itself interesting, but even such work has certain great advantages. To begin with, it fills a good many hours of the day without the need of deciding what one shall do. Most people, when they are left free to fill their own time according to their own choice,  are at a loss to think of anything sufficiently pleasant to be worth doing. And whatever they decide on, they are troubled by the feeling that something else would have been pleasanter. To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level. Moreover, the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome. Except to people with unusual initiative it is positively agreeable to be told what to do at each hour of the day, provided the orders are not too unpleasant. Most of the idle rich suffer unspeakable boredom as the price of their freedom from drudgery. At times they may find relief by hunting big game in Africa, or by flying round the world, but the number of such sensations is limited, especially after youth is past. Accordingly, the more intelligent rich men work nearly as hard as if they were poor, while rich women for the most part keep themselves busy with innumerable trifles of whose earth-shaking importance they are firmly persuaded.”

If you feel tired about your work, you may read the words above.

本周必须要记录的笔记：

来自脱不花的《能量管理清单》：

“最补充能量的方法，是做创造性的事情，而不是休息。大部分的精疲力竭，是因为长时间的无聊。”

Creating something may really boost you and bring you profound delights, just like children get happiness and satisfaction from drawing or making things.

本文除摘录部分，其余内容为原创。