“燕雀安知鸿鹄之志”是大多数人耳熟能详的励志古训,许多类似名言还被书写成扁额,悬挂在客厅。下面是小编带来的英语励志美文，欢迎阅读!

英语励志美文精选

Give Part of Yourself Away乐于奉献

By DR.HAROLD TAYLOR

哈罗德.泰勒博士

We are living in one of those periods in human history which are marked by recolutionary changes in sll of man's ideas and values. It is a time when every one of us must look within himself to find what ideas, what beliefs, and what ideals each of us will live by.

慷慨与对人类行善力量的信心是人类天生的美德，这便是我人生哲学的基础。如果人类能够有机会发挥自己的力量，那么这一人生哲学就能够使人充满活力，富有创新精神，对未来充满信心。我们所生活的这个时代，是人类历史上思想与价值充满革命性变化的一个时代。在这样的时代背景中，我们必须从自身寻找生活所需的思想、信仰与理想。

And unless we fins these ideals,and unless we stand by them firmly, we have no power to overcome the crisis in which we in our world fins ourselves.

除非我们找到这些理想，并恪守它们，否则当面临世人都会遇到的危险时，我们根本无力抗争。

I believe in perople, in sheer, unadulterated humanity, I believe inlistening to what people have to say, in helping them to achieve the things which they want and the things which they need. Naturally,there are peop;e who behave like beasts, who kill,who cheat, who lie and who destroy. But without a belief in man and a faith in his possibilities for the future, there can be no hope for the future, but only bitterness that the past has gone. I believe we must, each of us, make a philosophy a philosophy by which we can live.

我信仰人类，信仰透明、纯粹的人性。倾听人们的心声，帮助他们达成所愿，得到需要的东西，这也是我的信仰。当然，有些人类的行为如同禽兽一般，他们杀戮、欺诈、哄骗、破坏。但是，如果不相信人类，不相信人类创造未来的可能，那我们就会对未来失去希望，只能苦叹往日已逝。我相信，我们每个人都必须树立自己的生活哲学。

There are people who make a philosophy out of believing in nothing. They say there is no truth,that goodness is simply cleverness in disguising your own selfishness.

也有人以质疑一切为自己的生活哲学。他们说，世间没有真理，所谓的仁慈不过是对自己自私自利的伪装。

They say that life is simply the short gap in between an unpleasant birth and an inevitable death. There are others who saythat man is born inti evil and sinfulness and that life is a process of purification through suffering and that death is the reward for having sufferes.

他们认为，生活不过是痛苦出生与必然死去间的短暂瞬间。而其他人则认为，人性本恶，生命是历尽苦难的净化过程，而死亡则是一切苦难的解脱。

There are others who say that man is a kind of machine which operates according to certain laws, and that if you can learn the laws and seize the power to manipulate the machine, you can make man behave autmatically to serve whatever ends you have in mind.

还有人说，人就好比一台遵循一定规则运转的机器，如果你了解其中的规则，掌控了操纵权，就能够将他人掌控手中，让他们为满足你的意愿而服务。

I believe these philosophies are false. The most important thing in life is the way it it lived,and there is no such thing as an abstract happiness,an abstract goodness or morality, or an abstract anything,except in terms of the person who believes and who acts.

我认为，这些所谓的哲学皆是谬论。人生最重要的事情就是以何种方式生活，除了人的信仰与将信仰付诸于行动之外，再没有任何抽象的幸福、善良或美德，也没有任何空泛的事物。

There is only the single human being who lives and who through every moment of his own personal living experience, is being happy or unhappy,noble or base, wise or unwise, or simply existing.

唯有一个活着或仅仅存在着的人，亲身体验着生活中的每一刻，感受着快乐或悲伤、高尚或卑微、睿智或愚笨。

The question is: How can these individual moments of human experience be filled with the richness of a philosophy which can sustain the indicidual in his own life?Unless we give part of ourselves away,unless we can live with other people and understand them and help them,we are missing the most essential part of our own human lives.

丰富的哲学是支撑生命的力量之源，但问题是，如何才能将这种哲学充分应用到人生经历的每一个瞬间呢?除非我们乐于奉献，除非我们能够与人们一起生活并帮助他们，否则我们的人生就失去了最重要的意义。

The fact that the native endowment of the young mind is one of liberalism and confidence in the powers of man for goos is the basis of my philosophy.And if only man can be given a free chance to use his powers, this philosophy will result in a boundless flow of vital energy and a willingness to try new things,combined with a faith in the future.

慷慨与对人类行善力量的信心是人类天生的美德，这便是我人生哲学的基础。如果人类能够有机会发挥自己的力量，那么这一人生哲学就能够使人充满活力，富有创新精神，对未来充满信心。

There are as many roads to the sttainment of wisdom and goodness as there are people who undertake to waik them.There are as many solid truths on which we can stand as there are people who can search them out and who will stand on them. There are as many ideas and ideals as there are men of good will who will hold them in their minds and act them in their lives.

世间有多少行路者，通往善良与智慧的途径就有多少。世间有多少真理，就有多少探索、坚持真理的人。有多少信念与理想，就有多少仁人志士在生活中奉行并实现它们。

英语励志美文阅读

Two Commandments Are Enough两诫足矣

By Peggy Wood

佩吉·伍德

Occasionally my mother used to announce that she was going to take time out from the day's activities "to rest," she would say, "and to invite my soul." She always put the phrase in quotes, in order, I expect, to divert the facetious remarks which might arise from the worldly or practical-minded folk within earshot or disarm those who might feel "soul" was a Sunday word not to be used in everyday conversation.

过去，我母亲不时会宣布她要在每天的事务中抽出点时间来“休息”一下——“我要招待自己的灵魂”，她说这些话时总是用手势做个引号。我猜这是因为她不想被那些世故或讲求实际的家伙听到后开她的玩笑，或是让那些觉得“灵魂”这个词仅仅在礼拜日才会用的人放心。

But she meant to do exactly what she said, "invite my soul."

但母亲所想的和她所说的确实是一回事，也就是“要招待自己的灵魂”。

The pressure of the modern world is so great upon us today that we find little time for rest, physical rest, let alone leisure for spiritual reception. Thus, when we take the word "soul" out of its Sunday clothes it is unfamiliar to us, we don't know it very well.

现代社会带给我们太多的压力，让我们几乎找不到时间让身体得到休息，更不用说抽时间来款待自己的心灵。所以，当我们脱下“灵魂”这个词的宗教外衣，它就变得如此陌生，我们并未真正了解它。

We may have different interpretations of the meaning of the word; to some it may mean "conscience," to others that part of our being given us with life.

我们对“灵魂”这个词也许有不同的理解：有人认为它指的是“良心”，有人认为它是指我们生命中生而有之的那一部分。

I believe with Dr. Schweitzer in the sanctity of life, that the miracle called life, which cannot be manufactured by man, does come from a source which we call God, and that life and soul are the same. And yet when I am asked point-blank, "What do you believe?" I hedge and play for time in my confusion by saying, "Well, now, that's a pretty big question."

我认同史怀哲医生的观点，认为生命是神圣的，生命这一奇迹不可能来自人类的创造，它的源头就是我们所说的上帝，而生命和灵魂本就是一体的。可是，当有人直截了当地问我，“你的信仰是什么?”我不免有些困惑，只好支支吾吾、闪烁其词地说，“哦，这个嘛，这是个很复杂的问题”。

It is not altogether the pressure of the modern world which has clouded our comprehension; "the simple faith of our fathers" got a nasty jolt when Copernicus propounded his theory that the sun and stars did not revolve around the earth and that therefore man was not the sole object of celestial concern.

我们认识上的困惑并不完全来自现代社会带来的压力。哥白尼提出太阳和星辰并非围绕着地球转，这一理论严重动摇了“我们祖辈单纯的信仰”，如此一来，人类不再是上天唯一的眷顾。

Darwin dealt another blow and Freud's search into the operations of our hidden selves shook our conviction that man could be made in the image of God.

达尔文又给了人们当头一棒，弗洛伊德对人们隐藏的自我所进行的探索再次动摇了我们关于人可能是按照上帝的形象所创造出来的信念。

It might be said that such matters affect only dogma and not belief, and yet the mounting complexities of man's discoveries about himself and the world he lives in increase so with the years it is little wonder man cries out for something simple and enduring in which to believe.

这些也许只影响到教义而非信仰，但随着这些年来人们对自身以及世界的认识日趋深入、日渐复杂，人们为何需要某种简单而持久的信仰便毫不奇怪了。

As in moments of great grief the reeling emotions steady themselves by concentrating upon small physical occupations - the careful tying of a shoelace, the straightening of a crooked picture on the wall, the tidy folding of a napkin - so I believe, in this heartbreaking world, in tending to the simple familiar chores which lie at hand.

在极度悲伤的时候，聚精会神做些琐事可以平复自己纷乱的情绪——仔仔细细地系好鞋带，把墙上倾斜的图画挂正，或是将餐巾叠得整整齐齐。同样，在这个令人伤心的世界上，我们也应把手边那些司空见惯的日常琐事处理好。

I believe I must keep my doorstep clean, I must tidy up my own backyard. I need keep only the two great commandments to live by: to respect the Giver of Life, and my duty towards my neighbor.

我认为我应该把自家门前清扫干净，我应该保持自家后院的整洁。我只需要遵循两条最重要的训诫，一是对造物主心存尊敬，一是对邻里尽到职责。

I believe that people deeply revere these two commandments (upon which hang all the laws and the prophets) and suffer personal distress when they are broken. When the property owners in South San Francisco refuse to let a Chinese family move into their district, when flaming crosses are burned and when the homes of decent people are bombed, we are all aware that our own doorsteps have been sullied and the human neighborhood besmirched.

我相信这两条训诫深得人们的敬畏(所有的法律与预言都建立在这两条训诫之上)，而当它们被破坏时人们就会陷入苦痛之中。当三藩市南部的居民不让一家中国人搬入他们社区时，当十字架在熊熊火焰中燃烧、善良人的家园被炸毁时，我们都意识到自家的家门口遭到了玷污，人类的社区已变得肮脏。

If I am too puny to grasp the cosmic contours I believe I can at leave live my faith within my own small orbit, gaining in strength from others until that time when all men can rest - and invite their souls.

如果弱小的我无法掌握宇宙的特征，至少我能在自己窄小的轨道里按我的信念生活，从其他人那里获得力量，直到有一天所有的人都能休息一下——去招待自己的灵魂。

英语励志美文学习

Philosophy from a Tugboat拖船的哲理

George Young

乔治•扬

One night many years ago I was on the bridge of a ship that passed one of our large cities on a quiet night. I saw its lights reflected in the sky and heard the rumblings of the city’s noises.

多年前的一个晚上，我在宁静的夜色中乘船经过某个大都市。站在舰桥上，我眺望着万家灯火辉映在夜空中，聆听着城市的喧嚣。

As I looked to my other side, I could see nothing but open space of darkness and endless water. I realized how small I was and that my own problems of life did not seem great.

而在我的另一侧，除了无尽的黑暗与无边的海水之外什么也看不到。刹那间，我意识到自己是多么的渺小，生活中的一切烦恼也显得微不足道。

I have spent twentyfive years on boats. Now I am a docking pilot. My job is to bring in the large luxury liners and stay with them until they are safely moored in their berths. Sometimes this requires two tugs, sometimes many more, depending on the tide, the weather, and the draft of the vessel.

我在船上生活了25年，如今是一名港口领航员，负责将大型豪华客轮引航入港，直到它们安全地靠港。这项工作有时需要两艘拖船，或者更多，这要根据潮水、天气以及船只的吃水度而定。

Most of you no doubt have seen these tugs pushing and pulling at the big liners. What they are doing doesn’t seem to make much sense, but presently the big boat is alongside her pier, her hawsers made fast, and the job is done.

不用说，很多人都见过拖船拖拉巨轮的情景。看上去拖船的工作似乎微不足道，很快巨轮就可以停泊就位，下牢锚链，拖船也就完成了任务。

These tugs, whether one or ten, move about in accord with whistle signals I send them from the bridge of the big liner. These signals make up a language that is just as dependable as the spoken word; or even more so, because our docking signals are rarely misunderstood.

无论一艘还是10艘拖船，它们的行动都是听命于我在巨轮舰桥上的鸣笛信号。这些信号便是一种语言，它的可靠程度可与口头语言相比，甚至有过之而无不及。这是因为我们的汽笛信号几乎不会被误解。

The captain of each tug does his work according to the signals he receives. He never asks questions. He takes everything on faith, and it always works out.

每艘拖船的船长会根据接收到的指令严格行动。而对于我的指挥，他们毫无疑问且完全信任，因此我们的配合一直很默契。

Working around tugboats, where so much depends on teamwork, has had its effect on what I believe. I believe that if I am to attain a successful place in the world I must have the help of my fellow man just as the great transatlantic liners depend on the help of the little tugs to bring them safely to port.

对于我的工作而言，团队合作尤为重要，这也影响着我的人生观。我相信，如果没有同伴们的帮助，我绝对不会有今天的成功，正如远洋航行的万吨巨轮要想安全入港停泊，还得依靠小小拖船的帮助一样。

I felt very important the first time I ever docked a big liner. She came riding up the harbor on a flood tide and towered high over the stout little tug that carried me. As we drew alongside, a doorway opened almost at water level and two smartly rigged sailors helped me aboard.

第一次将巨轮引航入港时，我感觉自己相当了不起。那艘巨轮乘风破浪驶向海港，高塔般矗立在我所在的矮墩拖船前。当我们靠近船边时，舱门打开到水平面一样的高度，我在两名衣着讲究的船员的帮助下登上了船。在他们的陪同下我走上舰桥，从船长手中接过船的“指挥棒”。

I was escorted to the bridge where I took over from the captain. I realized I was in control of a great ship worth millions of dollars and the owners were depending on me to bring her safely to her berth. After I had docked several of the large liners, I realized I was not important, but simply the quarterback who called the signals.

我意识到，自己正在掌控一艘价值百万美金的巨轮，而它的主人正依靠我将它安全停泊。后来，在引领了几艘同样的巨轮入港后，我明白自己不过是一个传达信号的人而已，没有什么了不起的。

In spite of what we read in the newspapers, I have a great faith in this country and I pray that a peaceful understanding will come to this unsettled world, so that my children can grow up in a world that will give them happiness instead of bloodshed. I believe this will come about.

不管每天从报纸上读到多少坏消息，我依然对国家充满信心。我祈祷着和平与理解降临到这个动乱的世界，让我的孩子们能够在一个幸福而非血腥冲突的世界中生活。我相信这一天终会到来。

I remember the understanding and sympathy that took over this country, back in 1949, when a little girl named Kathy Fiskus fell into an abandoned well out in California. Engineers and sandhogs and people in all walks of life worked almost three days, and when they got her out she was dead.

我还记得，在1949年，一个名叫凯西•菲丝库斯的小女孩失足跌入了加利福尼亚的一口废井之中，全国的人们都对她充满了同情与关爱。当工程师、隧道工以及各行各业的人们经过三天三夜的努力将她从井底救出来时，她已经没有了呼吸。

People sent in thousands of dollars in rescue funds, but those who did the work and furnished the equipment wouldn’t take money. They worked for bigger stakes. I talked to captains of foreign ships that came into New York Harbor, and they were just as concerned as we Americans over the tragedy.

人们为营救工作捐了数千美金，但是营救人员及提供器械的人们却分文未收。他们之所以奋力救人是为了比钱更重要的东西。当时，我曾对驶入纽约港的一些国外客轮船长提及此事，他们也一样被深深地感动了。

I believe some way will be found to work together for world peace with the same sympathy and understanding that people worked to rescue little Kathy Fiskus. I believe God will someday bring this about.

我相信，如同人们营救小凯西一样，他日我们也定能用同样的同情与理解赢来世界的和平。我相信，上帝总会让我如愿以偿的。