所谓美文,就是发表在报刊上的关于某篇课文的精美的赏析性短文或者教师自己撰写的此类文章。本文是优秀励志的英语美文，希望对大家有帮助!

优秀励志的英语美文：演好自己的角色(弗吉尼娅.塞尔)

Don’t Step Out of Character

By VIRGINIA SALE

ON A PLANE flying from Chicago to New York, my seat companion was a young girl who gave me a friendly smile as I sat beside her, but whose young face showed great sadness. Hesitantly, she told me she was on her way to the funeral of her seventeen-year-old brother, who had been killed in Korea. She also told me that her only other relatives were two brothers, both in the service, and that they had lost their eldest brother in the war in Europe. I wanted to say something to comfort her…I felt so useless…say something to comfort her…I felt so useless…All I could say was “I’m so sorry.” And I thought, “Just what can I do to help bring order and hope into the world today?” And the thought came to me, “I can pray and my prayers will tune in with other sincere prayers to create a mighty force for good and for peace in the world.”

As a girl I was fortunate in having old-fashioned, religious parents, and I often think of the old hymn my good father sang so lustily as stood beside him in church, “I need Thee every hour.” As I’ve grown older my philosophy has changed—in a way. I don’t think of God now as an old man with a long gray beard sitting up on a throne. I believe in a practical religion. What good is it unless I can use it to help solve my daily problems, large or small?

I am grateful for what I consider the most worthwhile things in my life—a happy marriage, a good husband, and a son and daughter who become infinite ly finer as they grow up. Success in my theatrical career has come second to these. However, no matter what my material blessings may be, I realize that my happiness must come from within myself. I can’t get back anything I don’t give out. Anybody knows a sure cure for the blues is to get out and do something nice for someone else.

I have had a wonderful opportunity, on my tours with my one-woman show, to meet fine, good people in every one of the seven hundred towns I’ve played. From them I know that good people predominate in every part of this country.

I love my work. I believe that laughter is a great soul cleanser, and I pray that my audiences may somehow be better off for having seen my show. I believe in blessing everything and everybody along the way. Sometimes I may have let stage fright and nerves rob me and my audience of my best performance. I have failed if I haven’t beforehand blessed everyone in my audience, everyone backstage, and, when I’m working in television, radio or motion pictures, everyone in the studio—my fellow actors and the director and technicians. I admire their courage, their goodhearted generous qualities.

What do I mean by “blessing”? Well, I first have a deep sense of gratitude to an audience, and a feeling of good will and good wishes, so that I know there is complete harmony between them and me, and I know they will like me because I really like them—that we will tune in together.

My late brother, the great character actor and comedian, Charles “Chic” Sale, said to me one time we were talking about spiritual things and about being perfect channels for expression_r: “The thing to do, kiddo, is to stay in character—be God’s child.” And I try never to forget this.

演好自己的角色

弗吉尼娅·塞尔

一次，在从芝加哥飞往纽约的航班上，我坐在一个年轻女孩旁边。我坐下时她对我友好地笑了一下，但她年轻的面孔却流露出深切的悲痛。迟疑中，她向我道出了原委——她此行是要去参加她弟弟的葬礼，弟弟只有十七岁，葬身在朝鲜战场。她的另两位兄弟是她仅有的亲人，都在服役，而她的大哥也已战死在欧洲。我很想安慰她……我觉得自己无能为力……只能对她说：“我很难过。”我想，为了世界有太平和希望，我能做什么呢?突然我想到了祷告。“我可以祷告，我的祷告与其他虔诚的祷告一定能汇聚成一股巨大的力量，让世界充满美好与和平。”

我是个幸运的女孩，父母的思想很传统，笃信宗教。我常记起儿时在教堂里，站在我身边的父亲经常满怀激情地哼唱一首古老的赞美诗，“上帝啊，我时时刻刻需要你!”长大以后我的人生信条在某种程度上有所改变。我不再认为上帝是一个坐在宝座上、留着长长白胡子的老头。我奉行的人生信条很现实。如果它不能帮我解决日常生活中大大小小的问题，那它有什么用呢?

对我来说，演艺事业的成功是次要的，人生最重要的是美满的婚姻、一个好丈夫和一双越来越有出息的子女。这些我都得到了，对此我心存感激。可是，无论我得到什么物质上的恩赐，真正的幸福必须源自我的内心。没有对他人的付出就不可能有任何回报。众所周知，随时准备行善才是根除忧愁的良药。

我的个人巡回演出给了我一个大好机会，使我结识了我所到的七百多个小镇上无数善良的人们。他们让我相信在这个国家毕竟好人还是占大多数。

我热爱我的工作。我相信欢笑能净化灵魂，我祈祷我的演出能让人们更加幸福快乐。我相信我一路上给每件事每个人送去的祝福。有时我可能怯场、紧张，无法向观众呈现最精彩的表演。我演砸了是因为没有事先为每位观众、每位后台的工作人员祈福，或是在电视台、广播电台、摄影棚拍电影时没有为我的搭档、导演、技师等每位演职人员祈福。他们都那么勇敢、善良、慷慨，令我钦佩不已。

我所说的“祈福”是什么意思呢?我首先对观众充满深深感激，然后对他们满怀美好的祝愿。这样一来我就知道我能和观众和谐互动，因为我真的喜爱他们，他们也会喜爱我——这样我们就能产生心灵的共鸣。

我已去世的哥哥查尔斯·“奇克”·塞尔是一位了不起的性格演员和喜剧演员。有一次我们谈起精神世界的话题，讨论完美的演技。我记得他对我说，“小家伙，做上帝的子民——这就是你要演好的角色”——这一点，我要努力永远铭记在心。

附注：

弗吉尼娅·塞尔：是一名多才多艺、工作勤奋的性格演员。

优秀励志的英语美文：演好自己的角色

弗吉尼娅·塞尔

一次，在从芝加哥飞往纽约的航班上，我坐在一个年轻女孩旁边。我坐下时她对我友好地笑了一下，但她年轻的面孔却流露出深切的悲痛。迟疑中，她向我道出了原委——她此行是要去参加她弟弟的葬礼，弟弟只有十七岁，葬身在朝鲜战场。她的另两位兄弟是她仅有的亲人，都在服役，而她的大哥也已战死在欧洲。我很想安慰她……我觉得自己无能为力……只能对她说：“我很难过。”我想，为了世界有太平和希望，我能做什么呢?突然我想到了祷告。“我可以祷告，我的祷告与其他虔诚的祷告一定能汇聚成一股巨大的力量，让世界充满美好与和平。”

我是个幸运的女孩，父母的思想很传统，笃信宗教。我常记起儿时在教堂里，站在我身边的父亲经常满怀激情地哼唱一首古老的赞美诗，“上帝啊，我时时刻刻需要你!”长大以后我的人生信条在某种程度上有所改变。我不再认为上帝是一个坐在宝座上、留着长长白胡子的老头。我奉行的人生信条很现实。如果它不能帮我解决日常生活中大大小小的问题，那它有什么用呢?

对我来说，演艺事业的成功是次要的，人生最重要的是美满的婚姻、一个好丈夫和一双越来越有出息的子女。这些我都得到了，对此我心存感激。可是，无论我得到什么物质上的恩赐，真正的幸福必须源自我的内心。没有对他人的付出就不可能有任何回报。众所周知，随时准备行善才是根除忧愁的良药。

我的个人巡回演出给了我一个大好机会，使我结识了我所到的七百多个小镇上无数善良的人们。他们让我相信在这个国家毕竟好人还是占大多数。

我热爱我的工作。我相信欢笑能净化灵魂，我祈祷我的演出能让人们更加幸福快乐。我相信我一路上给每件事每个人送去的祝福。有时我可能怯场、紧张，无法向观众呈现最精彩的表演。我演砸了是因为没有事先为每位观众、每位后台的工作人员祈福，或是在电视台、广播电台、摄影棚拍电影时没有为我的搭档、导演、技师等每位演职人员祈福。他们都那么勇敢、善良、慷慨，令我钦佩不已。

我所说的“祈福”是什么意思呢?我首先对观众充满深深感激，然后对他们满怀美好的祝愿。这样一来我就知道我能和观众和谐互动，因为我真的喜爱他们，他们也会喜爱我——这样我们就能产生心灵的共鸣。

我已去世的哥哥查尔斯·“奇克”·塞尔是一位了不起的性格演员和喜剧演员。有一次我们谈起精神世界的话题，讨论完美的演技。我记得他对我说，“小家伙，做上帝的子民——这就是你要演好的角色”——这一点，我要努力永远铭记在心。

附注：

弗吉尼娅·塞尔：是一名多才多艺、工作勤奋的性格演员。

一位女孩改变了我的生活

罗丝·雷斯尼克

我在童年和少年时代激情四溢，无时无刻不追求展现自我、磨砺才艺和体味生活。学校里的音乐、舞蹈和戏剧课让我欢欣不已，而剧院和音乐会更让我身心为之震颤，乡间流连的时光也同样美妙，还有我的书，那些厚重的盲文书籍无论在我乘车、用餐还是睡觉时都与我形影不离。

然而，一天晚上，在高中的一次舞会上，一句我无意中听到的话霎那间将我年少的幸福击碎——“那女孩是个瞎子，真可惜!”

瞎子——这个刺耳的字眼隐含着一个阴暗、漆黑、僵硬和无助的世界。我立刻转过身，大声喊道：“请不要为我叹惜，我很快乐!”——但我的快乐自此不复存在。

升入大学之后，我开始为生计而奔波。课余时间我教授钢琴及和声，临近毕业时还偶尔参加几次演奏会，做了几次讲座，可要维持生计光靠这些还是不够，与投入的时间和精力相比，它们在经济上的回报让人沮丧。这让我失去了自信和勇气，内心郁闷苦恼。眼看我的姐妹和伙伴们一次次兴高采烈地与人约会，我更觉消沉空虚。所幸的是，还有钢琴陪我。我沸腾的渴望和激情在肖邦、贝多芬、勃拉姆斯那里得到了共鸣。我的挫败感在他们美妙壮丽的音乐构想中消散。

直到有一天，我遇见一位女孩，一位出色的女孩，这名随军护士的信念和执著将改变我的一生。我们日益熟稔，成为好友，她也慢慢察觉出我的快乐的外表之下内心却时常愁云密布。她对我说，“门已紧锁，敲有何用?坚持你的音乐梦想，我相信机会终将来临。你太辛苦了，何不放松一下——试试祷告如何?”祷告?我从未想到过，听起来太天真了。一直以来，我的行事准则都是，无论想得到什么都必须靠自己去努力争取。不过既然从前的热诚和辛劳回报甚微，我什么都愿意尝试一番。

虽然有些不自在，我尝试着每天都祷告——“上帝啊，你将我送到世上，请告诉我你赐予我的使命。帮帮我，让我于人于己都有用处。”

在接下来的几年里，我得到了明确而满意的回答，超出了我最乐观的期望值。其中一个回答就是魔山盲人休闲营区。在那里，我和我的护士朋友每年都有幸看到失明的孩子们在大自然的怀抱中是多么生气勃勃。除此之外，朋友们真挚的友谊以及美妙的音乐都给我带来无穷无尽的欢乐和慰藉。最重要的是，我越来越意识到，在我日复一日的祷告中，当我聆听上帝的启示之时，我正日益与他靠近，并通过他接近永恒。

附注：

罗丝·雷斯尼克：于1934年毕业于亨特学院，之后又获得了加州大学的硕士学位，现为三藩市盲人康乐协会的执行主任。

优秀励志的英语美文：Two Commandments Are Enough

By Peggy Wood

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

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

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" outof its Sunday clothes it is unfamiliar to us, we don't know it very well. We may have differentinterpretations of the meaning of the word; to some it may mean "conscience," to others thatpart of our being given us with life. I believe with Dr. Schweitzer in the sanctity of life, that themiracle called life, which cannot be manufactured by man, does come from a source which wecall God, and that life and soul are the same. And yet when I am asked point-blank, "What doyou believe?" I hedge and play for time in my confusion by saying, "Well, now, that's a prettybig question."

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 thatthe sun and stars did not revolve around the earth and that therefore man was not the soleobject of celestial concern. Darwin dealt another blow and Freud's search into the operations ofour hidden selves shook our conviction that man could be made in the image of God.

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

As in moments of great grief the reeling emotions steady themselves by concentrating uponsmall physical occupations - the careful tying of a shoelace, the straightening of a crookedpicture on the wall, the tidy folding of a napkin - so I believe, in this heartbreaking world, intending to the simple familiar chores which lie at hand. 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: torespect the Giver of Life, and my duty towards my neighbor.

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

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

两诫足矣

佩吉·伍德

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。

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”。

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。

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。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”。

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。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。

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。

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。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。

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。

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。

附注：

佩吉·伍德：出生在布鲁克林，是一名演员及作家。