奥巴马写给女儿的建议:停止16件事(双语)
2015-01-26 11:51
来源:原版英语网
作者:
9 – Stop Wasting Time
9 别再浪费时间
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: time is the most valuable resource we have. Don’t waste your time on unproductive
things. If you want to explore the world’s dark corners, that’s great. I still associate with people who have not-so-kosher careers, but I don’t hang out with those people at the expense of my own short- and long-term goals。
虽然之前说过了,但我还想再说一遍:时间是我们拥有的最宝贵的资源,不要把时间浪费在没有意义的事情上面,如果你想探索这个世界的黑暗角落,很好。我也认识一些没有固定工作的一些自由职业者,但我不会以牺牲自己的短期长期目标为代价和他们出去玩乐。
10 – Stop Making Promises
10 别再做承诺
Always under-promise and over-deliver. When you make a promise, you’re adding responsibility to your plate that, despite all your best intentions, you may not be able to deliver on. More often than not, your promise is an absolute (i.e “I promise I’ll always love you”), and only Sith deal in absolutes. Instead of making a promise with your words, simply be there when people need you, and exceed their expectations with your actions。
总是做承诺,总是做不到。每次做承诺都是不禁给自己增添了责任,无论你的出发点有多好,你都不可能完成所有的部分。大部分时候,你的承诺都太过绝对(比如“我发誓我永远爱你”),也只能在绝对环境中才能实现。与其用语言许下承诺,不如在别人需要你的时候出现,然后用行动达到他们的期望吧。
11 – Stop Being a Pushover
11 不要做老好人
We live in a capitalistic society in which everyone’s trying to sell us something. Everyone’s looking out for themselves in one way or another, and you need to do the same. Stop putting yourself out because you’re too shy to say no。
我们所处的社会,每个人都试图告知我们一些事情。每个人都从不同的角度去找寻着自己,你也需要,你要做的就是在合适的时候说不。
12 – Stop Listening to Haters
12 不要听讨厌的人说话
No matter what you want to do in life, there’s always someone around to tell you why it can’t and won’t work. I can come up with millions of reasons Twitter won’t work, and yet it’s one of the most popular social media sites on the web. My opinion didn’t stop Twitter’s success any more than it convinced Kobe Bryant to quit the NBA or Josh Hartnett to stop acting. Why would you let someone’s opinion stop you?
无论你想干什么,总会有人告诉你不要这么做,没有用的。我可以想出成百万条推特不实用的理由,但它还是互联网上最流行的社交网站之一。我的想法不会阻止推特的成功,就像你无法劝科比退出NBA或乔什·哈奈特不要当演员了一样,都毫无意义。那么为什么要让别人的想法阻止你呢?
13 – Stop Being Wasteful
13 停止浪费
You don’t finish your meals, and away food instead. You leave the faucet
running when you brush your teeth, pouring precious water down the drain. You drive places you could easily walk, burning gasoline (a non-renewable resource)。 You are wasteful, and it needs to stop。
你饭没吃完,然后扔掉食物;刷牙的时候还开着水龙头,就让宝贵的水哗哗的流走;明明可以走到的地方你偏要开车,燃烧汽油(无法再生资源)。如果你浪费了,那就赶紧停止这一恶习。
14– Stop Littering
14不要乱扔垃圾
The only thing I hate more than wasteful people are litterbugs. Litterbugs are my least favorite bug, and there are more than you’d think. If you’ve ever thrown even one piece of gum, paper, candy wrapper, cigarette butt, etc on the ground, you’re a disgusting litterbug, and you should be ashamed of yourself. There are over 7 billion people in the world – if each person only throws one “innocent” piece of garbage on the ground, that’s 7 billion pieces of garbage littering a world in which nobody “did it”。
唯一一个让我觉得比浪费的人更可恶的就是垃圾虫。垃圾虫最让我厌恶,而且永远多的让你数不清。如果你曾扔过一块口香糖,一张纸、糖果包装、烟蒂,那么你就是恶心的垃圾虫。你应该感到耻辱。世界上有超过70亿的人——如果每个人都无意识的扔一点垃圾,那么全世界就会变成70亿垃圾场,哪怕没有罪魁祸首。
Your one decision makes a HUGE difference, and I will not allow you to blow it off and walk around with your head held high. You’re a litterbug, and it needs to stop immediately. You don’t get a lifehack for this one, you filthy animal. Just stop – you already know how。
你的一个决定会产生深远的影响,我不赞成你去大马路大声高呼。如果你是垃圾虫,那么就需要马上停止了,也许不会救命,但能让你不那么惹人厌。停止这一举动吧,你知道该怎么做的。
15 – Stop Taking Everything Personally
15别把每件事太往心里去
People get offended about the strangest things. Take Kendrick Lamar’s now-infamous verse on “Control” this summer: he called out a list of a dozen rappers he thinks he’s better than (and he’s right)。 The internet went crazy, and rappers all over the industry rushed to their mics to record a response. The thing is, all K-Dot said is he’s the best rapper. Everyone took it personally, and that’s exactly what he was going for. The lesson to learn from this is that not everything is about you, and if you’re easily upset, someone will use that to their advantage。
人们会因为一些奇怪的事情感到被侵犯。就拿Kendrick Lamar这个夏天备受争议的歌曲《Control》为例:他在歌词中挑衅了一些他认为比他弱的说唱歌手(的确是这样),一石激起千层浪,整个说唱界的歌手都蜂拥录歌作为回击。重点在于,所有的人都认为自己是最好的说唱者,每个人都更看重自己,这就是他的目的所在。这件事教给我们的无非就是不是所有的事都要围着你转,如果你是玻璃心,有人会利用这一点。
16 – Stop Talking
16 不要再说话了
Sometimes it’s best to just STFU – especially in relationships. I can’t even count how many times I created an issue that didn’t need to be an issue simply because I opened my mouth. Even if what you want to say is important, just shut up and ride it out. You can say more with your actions than words, and you can’t listen when you’re talking。
有时候沉默是金——特别在情侣关系里。我都记不清到底多少次因为说错话引发了本可以避免的争端。即使你想说的非常重要,那也闭嘴,自行消化。你可以用行动证明一切,毕竟你自己说话的时候是听不见的。
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(责任编辑:何莹莹)
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