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Listen to part of a lecture in a literature class.
請聽一段文學課上的演講。
All right, so let me close today's class with some thoughts to keep in mind while you are doing tonight's assignment.
好的，那么趁著你們做今晚的作業，讓我再強調一下一些需要你們記住的思考問題，以此結束今天的課程。
You will be reading one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's best-known essays 'Self-Reliance' and comparing it with his poems and other works.
你們會讀到拉爾夫沃爾多艾默生最為著名的論述文《自立》并將其與他的詩歌和其他著作進行比較。
I think this essay has the potential to be quite meaningful for all of you as young people who probably wonder about things like truth and where your lives are going-all sorts of profound questions.
我想這篇論述文對你們來說很有意義，作為年輕人你們很可能想知道什么是真理以及你們的生活方向，所有各種深奧的話題。
Knowing something about Emerson's philosophies will help you when you read 'Self-Reliance'.
懂一些艾默生的哲學原理有助于你們讀懂《自立》。
And basically, one of the main beliefs that he had was about truth.
而基本上說，他的主要信條就是關于真理。
Not that it's something that we can be taught, Emerson says it's found within ourselves.
真理不是我們可以教就學到的，艾默生說真理存在于我們自身。
So this truth, the idea that it's in each one of us, is one of the first points that you'll see Emerson making in this essay.
所有，真理，這種我們相互都有的想法，就是你們要讀懂艾默生論文的第一點。
It's a bit abstract but he's very into…ah…
這有點抽象，但是他就在，啊，
into each person believing his or her own thought, believing in yourself, the thought or conviction that's true for you.
就在每個人的身邊，那些相信自己想法的人身上，信自己，自己覺得是真理的想法和信念。
But actually, he ties that in with a sort of 'universal truth' – something that everyone knows but doesn't realize they know.
而事實上，艾默生把自己的想法與一種“普遍真理”聯系起來，一種每個人都知道，但是他們不清楚自己知道的東西。
Most of us aren't in touch with ourselves in a way, so we just aren't capable of recognizing profound truth.
我們很多人不能夠以某種方式認識到自己，所以我們不能夠領悟到深刻的真理。
It takes geniuses, people like, say, Shakespeare, who're unique because when they have a glimpse at this truth, this universal truth, they pay attention to it and express it and don't just dismiss it like most people do.
這種真理需要天才，比如像莎士比亞這樣的人，他們獨一無二，因為當他們捕捉到真理，這種普遍真理的時候，他們會有所注意，將其表達出來，而不像我們中的很多人一樣，忽視其存在。
So Emerson is really into each individual believing in and trusting him or herself.
所以艾默生對那些相信并信任自己的人很感興趣。
You'll see that he writes about, well, first, conformity.
你們會看到他寫的內容是關于， 首先，呃，一致性。
He criticizes that people of his time for abandoning their own minds and their own wills for the sake of conformity and consistency.
他批判跟他同時代的人，因為他們拋棄了自己的理想和愿望，就是為了獲得一致性和一貫性的利益。
They try to fit in with the rest of the world even though it's at odds with their beliefs and their identities.
盡管他們的行為與自己的信念和身份不一致，他們還是試著融入到其他人的世界中去。
Therefore, it's best to be a non-conformist – to do your own thing, not worrying about what other people think.
因此，最好的方法就是不尊奉習俗，要我行我素，不用介意其他人如何看待自己。
That's an important point.
這點是非常重要的。
He really drives this argument home throughout the essay.
艾默生確實通過自己的文章闡明了這一點。
When you are reading, I want you to think about that and why that kind of thought would be relevant to the readers of his time.
當你們讀這篇文章的時候，我要你們思考這一點，以及這種想法為什么會和他同時代的讀者相關。
Remember this is 1838, 'Self-Reliance' was a novel idea at the time and the United State's citizens were less secure about themselves as individuals and as Americans.
記住，在 1838 年，“自立”是一種新穎的想法，而美國公民作為擁有美國國籍的個體不是很認同自我。
The country as a whole was trying to define itself.
整個國家都在試圖定義自我。
Emerson wanted to give people something to really think about, help them find their own way and what it meant to be who they were.
艾默生想給人們提供可以付之思忖的東西，幫他們找到自己的處世途徑和自我認識。
So that's something that I think is definitely as relevant today as it was then, probably, um, especially among young adults like yourselves, you know, uh, college being a time to sort of really think about who you are and where you're going.
這一點就是我所認為的以前跟現在都通用的相關性， 也許，嗯，特別是像你們這樣的成年人中，你知道的，大學的時候，你們就必須考慮自己的定位和發展方向。
Now we already said that Emerson really emphasizes non-conformity, right, as a way to sort of not lose your own self and identity in the world, to have your own truth and not be afraid to listen to it. Well, he takes this a step further.
現在，我們已經說到了艾默生確實把重點放在了不尊奉習俗上，對吧，作為一種不失去自我和在這個世界上的定位，認識到自己的真我，不要害怕去傾聽靈魂的呼喚。艾默生更進一步闡釋了這點。
Not conforming also means, uh, not conforming with yourself or your past. What does that mean?
不尊奉習俗，呃，意味著不屈服于你的自己和你的過去。什么意思呢？
Well, if you've always been a certain way or done a certain thing, but it's not working for you any more, or you're not content,
嗯，如果你一直遵循某一種方式或做某一件事情，但這種方式不再適合你抑或你不滿足于自己。
Emerson says that it'd be foolish to be consistent even with our own past.
艾默生說即便我們對過去保持始終如一也是愚蠢的行為。
'Focus on the future,' he says, “That's what matters more.
他說：“把目光投向未來，這才是重要的。
Inconsistency is good.”
不要始終如一是件好事。
He talks about a ship's voyage and this is one of the most famous bits of the essay.
他講到關于一艘航行的船的例子，這是該篇文章中最為人知的部分。
how the best voyage is made up of zigzag lines.
最成功的航行都有曲折的航線。
Up close, it seems a little all over the place, but from farther away, the true path shows and in the end it justifies all the turns along the way.
在開始一段航行后，曲折似乎到處都是，但是在到更遠的地方去吼，真正的路線便會顯現出來，最后所有沿路的迂回曲折都會被證明是值得的。
So, don't worry if you are not sure where you're headed or what your long-term goals are.
所以，如果你不知道自己方向或長期目標，千萬別當心。
Stay true to yourself and it'll make sense in the end.
保持真我，最終一切都會是值得的。
I mean, I can attest to that.
我想這點我可以證明。
Before I was a literature professor, I was an accountant.
在我還不是文學教授的時候，我當過會計。
Before that, I was a newspaper reporter.
在那之前，我曾是一名報社記者。
My life is taking some pretty interesting turns and here.
我的生活經歷了幾次有趣的轉變，
I am, very happy with my experiences and where they've brought me.
現在我是文學教授。我對很喜歡自己的經歷，它們造就了現在的我。
If you rely on yourself and trust your own talents, your own interest, don't worry, your path will make sense in the end.
如果你們依靠自己相信自己有天賦，你自己的興趣所在，那么別當心，最終你的道路會變得清晰。
