Ambition 抱负

作者: Joseph Epstein (美国作家)

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents.

我们无法选择出生，无法选择父母。

We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.

我们无法选择出生的历史时期与国家，或是成长的周遭环境。

We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death.

我们大多数人都无法选择死亡，无法选择死亡的时间或条件。

But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live, courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift.

但是在这些无法选择之中，我们的确可以选择自己的生活方式：是勇敢无畏还是胆小怯懦，是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻，是目标坚定还是随波逐流。

We decide what is important and what is trivial in life.

我们决定生活中哪些至关重要，哪些微不足道。

We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do.

我们决定，用以显示我们自身重要性的，不是我们做了什么，就是我们拒绝做什么。

But no matter how indifferent the universe is to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make.

但是不论世界对我们所做的选择和决定有多么漠不关心，这些选择和决定终究是我们自己做出的。

We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed.

我们决定，我们选择。而当我们决定和选择时，我们的生活便得以形成。

In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.

最终构筑我们命运的就是抱负之所在。

来自网络