简短的英语美文

“We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…”

I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.

We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.

I want the future to be better than the past. I don’t want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.

The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.

When someone looks into your eyes they should see something alive within you. Having a dream is like owning a lighthouse1 which directs you on your journey.

At every turn we come across its mystery. At each new level we become more of the person we were meant to become. In lonely times, when we pass through a storm of disappointment, we find our faith is unshaken, our strength still strong.

Believe in your faith. Set the vision before your eyes. Write down your most sincere dreams and when the opportunity comes, step into your dream. It may take one season or more, but the result is the same. Make big dreams and then go out and make them realities. The highest hopes of the dreamer are revealed with every step taken in their journey to the impossible. For a season we must protect the dream so that it can grow quietly on the inside. But if we tenderly care for our deepest expectations, slowly but surely the dream will become new life.

Dreaming is an act of faith. The light of your expectations will cast off the shadows of a disbelieving world. God has given us the dreamer as a gift to light an unbelieving world.

Find your treasure within and cherish it. Tomorrow is waiting for you to take the first step.

The Power of Your Actions

Graduation day arrived — I saw Kyle and he looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him!

Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach... but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

I stared at my friend in disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

There is no beginning or end ... Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift.

对于美文，品之终身受益,丰富思想,升华境界;读之甘之如饴,滋养心灵,净化灵魂。下面是我带来的简单英文美文，欢迎阅读!

给年轻朋友的一封信Letter to a Young Friend

My dear friend

亲爱的朋友

I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural inclination you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of man, and therefore the state in which you will find solid Happiness.Your Reason against entering into it at present appears to be not well founded. The Circumstantial Advantages you have in view by Postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that makes the complete human Being, Separate she wants his force of Body and Strength of Reason; he her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are most likely to succeed in the World. A single man has not nearly the value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal.He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissors.

我知道没有药物能够消除你们所提到的那种疯狂的自然倾向;即使我知道,我想我也不该告诉你.婚姻是适当的药物。它是人类最本能的状态, 因此是一种最幸福的生活状态。你拒绝现在进入婚姻殿堂的理由显的不够充分.你认为推迟婚姻可能存在好处,不仅不一定实现，而且,那些利益跟婚姻本身以及婚后的安定相比起来就微不足道了。男人和女人只有联合起来才能组成完整的人.女人缺乏男人的力量和周密的推理,而男人缺乏女人的温柔、感性和敏锐的洞察力。因此当男人和女人联合起来。就能够无往不胜。单身和离婚生活的男男女女不可能具有婚姻生活中的价值，是一种不完善的动物。他简直好比半把剪刀--孤掌难鸣。

If you get a prudent, health wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

如果你拥有一位健康而谨慎的妻子，你的辛勤工作，加上她的勤俭节约，必定会创造充足的财富。

Your Affectionate Friend

您真挚的朋友

坦诚Frankness

You must study to be frank with the world:frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do, on every occasion. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot. You would wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.

在世间必须学会以真诚示人：率真乃是诚实与勇敢之子。无论在何种场合，都应该道出自己的真实想法。如果朋友对你有所求，对于合情合理之请，应该欣然同意;不然，应该明明白白地告诉朋友拒绝的理由。任何模棱两可的话语将会让别人误解，也会使自己蒙受冤屈。

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one. The man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice. Deal kindly but firmly with all your classmates. You will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to others what you are not.

千万不要为了结交朋友或者挽留友情而做错一事。对你有这种要求的人也会付出沉重的代价。与同学真心相对，绝不背叛。你将发现这是最有效用的准则。总之，要以真实面目示人。

If you have any fault to find with any one, tell him, not others, of what you complain. There is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to do one thing before a man's face and another behind his back. We should say and do nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only a matter of principle, but also the path of peace and hornor.

如果发现某人身有瑕疵，直接告诉他你的意见，而不是诉之他人。人前一套，背后又是一套，没有什么比这更加危机四伏。任何有损他人的言语或者事情我们都应该避免。这不仅是一种做人的原则，而且也是通向平和的人际关系、获得他人尊敬之道。

墓园沉思Thoughts in a grave yard

When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, even inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents of themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hunderd years ago, I consider that great when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together.

当我瞻仰伟人的坟墓，心中所有的嫉妒顿时烟消云散;当我读到伟人的悼文，所有的非分之想顷刻消失殆尽;当我遇见在墓碑旁悲痛欲绝的父母亲，我的心中也满怀同情;当我看到那些父母亲自己的坟墓，我不禁感慨：既然我们很快都要追随逝者的脚步，悲伤又有何用。当我看到国王与那些将他们废黜的人躺在一起，当我想到那些争斗一生的智者，或是那些通过竞争和争执将世界分裂的圣人们被后人并排葬在一起，我对人类的那些微不足道的竞争、内讧和争论感到震惊和悲伤。当我看到一些坟墓上的日期，有的死于昨日，而有的死于六百年前，我不禁想到，有那么一天我们都会在同一个时代同时出现在世人眼前。