来自奥运之国的智慧

来自奥运之国的智慧

 

 

第三十一届夏季国际奥林匹克运动会正在巴西里约如火如荼地展开，全世界的目光都在聚焦巴西。值此机会，我想起了一位来自巴西的著名作家保罗·柯尔贺（Paulo Coelho）。我孤陋寡闻，直到三年前从Chioptle的外卖袋上读到他写的一篇《两只水桶》寓言故事时，才认识他、并开始关注和阅读他的作品。

 

柯尓贺生于1947年，年轻时是个浪子，不学无术，被父母送进过精神病院，1974年参加政治活动，坐过三次牢。1977年开始周游世界并写作，写了两本书，却无人问津。1988年出版了寓言小说《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》又译《炼金术士》(The Alchemist)，起初该书并没有被出版社看好，只印了900本。直到1990年，柯尔贺出版了另一部小说《少女布莱达灵修之路》后，《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》才引起关注，被译成英文版在美国发行后引起轰动，一时洛阳纸贵，在《纽约时报》畅销书排行榜停留了303周，后来被译成80多种语言出版发行，全球销量超过6500万册。这本书英译本只有160页，字数不多，字里行间却充满了人生智慧，书中有一千多名言警句被世人引用传颂。

 

巴西曾经是葡萄牙的殖民地，官方语言是萄萄牙语，19世纪独立后，一直在独裁统治之下，直到上世纪八十年代才实现民主政治，经济获得快速发展，被称为“金砖四国”之一。柯尓贺经历了从专制到民主的过渡时期，他周游世界的经历使他的思想得到升华和提炼。他的文字充满哲理和经过生活磨炼后的睿智，读第一遍的时候觉得新鲜、拍案叫绝，发人深思过后又觉得似成相识，原来我的骨子里头已经打上了我们老祖宗文化遗产的烙印。虽然人们生活在地球上的不同地方，但是生活经历中提炼出来智慧却是相通的。也许这就是人们常说的普世真理和普世价值吧！

 

我从柯尓贺的几千句名言警句中精选出几十个与大家分享，并试着用相对应的汉语名言来翻译，不妥之处请大家赐教。

 

     When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

当你真心想要什么的时候，整个宇宙都会与你共谋帮你实现你的心愿。或：精诚所至，金石为开。

 

When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.

上帝关上一扇门，随即又打开另一扇门。又译：塞翁失马，焉知非福？

 

Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

世界上没有绝对错的事情，甚至一只停摆的钟一天也有两次是正确的。

 

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

旁观者清，当局者迷。

 

Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.

事情发生一次也许是偶然，但是发生两次的事情一定会发生第三次。又译：

一次也许是偶然，但有二必有三。

 

No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.

地球离开谁都照转。因为人们互不隶属。自由的真谛是：可以享受世间最重要的东西却无需占有它。

 

Certain things in life simply have to be experienced -and never explained. Love is such a thing. 

生命中有些事情只可意会不可言传。爱情即如此。

 

People want to change everything and, at the same time, want it all to remain the same.

人们常常想改变一切，但同时又希望一切保持不变。

 

Travel is never a matter of money but of courage.

旅行无需钱财，而在乎勇气。

 

If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid.

人们因为恐惧而常被别人牵着鼻子走。

 

Writing means sharing. It's part of the human condition to want to share things - thoughts, ideas, opinions.

写作是为了与人分享。与人分享自己的思想、主意和观点是人的本能。

 

I think you can have 10,000 explanations for failure, but no good explanation for success.
你会为失败找一万个借口，但无需为成功找任何理由。

 

You’re someone who’s different, but who wants to be the same as everyone else. 

我们不屑与他人为伍，却又害怕与众不同。

 

You have two choices, to control your mind or to let your mind control you. 

你要么控制你的大脑，要么被它牵着鼻子走。

 

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering. 

等待很痛苦，遗忘也很痛苦，但是不知所措才是最大的折磨。

 

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

只有一样东西令梦想无法成真，那就是担心失败。

 

The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

失败是成功之母。

 

 

 

When I had nothing to lose, I had everything. When I stopped being who I am, I found myself.

当一个人不顾一切时他就会拥有一切：当一个人停止装逼时，他就会找到自我。

 

If you love someone, you must be prepared to set them free.

爱一个人就必须给她自由。

 

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

有人爱就有人被爱。爱无需理由。

 

It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.

最黑暗的时刻总是在黎明前。或译：

阳光（彩虹）总在风雨后。

 

If I am really a part of your dream, you'll come back one day.

如果你真心爱我，总有一天你会回到我的身边。或译：

有情人终成眷属。

 

Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.

良药苦口利于病，忠言逆耳利于行。

 

You are what you believe yourself to be.

有志者事竟成。

 

People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.

不听老人言，吃亏在眼前。

 

Anyone who loves in the expectation of being loved in return is wasting their time.

任何期望回报的爱都是徒劳的。或：爱是专心付出不求回报。

 

Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.

爱情是陷阱。当爱来临时，你的眼中只有阳光明媚，对阳光下的阴影却视而不见。

 

The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility.

真金不怕火炼，真爱经得起考验。

 

I am surprised how difficult for people is to say "I love you". They only say the three magic words when they are sure they will hear "I love you too" back. C'mon! Spread the energy of love without expecting anything! Cowards are incapable of expressing love; it is the prerogative of the brave.

我纳闷人们为什么羞于说“我爱你！”只有当他们确知自己的告白能得到对方的“我也爰你！”的回应后，才敢说这三个神奇的字眼。得了吧，懦夫！爱一个人一定要大胆地表白，不要怕被拒绝。

 

Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.

磨难让生命更加绚丽多彩。或译：磨难过后方显英雄本色。

 

When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.

你阳光，你的周围就变得温暖。

 

We pretend to be strong because we are weak.

我们表面坚强但内心懦弱。又译：打肿脸充胖子。

 

At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss.

在生命中的每一个瞬间，我们总是一只脚在童话世界，另一只脚却陷入深渊。

 

A fall from the third floor hurts as much as a fall from the hundredth. If I have to fall, may it be from a high place.

从三楼或一百层楼坠落对身体的伤害并无什么不同。如果我要跌倒，我宁愿从高处跌落。

 

And, when you can't go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward.

当你无路可退的时候，你只有勇往直前。或：既来之则安之。又：开弓没有回头箭。

 

It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.

平凡之中见伟大。

 

We must never stop dreaming. Dreams provide nourishment for the soul, just as a meal does for the body.

我们不可停止做梦，因为梦想是灵魂的食粮，正如身体需要饮食。

 

Happiness is something that multiplies when it is divide.

幸福只有与人分享才会更加幸福。

 

I'm not a body with a soul, I'm a soul that has a visible part called the body.

人不是因为有了身体才有灵魂，而是有了灵魂才用身体表现出来。

 

In fairy tales, the princesses kiss the frogs, and the frogs become princes. In real life, the pricesses kiss princes, and the princes turn into frogs.

在童话世界中，公主吻了青蛙，青蛙就变成了王子；而在现实生活中，公主吻了王子，王子就变成了青蛙。

 

...and that, in the end, the most interesting people always leave.

天下没有不散的宴席。

 

No matter how you feel today, get up, dress up & show up.

无论你今天感觉如何，一定要起床穿上衣服化好妆走上舞台。

 

Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him.

每个人的生命中都有一件宝贝在等待他去发掘。

 

What hurts us is what heals us.

吃一堑长一智。

 

If you conquer yourself, then you conquer the world.

要想征服世界，先要战胜自己。

 

Scars speak more loudly than the sword that caused them.

被剑刺留下的伤疤比剑更有说服力。或：行动比语言更有说服力。又：不要看人怎么说，要看他怎么做。

 

We humans have two great problems: the first is knowing when to begin; the second is knowing when to stop.

我们人类总是不知道如何善始善终。或：人类最大的悲哀是无法控制自己的生辰与死期。

[闲闲客]

不错！我也常常为老祖宗的智慧叫绝，能够千古流传的，都是芳华。