I was not a big fan of Hemingway. I read in my early 20s, and was not thrilled. Recently, however I came across a vignette which changed my mind. I can now appreciate the beauty of his writing and echo his thinking. I would like to translate and share it with you. Hopefully you will feel the vibration too.
《The true nobility》 -by Ernest Hemingway
In a calm sea every man is a pilot.
But all sunshine without shades, pleasure without pain, is not life at all. Take the lot of the happiest – it is a tangled yarn. Bereavements and blessings, one following another, make us sad and blessed by turns. Even death itself makes life more loving. Men come closet to their true selves in the sober moment of life, under the shadows of sorry and loss。
In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells so much as character, not brains so much as heart, not genius so much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated by judgment.
I have always believed that the man who begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without. In an age of extravagance and waste, I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are.
To regret one’s errors to the point of not repeating them is true repentance. There is nothing noble in being superior to some other men. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
《高贵的真谛》海明威
风平浪静时,谁都能成为舵手。
没有阴翳的阳光灿烂, 没有苦痛的欢欣愉悦都不是生活的本质。即使在人生极乐之时,生活仍是一团乱麻。福祸如影相随,总是苦痛感恩交织不断。死让生更显珍贵,只有在悲伤痛失的阴霾笼罩下,人们才能更清醒的接近本真。
一生凡尘俗事,纷纷扰扰。 品质重于智商;胸怀胜于头脑;自制,耐心,自律远甚于天赋;当然还有正确的是非观。人心胜兵甲,大抵如此。
我相信,内心愈虔诚,活得愈简单。在这个浮夸奢糜的时代,我愿向世人证明人心可以多简素。
知错能改,永不再犯才是彻底的悔改。真正的高贵并不来自优于他人而源于不断超越自我。