AMBITION

1. AMBITION It is not difficult to imagine a world shorn of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: without demands, without abrasions, without disappointments. 不难想像一个摒除了抱负的世界将会怎样。也许没有抱负的世界很可能是一个更加理想的世界：没有渴求，没有磨擦，没有失望。

2. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. 人们会有时间思考反省。他们所做的工作不是为了自己，而是为了公众。竞争永远不会出现。

3. Conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. 冲突会被消除，人间的紧张关系会成为往事。 创新的重压将不复存在，艺术不再扰人心烦，其功能将是纯粹的欢庆性的。

4. The family would become superfluous as a social unit, with all its former power for bringing about neurosis drained away. 家庭，作为社会的细胞，没有必要继续存在， 其原有的导致精神疾病的力量逐渐衰竭。

5. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. 人们会延年益寿，因为死于努力拼搏而导致的心脏病和中风的人将寥寥无几。忧虑会消失殆尽。

6. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart. Ah, how unrelievedly boring life would be! 由于抱负早已告别人心，时间将无限延伸。 啊，人生将变得多么无聊乏味，多么难堪！

7. There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth，and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? 有些人顽固地认为，成功是一种神话，因此抱负亦属虚幻。这是不是说成功并不真正存在？是不是意味着成就本质上没有实际意义？

8. That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events? Now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating. 是不是意味着与巨大的自然力量相比人的努力微不足道？显然，并非所有的成功都值得景仰，并非所有的抱负都值得培养。

9. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one’s own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; 值得和不值得的选择一个人自然而然很快就会学会。但即便是最愤世嫉俗的人暗地里也承认，成功确实存在，成就的意义举足轻重，

10. and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. 而把人的努力说成徒劳无功才真正是胡编乱造。不相信成功的存在，就等于接纳了一种很可能造成混乱的观点。

11. It is, in its implications, to remove all motive for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity. 这种观点的真意是：一笔勾销所有提高能力的动机、求取业绩的兴趣和对子孙后代的关注。

12. We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. 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。我们无法选择父母。我们无法选择出生的历史时期和自己的祖国，也无法选择自己成长的周围环境。

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

14. 我们——我们中的大部分——不会选择死亡，也无法选择死亡的时间和条件。但在这少有选择余地的领域内，我们确实可以选择如何生活：是勇敢无畏地生活还是战战兢兢胆小怕事地过日子？是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻？是目标坚定还是得过且过？我们——我们中的大部分——不会选择死亡，也无法选择死亡的时间和条件。但在这少有选择余地的领域内，我们确实可以选择如何生活：是勇敢无畏地生活还是战战兢兢胆小怕事地过日子？是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻？是目标坚定还是得过且过？

15. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. We decide what is important and what is trivial in

16. 我们决定生活中哪些事至关重要，哪些事无足轻重。我们认定，使我们举足轻重的，或是我们的所作所为，或是我们所拒绝做的事。但是不管世人对我们的选择和决定多么麻木不仁，这些选择和决定是由我们作出的。我们作出决定。我们作出选择。我们决定生活中哪些事至关重要，哪些事无足轻重。我们认定，使我们举足轻重的，或是我们的所作所为，或是我们所拒绝做的事。但是不管世人对我们的选择和决定多么麻木不仁，这些选择和决定是由我们作出的。我们作出决定。我们作出选择。

17. Abrasion n. scraping or wearing away; rubbing off; damaged • area, esp. of the skin caused by rubbing, etc. • Stroke n. sudden attack of illness in the brain that can cause loss of the power to move , speak clearly, etc. • 3. Sham n. thing or feeling pretended

18. E.g Their marriage has become a complete sham. His love was a sham; he only wanted her money. 4. Cynical adj. of or like a person who believes that people do not do things for good, sincere or noble reasons, but for their own advantage. A cynical remark, attitude, smile

20. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about. 我们在决定和选择的过程中形成我们的生活。说到底，构筑我们自己的命运是抱负的真谛所在。