immortal adj. 不朽的 n. 不朽的人物
Giving Life Meaning Have you thought about what you want people to say about you after you're gone? Can you hear the voice saying,"He was a great man." Or "She really will be missed." What else do they say? One of the strangest phenomena of life is to engage in a work that will last long after death. Isn't that a lot like investing all your money so that future generations can bare interest on it? Perhaps,yet if you look deep in your own heart,you'll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution---something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death. Do you hope to memorialize your name? Have a name that is whispered with reverent awe? Do you hope to have your face carved upon 50 ft of granite rock? Is the answer really that simple? Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more? A child alive today will die tomorrow. A baby that had the potential to be the next Einstein will die from complication is at birth. The circumstances of life are not set in stone.
給生命以意義 你有沒有想過，你希望人們在你死后怎樣評論你？你能否聽到這樣的說，“他是個偉大的人”或“人們的確會懷念她”，他們還會說些什么？ 人生最奇異的現(xiàn)象之一就是，你從事的事業(yè)在你死后仍將長久存在。這和你用所的錢進(jìn)行投資以便后人能從中獲益不是如出一轍嗎？也許，如果你審視自己的內(nèi)心深處，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)促使你做出這種貢獻(xiàn)的驅(qū)動力-一種驅(qū)使每個人尋找在自己死后仍能繼續(xù)存在的事業(yè)的驅(qū)動力。 你希望自己的名字被人記住嗎？你希望別人提起你的名字時心懷敬畏嗎？你希望自己的面容被雕刻在50英尺高的花崗巖上嗎？答案真的那么簡單嗎？難道終有一死的人貢獻(xiàn)一生自我鞭策的欲望就是想要獲得不朽名聲的？抑或是其他更偉大的事物？ 今天活著的孩子明天就會死去。一個有可能成為下一個愛因斯坦的嬰兒會死于出生并發(fā)癥。生命的情形并不是固定不變的。我們并沒有注定都要活到老年。我們已經(jīng)認(rèn)識到，生命是一個周期，其時間長度是特定的。如果這些時間沒有被充分利用，那就是個悲劇，因為人的潛能還未實現(xiàn)，因為火花還沒形成火焰就被補滅。