第三章 掌握處世之道
Grasp the Law of Success
站在人生的岔路口
The Fork in the Road
佛羅倫薩·斯高伏爾·西恩 / Florence scovel Shinn
Every day there is a necessity of choice (a fork in the road). “Shall I do this, or shall I do that? Shall I go, or shall I stay?” Many people do not know what to do. They rush about letting other people make decisions for them, then regret having taken their advice.
There are others who carefully reason things out. They weigh and measure the situation like dealing in groceries, and are surprised when they fail to obtain their goal.
There are still other people who follow the magic path of
intuition and find themselves in their Promised Land in the twinkling
of an eye.
Intuition is a spiritual faculty high above the reasoning mind, but on the path is all that you desire or require. So choose this day to
follow the magic path of intuition. In most people it is a faculty which has remained dormant. So we say, “Awake though that sleeps. Wake up to your leads and hunches!”
Now it is necessary for your to make a decision, you face a fork in the road. Ask for a definite unmistakable lead, and you will receive it.
So we find we have success through being strong and very courageous in following spiritual law.
A well-known man, who has become a great power in the financial World, said to a friend, “I always follow intuition and I am luck incarnate.”
Inspirations are the most important thing in life. People come to Truth meetings for inspiration. I find the right word will start divine
activity operating in their affairs. In every act prompted by fear lies the germ of its own defeat.
我們每天都要麵臨不同的選擇。“是該這樣，還是該那樣？我是要走還是留？”許多人都很茫然。於是他們跑去讓別人替他們拿主意，然而又為聽了他人的意見而後悔。
當然，也會有人為自己的前途進行考慮分析。他們就像經營雜貨店一樣經營著自己的未來。當有一天他們達到了自己的目標，往往會驚歎不已。
還有一些人會跟著感覺走，轉眼之間就到了他們夢想中的天堂。
直覺，是一種高於理性思想的本能。然而，隻有當你有著強烈欲望或者迫切需要的時候，這種本能才會顯現出來。所以，相
信自己的直覺，跟著感覺走吧！但大多數人的這種本能還未被喚醒。所以，我們要說，喚醒沉睡的直覺吧，喚醒心中的巨人吧！現在，你正麵臨著一個岔路口，到你作決定的時候了！看看你的直覺會給你一個怎樣的確定答案，然後，勇敢嚐試一下！我們會發現，成功的道路上有了直覺為伴，我們變得愈加強大，愈加勇敢。一位金融界的成功人士對他的朋友說：“我從來都是跟著感覺走的，我是一個幸運兒！”靈感是人的一生中最重要的一種能量。人們往往會產生靈感。有了靈感，人們在工作時就會如魚得水，應變自如。無論何時都不要恐懼，因為這會在我們的心中萌芽。
心靈小語
每個人都有迷茫彷徨的時候，當麵對人生的岔路口，你會作何選擇呢？是去是留，還是盲目地聽從他人的建議？跟著感覺走吧，它會指引我們，幫助我們排除萬難，作出正確的選擇，把我們帶到成功的麵前。
238
fork [f?:k]n. 餐叉；耙；分叉例 Go up to the fork and turn left. 走到岔口處向左拐。
intuition [?ntju:'i??]n. 直覺；直覺的知識；直覺力例 Intuition is reason in a hurry. 直覺是匆匆趕來的理性。
spiritual ['spiritju?]adj. 精神的；心靈的；思想的例 The spiritual wing must continue to lift. 代表精神的翼必須持續地升起。
definite ['definit]adj. 確切的；一定的例 Who can give me an definite reply? 誰能給一個肯定的答複？
我們每天都要麵臨不同的選擇。
靈感是人的一生中最重要的一種能量。
無論何時都不要恐懼，因為這會在我們的心中萌芽。
They rush about letting other people make decisions for them... rush about：奔波；奔走
...and are surprised when they fail to obtain their goal. fail to ：未能做某事；未能；失敗
思想的守望者
The Watchman at the Gate
佛羅倫薩·斯高伏爾·西恩 / Florence Scovel Shinn
We must all have a watchman at the gate of our thoughts. The watchman at the gate is the superconscious mind.
We have the power to choose our thoughts.
Since we have lived in the race thought for thousands of years, it seems almost impossible to control them. They rush through our minds like stampeding cattle or sheep.
But a single sheep-dog can control the frightened sheep and guide them into the sheep pen. I saw a picture in the news-reels of a shepherd dog the sheep. He had rounded up all but three. These three resisted and resented. They baaed and lifted their front feet in protest, but the dog simply sat down in front and never took his eyes off them. He did not barks or threaten. He oust sat and looked his determination.
In a little while the sheep tossed their heads and went in the pen.
We can learn to control our thoughts in the same way, by gentle determination, not force.
We take an affirmation and repeat it continually, while our thoughts are on the rampage.
We cannot always control our thoughts, but we can control our words, and repetition impresses the subconscious, and we are then master of the situation.
Your success and happiness in life depend upon the watchman at the gate of your thoughts, sooner or later, crystallize on the external. A trumpet is a musical instrument, used in olden times, to draw people’s attention to something—to victory, to order.
You will form the habit of giving attention to every thought and word, when you realize their importance.
The imagination, the scissors of the mind, is constantly cutting out the events to come into your life.
在人類思想的門口，一定有一個守門人，而這個守門人就是每個人的潛意識。
我們有能力按照自己的心願選擇思想。
數千年以來，人類就是用自己的思考能力不斷地生活、繁衍。有時，思想在我們的頭腦裏會像受驚的牛羊四處奔逃。這時的思想，看起來根本無法控製。
可事實上並非如此，麵對受到驚嚇而疲於奔命的羊群，一隻牧羊犬可以輕鬆地把羊群重新趕回羊圈。
我曾經在一部新聞短片中，看到過一隻牧羊犬和三隻羊的畫麵。牧羊犬負責看管整個羊群，可是有三隻羊心存不滿，蓄意抵抗。它們咩咩地叫著，高高抬起前蹄表示自己的不滿。然而牧羊犬隻是靜靜地蹲坐在它們前麵，並用眼睛緊緊地盯著它們。牧羊犬既沒有朝三隻羊狂吠，也沒有要恐嚇它們的意思，它隻是用堅定的信念一動不動地注視著這三隻羊。沒過多久，這三隻羊垂著頭，乖乖地回到羊圈。
我們可以用牧羊犬的方法來支配自己的思想——依靠文雅的意誌力，而不是粗暴的蠻力。
當陷入暴跳如雷、憤怒難耐的狀態中時，我們必須要堅定信念來克服它，並一直堅持下去。
我們當然不可能一直做到情緒穩定，但是至少你可以把握住言語並堅持告誡自己能夠控製住潛意識。這樣的話，我們便可以控製眼前的局勢了。
你思想的“守門人”決定了你能否在生活中取得成功，分享幸福。“守門人”的作用遲早會在你的言行中體現出來。
很久以前，喇叭便作為一種樂器用來吸引人類的注意力——關注勝利，關注秩序。
當你認識到思想和言語的重要時，你就會養成重視思考和言語的習慣。
豐富的想象力作為心靈的剪刀，會孜孜不倦地剪掉那些乏味的生活瑣事。
superconscious [?sju:p?k?n??]adj. 知覺特別靈敏的；超意識的例 On the physical level the superconscious mind and subconscious mind are mostly hidden. 在生理的層麵上，超意識的心智和潛意識的心智大都是藏而不露的。
affirmation [?af?mei??]n. 堅定；肯定；斷言例 The poem is a joyous affirmation of the power of love. 這首詩以歡快的筆觸肯定了愛情的力量。
subconscious [?s?b'k?n??]n. 潛在意識；下意識心理活動例 That method is by using the power of the subconscious mind. 那就是好好利用你的潛意識，利用你的思想。
scissors ['siz?]n. 剪刀例 I need a pair of scissors to cut down the article. 我需要一把剪刀把這篇報紙文章剪下來。
我們有能力按照自己的心願選擇思想。
數千年以來，人類就是用自己的思考能力不斷地生活、繁衍。
當你認識到思想和言語的重要時，你就會養成重視思考和言語的習慣。
We must all have a watchman at the gate of our thoughts. at the gate of：在……門口
We can learn to control our thoughts in the same way... in the same way：用同樣的方式；同樣地；以同樣的方法
門
On Doors
C. D. 莫利 / C. D. Morley
The opening and closing of doors are the most significant actions of man’s life. What a mystery lies in doors!
No man knows what awaits him when he opens a door. Even the most familiar room, where the clock ticks and the hearth glows red at dusk, may harbor surprise. The plumber may actually have called (while you were out) and fixed that leaking faucet. The cook may have had a fit of the vapors and demanded her passports. The wise man opens his front door with humility and a spirit of acceptance.
Which one of us has not sat in some anteroom and watched the inscrutable panels of a door that was full of meaning? Perhaps you were waiting to apply for a job; perhaps you had some“deal” you were ambitious to put over. You watched the confidential stenographer flit in and out, carelessly turning that mystic portal which, to you, revolved on hinges of fate. And then the young woman said, “Mr. Cranberry will see you now.”As you grasped the knob the thought
flashed, “When I open this door again, what will have happened?”
There are many kinds of doors. Revolving doors for hotels, shops, and public buildings that are typical of the brisk, bustling ways of modern life. Can you imagine John Milton or William Penn skipping through a revolving door? Then there are the curious little slanted doors that still swing outside denatured bar-rooms and extend only from shoulder to knee. There are trapdoors, sliding doors, double doors, stage doors, prison doors, glass doors. But the symbol and mystery of a door resides in its quality of concealment. A glass door is not a door at all, but a window. The meaning of a door is to hide what lies inside; to keep the heart in suspense.
Also, there are many ways of opening doors. There is a cheery push of an elbow with which the waiter shoves open the kitchen door when he bears in your tray of supper. There is the suspicious and tentative withdrawal of a door before the unhappy book agent or peddler. There is the genteel and carefully modulated recession with which footmen swing wide the oaken barriers of the great. There is the sympathetic and awful silence of me dentist’s maid who opens the door into the operating room, and, without speaking, implies that the doctor is ready for you. There is the brisk cataclysmic opening of a door when the nurses come in, very early in the morning—“It’s a boy!”
Doors are at the symbol of privacy, of retreat, of the mind’s escape into blissful quietude or sad secret struggle. A room without doors is not a room, but a hallway. No matter where he is, a man can make himself at home behind a closed door. The mind works best behind closed doors. Men are not horses to be herded together. Dogs know the meaning and anguish of doors. Have you ever noticed a puppy yearning at a shut portal ? It is a symbol of human life.
The opening of doors is a mystic act: it has in some flavor of the unknown, some sense of moving into a new moment, a new pattern of human rigmarole. It includes the highest glimpses of mortal gladness: reunions, reconciliations, the bliss of lovers long parted. Even in sadness, the opening of a door may bring relief: it changes and redistributes human forces. But the closing of doors is far more terrible. It is a confession of finality. Every door closed brings something to an end. And there are degrees of sadness in the closing of doors. A door slammed is a confession of weakness. A door gently shut is often the most tragic gesture in life. Every one knows the seizure of anguish that comes just after the closing of a door, when the loved one is still near, with sound of voice, and yet already far away.
The opening and closing of doors is a part of the stern fluency of life. Life will not stay still and let us alone. We are continually opening doors with hope, closing them with despair. Life lasts not much longer
than a pipe of tobacco, and destiny knocks us out like ashes. The closing of a door is irrevocable. It snaps the back-thread of
the heart. It is no avail to reopen, to go back. Pinero spoke nonsense when he made Paula Tanqueray say, “The future is only the past
entered through another gate.” Alas，there is no other gate. When the door is shut, it is shut forever. There is no other entrance to that
vanished pulse of time. “The moving finger writes, and have writ...”
There is a certain kind of door shutting that will come to us all. The kind of door shutting that is done very quietly, with the sharp click of the latch to break the stillness. They will think then, one hopes, of our unfulfilled decencies rather than of our pluperfected
misdemeanors. Then they will go out and...
人生最有意義的動作就是開門和關門。門內將會是怎樣的神秘景象啊！
沒有人知道當他推開一扇門，等待他的是什麼。即便是最熟悉的房間，時鍾滴答滴答地走著，壁爐的紅色火焰在暮色中閃爍，也有可能會發生令人吃驚的事。水管工人可能已經拜訪過（就在你不在家的時候），把壞了的水龍頭修好了。廚娘沒準兒正煩惱鬱悶，想請你準予她離開。有頭腦的人總是抱著謙虛接受的態度推開他麵前的那扇門。
哪個人沒有在某間接待室坐過，雙眼緊盯著那扇無法預測的意味深長的門？或許你要應聘，或許你迫切地想要成交一筆生意。你看著機密速記員出來進去，毫不在意地旋轉著那扇關係著你命運鉸鏈的神秘大門。然後，那個年輕女人說：“克雷伯裏先生現在想要見你。”就在你抓住門柄的時候，一個念頭一閃而過：“當我再次推開這扇門的時候，將會發生什麼呢？”
門的種類有許多。有旅館、商店和公共建築的十字形旋轉門，這是輕快且繁忙的現代生活方式的象征。你能想象得出約翰·彌爾頓或威廉·佩恩從一扇旋轉門匆匆走過嗎？還有一些古怪而傾斜的小門，依然在變了質的酒吧外搖擺，並且隻有膝蓋到肩膀這麼高。還有活板門、滑門、雙折門、舞台門、監獄門和玻璃門。但是一扇門的象征和神秘之處就體現在它的隱蔽性上。玻璃門僅僅是一扇窗，根本就不是門。門的意義就是把門內的一切隱藏起來，讓你的心處於焦慮之中。
與此同時，開門的方式也有許多。其中一種是用胳膊肘輕快地一推，比如服務員端著你的晚餐，打開廚房的門時。一個不開心的書商或小販拉開門時，是猶豫和存有戒心的。上流社會細心、謹慎的男仆會退步而出為重要人物敞開櫟木大門。或者富有同情心的女牙醫助手輕輕推開手術室的門，然後什麼也不說，暗示你醫生已經準備好了。此外還有，大清早，護士輕快且忽然地推開門進來，喊道：“是個男孩！”
門意味著隱私、退卻、心靈退避到幸福的平靜或傷心的秘密掙紮。一個房間沒有門就不算房間，隻是一個走廊。一個人待在一扇關閉著的門後，不管是在哪兒，他都能讓自己感覺像是在家裏。人的思維在關閉著的門後狀態最為活躍。人不是馬，要成群地在一起。狗知道門所帶來的意義和苦惱。你是否留意到一隻小狗對一扇關著的門充滿向往？這象征著人類的生活。
開門的動作是神秘的，充滿著一些不可預知的滋味，投進新的一瞬的感覺，一種人類冗長繁亂的新形式。它顯示出最高境界的快樂：團圓、和解、久別重逢的戀人的欣喜。即使是悲哀，打開的門也會給你以安慰，它改變並重組人的力量。可是，關門是駭人的，它彰顯的是結束。每一扇門的關閉都意味著一些事情的終結。關門也有著不同程度的悲哀。“砰”地把門關上是虛弱的象征，輕輕把門帶上往往是一生中最悲壯的動作。每個人都明白，苦痛隨後即到。就在關上門後，深愛的人雖近在咫尺，仍能聽到聲音，卻已漸漸遠去。
開門和關門是嚴肅且匆匆而逝的一生中的一部分。生命不會停滯不前，棄我們於不顧。我們滿懷希望不斷地開門，卻常常帶著失望關門。人的一生不過一管煙的長度，我們就像煙灰一樣被命運擊倒。
關上一扇門是不可避免的。它猛然折斷心髒的血管，重新打開，再放回去，也是徒勞。皮尼羅讓波拉·坦克瑞說：“未來隻是過去通過另一道門進來了。”這簡直是謬論。唉，沒有其他的門！當這扇門關上了，它就永遠地閉上了。那消失了脈搏的時間，再也沒有其他的入口。“手指運動，在紙上寫下字跡……”
我們都會遇到這麼一類關門。這種門是靜靜關上的，打破寂靜的隻有彈簧鎖的哢嗒聲。但願當時他們所想的不是我們曾經做過的壞事，而是我們尚未完成的正事。那麼，他們將會走出去……
心靈小語
門，象征著隱私，意味著神秘。一扇門的開啟，總給我們以無限遐想。人的一生有無數次的開門關門，有的門開了可以關，關了還可以再開。但有一扇門開了，就再也關不上了，這就是死亡之門。所以，我們要珍惜活著的每分每秒，珍愛生命。
significant [sig'nifik?t]adj. 有意義的；有效的；值得注意的例 He gave me a significant smile. 他給我一個意味深長的微笑。
demand [di'mɑ:nd]v. 要求；需要；查詢例 I demanded that I should be allowed to call my lawyer. 我要求允許我打電話給我的律師。
ambitious [?'bi??]adj. 有雄心的；野心勃勃的；熱望的例 You are really an ambitious boy. But don’t expect too high. 你真是個有野心的男孩子，但是不要期盼太高。
oaken ['?k?]adj. 用橡木製的例 There are two oaken tables in our house. 我們家有兩張橡木製的桌子。
開門的動作是神秘的，充滿著一些不可預知的滋味，投進新的一瞬的感覺，一種人類冗長繁亂的新形式。
可是，關門是駭人的，它彰顯的是結束。
開門和關門是嚴肅且匆匆而逝的一生中的一部分。
...perhaps you were waiting to apply for a job; perhaps you had some“deal”you were ambitious to put over. put over：推遲；駛過；使被接受
No matter where he is, a man can make himself at home behind a closed door. no matter where：無論在哪裏
夢想成就未來
Dreams Are the Stuff of Life
卡洛 / Carroll
I believe I’m a very lucky man.
My entire life has been lived in the healthy area between too little and too much. I’ve never experienced financial or emotional insecurity, but everything I have, I’ve attained by my own work, not through indulgence, inheritance or privilege.
Never having lived by the abuses of any extreme, I’ve always felt that a workman is worthy of his hire, a merchant entitled to his profit, an artist to his reward.
As a result of all this, my bargaining bump may be a little underdeveloped, so I’ve never tried to oversell myself. And though I
may work for less than I know I can get, I find that because of this, I’m
never so afraid of losing a job that I’ m forced to compromise with my
principles.
Naturally in a life as mentally, physically, emotionally and financially fortunate as mine has been, a great many people have helped me. A few meant to, most did so by accident. I still feel I must reciprocate. This doesn’t mean that I’ve dedicated my life to my fellow man. I’m not the type. But I do feel I should help those I’m qualified to help, just as I’ve been helped by others.
What I’m saying now is, I feel, part of that pattern. I think everyone should, for his own sake, try to reduce to six hundred words the beliefs by which he lives—it’s not easy—and then compare those beliefs with what he enjoys—not in real estate and money and goods, but in love, health, happiness and laughter.
I don’t believe we live our lives and then receive our reward or punishment in some afterlife. The life and the reward... the life and the punishment—these to me are one. This is my religion, coupled with the firm belief that there is a Supreme Being who planned this world and runs it so that “no man is an island, entire of himself...” The dishonesty of any one man subverts all honesty. The lack of ethics anywhere adulterates the whole world’s ethical content. In these— honesty and ethics—are, I think, the true spiritual values.
I believe the hope for a thoroughly honest and ethical society should never be laughed at. The most idealistic dreams have repeatedly forecast the future. Most of the things we think of today as hard, practical and even indispensable were once merely dreams.
So I like to hope that the world need not be a dog-eat-dog jungle. I don’t think I’m my brother’s keeper. But I do think I’m obliged to be his helper. And that he has the same obligation to me.
In the last analysis, the entire pattern of my life and belief can be found in the words “Do not do unto others that which you would not have others do unto you.” To say “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” somehow implies bargaining, an offer of favor for favor. But to restrain from acts which you, yourself, would abhor is an exercise in will power that must raise the level of human relationship.
“What is unpleasant to thyself,” says Hillel, “That do not unto thy neighbor. This is the whole law.” and he concluded. “All else is exposition.”
我相信自己是一個幸運的人。
我一生生活都平穩，毫無波瀾。我從未經曆過經濟危機或情感危機，但我擁有的一切並不是依靠溺愛、遺產或特權，而是通過自身努力工作得來的。
生活中的我從不濫走極端，我始終認為工人就應當工作，商人就應當獲利，藝術家就應當獲取報酬。
正因如此，我討價還價的能力沒有絲毫長進，所以我從不試圖過分吹噓自己。盡管我知道自己的酬勞少於實際應得的，但我仍會繼續工作。我發現，這樣一來，我從未因害怕失業而做出任何違背原則的事。
的確，像我這種在精神、身體、情感與經濟上都如此幸運的人，少不了很多人曾給予的幫助。有些幫助是刻意的，但大多數則是偶然為之，盡管如此，我依然認為必須報答他們。這並不是說我為同胞們奉獻出了自己的一生，我也不是那樣的人。但我覺得應該盡自己所能去幫助他人，就像別人幫助我一樣。
我認為，現在所說的這些正是我信仰中的一部分。即使很難，但為了自身利益，每個人都應將生活的信仰縮減至600字，並將其與他所享有的東西做比較——不比擁有的房產、金錢和物品，而是比愛、健康、幸福和歡笑。
我不相信，今生的生活方式會在來世遭到報應。生活與獎賞……生活與懲罰，對我而言，都是同一回事。這就是我的信仰，與之緊緊相連的，是我堅信上帝創造並操縱著這個世界，使“任何人都不是獨立的孤島……”某一個人的欺詐會破壞所有人的正直。無論何處的道德淪喪了，都會使整個社會的道德變質。我認為，隻有誠實與道德才擁有真正的精神價值。
我相信，永遠不應嘲笑對構建擁有誠實與道德的社會的期望。最理想化的夢想往往預示著未來。如今我們覺得實在、實用甚至不可或缺的許多東西，曾經也隻是夢想。
因此，我希望這個世界不再是自相殘殺的世界。我不認為自己是多管閑事的人。但我覺得自己有義務去幫助他人，就像他人也有義務幫助我一樣。
總而言之，“無論做什麼，你希望別人如何待你，就要如何對待別人。”這句話正好涵蓋了我的生活與信仰的全部。“要想別人如何待你，你也要如何對待別人。”暗示著禮尚往來的交易。然而，不做連自己都痛恨的事則是對意誌力的一種磨煉，這也會使人際關係有所改善。
希勒爾說：“己所不欲，勿施於人。這就是全部法則。”他還概括說，“餘下的所有隻是對它的闡述。”
merchant ['m?t??t]n. 商人，批發商；店主例 He traded as a tobacco merchant. 他是做煙草生意的商人。
profit ['pr?fit]n. 利潤；利益例 We must reduce the cost to get more profit. 我們必須降低成本以獲得更多的利潤。
oversell [?.uv?sel]v. 賣空；過分吹噓例 But it is crucial that we don’t oversell this. 但很重要的是，我們不能過度吹捧這項發現。
principle ['prins?l]n. 原理；原則；主義例 We agree with the clauses in principle. 我們在原則上接受了這個條款。
我從未經曆過經濟危機或情感危機，但我擁有的一切並不是依靠溺愛、遺產或特權，而是通過自身努力工作得來的。
你希望別人如何待你，就要如何待別人。
因此，我希望這個世界不再是自相殘殺的世界。
In these—honesty and ethics—are, I think, the true spiritual spiritual values：質的價值；精神價值
I believe the hope for a thoroughly honest and ethical society should never be laughed at. laugh at：嘲笑；因……而笑
寫批注——讀書的最好方法
To Mark a Book
佚名 / Anonymous
You know you have to read “between the lines” to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to “write between the lines”. Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading.
I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love.
There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher’s icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any good.
There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers-unread, untouched. （This deluded individual owns wood, pulp and ink, not books.）The second has a great many books—a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought.（This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.）The third has a few books or many—every one of them dogeared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. This man owns books.
Why is marking up a book indispensable to reading it? First, it keeps you awake. And I don’t mean merely conscious; I mean wide awake. In the second place, reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking lends to express itself in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought—through book. Finally writing helps you remember the thoughts you had, or the thoughts the author expressed.
If reading is to accomplish anything more than passing time, it must be active. You can’t let your eyes glide across the lines of a book and come up with an understanding of what you have read. The books you read for pleasure cad be read in a state of relaxation, and nothing is lost. But a great book rich in ideas and beauty, a book that raises and tries to answer great fundamental questions, demands the most active reading of which you are capable. If, when you’ve finished reading
a book the pages are filled with your notes, you know that you read
actively.
But you may ask, why is writing necessary? Well, the physical act of writing, with your own hand, brings words, and sentences more sharply before your mind and protrayes them better in your memory. To set down your reaction to important words and sentences you have read, and the questions they have raised in your mind, is to preserve those reactions and sharpen those questions.
Even if you wrote on a scratch pad, and threw the paper away
when you had finished writing, your grasp of the book would be surer.
But you don’t have to throw the paper away. The margins （top and bottom, as welt as side）, the end-papers the wary space between the lines. are all available. They aren’t sacred. And, best of all, your marks and notes become an integral part of the book and stay there forever. You can pick up the book the following week of year, and there are all your points of agreement, disagreement, doubt, and inquiry. It’s like resuming an interrupted conversation with the advantage of being able to pick up where you left off.
And that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation
between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the
subject than you do; naturally, you’ll have the proper humility as you approach him. But don’t let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely on the receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation; learning doesn’t consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. And marking a book is literally an expression of your differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.
眾所周知，在讀書時，隻有參透文章的字字句句，才能獲得最大的收獲。此外，我還想建議大家，在閱讀時，在書上寫批注也是同等重要的。如果不這樣做，你就不可能實現最高效的閱讀。
我要作一個相當坦率的聲辯，在書上寫批注是對書的愛護，而不是對書的損毀。
人們可以通過兩種方式擁有一本書。第一種是通過出錢購買而獲得書的所有權，就像購買衣服和家具一樣。可是，購買隻是擁有書的第一步。隻有當你把書變成自己的一部分時，你才完全擁有了它，而在書上寫批注是使書成為自己的一部分的最好辦法。為了把這個問題講得更透徹，我們來打一個比方。比如你買了一塊牛排，這隻是說你把它從肉鋪的冰箱轉移到了自己的冰箱裏，從嚴格意義上來講，你並沒有擁有它，隻有當你把牛排吃掉並吸收到自己的血液中，你才真正擁有了它。通過這個例子，我想說明，隻有當你把書吸收到自己的血液中去，它才會對你產生益處。
書的主人可以分為三種。第一種擁有各種各樣的精裝書和暢銷書，卻從未讀過，甚至碰都沒有碰過（這種錯誤地理解擁有書的人，擁有的僅僅是紙漿和油墨）。第二種人擁有許多書，隻是細讀了幾本，然而大部分書隻是瀏覽了一下，所有的書都像剛剛買回來時那樣幹淨和光亮（這種人很可能想要擁有書，然而卻因對書的外表的錯誤尊重所限製）。第三種人或許有幾本書，也可能有許多書，他在書中從頭到尾都作了標注，由於頻繁地使用，每本書都有卷角和破損，書頁也已經鬆動，這種人才是真正擁有書的人。
對於閱讀，為什麼說寫批注是必不可少的呢？首先，寫批注能夠使你保持清醒（我這裏說的清醒不僅僅是指有意識，而是思維非常清晰）。其次，積極的閱讀就是思考，而思考能夠產生口頭或書麵語言的表達形式。最後，寫批注有助於記住自己曾經的想法或作家所表達的想法。
如果你想通過閱讀有所收獲，而不是消遣時間，你的閱讀就應該是積極的。對於你所閱讀的內容，你不可能看一遍就能夠理解。如果隻是為了娛樂，你可以輕鬆地閱讀一本書，這不會造成什麼損失。然而，一本思想豐富、內容優美的書，一本試圖提出問題並解決基本問題的書，是要求你盡力去積極閱讀的。當你讀完一本書後，如果書上寫滿了批注，你就知道自己曾積極地閱讀過這本書。
然而，你也許要問，寫批注是必要的嗎？其實，親自寫下單詞和句子能夠讓你把它們記得更清楚。在閱讀時，把對自己重要的單詞和句子的感覺以及疑問記錄下來，這樣能夠使你記住那些感覺，並使那些疑問在大腦中的印象變得更加深刻。
即使你寫在便條上之後又丟棄了，你仍然能夠更加牢固地掌握這本書的內容。然而，你不一定非要把紙扔掉，書頁邊的空白（書頁的上邊、下邊和兩側）、書後的空白頁以及行與行之間的空隙並非神聖不可碰觸，你可以利用這些地方寫批注。這樣做最大的好處就是：你所作的標注就會成為書的一部分，並永遠地留在上麵。即使一年之後拿出來，書頁上仍然可以看見你寫下的讚同、異議、疑問以及需要進一步深究的問題。這就像能夠接著上次的話題重新開始被中斷的對話。
讀書就應該如此，它應該是你與作者的一場交流。對於書中談論的話題，作者所了解的應該比你要多，因此，在接觸作者的時候，你自然要做到適當的謙虛。有些人說，讀者隻是處於接收的地位，切勿聽信這種觀點。理解是一個互動的過程，學習並不是把能找到的東西都裝進空瓶子，學習者必須向自己和老師發問。一旦他理解了老師所講的內容，他甚至會與老師進行辯論。在書上寫批注，實際上就是對作者的觀點提出不同的觀點或表示讚同。