英文自修161：谁能完全自我成就

本系列内容英文原文取自BBC Thought for the Day节目网站。

转载、翻译、中文标题：武太白

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Thought for the Day 20150429 Rhidian Brook

The Sunday Times Rich List was published this week. It’s always good for a giggle and I like to have my annual grump about not being on it. This year’s list comes with the status-crushing statistic that you need 100 million pounds to join the country’s richest 1000 people. Although, apparently, a list that was once dominated by inherited wealth is now largely made up of self-made men and women. So perhaps there’s hope for us all.

《星期日泰晤士报》富豪榜本周发布了。有这榜单总是好事，大家可以看看、笑笑，我也喜欢每年为我没上榜不开心一下。今年的排行榜显示的统计数字足已令你的社会地位感完全崩塌：你要有1亿英镑才能进入前1000名的榜单。然而，很显然，曾经主要靠继承的财富才能上榜的榜单如今大多是些白手起家的人。所以也许大家都还有希望。

The idea that as individuals we can be self-made is one of the most persuasive in our culture. Seen by some as something to aspire to. On the surface, it seems admirable enough. That someone of humble origins breaks out of their social position and achieves wealth or status by their own efforts has romantic appeal. But I confess, whenever someone is described as self-made a little alarm goes off in my head.

在我们的文化中，作为个体我们能够自我成就，这个观念是最有说服力的了。一些人将此看作奋斗目标。表面看来，这样是够令人敬服的。出身低微的人打破阶层的枷锁，通过自身的努力获得财富和地位，这有一种浪漫的吸引力。但我必须说，有人被说成是自我成就的时候，我脑子里就有一根线要绷紧。

Not least because I think it contains a delusion. No one is really self-made. Much as we’d all love to make out that we’ve got to where we’ve got to because of our own efforts, we are all shaped and moulded by the people and circumstances we encounter in our lives. The most individualistic, self-driven, talented person will at some point need other people to help them succeed. Even if it’s to exploit them.

绝不是因为我认为这有什么不切实际的。没有谁能够真正凭自我成功。尽管我们都爱这么想：是我们自身的努力把我们带到了如今的地位，实际上生活中我们还是深受周遭境遇和周围人们的影响。即便最个人主义的、有自我动力的、有天赋的人，也难免在什么时候需要他人的帮助才能成功。即便是利用他人。

There’s a healthy perspective in recognising that the good things that come our way are not always of our own making. The idea that someone can be entirely self-made offends this reality. It also offends our humanity, for it begs the questions: was a self-made person a person before they made it? And what about the person who never makes it?

承认我们遇到的美好事物并非都是我们自己造成，这样的观点是健康的。认为一个人可以完全靠自己成功，这不符合现实。也不符合人性，因为会引发问题：自我成就的人在成就自我之前是一个人吗？那些未能自我实现的人就不是人吗？

If there’s pride in the humble bragging of the self-made, perhaps the real peril lies in self-worship. This danger was precisely observed by Disraeli who when told that the radical politician John Bright had a humble background and was an entirely self-made man, answered, ‘I know he is – and he adores his maker too.’

如果说靠自己成功的人那种看似低调的吹嘘中有着一种自豪，那么也许最大的危害在于自我崇拜。迪士累利准确地观察到了这种危险。有人告诉他激进派政治家约翰•布莱特出身低微，全凭自身奋斗成功，他回答说：“我知道他是这样——他也很骄傲自己是这样。”

Scripture offers a helpful corrective here: ‘Everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled and everyone who humbles themselves will be exalted.’ The problem for the self-made person isn’t the riches, or the status, it’s the danger of forgetting who helped them get there. It can be a good thing to be fruitful, to find purpose and fulfilment in work, and even riches, but we need to keep checking to see Who it is that made us what we are.

这里圣经给了我们有益的提醒：“因为凡自高的必降为卑。自卑的必升为高。”自我成就的人如果说有问题，那也不在于财富、地位，而是他们会不会忘记帮助他们取得成功的人。工作中成就卓著、动力十足、得到实现是件好事，但我们需要不断回顾是谁使我们得以成就自身。

I end with some advice I once heard. Whether you are doing well or even if you’re not, a good way of keeping perspective, and a sense of who you are, is to stand naked in front of a mirror and repeat the verse from Psalm 139 that says: ‘I will give thanks to You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ I guarantee you will see yourself more clearly.

临了，我来说说听过的一条建议。不管是成功还是不成功，保持清醒头脑、清晰自我认识的一个好办法是在镜子前裸身站立，吟诵诗篇139所说的：“我要称谢你、因我受造奇妙可畏。”我敢保证你会更清晰地看到自身。