英语锦言妙语【写作必备】.doc

英语锦言妙语 索玉柱 选编
作文写作专项练习
Life is but a hard and tortuous journey.
人生即是一段艰难曲折的旅程。/人生无坦途。

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.
人生是一幅大画布，你应该努力绘出绚丽多彩的画面。

Life is like music. It must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule.
人生如一首乐曲，要用乐感、感情和直觉去谱写不能只按乐律行事。

All things in their being are good for something.
天生我才必有用。

Life is just a series of trying to make up your mind.
生活只是由一系列下决心的努力所构成。

Live as though you intend to live forever, and work as though your strength were limitless.
要这样生活，仿佛你寿命永恒。要这样工作，仿佛你精力无穷。

Life is a foreign language: All men mispronounce it.
生活是一种外语，谁都发不好它的音。

Difficult circumstances serve as a textbook of life for people.
困难坎坷是人们的生活教科书。

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
人的正确功能是生活，而不是生存。

I slept and dreamt that life was beauty;
I woke and found that life was duty.
梦里见到人生无比美丽，醒时发现义务即是人生。

One should eat to live, not live to eat.
人应为生而食，不应为食而生。

Life lies not in living but in liking.
生活的意义并不在于活着，而在于爱好人生。

The unexamined life is not worth living.
浑浑噩噩的生活不值得过。

Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.
生活就象洋葱头你只能一层一层地把它剥开，有时你还得流泪。
Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from nsufficient premises.
生活是一种艺术，要在不充足的前提下提出充足的结论。

You have to believe in yourself. That’s the secret of success.
人必须相信自己，这是成功的秘诀。

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any thing.
永远记住：你争取成功的决心才是头等重要的。

The world is his who enjoys it.
世界属于热爱世界的人。

You will never have what you like until you learn to like what you have.
欲得到你喜欢的东西，应先学会喜欢你已有的东西。

The secret of life is not to do what one likes, but to try to like what one has to do.
生活的秘密不在于做自己喜欢做的，而在于喜欢自己不得不做的。

To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
有些东西你想要而没有，这是幸福不可缺少的一个部分。

Something attempted, something done.
有所尝试，就等于有所作为。

Death is the privilege of human nature, and life without it were not our taking.
死亡是人类天然的特权，没有死的生非人类所能有。

“Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather.” To die for the people is weightier than Mount Tai.
“人固有一死，或重于泰山，或轻于鸿毛。”为人民利益而死，就比泰山还重。

The greatest friend of truth is time, her greatest enemy is prejudice, and her constant company is humility.
真理最好的朋友是时间，最大的敌人是偏见，永恒的伴侣是谦逊。

Truth’s best ornament is nakedness.
打扮真理的秘诀就是不加掩饰。

A miss is as good as a mile.
差之毫厘，失之千里。

It is but a step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
从崇高到荒谬只有一步之差。

There’s only a step from the sublme to the ridiculous, but there’s no road leading back from the ridiculous to the sublime.
从崇高到荒谬只有一步之差，可是从荒谬却没有路能回到崇高。

All great truths are obvious truths. But not all obvious truths are great truths.
伟大的真理都是明摆着的事实。但不见得所有明摆着的事实都是伟大的真理。

Wisdom is only found in truth.
唯有在真理中才能找到智慧。

Deeds, not words.
行动胜于空谈。

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
难道生命是如此珍贵，和平是如此甜美，以至于不惜为此戴锁链，当奴隶吗？

Facts are stubborn things.
事实都是顽强的。/事实是掩盖不住的。

Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.
心之所愿，无事不成。

Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves.
行动是果实，言论不过是叶子。

A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.
一个人可以失败许多次，但是只要他没有开始责怪旁人，他还不是一个失败者。

On life’s earnest battle they only prevail, who daily march onward and never say fail.
生活在顽强战斗中，
只有每天不屈不挠奋勇向前的人才能取得胜利。

Follow the river and you’ll get to the sea.
沿着河走，一定能走到海边。

All rivers run into the sea.
条条江河归大海。

Conditions are changing and the time, and to adapt one’s thinking to the new conditions, one must study.
情况是在不断地变化，要使自己的思想适应新的情况，就得学习。

Science must not be a selfish pleasure. Those who have the good fortune to be able to devote themselves to scientific pursuits must be first to place their knowlege at the service of humanity.
科学绝不是一种自私自利的享乐。有幸能够致力于科学研究的人，首先应该拿自己的学识为人类服务。

There is no royal road to seicee, and to only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits.
在科学上没有平坦的大道，只有不畏劳苦沿着陡峭山路攀登的人，才有希望达到光辉的顶点。

A strong climbing-rope, made by twisting together confidence, determination and perseverance, can help you scale the summits of knowledge and science.
信心、决心和恒心拧成一根坚实的攀绳，能助你达到知识和科学的高峰。

That is a good book which is opened with expectation and closed with profit.
好书使人开卷有所求，闭卷有所获。

Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter.
选书应和交友一样谨慎，因为你的习惯和性格受书籍的影响不亚于受朋友的影响。

No entertainment is so cheap as reading nor any pleasure so lasting.
没有比读书更便宜的娱乐，也没有比读书更持久的欢乐。

Knowledge is like the spring water underground—the deeper you dig, the clearer is the water.
知识好象地下的泉水，掘得越深越清澈。

Knowledge requires repeated explorations, and farmland needs intensive cultivation.
知识需要反复探索，土地需要辛勤耕耘。

Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosphy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.
读史使人明智，读诗使人灵秀，数学使人周密，科学使人深刻，伦理学使人庄重，逻辑修辞学使人善辩。

Bread nourishes the body, and books enrich the mind.
面包滋养身体，书本充实头脑。

All readers can be divided into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.
所有的读者都可分为两类：有人为了记住而读，有人为了忘却而读。

There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.
一个渴望读书的人和一个累了想找本书看的人是大不相同的。

He that can read and meditate will not find his evenings long or life tedious.
会读书思索的人不会感到长夜无聊或者生活乏味。

Don’t deck yourself up with fine clothes, but enrich your mind with profound knowledge.
不要用衣服装饰躯壳，而要用智慧丰富头脑。

A man who neglects his studies in youth will regret it in later years.
在青年时代轻率地对待学习的人，将来会感到痛苦和难过的。

Knowledge is a matter of science, and no dishonesty or conceit whatsoever is permissible. What is required is definitely the reverse—honesty and modesty.
知识的问题是一个科学问题，来不得半点的虚伪和骄傲，决定地需要的倒是其反面——诚实和谦逊的态度。

Be modest in learning, for complacency is the enemy of study.
学习要虚心，自满是敌人。

Natural abilities are like natural plants that need pruning by study.
天生的才干如同天生的植物一样，需要靠学习来修剪。

“Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it.” To cross the threshold is not difficult, and mastery, too, is possible provided one sets one’s mind to the task and is good at learning.
“世上无难事，只怕有心人。”入门既不难，深造也是办得到的，只要有心，只要善于学习罢了。

No matter in what high esteem you are held, always have the courage to say to yourself. “I am always ignorant.
不管你的威望有多高，要永远有勇气对自己说：“我永远是无知的。”

Arrogance causes nothing but trouble. It is wiser to ask for advice.
妄自尊大只会带来麻烦。聪明的作法是虚心问人。

Reading without comprehension is like eating with no relish.
读书不知意，等于嚼树皮。

Seeing much, suffering much, and studying much, are the three pillars of learning.
多见识，多受苦，多学习，是知识的三大来源。

Learning without thought is labour lost.
学而不思，白费力气。

If necessity is the mother of invention, discontent is the father of progress.
如果需要是发明之母，不满足就是进步之父。

To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.
知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。

He who knows useful things, not many things, is wise.
聪明人不是懂得多，而是懂得有用的东西。

Fools learn nothing from wise men, but wise men learn much from fools.
傻瓜从聪明人那儿什么也学不到，而聪明人却能从傻瓜那儿学到不少东西。

He knows the water the best who has waded through it.
要知水深浅，须问过河人。

The spectators see the game better than the players.
当局者迷，旁观者清。

Men learn by their sufferings more than by any other teaching.
从自己的苦难中学到的东西胜过别人的教导。

It is lawful to learn even from an enemy.
向敌人学习不犯法。

Discussion is an exchange of intelligence. Argument is an exchange of ignorance.
讨论是交换智慧。争辩是交换无知。

A knowing man is hot in arguing for truth’s sake; an ignorant man for opinion’s sake.
有知识的人激烈争论是为了辩明真理；无知的人激烈争论是为了固执己见。

You can tell a man’s taste in literature by his judgment in knowing what not to read.
从一个人认为哪些书不该看，你就可以知道他对文学的趣味高下。

Knowledge advances by steps and not by leaps.
知识只能循序渐进，不能躐等以求。

Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.
知识是一座宝库，而实践就是开启宝库的钥匙。

One pound of learning requires ten pounds of common sense to apply it.
一分学问，要辅以十分见识才能运用。

Knowledge without practice makes but half an artist.
有知识而无实践，只是半个能人。

Observation is the best teacher.
观察是最好的老师。

Doubt is the key of knowledge.
怀疑是知识的钥匙。

True science teaches, above all, to doubt and be ignorant.
真正的科学首先是教人怀疑和知道自己无知。

You may glean knowledge by reading, but you must separate the chaff from the wheat by thinking.
读书可以获得知识，思考才能去粗存精。

Learning without thought is useless; thought without learning is dangerous.
学而不思则罔；思而不学则殆。

Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
读而不思，犹食而不化。

If we have a correct theory but merely prate about it, pigeonhole it and do not put it into practice, then that theory, however good, is of no significance.
如果有了正确的理论，只是把它空谈一阵，束之高阁，并不实行，那么，这种理论再好也是没有意义的。

Laziness is like a lock, which bolts you out of the storehouse of information and makes you an intellectual starveling.
懒惰是一把锁，锁住了聪明和智慧的仓库，使你在工作和学习上永远是个“缺粮户”。

Courage consists, not in the ability of overlooking danger, but in seeing and conquering it.
勇敢不在于能够忽视危险，而在于认清危险，战胜危险。

Genius is the gold in the mine; talent is the miner who works and brings it out.
在赋是埋藏在矿里的黄金；才能是挖掘矿藏的矿工。

To know a little less and understand a little more is our greatest need.
少知道一点，多理解一点是我们最大的需要。

If you have a job without any aggravations, you don’t have a job.
如果你的工作一点都不使你烦恼，那就不配称为工作。

Today is Yesterday’s pupil.
今天是昨天的学生。

One wonderful thing about a vacation is that it makes you feel good enough to go back to work and poor enough so that you have to.
外出休假的妙处是既使你身心舒畅，愿意回去工作，又使你不名一文，不得不去工作。

Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.
不努力而求成功，无异于不栽种而求收获。

The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope.
人没有想象力，犹如天文台没有望远镜。

It is not enough to have great qualities, we must also have the management of them.
有才能还不够，还要善用其才。

Progress is the activity of today and the assurance of tomorrow.
进步乃今日之努力，又为明日的保证。

To the timid and hesitating everything is impossible because it seems so.
胆小怕事、优柔寡断的人，会觉得什么事看来都不可能做好。

Remember that time is money. Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.
记住，时间就是金钱。你热爱生命吗？那就不要浪费时间，因为生命是由时间所组成的。

Time works great changes.
时间会产生巨大的变化。

Time is grain for peasants.
Time is wealth for workers.
Time is life for doctors.
Time is victory for strategists.
Time is knowledge for educationists.
Time is speed for scientists.
Time is money for enterprisers.
Time is everything for all of us.
对农民来说，时间就是粮食。
对工人来说，时间就是财富。
对医生来说，时间就是生命。
对军事家来说，时间就是胜利。
对教育家来说，时间就是知识。
对科学家来说，时间就是速度。
对企业家来说，时间就是金钱。
对我们大家来说，时间就是一切。

Seize this day! Begin now! Each day is a new life. Seize it. Live it. For in today already walks tomorrow.
把握今天！现在就开始！每天都是一次新生。把握住它，好好生活，因为今天未逝时，明天已开始。

Spring is a time when youth dreams and old age remembers.
春在是青年人梦想将来和老年人缅怀过去的季节。

At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.
二十岁时起支配作用的是意志，三十岁时是机智，四十岁时是判断。

There is no fence or hedge around time that has gone. You can go back and have what you like if you remember it well enough.
过去的岁月没有围墙和篱笆，如果你把它珍藏于记忆中，便可以回到从前并重新获得你所喜爱的。

An energetic middle life is, I think, the only safe precursor of a vitally happy old age.
我认为，精力旺盛的中年生活是生气勃勃的幸福晚年的惟一可靠预兆。

A generation without a cause in its youth has no legacy in its old age.
一代人如年轻时没有事业，老了就不会有遗产可以传下去。

To sensible men every day is a day of reckoning.
对聪明人来说，每一天都是要计算盈亏的。

Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure.
完全的理解有时几乎会使乐趣消失。

True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to that appellation.
真正的友谊是慢慢生长的树，要经得起患难的冲击，才称得上真正的友谊。

Little intermeddling makes good friends.
朋友的事情少介入，友谊长存情谊深。

We all have weaknesses. But I have figured that others have put up with mine so tolerantly that I would be less than fair not to make a reasonable discount for theirs.
我们都有缺点。可是我想，既然别人那么宽容我的缺点，如果我不对别人的缺点适当地宽容，那我就不够公道。

It is fair to judge people and stained-glass windows only in their best light.
看人和看彩色玻璃窗，都要从他们最光彩之处着眼，才算公道。

A little credulity helps one on through life very smoothly.
如果你有点轻信别人，你的生活就会更如意。

Give me the benefit of your convictions, if you have any; but keep your doubts to yourself, for I have enough of my own.
如果你有什么信念，请和我分享；但请保留你的疑惑，因为我自己的疑惑已经够多了。

Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.
饶恕人和被饶恕是同一件事的两面。重要的是嫌隙得到冰释。

Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.
一国自相纷争，就会成为荒场；一城一家自相纷争，必站立不住。

To receive a present handsomely and in a right spirit, even when you have none to give in return, is to give one in return.
雍容大方地接受礼物，虽然你无以回报，也等于回赠了礼物。

Hospitality consists in a little fire, a little food and an immense quiet.
款客之道不外是一点炉火，一些肴馔，和无边的宁静。

Where there is unity, there is victory./
Victory belongs to those who are united.
有团结就有胜利。

United we stand, divided we fall.
团结则存，分裂则亡。

The talents of an individual are limited; the wisdom of the collective is boundless.
个人的聪明有限，集体的智慧无穷。

When shepherds quarrel, the wolf has a winning game.
鹬蚌相争，渔人得利。

A single spark can start a prairie fire.
星星之火，可以燎原。

A number of small streams converge into a vast ocean.
涓涓之流，汇成大海。

If there is no future for our country, where can we look for our individual love and happiness.
如果没有国家的前途命运，哪有个人的爱情和幸福。

When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.
你和一位可爱的女郎坐在一起，两小时就像一分钟；你坐在炽热的炉灶上，一分钟就像两小时。这就是相对论。

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year.
结婚纪念日所庆祝的是恩爱、信赖、合作、容忍和坚毅。其顺序则年年不同。

A good marriage is like an incredible retirement fund. You put everything you have into it during your productive life, and over the years it turns from silver to gold to platinum.
美满婚姻就像一笔丰厚得难以置信的退休金盛年时你将一切所得放入其中，经过积年轻月，它便会从白银变成黄金，再从黄金变成白金。

The story of a love is not important—what is important is that one is capable of love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity.
爱情的故事并不重要，重要的是一个人能爱。这也许是让我们能瞥到永恒的仅有机会。

Every generation finds it hard to hear what its children need—because its own childhood is still ringing in its ears.
每一代人都很难听到下一代的需要——因为他自己的童年仍然萦绕耳际。

Work is the true source of human welfare.
劳动是人类福祉的真正源泉。

Industry is the parent of success.
勤奋是成功之母。

Industry is the soul of business and the keystone of prosperity.
勤劳是事业的灵魂，是成功的基石。

Achievement is