Circles
圆

我们能见到很多和“圆”有关的词，也经常说为人处世要圆润一点。圆作为一种简单的图形，却有着极为深刻的寓意：它无处不在，每个圆的外面都会有新的圆；自然界中没有尽头，每一个终点都是另一个起点，每一个深处都会有更深处……

Ralph Waldo Emerson
拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生

The eye is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end. It is the highest emblem in the cipher of the world. St. Augustine described the nature of God as a circle whose centre was everywhere and its circumference nowhere. We are all our lifetime reading the copious sense of this first of forms. One moral we have already deduced in considering the circular or compensatory character of every human action. Another analogy we shall now trace, that every action admits of being outdone. Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens.

The difference between talents and character is adroitness to keep the old and trodden round, and power and courage to make a new road to new and better goals. Character makes an overpowering present; a cheerful, determined hour, which fortifies all the company by making them see that much is possible and excellent that was not thought of. Character dulls the impression of particular events. When we see the conqueror we do not think much of any one battle or success. We see that we had exaggerated the difficulty. It was easy to him. The great man is not convulsible or tormentable; events pass over him without much impression. People say sometimes, “See what I have overcome; see how cheerful I am; see how completely I have triumphed over these black events.” Not if they still remind me of the black event. True conquest is the causing the calamity to fade and disappear as an early cloud of insignificant result in a history so large and advancing.

The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire is to forget ourselves, to be surprised out of our propriety, to lose our sempiternal memory and to do something without knowing how or why; in short to draw a new circle. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

眼睛是第一个圆，眼睛所形成的视野是第二个圆；在自然界中这个形状无休止地重复。在世界的密码中，圆是一种最高形式的象征。圣奥古斯丁将上帝的本质形容为一个圆，其中心无所不在，圆周却无处可寻。我们终其一生都在阅读这个形状的丰富含义。通过每一个人类行为的循环和相互补偿的本质，我们已经推导出一个寓意。现在我们描绘另一个类推，那就是每个行为都将被超越。我们的生命就是对真理的追求，每个圆的外面都会有新的圆；自然界中没有尽头，每一个终点都是另一个起点；每个正午时分总会有另一道曙光冉冉升起，每一个深处都会有更深处。

天才和杰出人物的差异在于杰出人物既能机敏地维持原状，行事圆滑，又有力量和勇气去开拓新的道路，实现更远大的目标。杰出人物创造压倒一切的现在，在一个快乐而坚决的时刻，他让世人看到，他们没想过的很多事情是可以实现的，并且可以做得很好。杰出人物淡化了人们对特殊事件的印象。当我们看到征服者，我们不会想到任何一场战争或胜利。我们发现其实是我们自己夸大了困难，那对他来说其实很容易。伟大的人是无法撼动的，对他们来说，所有的事情都恰似过眼云烟。人们有时候说：“看看我所经历的，看看我如今多么快乐，看我是多么彻底地战胜了这些磨难。”他们这么说只会提醒我他根本还没有战胜它们。真正的征服是让灾难淡去，如同微不足道的云朵消失在如此宏大和滚滚向前的历史中。

我们穷尽一生所追求的是忘我的境界，超越舒适区，失去永恒的记忆，全情投入不问缘由，简言之就是画一个新的圆。没有热情难成大事。

巧记词汇

circumference [səˈkʌmfərəns] n. 圆周

【拓】diameter [daɪˈæmɪtə(r)] n. 直径

copious [ˈkəupɪəs] a. 丰富的

【拓】abundant [əˈbʌndənt] a. 大量的

deduce [dɪˈdjuːs] v. 推论，演绎

【拓】infer [ɪnˈfɜː(r)] v. 推断

analogy [əˈnælədʒɪ] n. 相似，类比

【拓】similar [ ˈsɪmələ(r) ] a. 相似的

adroitness [əˈdrɔɪtnəs] n. 灵巧

【拓】clumsy [ˈklʌmzi ] a. 笨拙的

tread [tred] v. 行事；行走

【拓】behave [bɪˈheɪv] v. 行事

overpowering [ˌəʊvəˈpaʊərɪŋ] a. 压倒性的

【拓】overwhelming [ˌəʊvəˈwelmɪŋ] a. 压倒性的

fortify [ˈfɔːtɪfaɪ] v. 激励，鼓舞

【拓】encourage [ɪnˈkʌrɪdʒ] v. 激励

convulsible [kənˈvʌlsəbl] a. 可撼动的

【拓】convulse [kənˈvʌls] v. 使震动

insatiable [ɪnˈseɪʃəbl] a. 极贪心的

【拓】greed [ɡriːd] n. 贪婪，贪心

趣学短语

triumph over 战胜

【例】The movie strengthen our belief that justice will ultimately triumph over evil. 这部电影强化了我们的一个信念：正义终将战胜邪恶。