We Are on a Journey
By Henry Van Dyke
Wherever you are, and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are justalike,at this moment, and in all the moments of our existence.We are not at rest; we are on ajourney. Our life is not a mere fact; it is a movement, a tendency, a steady, ceaselessprogress towards an unseen goal.
We are gaining something, or losing something, every day. Even when our position and ourcharacter seem to remain precisely the same, they are changing. For the mere advance of timeis a change. It is not the same thing to have a bare field in January and in July. The seasonmakes the difference. The limitations that are childlike in the child are childish in theman.Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to dosomething is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action of the negative poleof a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pole. To decline is to accept— the other alternative.
Are you nearer to your port today than you were yesterday? Yes, — you must be a little nearerto some port or other; for since your ship was first launched upon the sea of life you have neverbeen still for a single moment; the sea is too deep, you could not find an anchorage if youwould; there can be no pause until you come into port.
人在旅途
亨利.凡.戴克
无论你身在何处，也无论你是何人，此时此刻，有一件事于你我而言都是相同的，而且只要我们活着，这个共同点就存在。那就是，我们并非停留不前，而是人在旅途。我们的生命是一种运动，一种趋势，是向一个看不见的目标无休止地奋进。
每天，我们都有所得，也有所失。即便我们的位置和角色看似与原来无异，但实际上也是时时变化的。因为时间的推移本身就是一种变化。对于同一片荒地来说，在一月和七月是截然不同的，季节造成了这种差异。能力的局限在孩子身上被视为天真烂漫，而在大人身上则是幼稚的的表现。我们所做的每件事情都是朝着某个方向迈进了一步。即使是失败本身，也是有所得的，失败可以催人奋进，也可以让人一蹶不振。磁针负极的作用与正极的作用都是一样真实的。 拒绝也是一种接受，只不过是另一种选择罢了。
你今天比昨天更接近你的港口了么？是的，你肯定离某个港口更近了。因为自从你的航船从生命的海洋上启航的那一刻开始，你没有哪一刻是静止的。大海如此深邃，即便你想停泊，也找不到地方；只有当你驶入自己的港口，你才能停止下来。
