英语美文阅读赏析：Ambition
It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world： with out demands,
without abrasions, without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. conflict would be eliminated, tension become a
thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in
its functions. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.
Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be!
There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men
and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition
worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one’s own. But even the most
cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity.
We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We
do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time
or conditions of our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live： courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or
in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significa
nt is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.
这是不难想象，一个缺乏抱负的世界。或许，这将是一个更为友
善的世界：没有渴求，没有磨擦，没有失望。人们将有时间实行反思。因为他们做了这样的工作不会是为自己而是为了整个集体。竞争永远
不会进入。冲突将被消除，紧张关系将成为过去的事情了。创造的重
压将得以终结。艺术将不再惹人费神，其功能将纯粹为了庆典。寿命
会增加，更少的人会死于心脏发作或中风引起的激烈拼争。焦虑将会
消失。时光流逝而上，有抱负的人的心脏长离去。
啊，怎么减轻的无聊生活会！
还有的是认为，成功是一种神话，所以抱负一个假了高度重视。
美文赏析这是否意味着成功并不真的存有吗？成就本身就是一场空？男性和女
性的努力是诸多运动和事件的力量相比，现在并非所有的成功，很明显，是值得景仰，也并非所有的抱负都值得追求。对值得和不值得的
一名即将充足的学习对一个人的自己。但即使是最为愤世嫉俗的人暗
地里也承认，成功确实存有；这个成就计为一个伟大的交易；并且，真
正的说法是，男性和女性的行为是无用的。要相信，要不就是采取一
种观点认为很可能是搅乱。它是在其影响，删除所有的动机水平，求
取业绩的兴趣和对子孙后代的注重。
我们没有选择出生。我们不选择我们的父母。我们不选择我们的
历史时期，我们出生的国家，或是成长的周遭环境。我们不这样做，
我们绝大部分人选择死亡；我们也没有选择的时候还是我们死亡的情况。但是在这些无法选择所有这些领域，我们的确能够选择自己的生活方式：是勇敢无畏还是胆小怯懦，是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻，
是目标坚
定还是随波逐流。我们决定什么是重要的，什么是平凡的生活。我们
决定，是什么让我们显著的，不是我们做了什么，就是我们拒绝做些
什么。但无论怎样冷漠的宇宙可能是我们的选择和决定，这些选择和
决定都是我们自己做出的。我们决定。我们选择。而当我们决定和选
择时，我们的生活形成。最终构筑我们命运的就是抱负之所在。