TIME

 

Old Father Time knows more than anybody.

 

He solves more problems than all the brains in the world.

 

More hard knots are unloosed, more tangled¹ questions are answered, more deadlocks² are unfastened by Time than by any other agency.

 

In the theological disputes that once raged in Christendom neither side routed the other; Time routed them both by showing that the whole subject did not matter.

 

After the contemporaries had had their say, Time crowned Homer, Dante, Wagner, Shakespeare, Whitman, Emerson.

 

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Almost any judgment³ can be appealed, but from the decision of Time there is no appeal.

 

Do not force issues with your children. Learn to wait. Be patient. Time will bring things to pass that no immediate⁴ power can accomplish.

 

Do not create a crisis with your husband, your wife. Wait. See what Time will do.

 

Time has a thousand resources, abounds⁵ in unexpected expedients⁶.

 

Time brings a change in point of view, in temper, in state of mind which no contention⁷ can.

 

When you teach, make allowance for Time. What the child cannot possibly understand now, he can grasp easily a year from now.

 

When you have a difficult business affair to settle, give it Time, put it away and see 40 how it will ferment⁸, sleep on it, give it as many days as you can. It will often settle itself.

 

If you would produce a story, a play, a book, or an essay, write it out, then lay it aside and let it simmer, forget it a while, then take it out and write it over.

 

Time is the best critic, the shrewdest adviser⁹, the frankest friend.

 

If you are positive you want to marry a certain person, let Time have his word. Nowhere is Time’s advice more needed. Today we may be sure, but listen to a few tomorrows.

 

You are born and you will die whenever fate decides; you have nothing to do with those fatal two things; but in marriage, the third fatality¹⁰, you have Time. Take it.

 

Do not decide your beliefs and convictions suddenly. Hang up the reasons to cure. 41 You come to permanent ideas not only by reasoning, but quite as much by growth.

 

Do not hobble your whole life by the immature¹¹ certainties of youth. Give yourself room to change, for you must change, if you are to develop.

 

“Learn to labor¹² and—to wait!” 

1 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

2 deadlocks   

僵局( deadlock的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They deluge Washington with proposals to break deadlocks. 他们使华盛顿淹没在试图打开僵局的各种各样的建议里。
• Pennsylvania produced the first of the game's two deadlocks at 5:00 of the second quarter. 这次比赛出现两次平局，在第二个四分之一场的第五分钟宾夕法尼亚州队第一次将比分拉平。

3 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 abounds   

v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The place abounds with fruit, especially pears and peaches. 此地盛产水果，尤以梨桃著称。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This country abounds with fruit. 这个国家盛产水果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 expedients   

n.应急有效的，权宜之计的( expedient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He is full of [fruitful in] expedients. 他办法多。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Perhaps Calonne might return too, with fresh financial expedients. 或许卡洛纳也会回来，带有新的财政机谋。 来自辞典例句

7 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

8 ferment   

vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱

参考例句：

• Fruit juices ferment if they are kept a long time.果汁若是放置很久，就会发酵。
• The sixties were a time of theological ferment.六十年代是神学上骚动的时代。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

11 immature   

adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的

参考例句：

• Tony seemed very shallow and immature.托尼看起来好像很肤浅，不夠成熟。
• The birds were in immature plumage.这些鸟儿羽翅未全。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。