It was conceived, and much of it was written, during the long voyage from Australia to England. At that time I had issued, if I may include the introduction to English readers of foreign writers, some fifty publications, and in these I had generally described remote periods of history, or even remoter periods of the earth’s story or distant regions of the universe. Many had asked me to tell them things more intimate and important than the way in which stars were formed, or the manners of extinct Dinosaurs5 and ancient empresses: asked if thirty years’ study of philosophy, science, and history had given me no interest in, or light upon, the problems of the hour. In Australasia this request was made more insistently6 than ever. Our ancient prejudices have been transplanted into the soil of the new world, and they have thriven there, like the gorse, the sparrow, the rabbit, and so many other pests which sentimental7 colonists8 have introduced in order to remind them of “home.” But new ideas also have been imported, and they find a rich soil in the free, unconventional, enterprising colonial mind. Men and women are asking the same questions there as in London and New York.
The general drift or implication of these questions obsessed9 me daily during the slow traverse of the Southern Ocean. Day after day the great liner visibly rounded this vast ball of metal which we call our earth; and to me there is no more impressive symbol than this of the power and the future of man. Some complain that at sea they feel the earth and man and man’s concerns made trivial by the great fires which blaze through the darker sky. But largeness is not greatness, and a vast prairie in some inaccessible10 region does not make less precious the little plot of earth at your door that you can make beautiful. Your predominant feeling, when you round the globe and see with your own eye its limitations, is one of power. This sphere, you feel, is the principality of man; and there never was a power so despotic and far-reaching as the power of a united race would be. You fed as if the earth could be embraced in the arms of a giant, and humanity is the giant. If men were agreed in their designs, the earth would be as clay in the hand of the potter. It would prove as passive and tractable11 as the child’s ball of plasticine—if all, or the great part of, men and women were agreed as to the shape it was desirable to impose on it. In our age differences of ideal restrain the hand and prevent us from giving a fairer face to the earth. The power of a united mankind would be something akin12 to omnipotence13. Every man or woman who has seen the earth with this larger vision must seethe14 with impatience15 to end this conflict of old traditions and new ideas which paralyses our hands; to do what he or she can to accelerate that final harmony of conviction which will set free the fingers of the Great Potter. That is the controlling sentiment of this little book.
It happens that, before the book reaches the public, one of those traditions which it assails16 has spread a ghastly devastation17 over the face of the earth. For nearly twenty years I have used my slender opportunities as speaker and writer to denounce the military machine: to imagine the mighty18 resources we waste on militarism and war transferred to those enterprises which seek to brighten the earth and make the hearts of men and women lighter19. Now the little sermon, which many feeble voices were preaching, is taken up by an orator20 whose voice thunders from pole to pole, whose words are blood-curdling realities. Ten thousand million sterling21, perhaps, poured into the sea in eighteen months: ten million men, perhaps, prematurely22 blasted off the earth or stricken for life: and a trail of blood and tears and misery23 that all the mighty fertility of the earth will take a generation to obliterate24! Nor does this outpour of horror merely mean that one feature of our life needs reconsideration. We could not have retained this military machine, with its ever-present danger of an appalling25 calamity27, if our minds were generally sane28, alert, unclogged by shams29.
One inquires how it is that a generation which boasts of its wisdom and humanity can retain this worst survival of barbarism, and one finds that the evil is connected with a dozen other evils and protected by a general mental debility. The habit of tracing this calamity to the peculiar30 criminality of another nation, and dwelling31 only on our own heroism32 and self-sacrifice in meeting this menace, is in itself a very grave danger. We may be entirely33 certain that, as long as we retain the military machinery34 for settling quarrels, there will be wars. How came the machinery to linger amongst us in the twentieth century? At once we light upon a dozen other disorders35 of our life. This remissness36 in civilising international intercourse37 argues a grave indifference38 to a most important task on the part of our political servants, and an equally grave absence of pressure and direction on the part of their supporters. It reveals a dangerously slovenly39 condition of our industrial world, a very serious defect in our educational system, a standing40 menace in the encouraged thoughtlessness of the mass of our people, a general flabbiness, haziness41, and anæmia of what may be called the intellectual part of our public life.
This is true of all nations,—it may be the turn of the United States, or Norway, or Argentina tomorrow,—but it is most seriously true of England. Do not let us fuddle our minds with the kind of rhetoric42 one addresses to schoolboys. We have, in the first year of the war, betrayed a sluggishness43, a lack of foresight44 and initiative, a feebleness of organisation45, which ought to sober any race, however wealthy. Our Government knew, or ought to have known, since the spring of 1912, that just this war was threatening us; and, when it occurred, they made a virtue46 of the fact that we were “the least prepared nation in Europe.” They took nine months to begin to organise47 our resources, or to perceive that it was necessary to do so. Plainly, there is something profoundly, comprehensively wrong with our public life. We shall “muddle through,” because we have the resources, and because the Allies outnumber their opponents by fifty per cent. But if in a future war we are compelled to face a numerically equal opponent, England will, if she retains these faults, see her royal standard in the dust. As it is, the cost of our ineptitude48 will be prodigious49.
So I am confirmed in my design to declare what seems to me to be wrong with our life. I choose the form of a direct challenge of old traditions mainly because they so oppress and benumb the public mind that new ideals do not get a fair consideration. But it will be found that behind the series of challenges there is a series of affirmations, and these make up a constructive50 ideal of life. Probably few will accept this ideal in its entirety, though each chapter advocates a reform which has millions of adherents51. It is, however, not based on any ’ism, least of all on dogmatism. There is a view of, or attitude toward, life expounded52 in the first chapter, and behind each particular claim. But each section deals with a specific department of life and must find its justification53 within the limits of that department. If any regret that the work does not embody54 a profound philosophy of life, I must reply that I passed through philosophy thirty years ago, and came out into science and history in search of reality: and that philosophers do not seem to me to be either agreed among themselves or in any close relationship to the human problems I discuss.
Many will advise me, too, that a man would do well to conceal55 the more offensive of his heresies, in order to gain a more patient hearing for the others. That is the usual and prudent56 practice, no doubt; but this book has been written in a mood of fiery57 impatience with untruth, and this has forbidden compromise. Night by night, as I sit on the deck of the ship, I watch the dark purple pall26 drop swiftly over the last flush of the tropical sky; and I know that, each night, it shrouds58 the faces of thousands of men, women, and children whose chance of happiness is gone for ever. We are arguing to-day about man’s ailments59 just as the Greeks were arguing in the Agora at Athens two thousand years ago, or as men argued in the garden of Plato or of Epicurus. Meantime almost countless60 millions have lived in pain and squalor, and died in delusive61 hope, under the curse of those ancient traditions which we will not discard. Therefore I am impatient: I cannot sit in quiet enjoyment62 of the sunshine that is granted me. It will be found that no man appraises63 more highly than I the advance we have made in modern times, and that I nowhere exaggerate the darker features of life. If at times I write fiercely, cynically64, even bitterly, it is not from pessimism65, but from fulness and fire of optimism. My controlling thought is, as I said, a consciousness of our power.
There are two types of people into whose hands this book may fall. The first is the man or woman whose nerves must not be disturbed by the spectacle of the misery of less fortunate beings: who finds life good, and instinctively66 resents any proposals to tamper67 with its foundations. These people are no more open to blame, as a rule, than the prophet is entitled to praise for his ardour. We do not choose our temperament68, whatever else we choose. But one does not appeal to these comfortable people. They would have refined and pleasant things about them always, and they shrink from the vaults69 where, they dimly know, ugly and sordid70 and writhing71 things are crowded together: lest their glance fall on some yellow and distorted face whose hollow cheeks, or eyes bloodshot with pain or brutality72, would disturb the even pleasure of their lives. So be it. Let it be written in stark73 letters on their marble stones, when the last peach has dropped from their relaxing fingers: My ideal was to enjoy life, and to let the devil take the hindmost.
Do not let me be misunderstood. The enjoyment of life is the supreme74 ideal advocated in this book. I loathe75 asceticism76, either Christian77 or Stoic78. But I write for the second type of man or woman: the people who are strong and healthy enough to enjoy every pleasure that life affords, yet keep some thought for the unhappiness of others: who think it a normal part even of a pleasant and refined life, especially a leisured life, to spare some hours for seeking how the world may be improved for less fortunate folk: who, precisely79 because they love the sunlight, ask if it cannot be devised that all men and women and children shall have a larger share of it. Their chief difficulty is that, unhappily, the new prophets are as discordant81 as the old. A few centuries ago, when you crossed London Bridge, or the Pont Neuf at Paris, or the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, a score of rival quacks82 or charlatans83 (in the literal sense) cried in your ears the virtues84 of their conflicting remedies. To-day just so many conflicting social physicians cry their wares85 in the streets. They oppose each other almost as bitterly as they oppose the older traditions. How shall a busy man or woman decide among them? What fixed86 and unalterable principle, in this world of dissolving creeds87, can you adopt for the testing of their truth or untruth?
A very grave and sincere difficulty. Therefore, again, I have chosen to attack what seem to me to be shams: which I would define as untruths that the millions venerate88 as truths. The work of reform will proceed very slowly and very precariously89 until these are resolutely90 discredited91 and dethroned. In each case, it is true, it will be found that the dethronement of an error enthrones a truth; but I insist that we will pay no grave and practical attention to constructive schemes until we fully92 realise the blunders and brutalities of our present civilisation93. The discord80 of our social prophets does not excuse us from perceiving these.
As to fixed and unalterable principles, it seems to me that two, at least, are not disturbed by the ground-quakes of our time. Perhaps they stand with more conspicuous94 firmness when so many other “eternal verities” have fallen. The first is the principle of truthfulness95 or sincerity96. Of this it need be said only that, if there are any parts of our human tradition which the larger mind of our age discovers to be untrue, they ought to be rejected at once; and the more closely they are woven into our social fabric97, the more speedily and more apprehensively98 they ought to be torn out. The second and greater principle is the aim of arresting suffering and diffusing99 happiness as far as possible. I will consider this presently, and merely state here that these chapters have been written solely100 in the name and under the inspiration of that ideal. And if my words are at times violent, the violence is due solely to a great eagerness for the speedier coming of a brighter and more intelligent age and to a sincere abhorrence101 of cant102 and shams and all that lengthens103 this grey twilight104 of civilisation.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
dominant
|
|
| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
heresies
|
|
| n.异端邪说，异教( heresy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
candidly
|
|
| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
dinosaurs
|
|
| n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
insistently
|
|
| ad.坚持地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
colonists
|
|
| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
obsessed
|
|
| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
inaccessible
|
|
| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
tractable
|
|
| adj.易驾驭的；温顺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
akin
|
|
| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
omnipotence
|
|
| n.全能，万能，无限威力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
seethe
|
|
| vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
assails
|
|
| v.攻击( assail的第三人称单数 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
devastation
|
|
| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
lighter
|
|
| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
orator
|
|
| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
sterling
|
|
| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
prematurely
|
|
| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
obliterate
|
|
| v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
appalling
|
|
| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
pall
|
|
| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
calamity
|
|
| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
sane
|
|
| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
shams
|
|
| 假象( sham的名词复数 )； 假货； 虚假的行为（或感情、言语等）； 假装…的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
heroism
|
|
| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
machinery
|
|
| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
disorders
|
|
| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
remissness
|
|
| n.玩忽职守；马虎；怠慢；不小心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
37
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
indifference
|
|
| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
slovenly
|
|
| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
haziness
|
|
| 有薄雾，模糊； 朦胧之性质或状态； 零能见度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
rhetoric
|
|
| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
sluggishness
|
|
| 不振，萧条，呆滞；惰性；滞性；惯性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
foresight
|
|
| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
organisation
|
|
| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
organise
|
|
| vt.组织，安排，筹办 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
ineptitude
|
|
| n.不适当；愚笨，愚昧的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
prodigious
|
|
| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
constructive
|
|
| adj.建设的，建设性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
adherents
|
|
| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
expounded
|
|
| 论述，详细讲解( expound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
justification
|
|
| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
embody
|
|
| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
prudent
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
shrouds
|
|
| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
ailments
|
|
| 疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
delusive
|
|
| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
enjoyment
|
|
| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
appraises
|
|
| v.估价( appraise的第三人称单数 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
cynically
|
|
| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
pessimism
|
|
| n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
tamper
|
|
| v.干预，玩弄，贿赂，窜改，削弱，损害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
temperament
|
|
| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
vaults
|
|
| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
sordid
|
|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
writhing
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
brutality
|
|
| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
stark
|
|
| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
supreme
|
|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
loathe
|
|
| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
asceticism
|
|
| n.禁欲主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
stoic
|
|
| n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
discord
|
|
| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
discordant
|
|
| adj.不调和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
quacks
|
|
| abbr.quacksalvers 庸医，骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 )；江湖郎中；（鸭子的）呱呱声v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
charlatans
|
|
| n.冒充内行者，骗子( charlatan的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
wares
|
|
| n. 货物, 商品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
creeds
|
|
| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
venerate
|
|
| v.尊敬，崇敬，崇拜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
precariously
|
|
| adv.不安全地；危险地；碰机会地；不稳定地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
resolutely
|
|
| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
discredited
|
|
| 不足信的，不名誉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
civilisation
|
|
| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
truthfulness
|
|
| n. 符合实际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
sincerity
|
|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
fabric
|
|
| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
apprehensively
|
|
| adv.担心地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
diffusing
|
|
| （使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的现在分词 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
solely
|
|
| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
abhorrence
|
|
| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
cant
|
|
| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
lengthens
|
|
| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |