古往今來(lái)，英語(yǔ)寶庫(kù)中涌現(xiàn)出大批經(jīng)典佳作，如林肯的《葛底斯堡演說(shuō)》（The Gettysburg Address），?？思{的諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)演說(shuō)（Banquet Speech），海倫？凱勒的《給我三天光明》（Three Days to See）。這些文章在文字的運(yùn)用上技法高超，在思想內(nèi)涵上寓意深刻，讀來(lái)字字珠璣，文字優(yōu)美，啟迪心智，含義雋永（full of exquisite words and truth， satisfying the mind， appealing to the heart）。醫(yī)學(xué)教|育網(wǎng)搜集整理這樣的文章如不能熟讀成誦，則無(wú)法融會(huì)貫通。背誦一定數(shù)量的經(jīng)典名篇既有助于提高自己遣詞造句的能力，也有助于加強(qiáng)自己表達(dá)思想的深度。下面的一篇短文是英國(guó)哲學(xué)家羅素（Bertrand Russell）自傳的序言部分，題為What I Have Lived For（我的人生追求），概述了作者一生追求的三種理想，文章在語(yǔ)言和思想兩個(gè)方面都堪稱經(jīng)典，值得背誦。

　　What I Have Lived For

　　Three passions， simple but overwhelmingly strong， have governed my life： the longing for love， the search for knowledge， and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions， like great winds， have blown me hither and thither， in a wayward course， over a deep ocean of anguish， reaching to the very verge of despair.

　　I have sought love， first， because it brings ecstasy ― ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it， next， because it relieves loneliness ― that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it， finally， because in the union of love I have seen， in a mystic miniature， the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought， and though it might seem too good for human life， this is what ― at last ― I have found.

　　With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this， but not much， I have achieved.

　　Love and knowledge， so far as they were possible， led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine， victims tortured by oppressors， helpless old people ― a hated burden to their sons， and the whole world of loneliness， poverty， and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil， but I can‘t， and I too suffer.

　　This has been my life. I have found it worth living， and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

　　我的人生追求

　　有三種簡(jiǎn)單然而無(wú)比強(qiáng)烈的激情左右了我的一生：對(duì)愛的渴望，對(duì)知識(shí)的探索和對(duì)人類苦難的難以忍受的憐憫。這些激情像颶風(fēng)，無(wú)處不在、反復(fù)無(wú)常地吹拂著我，吹過(guò)深重的苦海，瀕于絕境。

　　我尋找愛，首先是因?yàn)樗谷诵淖砩衩裕@種陶醉是如此的美妙，使我愿意犧牲所有的余生去換取幾個(gè)小時(shí)這樣的欣喜。我尋找愛，還因?yàn)樗獬陋?dú)，在可怕的孤獨(dú)中，一顆顫抖的靈魂從世界的邊緣看到冰冷、無(wú)底、死寂的深淵。最后，我尋找愛，還因?yàn)樵趷鄣慕蝗谥?，神秘而又具體而微地，我看到了圣賢和詩(shī)人們想象出的天堂的前景。這就是我所尋找的，而且，雖然對(duì)人生來(lái)說(shuō)似乎過(guò)于美妙，這也是我終于找到了的。

　　以同樣的激情我探索知識(shí)。我希望能夠理解人類的心靈。我希望能夠知道群星為何閃爍。我試圖領(lǐng)悟畢達(dá)哥拉斯所景仰的數(shù)字力量，它支配著此消彼漲。僅在不大的一定程度上，我達(dá)到了此目的。

　　愛和知識(shí)，只要有可能，通向著天堂。但是憐憫總把我?guī)Щ貕m世。痛苦呼喊的回聲回蕩在我的內(nèi)心。忍饑挨餓的孩子，慘遭壓迫者摧殘的受害者，被兒女們視為可憎負(fù)擔(dān)的無(wú)助的老人，連同這整個(gè)充滿了孤獨(dú)、貧窮和痛苦的世界，使人類所應(yīng)有的生活成為了笑柄。我渴望能夠減少邪惡，但是我無(wú)能為力，而且我自己也在忍受折磨。

　　這就是我的一生。我發(fā)現(xiàn)它值得一過(guò)。如果再給我一次機(jī)會(huì)，我會(huì)很高興地再活它一次。（方舟子譯）