My translation: YuGong. you are killing me.

Choosing a profession

Dear Sire,

I have been busy with all kinds of business matters recently and could not reply to your letter earlier, and thus I am deeply regretful.

In my opinion, a person’s main responsibility is to try to stand on his own feet, preventing himself from being other people’s burden. In addition, he needs to learn how to perform a job that has a practical value to society cautiously and mindfully, which itself is an important education, whose effect will be reflected in all other undertakings. When you rather pursue other professions, but are still keeping doing the job you are not interested in, and it is a very worthy habit. If I had acquired such habit in my youth, I would have avoided wasting a great amount of my time.

To make an achievement in any science, it needs extraordinary ability, diligence, and energy. If you had those abovementioned traits, you would have enough spare time to make a name for yourself in the field of science after your daily business work. If you don’t have those traits, it would be better for you to be fully engaged in your business work. What is the least valued in this world is a young man, as Scottish proverb said: a ruined sheep horn, from which a spoon was not carved, who becomes an unqualified useless person in the fields of literature or science; if he had pursued other careers, he might have perhaps become a useful and valuable member of the society.

I think that you should ask your father to read this letter.

 

 选择职业
　托马斯·亨利·赫胥黎

 

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　伊斯特本，荷达斯里亚
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　一八九二年十一月五日
亲爱的阁下：
　　近来忙于各种事务，未能及早复信，深感抱歉。
　　依我看来，一个．人的首要职责是设法自立，以免除别人对他生活的负担。此外，学会严谨而审慎地从事社会上有实际价值的工作，其本身就是一种非常重要的教育，其效果必将体现在所有别的事业上。在你宁愿做其他事情的时候，却仍能够从事你不感兴趣的工作，这种习惯是十分可贵的。要是我在年轻时养成了这种习惯，就可以避免时间上惊人的浪费。
　　任何科学事业上的成就，都需要具有不寻常的才能、勤勉和精力。你若具有上述资质，你在日常商业工作之余，将有足够的闲暇为自己在科学界觅得立足之地。你若不具有那种资质，还是一心经商为宜。天下最不足取的事情，莫过于一个年轻人如同苏格兰谚语所说的那样，"匙子没做成，倒毁了羊角，"成为在文学或科学领域里滥竽充数的食客，要是去从事其他工作的话，他或许会成为社会上有用和有价值的一员。
　　我认为此信应请你父亲一阅。
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　你的忠实的
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　T．H·赫胥黎

所有跟帖： 

• Sorry , forgot the quatation marks for the Scottish proverb.Shou -NewVoice- ♀ (547 bytes) () 08/30/2011 postreply 05:38:10

• My dictation: -NewVoice- ♀ (3170 bytes) () 08/30/2011 postreply 12:51:43