Section One: Warm Up
. Lead-in
Directions: Watch a video about the formula of happiness and discuss this question: what in your opinion are the main sources of happiness? The following quotations about happiness are for your reference.
Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. (Aristotle)
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. (Mahatma Gandhi)
Happiness is not a reward—it is a consequence. (Robert Ingersoll)
Happiness is different from pleasure. Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing. (George Sheehan)
Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. (Margaret Lee Runbeck) . Background Information
About the Author
Bertrand Russell: a British philosopher and political activist. Russell became the best-known philosopher of his time because of the volume and clarity of his writing, and the vigor and prominence of his political activism. His major early work was The Principles of Mathematics, first published in 1903.
Section Two: Global Reading
I. Text Analysis
What is the text mainly about?
In this article, the author points out that when the external circumstances are favorable, the greatest obstacle to happiness is self-centered passions. He proposes that one should d cultivate genuine interests in the outside world to get rid of the obstacle and achieve natural and healthy happiness. He believes that can one find the greatest joy of life.
II. Structural Analysis
Directions: Please divide the text into 3 parts and summarize the main idea of each part.
Part I Paragraphs 1-3 Introduction
In Paragraphs 1-3, the author points out clearly that the greatest obstacle in people’s way to happiness is their excessive self-absorptonly by taking oneself as a member, rather than as the center, of the universe,
ion.
Part II Paragraphs 4-5 Solution
In Paragraphs 4-5 the author offers his solution—to cultivate genuine interests, and introduces in detail the specific remedies for such self-centered passions as the sense of sin, self-pity and fear.
Part III Paragraphs 6-7 Discussion on Self-denial
Paragraphs 6 and 7 are devoted to the discussion of self-denial which, according to the author, is also a kind of self-centered passion.
Section Three: Detailed Reading
Analysis
Paragraphs 1-3 Introduction
Question:
What is the chief cause of unhappiness when actual circumstances are not unfavorable? (Paragraph 1)
Provided that the circumstances are not unfortunate, the main cause of unhappiness lies in self-centered passions and interests that make a prison where one is shut out from the outside world.
Paragraphs 4-5 Solution
Question:
How can one conquer all difficulties and reach the objective of happiness? (Paragraphs 4 )
The first thing, of course, is to diagnose correctly his own trouble, and then to take corresponding actions. To sum up, the solution is to develop genuine interests, and thereby get outside of one’s own closed world.
Paragraphs 6-7 Discussion on Self-denial
Questions:
1) Why does traditional moralists’ preaching fail to generate happiness? (Paragraphs 6 )
Professional or traditional moralists tend to preach self-denial and, according to the author, have misplaced the emphasis. Conscious self-denial leaves a man self-absorbed and vividly aware of what he has sacrificed; therefore, he cannot really feel happy.
2) In the author’s view, how does his recommendation differ from that of the traditional moralist? (Paragraph 7)
Traditional moralists appeal to unselfish love which the author believes may encourage self-abnegation and make a barrier to real happiness. On the contrary, the author argues that the self and the rest of the world can be integrated, and real happiness can be attained, so long as we have genuine interests in persons or things outside ourselves.
Activity
According to the author, to achieve happiness one should cultivate genuine interests in the outside world. Do you agree with his opinion? What in your view is the real recipe for happiness?
Open to discussion.
III. Words and Expressions
1. recipe (Paragraph 1) n.
Explanation:
a method or an idea that seems likely to have a particular result
e.g. He thinks the one recipe for success lies in hard work.
2. Joseph Wood Krutch (Paragraph 1)
Explanation:
American author, editor, and teacher. Highly regarded as a social and literary critic, Krutch’s writings include Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius (1926), The Modern Temper (1929), Samuel Johnson (1944), and Henry David Thoreau (1948). After he moved to Arizona, he turned to the study of nature; his books in this field include The Twelve Seasons (1949) and The Voice of the Desert: A Naturalist’s Interpretation (1955).
3. creed (Paragraph 1) n.
Explanation:
system of beliefs or opinions, esp. religious beliefs
e.g. The laws apply to everyone irrespective of race, creed or colour.
4. exceptional (Paragraph 1) a.
Explanation:
very unusual
e.g. This deadline will be extended only in exceptional circumstances.
5. maladjustment (Paragraph 1) a.
Explanation:
inability to adjust to the demands of interpersonal relationships and the stresses of daily living.
e.g. Regular daydreaming was regarded as evidence of maladjustment or an escape from life’s realities and responsibilities.
6. set about (Paragraph 1)
Explanation:
to start to do or deal with sth.
e.g. I tried to apologize, but I think I set about it the wrong way.
7. garment (Paragraph 1) n.
Explanation:
a piece of clothing
e.g. She pulled the garment on and zipped it up.
8. blast (Paragraph 1) n.
Explanation:
a sudden strong movement of wind or air
e.g. A blast of cold air swept through the hut.
9. harden (Paragraph 1) v.
Explanation:
to make sb. less kind or less affected by extreme situations
e.g. Life has hardened me.
In this job you have to harden your heart to pain and suffering.
10. at bottom (Paragraph 1)
Explanation:
in a basic way
e.g. Jealousy is, at bottom, a lack of self-confidence.
Practice:
Translate the following sentence into English
虽然他秉性是保守的, 但他骨子里对并不感兴趣。(点击该句，出现下面的译文。)
(=Though by instinct conservative, he was at bottom uninterested in policy.)
11. untoward (Paragraph 1) a.
Explanation:
unusual and unexpected, and usually unpleasant
e.g. It’s important that nothing untoward should happen during his visit.
Transformation:
untowardly ad.
untowardness n.
12. promiscuity (Paragraph 2) n.
Explanation:
the state of including a wide range of different things
e.g. the risks of promiscuous sexual behaviour
13. recipient (Paragraph 3) n.
Explanation:
a person who receives sth.
e.g. recipients of awards/services/funds
Synonym:
receiver
14. potent (Paragraph 3) a.
Explanation:
having or able to exert great power
e.g. Advertising is a potent force in showing smoking as a socially acceptable habit.
15. bestow (Paragraph 3) v.
Explanation:
to give formally or officially
e.g. The Queen has bestowed a knighthood on him.
The trophy was bestowed upon the winner.
16. be encase in (Paragraph 4)
Explanation:
be completely covered or surrounded by sth.
e.g. His broken leg was encased in plaster.
17. simulated (Paragraph 4) a.
Explanation:
not real, but made to look, sound, or feel real
e.g. She looked at the report with simulated interest.
Synonym:
fake
Transformation:
simulate v.
simulation n.
18. dispel (Paragraph 4) v.
Explanation:
drive sth. away
e.g. The company is trying to dispel rumours about a take-over.
Synonyms:
disperse, drive away, scatter
Practice:
Translate the following sentence into English.
他愉快的笑声消除了她的恐惧。
(=His cheerful laughter dispelled her fears.)
19. spontaneously (Paragraph 4) ad.
Explanation:
in a natural, often sudden way, without any planning or without being forced
e.g. She laughed spontaneously.
Transformation:
spontaneous a.
spontaneity n.
20. immemorial (Paragraph 4) a.
Explanation:
that has existed for longer than people can remember
e.g. My family has lived in this area from time immemorial.
21. Boy Scout (Paragraph 4) n.
Explanation:
an organization of boys, founded in England in 1908 by Lieut. Gen. Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, that seeks to develop certain skills in its members, as well as character, self-reliance, and usefulness to others
22. flinch (Paragraph 4) v.
Explanation:
to draw away involuntarily, usually out of fear or disgust
e.g. He did not flinch from his duty.
Translate the following sentence into English.
在困难面前我们决不退缩。
(=We never flinch from difficulties.)
23. thereupon (Paragraph 5) ad.
Explanation:
immediately after something else has happened, and usually as a result of it
e.g. Thereupon the whole audience began cheering.
24. hedonist (Paragraph 6) n.
Explanation:
a person who believes that pleasure is the most important thing in life
Transformation:
hedonistic a.
hedonism n.
25. agent (Paragraph 6) n.
Explanation:
a person or thing that has an important effect on a situation
e.g. The charity has been an agent for social change.
26. succour (Paragraph 6) v.
Explanation:
to help sb. who is suffering or having problems
e.g. Helicopters fly in appalling weather to succour shipwrecked mariners.
27. ardent (Paragraph 7) a.
Explanation:
very enthusiastic and showing strong feelings about sth./sb.
e.g. He’s been one of the most ardent supporters of the administration’s policy.
28. abnegation (Paragraph 7) n.
Explanation:
the act of not allowing yourself to have sth. that you want; the act of rejecting sth.
e.g. Men with that capacity for self-abnegation do not reach a Presidency.
Only spontaneous love flowing with sincere generosity and self-abnegation can fertilize the soul of others.
Synonym:
denial
29. antithesis (Paragraph 7) n.
Explanation:
a contrast between two things
e.g. There is an antithesis between the needs of the state and the needs of the people.
30. billiard-ball (Paragraph 7) n.
Explanation:
a small, hard ball used in cue sports, such as carom billiards, pool, and snooker
31. pit against (Paragraph 7)
Explanation:
to set sb. or sth. in opposition to sb. or sth. else
e.g. I’d like to pit my wits against the best.
IV. Sentences
[1] …that happiness is impossible without a creed of a more or less religious kind. (Paragraph 1)
Paraphrase: Without following with a somewhat religious awe and devotion a strict set of principles which include the idea of self-sacrifice and other similar ideas, the realization of happiness would be impossible.
Translation: 如果没有一种多少带有宗教色彩的信仰，那么幸福是不可能的。
[2] It is thought by many who are themselves unhappy that their sorrows have complicated and highly intellectualized sources. (Paragraph 1)
Paraphrase: Many unhappy people think their unhappiness is a reflection of their profundity.
Translation: 许多自己并不幸福的人认为，他们的忧伤有着复杂而高深的原因。
[3] But the thorns tear the warm garment and the cold blasts penetrate through the rents, and the man who has become accustomed to its warmth suffers far more from these blasts than a man who has hardened himself to them from the first. (Paragraph 1)
Paraphrase: But, reality is, after all, reality, and all illusions and self-deceptions will break up some day. Anyone who has indulged himself in such illusions is more vulnerable than those who have faced up to difficulties all along.
Translation: 然而现实的荆棘撕破了长袍，寒冷刺骨的风从撕裂驱直入，这时已经习惯了温暖舒适的人，比一个从开始就经受了磨练的人，要遭受更多的痛苦。
[4] The happy man is the man who lives objectively, who has free affections and wide interests, who secures his happiness through these interests and affections and through the fact that they, in turn, make him an object of interest and affection to many others. (Paragraph 3)
Paraphrase: One can be happy so long as he has developed affections and interests that are not self-centered. Through giving affection and interest to other people, one may receive interest and affection from others in return.
Translation: 一个幸福的人，以客观的态度安身立命，他具有自由的爱和广泛的兴趣，凭着这些爱和兴趣，同时凭着它们使他成为他人的爱和兴趣的对象，他获得了幸福。
[5] To be the recipient of affection is a potent cause of happiness, but the man who demands affection is not the man upon whom it is bestowed. (Paragraph 3)
Paraphrase: To be able to receive affection from others can certainly make a person happy. But if such affection is not given out of their free will, but as a result of a demand or even coercion, then he who receives such a reluctant offer still can not be made happy.
Translation: 能成为被爱的对象，固然是幸福的一大源泉，然而索取爱的人并不就真的能够得到爱。
[6] The man who receives affection is, speaking broadly, the man who gives it. (Paragraph 3)
Paraphrase: In normal cases, the gain of affection is a natural reward of one’s offer of affection.
Translation: 广义说来，得到爱的人正是给予爱的人。
[7] …if he is to get outside it, it must be by genuine interests, not by simulated interests adopted merely as a medicine. (Paragraph 4)
Paraphrase: If one wants to break the deadlock of self-centered passions, he should try to cultivate some real interests in the outside world. In the process, he must be sincere and devote himself wholeheartedly. If he only wishes to better his miserable condition by imitating others’ behavior, then nothing will be changed, for his concern is still confined exclusively to himself.
Translation: 如果他要跳出来，他就得借助于真实的兴趣，而不是指望那些被当作药物一般接受的做作的兴趣。
[8] What the objective interests are to be that will arise in you when you have overcome the disease of self-absorption must be left to the spontaneous workings of your nature and of external circumstances. (Paragraph 5)
Paraphrase: When you have escaped from the firm grip of your self-centered passions, you will find some genuine interests towards the outside world being cultivated. Yet, you cannot decide these types of interests in advance. They are actually the result of the joint workings of your nature and external circumstances.
Translation: 当你战胜了自我专注的毛病，至于以后能有什么样的客观兴趣，那只能是你的天性和外界环境的自然而然的结果，你就不必为此徒费心神了。
[9] Conscious self-denial leaves a man self-absorbed and vividly aware of what he has sacrificed; in consequence it fails often of its immediate object and almost always of its ultimate purpose. (Paragraph 6)
Paraphrase: If one makes deliberate efforts in sacrificing his desires or interests, he is actually thinking too much of himself and attaching more weight to his behavior of sacrifice than others’ benefit. Therefore, his unnatural efforts will neither bring real pleasure to others, which is the immediate object of his self-denial, nor enhance his moral level, which is his ultimate purpose.
Translation: 有意识的自制，使一个人变得专注于自我，并清楚地知道他所作的牺牲，这样做的结果只能是：在当前的目标上，他往往失败；在最后的目标上，他几乎总会落空。
[10] What is needed is not self-denial, but that kind of direction of interest outward which will lead spontaneously and naturally to the same acts that a person absorbed in the pursuit of his own virtue could only perform by means of conscious self-denial. (Paragraph 6)
Paraphrase: As one whose purpose is the pursuit of his own virtue may achieve it through painful efforts of self-denial, he may achieve it easily and naturally through cultivating genuine interests toward the outside world.
Translation: 人们需要的并不是自我克制，而是那种外向型的兴趣，后者能产生自发的、不做作的行为。这种行为在一个专注于追求自身修养的人那儿，是只有依靠有意识的自我克制才能做到的。
[11] The moralist, however, is too apt, though this is not, of course, universally true, to stress the act rather than the state of mind. (Paragraph 6)
Paraphrase: It is quite often the case that the moralist would place much emphasis on what people should do, but care little about whether they do such things painfully or happily.
Translation: 不过，道德家往往——当然并非总是——重视行为，而轻视心理状态。
[12] The effects of an act upon the agent will be widely different, according to his state of mind at the moment. (Paragraph 6)
Paraphrase: The effects an act has on its performer may be very different according to the mood of the performer the moment he performs it.
Translation: 其实，不同行为的效果之所以存在着巨大的差别，乃是因为行为者当时的心理状态不同。
[13] …but it should undoubtedly be of such a nature that one’s own happiness is bound up in its success. (Paragraph 7)
Paraphrase: If love is as healthy and nice as it should be, then happiness should undoubtedly base itself upon the realization, rather than the denial, of love.
Translation: 然而，毫无疑问的是，爱应该具有这种性质，即一个人能从成功的爱情中获得幸福。
[14] Undoubtedly we should desire the happiness of those whom we love, but not as an alternative to our own. (Paragraph 7)
Explanation: No doubt, it is a virtue that we should wish those whom we love happiness, but it is utterly wrong to think that our own happiness is incompatible with theirs, and the former would have to be sacrificed in order to achieve the latter.
Translation: 毋庸置疑，我们应该希望自己所爱的人幸福，但不应该用它取代我们自己的幸福。
[15] All unhappiness depends upon some kind of disintegration or lack of integration; there is disintegration within the self through lack of coordination between the conscious and the unconscious mind; there is lack of integration between the self and society where the two are not knit together by the force of objective interests and affections. (Paragraph 7)
Paraphrase: Unhappiness is in most cases a result of conflict within oneself and separation between the self and the outside world, or conflict between care for the self and for social concerns. Such lack of unity is due to the lack of outward interests and affections.
Translation: 所有的不幸都基于某种或不和谐：有意识和无意识之间的不和谐，导致自我的；自我和社会的连结要靠客观兴趣和爱的力量，一旦缺乏这种力量，又会导致自我和社会之间的不和谐。
[16] It is in such profound instinctive union with the stream of life that the greatest joy is to be found. (Paragraph 7)
Paraphrase: If one is to find the greatest joy of life, he should break the bondage of his ego and naturally consider himself an equal and a part of all human beings in the stream of life.
Translation: 将自我完全自然地融化于生命之流中去吧，美妙无穷的幸福在向你招手！
Section Four: Text Appreciation
The author avoids making anything complicated and intellectualized, but takes an approach based on common sense, born of his own experience and observation, in very simple and lucid language. The success in employing very simple and lucid language to present the author’s ideas lies in some specific tricks, among which are repetition, exemplification and analogy.
Discuss and answer the following questions:
1. The important points of the article are emphasized by way of repetition. Find out the sentences with repetition and tell the effects they achieve.
1)(Paragraph 1)
“It is thought by many, among whom I think we must include Mr. Krutch, whom we considered in an earlier chapter, that happiness is impossible without a creed of a more or less religious kind. It is thought by many who are themselves unhappy that their sorrows have complicated and highly intellectualized sources.”
In this sentence, “it is thought by many that…” is repeated. The repeated structure introduces the public’s view on causes of happiness and unhappiness.
2) (Paragraph 1)
“The man who is unhappy will, as a rule, adopt an unhappy creed, while the man who is happy will adopt a happy creed; each may attribute his happiness or unhappiness to his beliefs, while the real causation is the other way round”. In the first half of this sentence, not only such words as “unhappy” “happy” “adopt” “creed” are repeated, but the structure “the man who is …will adopt …creed” is repeated as well. The repetition constitutes a contrast between the happy man and the unhappy man.
3)(Paragraph 1)
“If, for example, his trouble is due to a sense of sin, conscious or unconscious, he can first persuade his conscious mind that he has no reason to feel sinful, and then proceed, by the kind of technique that we have considered in an earlier chapter, to plant this rational conviction in his activity. If he succeeds in dispelling the sense of sin, it is probable that genuinely objective interests will arise spontaneously. If his trouble is self-pity, he can deal with it in the same manner after first persuading himself that there is nothing extraordinarily unfortunate in his circumstances. If fear is his trouble, let him practice exercises designed to give courage.”
In this sentence, “if” and “his trouble” are repeated, presenting ways to overcome different troubles.
2.Exemplification is also employed in this article. Find out the sentences with examples and tell what they are intended to prove.
1)“Do you say to yourself in advance, ‘I should be happy if I could become absorbed in stamp-collecting’, and thereupon set to work to collect stamps, for it may well happen that you will fail altogether to find stamp-collecting interesting.” (Paragraph 5)
(An example to prove that only genuine interests can be of any use to you.)
2)“If you see a child drowning and save it as the result of a direct impulse to bring help, you will emerge none the worse morally. If, on the other hand, you say to yourself, “It is the part of virtue to succour the helpless, and I wish to be a virtuous man, therefore I must save this child”, you will be an even worse man afterwards than you were before.” (Paragraph 6)
(An example to show that the effects of an act upon the agent will be widely different, according to his state of mind at the moment.)
3) “If a man were to invite a lady to marry him on the ground that he ardently desired her happiness and at the same time considered that she would afford him ideal opportunities of self-abnegation, I think it may be doubted whether she would be altogether pleased.” (Paragraph 7)
(An example to show the nature of love is that one’s own happiness is bound up in its success.)
3. Analogy is also one of the tricks the author uses to make his otherwise very difficult ideas vivid and clear. Find out the sentences with analogy, and analyze their implied meanings.
“But the thorns tear the warm garment and the cold blasts penetrate through the rents, and the man who has become accustomed to its warmth suffers far more from these blasts than the man who has hardened himself to them from the first.” (Paragraph 1)
Here, harsh realities are compared to “the thorns” and “the cold blasts”, which we are advised to get mentally prepared to face up to, if we wish to avoid being hurt by fortune’s spite.
