The Secret to Learning Anything: Albert Einstein’s Advice to His Son

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第一篇：The Secret to Learning Anything: Albert Einstein’s Advice to His Son

原文链接: https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/06/14/einstein-letter-to-son/

第一段：故事背景介绍

In 1915, aged thirty-six, Einstein was living in wartorn（满目疮痍的） Berlin, while his wife and their two sons, Hans Albert Einstein and Eduard “Tete” Einstein, lived in comparatively safe Vienna. On November 4 of that year, having just completed the two-page masterpiece , his theory of general relativity（广义相对论）, Einstein sent 11-year-old Hans Albert the following letter.

masterpiece ／ 'mɑ:stəpi:s／ n. 杰作

在本文中指的是爱因斯坦的广义相对论。

第二段：爱因斯坦给儿子的信

My dear Albert,

1

Yesterday I received your dear letter and was very happy with it. I was already afraid you wouldn’t write to me at all any more. You told me when I was in Zurich, that it is awkward for you when I come to Zurich. Therefore I think it is better if we get together in a different place, where nobody will interfere with our comfort. I will in any case urge that each year we spend a whole month together, so that you see that you have a father who is fond of you and who loves you. You can also learn many good and beautiful things from me, something another cannot as easily offer you. What I have achieved through such a lot of strenuous work shall not only be there for strangers but especially for my own boys. These days I have completed one of the most beautiful works of my life, when you are bigger, I will tell you about it.

金词们：

awkward ['ɔːkwəd] adj. 笨拙的；不自在的

interfere [ɪntə'fɪə] vt. 干扰；打扰

interfere with 干扰某事（某人）

urge [ə:dʒ] vt.强烈要求

be fond of sb 喜爱某人

strenuous ['strenjuəs] adj.艰苦的

金句们：

You can also learn many good and beautiful things from me, something another cannot as easily offer you.

something是代词，指代前句中的many good and beautiful things，在这里作为同位语使用。another cannot as easily offer you 是一个定语从句，省略了关系代词that，先行词是something。

爱因斯坦希望儿子能够多和自己交流，废话，有这么个牛掰的老爸，你还不赶紧多提问，多学习，老爸一定能给你别人给不了的视野和新知呢。

2

I am very pleased that you find joy with the piano. This and carpentry are in my opinion for your age the best pursuits, better even than school. Because those are things which fit a young person such as you very well. Mainly play the things on the piano which please you, even if（引导让步状语从句，即使，就算的意思） the teacher does not assign those. That is the way to learn the most, that when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes. I am sometimes so wrapped up in my work that I forget about the noon meal. . . .

金词们：

joy [dʒɒɪ] n. 欢乐

carpentry ['kɑːp(ə)ntrɪ] n. 木匠活

pursuit [pə'sju:t] n. 娱乐；爱好

assign [ə'saɪn] vt.分配

be wrapped up in sth 聚精会神于某事

金句们：

That is the way to learn the most, that when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes.

这就是学习的至尊之道，也就是说当你如此沉醉于自己手头的事情以至于根本没有注意时间的流逝时，你就真的学到了。（这是大乐乐意译的，表扣字眼儿）

这个句子里有四个that哦，你们能够分清它们分别代表啥不？

第一个That是个代词，指代前面整句话。

第二个That是个关系代词，引导了一个表语从句哦。什么？没看出来？那大乐乐帮你把这句话补全：

That is the way to learn the most and the way is that...

怎么样？懂了吗？

第三个that是和 such…that...搭配的结果状语从句

第四个that是宾语从句引导词哦。

别看句子小，内容可不少，没有新单词，你也翻不了。

大乐乐语录：

学习应该从小处着眼，向长远努力

Be with Tete kissed by your Papa.

Regards to Mama.

第二篇：Sherwood Anderson on Art and Life: A Letter of Advice to His Teenage Son

原文链接: https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/01/09/sherwood-anderson-letter-to-son/

先简单介绍一下Sherwood Anderson (以下文本来自网络)

被威廉．福克納(William Faulkner, 1897-1962)譽為「我們這一代的美國作家之父」、「美國式寫作的奠基人」的舍伍德．安德森(Sherwood Anderson, 1876–1941)，是美國文學史上重要的起承人物。他上承馬克．吐溫(Mark Twain)地方文學和反現代文明的傳統，下起美國「荒原主義」文學先河(比艾略特的《荒原》長詩更早)，其對美國20世紀重要作家福克納、海明威、史坦貝克等人，皆有重要的影響。安德森還與德萊塞(Theodore Dreiser)、馬斯特茲(Edgar L. Masters)、桑德堡(Carl Sandbug)等人創立了「芝加哥文藝復興」(Chicago literary renaissance, 1912-1925)學派，這是一個反工業文明、反城市，崇尚鄉村生活與傳統美德的文學流派。

第一段：故事背景介绍

The quest to find one’s purpose and live the creative life boldly is neither simple nor easy, especially for a young person trying to make sense of the world and his place in it. In the spring of 1926, Sherwood Anderson sent his seventeen-year-old son John a letter.

金词们：

quest [kwest] n. 追求；寻求

boldly ['bəuldli] adv. 大胆地

make sense of 搞清楚；弄明白

金句们：

The quest to find one’s purpose and live the creative life boldly is neither simple nor easy, especially for a young person trying to make sense of the world and his place in it.

追寻人生意义，大胆活出精彩人生，这一点想通已经很难，实施更加不易，尤其对于那些跃跃欲试，想要理解这世界，找到自己的一方天地的年轻人而言。

第二段：Anderson给儿子的第一封信

1

The best thing, I dare say, is first to learn something well so you can always make a living（养活自己）. Bob seems to be catching on（如鱼得水） at the newspaper business and has had another raise（涨工资）. He is getting a good training by working in a smaller city. As for the scientific fields, any of them require a long schooling（学校教育） and intense（密集的） application（应用）. If you are made for it nothing could be better. In the long run you will have to come to your own conclusion.

金句们：

If you are made for it nothing could be better. In the long run you will have to come to your own conclusion.

如果你天生是这块料，那太好了。不过从长远角度看，你还是要自己决定自己到底想要什么。

金词们：

be made for sth 天生是做...的材料

in the long run 从长远角度看 = in the long term

2

The arts, which probably offer a man more satisfaction, are uncertain. It is difficult to make a living.
If I had my own life to lead over I presume I would still be a writer but I am sure I would give my first attention to learning how to do things directly with my hands. Nothing gives quite the satisfaction that doing things brings.

金句们：

If I had my own life to lead over I presume I would still be a writer but I am sure I would give my first attention to learning how to do things directly with my hands.

如果我的人生能从头来过，我想我仍然会当作家，但是呢，我先要专注学会一门亲手造东西的手艺。

金词们：

have one's life to lead over 从头再来

presume vt. 推测

give one's first attention to doing sth 第一时间关注某事

doing 在这里是动名词的用法：

比如：look forward to doing sth 盼望做某事

3

Above all，avoid taking the advice of men who have no brains and do not know what they are talking about. Most small businessmen say simply — ‘Look at me.’ They fancy（想象） that if they have accumulated（积累） a little money and have got a position（地位） in a small circle they are competent（有能力的；胜任的） to give advice to anyone.

金句们：

Above all，avoid taking the advice of men who have no brains and do not know what they are talking about.

首先，不要听取那些没脑子的人的意见，因为他们根本不知掉自己在说什么。

金词们：

above all 首先

take the advice of sb 听取某人的意见

fancy ['fænsɪ] vt.想象

accumulate [ə'kjuːmjʊleɪt] vt.积累

position [pə'ziʃən] n. 地位

competent ['kɒmpɪt(ə)nt] adj. 有能力的；能胜任的

They fancy（想象） that if they have accumulated（积累） a little money and have got a position（地位） in a small circle they are competent（有能力的；胜任的） to give advice to anyone.

他们觉得赚了点小钱，在某个小圈子里有了点小地位，就能为人师啦。（大乐乐点评：屁嘞）

4

Next to occupation is the building up of good taste. That is difficult, slow work. Few achieve it. It means all the difference in the world in the end.

金句们：

Next to occupation is the building up of good taste.

除了职业选择，还要建立良好的品味。

金词们：

next to = besides 除了

occupation [ɒkjʊ'peɪʃ(ə)n] n. 职业

building up 建设；建立

good taste 良好的品味

5

I am constantly amazed at（惊讶于） how little painters know about painting, writers about writing, merchants about business, manufacturers about manufacturing.Most men just drift.

整段都很金，翻译吧，骚年。

我一直很惊讶，有的画家对绘画一窍不通，有的作家对写作一知半解，有的商人对经商敷衍了事，有的手艺人对手艺马马虎虎。大多数人，就这么随波逐流。

金词们：

drift [drɪft] vi. 随波逐流

6

There is a kind of shrewdness many men have that enables them to get money. It is the shrewdness of the fox after the chicken. A low order of mentality often goes with it.

金词们：

shrewdness['ʃru:dnis] n 精明

金句们：

A low order of mentality often goes with it.

这种精明是智商低下的表现。

这里的it指代上一句提到的shrewdness

order ['ɔːdə] n 阶层；等级

mentality [men'tælɪtɪ] n. 智力

7

Above all I would like you to see many kinds of men at first hand（直接地）. That would help you more than anything. Just how it is to be accomplished（完成） I do not know. Perhaps a way may be found. Anyway, I’ll see you this summer. We begin to pack for the country this week.

With love,

Dad.

在这封信里，Sherwood Anderson一针见血指出三件事情：

1 手艺精，安身立命；品味佳，多彩人生

2 别听那些只会耍嘴皮子的人的意见，要多见人，广识人。

3 别耍小聪明，小聪明智能赚小钱，而且往往是低智商的表现。

有这样一个智慧的老爸，真好。

但是，没有也没关系，自己努力领悟。

第三段：故事背景介绍

The following year, after Anderson and his wife took eighteen-year-old John and his sister to Europe, the boy remained in Paris to study painting. Drawing on his own artistic experience and the parallels between writing and painting, Sherwood sent John another poignant letter of advice in April of 1927.

金句们：

Drawing on his own artistic experience and the parallels between writing and painting, Sherwood sent John another poignant letter of advice in April of 1927.

Sherwood本人在艺术方面阅历丰富，加上写作与绘画之间的相同之处，所以1927年四月他又给儿子写了一封犀利的信。

金词们：

draw on 依赖；仰仗

experience[ɪk'spɪərɪəns; ek-] n. 经验

parallel['pærəlel] n.相似之处 = similarity

poignant ['pɒɪnjənt] adj.深刻的；切中要害的

第四段：Anderson给儿子的第二封信

In relation to painting.

关于绘画

Don’t be carried off your feet by anything because it is modern — the latest thing.

别被新鲜事物迷了眼睛，尤其是最近的那些东西。

be carried off one's feet 为...而倾倒

Go to the Louvre（卢浮宫） often and spend a good deal of time before the Rembrandts, the Delacroixs.

去卢浮宫看看吧，花大量时间凝视伦勃朗和德拉克洛瓦。

Learn to draw. Try to make your hand so unconsciously adept that it will put down what you feel without your having to think of your hands.

学习绘画吧。让你的双手变得特别娴熟，娴熟到你的所知所感不经思考就可以直接从指尖流淌而出。

adept [ə'dept; 'ædept] adj.娴熟的；擅长...的

be adept at sth 做某事很娴熟

Then you can think of the thing before you.

然后再来思考眼前的事情。

Draw things that have some meaning to you. An apple, what does it mean?

画那些对你有意义的事物。比如，画一个苹果，那这个苹果有什么意义呢？

The object drawn doesn't matter. It’s what you feel about it, what it means to you.

画什么不重要，关键是你如何感知这事物，这事物对你而言意味着什么。

A masterpiece could be made of a dish of turnips.

即使是画一盘萝卜，也能画出杰作。

Draw, draw, hundreds of drawings.

画吧，画吧，画它几百几千张。

Try to remain humble. Smartness kills everything.

保持谦逊，小聪明害死人。

humble ['hʌmbl] adj. 谦逊的

smartness ['sma:tnis] n 小聪明

The object of art is not to make salable pictures. It is to save yourself.

艺术的目的不是画出畅销之作，而是自我救赎。

object ['ɒbdʒɪkt; -dʒekt] n. 目标；目的

objective [əb'dʒektɪv] n. 目标；目的

Any cleanness I have in my own life is due to my feeling for words.

我人生的通透源自我对词语的感知。

The fools who write articles about me think that one morning I suddenly decided to write and began to produce masterpieces.

那些写关于我的文章的傻瓜们以为某天早上，我突然决定开始写作，然后就开始写出鸿篇巨帙了。

There is no special trick（诀窍；把戏） about writing or painting either. I wrote constantly（持续地） for 15 years before I produced anything with any solidity（完整性；连续性） to it.

写作也好，绘画也好，没有什么诀窍。我一直写啊写啊写了十五年，才好歹写出了点儿像样的东西。

The thing of course, is to make yourself alive. Most people remain all of their lives in a stupor（麻木）.

关键是要让自己保持活力，因为大多数人的人生都浑浑噩噩。

The point of being an artist is that you may live.

成为艺术家的好处就是你时时刻刻能感到自己还活着。

You won’t arrive. It is an endless search.

艺术是没有终点的旅程，是永恒的探索之旅。

I write as though you were a man. Well, you must know my heart is set on you. It isn’t your success I want.

儿子，我觉得你已经是个男子汉了，所以写信和你说这些。不管你成不成功，老爸都看好你。

There is a possibility of your having a decent attitude（态度） toward people and work. That alone may make a man of you.

只要你能对人对事业时时抱有敬畏之心，你就已经成长为男子汉了。

大乐乐评语：

感觉Anderson给儿子的第二封信有很多话都适用于今时今日啊。

人生最关键是要感觉到自己还活着。

换句话说，离开让你觉得死气沉沉的地方、职业、伴侣、甚至包括你自己。

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