In a calm sea every man is a pilot
在风平浪静的海面上，每一个人都可以成为领航员

But all sunshine without shade
但是假如只有阳光而没有阴影

all pleasure without pain
只有欢乐而没有痛苦

is not life at all
那就全然不是人生

Take the lot of the happiest
就拿最幸福的人来说吧

-it is a tangled yarn
——他们的命运是一团纠缠的纱线

Bereavements and blessings one following another
丧亲之痛和神恩赐福此起彼伏

make us sad and blessed by turns
让我们悲欢交替

Even death itself makes life more loving
甚至连死亡本身都让人生更为可爱

Men come closest to their true seives in the sober moments of life
人们在生命的庄严时刻

under the shadows of sorrow and loss
在哀伤和丧亲的阴影之下

In the affairs of life or of business
最接近真实的自我

it is not intellect that tells so much as character
在生活或事业的各种事务之中

not brains so much as heart
才智的效用远不如性格

not genius so much as self-control
头脑的效用远不如心性

patience and discipline regulated by judgment
天资远不如由判断力所约束的自制、耐心与教养

I have always believed that the man who has begun to live more serio-usly within begins to live more simply without
我一向认为内心开始生活得更为严谨的人，他外在的生活会开始变得更为简朴

In an age of extravagance and waste
在一个奢侈浪费的时代

I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are
但愿我能够向世人表明： 人类真正的需求是多么的稀少，反思自己的过错

To regret one's errors to the point of not repeating them is true repentance
以至于不重蹈覆辙才是真正的悔悟

There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man
比他人优越并无任何高贵之处

The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self
真正的高贵在于超越过去的自我