A Freeman's WorshipThe life of Man,viewed outwardly,is but a small thing in comparison with the forces of Nature.The slave is doomed to worship Time and Fate and Death,because they are greater than anything he finds in himself,and because all his thoughts are of things which they devour.But,great as they are,to think of them greatly,to feel their passionless splendour,is greater still.And such thought makes us free men;we no longer bow before the inevitable in Oriental subjection,but we absorb it,and make it a part of ourselves.To abandon the struggle for private happiness,to expel all eagerness of temporary desire,to burn with passion for eternal things--this is emancipation,and this is the free man's worship.And this liberation is effected by a contemplation of Fate;for Fate itself is subdued by the mind which leaves nothing to be purged by the purifying fire of Time.
自由人的信仰 罗素从外表看来,人的生命与自然的力量相比是微不足道的.奴隶注定要崇拜时间、命运和死亡.因为他内心没有比这些更伟大的思想,因为他所思所想的一切都无它们所吞噬.但是它们虽然伟大,我们若能尊敬它们,体认它们无情的壮丽,就比它们更伟大.这些思想使我们成为自由人.我们不再东方式地听天由命,屈服在无法逃避的威力前.我们承受它们,使它们成为我们生活的一部分,放弃为私人利益的奋斗,不对片刻的欲望孜孜以求.充满激情地追求永恒的事物--这就是解放；这就是自由人的信仰.这种解放是对命运深思熟虑后产生的,而被时间精炼之火净化得毫无杂质的意识决定着命运本身.
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