An Identity of One

原文

In the eternal universe， every human being has a oneoff chance to live—his existence is unique and irretrievable， for the mold with which he was made， as Rousseau said， was broken by God immediately afterwards.

Fame， wealth and knowledge are merely worldly possessions that are within the reach of anybody striving for them. But your experiences of and feelings about life are your own and not to be shared. No one can live your life over again after your death. A full awareness of this will point out to you that the most important thing in your existence is your distinctive individuality or something special of yours. What really counts is not your worldly success but your peculiar insights into the meaning of life and your commitment to it， which add luster to your personality.

It is not easy to be what one really is. There is many a person in the world who can be identified as anything—either his job， his status or his social role—that shows no trace about his individuality. It does do him justice to say that he has no identity of his own， if he doesnt know his own mind and all his things are either arranged by others or done on others suggestions； if his life， always occupied by external things， is completely void of an inner world. You wont be able to find anything whatever， from head to heart， that truly belongs to him. He is， indeed， no more than a shadow cast by somebody else or a machine capable of doing business.

譯文

活出個性

在茫茫宇宙間，每個人只有一次生存的機會，那是一個獨一無二、不可重復的存在。正像盧梭所說的，上帝把你造出來后，就把那個屬于你的特定的模子打碎了。

名聲、財富、知識只是身外之物，人人都可求而得之，但沒有人能夠代替你感受人生。你死之后，沒有人能夠代替你再活一次。如果你真正意識到了這一點，你就會明白：活在世上，最重要的事就是活出你自己的特色和滋味來。你的人生是否有意義，衡量的標準不是外在的成功，而是你對人生意義的獨特領悟和堅守，從而使你的自我閃放出個性的光華。

真正活出自己的個性不是一件容易的事。世上有許多人，你說他是什么都行，例如是一種職業(yè)，一種身份，一個角色，但惟獨不是他自己。如果一個人總是按別人的意見生活，沒自己的獨立思考，總是為外在的事務忙碌，沒有自己的內心生活，那么，說他不是他自己就一點兒也沒有冤枉他。從他的頭腦到他的心靈，已經找不到絲毫真正屬于他自己的東西了，他確確實實只是別人的一個影子或是一架干活的機器罷了。