英语散文诗歌

　 [英语散文]-It is my brithday

　Two weeks ago was my 45th birthday, but I wasn'tfeeling too hot that morning anyway. I went to breakfast knowing my wife would be pleasant andsay "Happy Birthday" and probably have a presentfor me.

　But, she didn't even say "Good Morning," let alone any "Happy Birthday."

　I thought, well...that's a wife for you. I guess, the children will remember. Then, thechildren came into breakfast, but, they didn'tsay a word.

　When I started to the office, I was feeling pretty low and despondent. As I walked into myoffice, my secretary Janet said, "Good morning,Boss, happy birthday." And I felt a little better,someone had remembered.

　I worked until noon. Then, Janet knocked on my door and said, "You know, it's such a beautifulday outside, and it's your birthday, let's goto lunch, just you and me."

　I said, "That's the greatest thing I've heardall day. Let's go."

　So, we went to lunch. We didn't go where wenormally go. We went out into the country toa little private place. We had two martinis and enjoyed lunch tremendously.

　On the way back to the office, Janet said,"You know, it's such a beautiful day. We don't need to go back to the office, do we?"

　I said, "No, I guess not."

　She said, "Let's go to my apartment."

　After arriving at her apartment, she said,"Boss, if you don't mind, I think I'll go in to the bedroom, and slip into something more comfortable."

　"Sure," I excitedly replied.

　Janet went into the bedroom and, in about sixminutes, she came out carrying a big birthdaycake, followed by my wife, children and dozensof my friends. All were singing "Happy Birthday".. and there I sat on the couch ... naked.

　 [英语诗歌]-两幅母亲肖像前

　Before Two Portraits of My Mother

　I love the beautiful young girl of this

　portrait, my mother, painted years ago

　when her forehead was white, and there was no

　shadow in the dazzling Venetian glass

　of her gaze. But this other likeness shows

　the deep trenches across her forehead’s white

　marble. The rose poem of her youth that

　her marriage sang is far behind. Here is

　my sadness: I compare these portraits, one

　of a joy-radiant brow, the other care-

　heavy: sunrise—and the thick coming on

　of night. And yet how strange my ways appear,

　for when I look at these faded lips my heart

　smiles, but at the smiling girl my tears start.

　—Emile Nelligan (1879-1941)

　我深爱这名美丽少女的

　画像，她是我的母亲，绘制于多年前

　当时她的前额白皙无瑕

　如同威尼斯玻璃般闪亮，没有一丝阴影

　在她双眸中。但另一幅肖像显出

　深深的纹痕布满她皎白大理石般平滑的前额

　她少女时的那

　首玫瑰情诗

　曾在她婚礼中被咏唱，如今已经远去。

　此时我心悲伤：比较这两幅肖像，一幅显得

　神情愉悦，另一幅显得心事

　重重：一幅如同朝阳初升——另一幅则如迎面而来的阴郁

　黑夜。然而我的反应却显得非比寻常，

　因为当我看着她失去光泽的双唇，我心

　发出微笑，但看着那名微笑的少女，我的泪竟开始涌出。

　—艾米里·奈利根 (1879-1941)

　Vocabulary

　● 1. portrait n. a painting, photograph, or drawing of sb. 画像；肖像

　It took only thirty minutes for the artist in the park to draw a portrait of Jerome.

　公园里的画家只花了30分钟，就完成了杰罗姆的画像。

　2. marble n. a kind of smooth, light-colored stone; usually used for statues or floors 大理石

　Nearly all of the surviving ancient Greek and Roman statues are made of marble.

　几乎所有保存至今的古希腊和古罗马雕像都是由大理石雕刻的。

　● 3. fade v. to become less bright 失去光泽；褪色

　As the years went by, the deep blue color of Mary’s favorite pair of jeans faded.

　随着时光流逝，玛丽最喜欢的那件深蓝色牛仔裤已褪了色。

　More Information

　1. dazzling adj. 璀璨的；耀眼的

　2. Venetian glass n. 威尼斯玻璃（以做工精美华丽而著称，可做成烛台、酒杯、灯盏、花瓶等精致用品）

　3. likeness n. 肖像；画像（正式说法）

　4. trench n. 沟；渠（诗中指母亲额头上的纹痕）

　5. joy-radiant adj. 洋溢欢乐喜悦的（radiant 本意为发光的，容光焕发的，诗中用来指因欢乐而满面春风喜乐；而 care-heavy则指心事重重的`样子）

　6. thick adj. （天空或夜色）阴霾的；深浓的（用来形容诗句中的 the coming on of night，意指夜色如毯子般浓烈地逼近）

　 [英语诗歌]-working on the railroad

　I've been working on the railroad

　All the live-long day

　I've been working on the railroad

　Just to pass the time away

　Can't you hear the whistle blowing?

　Raise up so early in the mom

　Can't you hear the captain shouting

　"Dinah, blow your hom!"

　Dinah, won't you blow?

　Dinah, won't you blow?

　Dinah, won't you blow your hom?

　Dinah, won't you blow?

　Dinah, won't you blow?

　Dinah, won't you blow your hom?

　Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah

　Someone's in the kitchen, I know

　Someone's in the kitchen with Dinan

　Strummin' on the old banjo

　And he's singn'

　"Feel-fi-fiddley-l-oh!

　Fee-fi-fiddley-l-oh!

　Fee-fi-fiddley-l-oh!"

　Strummin' on the old banjo, oh

　Strummin' on the old banjo

　I've been working on the railroad

　All the live-long day

　I've been working on the railroad

　Just to pass the time away

　Can't you hear the whistle blowing?

　Raise up so early in the mom

　Can't you hear the captain shouting

　"Dinah, blow your hom

　Dinah, blow your hom

　 [英语散文]-Snacks

　Snacks are I suppose defined as things that we eat between regular meals. In fact, if you are eating something and it is not breakfast, lunch or dinner-time then it is a snack. So, if you are having an apple sometime in the afternoon then that apple is a snack. However, on the whole when we talk about snacks we are not really talki

　ng about fruit and healthy things. The category of snacks is usually filled with things that are not so good for us.

　What are these traditional snacks? Chips, or as they are called in Britain, crisps, are a favourite snack and as with most popular snacks they are not a healthy option (选择). Laden with grease (油脂) because of their origin in the fat fryer (油炸用的食品) they are the dieters curse (咒骂). Another great favourite is chocolate and again it is a food option that is well capable of converting a sleek (光滑的) physique (体形) into something a little more wobbly (不稳定的)!

　Regarding the healthiness of snacks a big problem of so many of the regular popular options out there is generally their low quality. What you might buy in the stores on the high streets has been mass produced with all sorts of rubbish added to boost the flavour at minimum (最小的) cost. If you were to actually get many of these snack types made at home then they would probably be a lot better for you. For instance, chocolate comes from South America. The original examples of chocolate are very different to what we are now used to. Our chocolate has so much sugar and fat added to it that it would be quite unpalatable (不好吃的) to someone used to the traditional version. However, because we have all been brought up on food and snacks with no subtlety (狡猾，微妙) of flavour then we cannot appreciate the more traditional examples of snacks.

　So because of this way our snacks are made we have developed a love-hate relationship with them. Our taste buds (味蕾) demand the satisfaction only snacks can give but the diet industry condemns (指责) them as the road to obesity (肥胖). So there is a conflict between the advertising of snacks and promotion of the lifestyle associated with them of having a good time and the attack on them as dangerous to our health from the just as aggressive diet industry. My advice, is to ignore the propaganda of both sides and enjoy snacks for what they are, which means bearing in mind that too much is too bad.

　 [英语散文]-Better Late Than Never

　"It's like anything else, dear," said Mama. 'No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore."

　像任何事情一样，不管你在某个事情上有多少天赋，如果这个事情本身不再能给你带来乐趣，那你就不会再想干这个事情。

　Better late than never.

　亡羊补牢，犹未为晚。

　Papa's jaw dropped(往下掉) when mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams-not to succeed but to fail. It's unbelievable!" he said. "Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!"（为她的好分数骄傲）

　"Yes, she has," said Mama. "But it's not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team."

　"Wanted off the swimming team?" said Papa. "She never said anything about that to me."

　"Of course she didn't," said Mama. "She was afraid you'd blow your top. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn't have been much fun."

　"Oh, my gosh!" Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion swimmer because she's so good at it."

　"It's like anything else, dear," said Mama. "No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore."

　Papa put his head in his hands.

　"She must be really mad at me," he mumbled. "Maybe I should say sorry to her."

　Sister's footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.

　"Honey," said Mama with a smile, "Your papa and I have decided that there's no reason(理由) for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to."

　Sister's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Yippee!" she cried.

　"And, " added Papa, 'there's no need for any more drills. I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself."

　Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. "I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!" she said. "See you later!"

　From the kitchen window, Mama and papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house.

　"It's good to see her happy again," said Mama.

　"It sure is," Papa agreed. "As for the swimming team, there's always next year."

　"If?" Mama prompted him.

　"Oh, right,' said Papa. "If she wants to."

　Mama smiled. "At least you're learning, dear," she said. She kissed him.

　"Well, you know what they say," Papa said. "Better late than never."

　The Joy of Living

　Joy in living comes from having fine emotions, trusting them, giving them the freedom of a bird in the open. Joy in living can never be assumed as a pose, or put on from the outside as a mask. People who have this joy don not need to talk about it; they radiate it. They just live out their joy and let it splash its sunlight and glo

　w into other lives as naturally as bird sings.

　We can never get it by working for it directly. It comes, like happiness, to those who are aiming at something higher. It is a byproduct of great, simple living. The joy of living comes from what we put into living, not from what we seek to get from it.

　生活的乐趣

　生活之乐趣来源于良好的情绪，信赖这些情绪，并任由它们如同鸟儿高翔于天空般地自由自在。生活的乐趣是无法靠姿态摆出来的，也无法用戴上一张面具来伪装。 拥有这种乐趣的人们无需挂在嘴边，他们自然会焕发出快乐的气息。他们自己生活在快乐当中，也将这样的快乐自然而然地感染着他人，犹如是鸟儿就必将歌唱。

　直接追求生活的乐趣却只会使乐趣远离我们，它与幸福一样青睐胸有大志的人们。生活过得高雅、简单便会产生出乐趣。它是我们对生活的投入，而非所求。

世界经典短篇英语散文

　人不必须要生得漂亮，但却必须要活得漂亮。以下我为大家介绍英语优美文段摘抄大全，欢迎大家阅读参考!

优美的英语散文:善良，从来都不是白费的

　A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly , and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose.

　一只狮子在森林里面睡觉，王者之首枕在爪子上。一只胆小的老鼠无意中撞见了狮子，它惊恐万分，急着逃跑，从狮子的鼻子那里跨了过去。

　Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

　从睡梦中惊醒的狮子，生气地用爪子盖在了这个小东西的身上，想要杀了它。

　"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."

　?放了我吧!?可怜的老鼠乞求道。?请让我走吧，将来我一定会报答你的。?

　The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

　狮子听了觉得滑稽可笑，想着你这个老鼠怎么可能会帮到我，最后还是没有计较，放它走了。

　Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring.

　几天后，狮子在森林里面寻找猎物的时候。被猎人布下的网困住了。它自己无力挣脱，整个森林充斥着它愤怒地咆哮。

　The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

　老鼠认出了狮子的声音，迅速找到了被困的狮子，不停地咬着困住狮子的绳子，直到它松开，狮子终于获得了自由。

　"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

　?我说会报答你的时候，你曾笑话我，现在你看到了吧，哪怕是一只老鼠也是可以帮助一只狮子的。?

　A kindness is never wasted.

　没有哪个善举是白费的。

优美的英语散文:只要身边有爱，生活就有希望

　In the summer of my eleventh year the home I had grown up in burned to the ground in the middle of the night.

　11岁的时候，我住的房子在半夜三更被烧成了灰烬，那里曾是我长大的地方。

　Thankfully, my Mom, Dad, Nana, brothers, and I escaped along with our dogs.

　幸运的是，我的爸爸、妈妈、奶奶、几个哥哥，还有我，包括我们养的几条狗，都逃了出来。

　Yet, we had nothing but the night clothes we were sleeping in.

　不过，除了穿着睡觉的一身睡衣，我们也一无所剩了。

　I spent the rest of that night with friends of our family trying unsuccessfully to sleep in a bed in their attic .

　我们借宿到了一个朋友家里，住在他们的阁楼上，那天的后半夜，我躺在床上辗转难眠。

　I was too scared to doze off, though. I didn?t know what lay ahead for us.

　我太害怕了，不敢睡着。我不知道在未来等待着我们的是怎样的命运。

　The next day my Mom brought me a few t-shirts and pairs of jeans given to her by another friend.

　第二天，我妈妈给我带回了几件T恤，还有几条裤子，这是她的另一个朋友送给她的。

　One pair of them was too short and the other pair too long but I didn?t care. At least I had some clothes again.

　其中一条牛仔裤非常短，另外一条又太长了，可是我并不在意。至少我又有衣服穿了。

　Meanwhile my Dad had returned to blackened wreckage of our home to see what he could find.

　与此同时，我爸爸回到房子里，在烧成黑炭的灰烬中寻找还有价值的东西。

　The only thing he could save was my Mom?s wedding rings.

　他找回的唯一的东西是妈妈的结婚戒指。

　The plastic case she had put them in that night had melted around them and shielded them from the flames.

　当晚他把一对结婚戒指放进塑料盒子里，盒子已经融化了，但它保护了这对戒指免受灼烧。

　As the summer days wore on my Dad was able to rent us a dusty old house by the side of the road near where our old house had been.

　夏日一天天过去，我爸爸凑足了钱，为我们租下了一桩灰尘遍地的老房子，就在大路边我们的旧家附近。

　As we moved in I watched as family, friends and our community continued to donate all they could to help us get back on our feet.

　我们搬进这所房子时，我环顾四周，家人、朋友、还有社区里的邻居们源源不断地倾其所有援助我们，帮助我们重振家园。

　There was more clothes, furniture, food, money, and even some books for me to read.

　我们又收到了新衣服、新家具、食物、钱，我甚至还收到了基本可以阅读的书。

　Looking back now I am grateful for all we went through that Summer because it taught me so much about life, love, and people.

　现在回忆那个时候，我对我们经历的一切心存感恩，因为它教会了我很多东西，有关人生，有关爱，还有人性。

　It showed me that when you have nothing left but love, for the first time you see that love is enough.

　这些苦难让我明白，当你一无所有，只剩下爱的时候，你会第一次发现，有爱就足够了。

　May you always have ?Enough? then for all the days of your life here.

　愿你此生永远都有?足够?的爱相伴。

优美的英语散文:生命的意义到底是什么?

　"What is the meaning of life?" This is a question that we all ask ourselves at one point or another of our existence here. It is a question that I have asked myself many times over the years.

　?生活的意义是什么?这个问题我们都在某个生命节点问过自己，或者我们为什么存在。这个问题，在过去这些年中，我问过自己无数次。

　The best answer that I ever came across was written by the great psychologist , Viktor Frankl who had survived the Nazi Concentration camps in World War II. Frankl wrote that "The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

　"我认为最好的答案是来自维克多?弗兰克，他是一个伟大的心理学家，他在二战纳粹集中营里面存活下来。他说，?生命的意义在于赋予它意义。?

　When I was a young boy I gave my life meaning by simply playing, running, jumping, swimming, laughing, and riding my bike.

　我还是小男孩的时候，我对于生活的理解就是单纯的玩耍、追逐、蹦蹦跳跳、游泳、没心没肺地大笑，还有骑自行车。

　When I went to school I gave my life meaning by learning, studying hard, getting good grades and trying to make my Mom and Dad proud.

　大一点去学校了以后，生活就是，学习，还有努力学习，得到好成绩为父母争光。

　When I was a teenage boy I found meaning in playing sports, hanging out with my friends, and trying to impress girls.

　当我成了小伙儿，生命的意义在于玩转各类运动、和朋友们出去玩、吸引女孩儿注意。

　In college I found my meaning by deciding what I wanted to study and what career I wanted to prepare for.

　大学的时候，生命的意义在于找到自己热衷学习的课程，以及为今后的就业做准备。

　When I was working as a teacher I found meaning in helping to open young minds to new ideas and old wisdom.

　当我成为一名老师的时候，生命的意义变成帮助孩子们激发新点子、传授老经验。

　When I married and had children I found meaning in protecting, providing for, and watching over those I loved.

　当我结婚为人父，生命的意义对我来说就是保护、倾其所有地陪伴所爱之人的成长。

　When I found out both of my sons were mentally handicapped I found meaning in loving them, caring for them, and learning so much from them about life, love, compassion, patience, faith, and joy.

　当我发现儿子们都有智力上面的缺陷，生命的意义在于，爱他们、照顾他们、从他们身上领会到生命的真谛、爱、热情、耐心、信仰，和快乐。

　As I got older too I began to realize that meaning isn?t something that comes and goes.

　再年长一点时候，我体会到，生命不只是一些东西的拥有和失去。

　We can give meaning to every moment of our lives here. We can bring meaning to the thoughts we think.

　我们可以赋予生命每一刻以意义。让我们的思考有价值。

　We can bring meaning to the things we do. We can bring meaning to the hearts we touch.

　让我们的所作所为有意义。让那些我们可以碰触到的心灵变得有意义。

　All we have to do is love. It is love that gives life meaning. It is love that makes life worth living.

　我们所有的这些都叫爱。爱让生命变得充实，爱让生命的存在有价值，不枉此生。

　经典的文字阅读总能给我们带来诸多的感受，以下是我整理的世界经典短篇英语散文，欢迎参考阅读！

　The Pleasure of Reading

　Anonymous

　All the wisdom of the ages, all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries, are easily and cheaply available to all of us within the covers of bo oks but we must know how to avail ourselves of this treasure and how to get the most from it. The most unfortunate people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.

　I am most interested in people, in them and finding out about them. Some of the most remarkable people I've met existed only in a writer's imagination, then on the pages of his book, and then, again, in my imagination. I've found in boo ks new friends, new societies, new words.

　If I am interested in people, others are interested not so much in who as i n how. Who in the books includes everybody from science fiction superman two hun dred centuries in the future all the way back to the first figures in history. H ow covers everything from the ingenious explanations of Sherlock Holmes to the d iscoveries of science and ways of teaching mannner to children.

　Reading is pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness make you a good reader. Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the author's or even goes beyo nd his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his.

　Every book stands by itself, like a one family house, but books in a librar y are like houses in a city. Although they are separate, together they all add u p to something, they are connected with each other and with other cities. The sa me ideas, or related ones, turn up in different places; the human problems that repeat themselves in life repeat themselves in literature, but with different so lutions according to different writings at different times. Books influence each other; they link the past, the present and the future and have their own genera tions, like families. Wherever you start reading you connect yourself with one o f the families of ideas, and in the long run, you not only find out about the wo rld and the people in it; you find out about yourself, too.

　Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on books somebody tells you you “ought” to read, you probably won't have fun. But if you put down a book you don't like and try another till you find one that means som ething to you, and then relax with it, you will almost certainly have a good tim e — and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more g entle, you won't have suffered during the process.

　The Delights of Books

　John Lubbock

　Books are to mankind what memory is to the individual. They contain the hist ory of our race, the discoveries we have made, the accumulated knowledge and exp erience of ages; they picture for us the marvels and beauties of nature; help us in our difficulties, comfort us in sorrow and in suffering, change hours of wea riness into moments of delight, store our minds with ideas, fill them with good and happy thoughts, and lift us out of and above ourselves.

　When we read we may not only be kings and live in palaces, but, what is far better, we may transport ourselves to the mountains or the seashore, and visit t he most beautiful parts of the earth, without fatigue, inconvenience, expense. P recious and priceless are the blessing, which the books scatter around our daily paths. We walk, in imagination, with the noblest spirits, through the most subl ime and enchanting regions.

　Macaulay had wealth and fame, rank and power, and yet he tells us in his bio graphy that he owed the happiest hours of his life to books. In a charming lette r to a little girl, he says: “If any one would make me the greatest king that e ver lived, with palaces and gardens and fine dinners,and wines and coaches, and beautiful clothes, and hundreds of servants, on condition that I should not read books, I would not be a king. I would rather be a poor man in garret with plent y of books than a king who did not love reading.”

　On Reading

　Arnold Bennett

　The appearance today of the first volume of a new edition of Boswell's Johns on, edited by Augustine Birrell, reminds me once again that I have read but litt le of that work. Does there, I wonder, exist a being who has read all, or approx imately all, that the person of average culture is supposed to have read, and th at not to have read is a social sin? If such a being does exist, surely he is an old, a very old man, who has read steadily that which he ought to have read 16 hours a day, from early infancy.

　I cannot recall a single author of whom I have read everything — even of Ja ne Austen. I have never seen Susan and The Watsons, one of which I have been tol d is superlatively good. Then there are large tracts of Shakespeare, Bacon, Spen ser, nearly all Chaucer, Congreve, Dryden, Pope, Swift, Sterne, Johnson, Scott, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron, Edgeworth, Ferrier, Lamb, Leigh Hunt, Wordsworth (nea rly all), Tennyson, Swinbume, and Brontes, George Eliot, W. Morris, George Mered ith, Thomas Hardy, Savage Landor, Thackeray, Carlyle—in fact every classical au thor and most good modern authors, which I have never even overlooked. A list of the masterpieces I have not read would fill a volume. With only one author can I call myself familiar, Jane Austen. With Keats and Stevenson, I have an acquain tance. So far of English. Of foreign authors I am familiar with Maupassant and the Goncourts. I have yet to finish Don Quixote!

　Nevertheless I cannot accuse myself of default. I have been extremely fond o f reading since I was 20, and since I was 20 I have read practically nothing (sa ve professionally, as a literary critic) but what was “right”. My leisure has b een moderate, my desire strong and steady, my taste in selection certainly above the average, and yet in 10 years I seem scarcely to have made an impression upo n the intolerable multitude of volumes which “everyone is supposed to have read ”.

　On Education

　Alfred North Whitehead

　Education is the acquisition of the art of the utilization of knowledge.This is an art very, difficult to impart.Whenever a text book is written of real ed ucational worth, you may be quite certain that some reviewer will say that it will be difficult to teach from it. Of course it will be difficult to teach from it. If it were easy, the book ought to be burned; for it cannot be educational. I n education, as elsewhere, the broad primrose path leads to a nasty place. This evil path is represented by a book or a set of lectures which will practically e nable the student to learn by heart all the questions likely to be asked at the next external examination. And I may say. in passing that no educational system is possible unless every question, directly asked of a pupil at any examination is either framed or modified by the actual teacher of that pupil in that subject …

　We now return to my previous point, that theoretical ideas should always fin d important applications within the pupil’s curriculum. This is not an easy doc trine to apply, but a very hard one. It contains within itself the problem of ke eping knowledge alive, of preventing it from becoming inert, which is the centra l problem of all education.

　…

　I appeal to you, as practical teachers. With good discipline, it is always p ossible to pump into the minds of a class a certain quantity of inert knowledge. You take a text book and make them learn it. So far, so good. The child then k nows how to solve a quadratic equation. But what is the point of teaching a chil d to solve a quadratic equation? There is a traditional answer to this question. It runs thus: The mind is an instrument, you first sharpen it, and then use it; the acquisition of the power of solving a quadratic equation is part of the pro cess of sharpening the mind. Now there is just enough truth in this answer to ha ve made it live through the ages. But for all its half truth, it embodies a rad ical error which bids fair to stifle the genius of the modern world. I do not kn ow who was first responsible for this analogy of the mind to a dead instrument. For aught I know, it may have been one of the seven wise men of Greece, or a com mittee of the whole lot of them. Whoever was the originator, there can be no dou bt of the authority which it has acquired by the continuous approval bestowed up on it by eminent persons.But whatever its weight of authority, whatever the high approval which it can quote, I have no hesitation in denouncing it as one of the most fatal, erroneous, and dangerous conceptions ever introduced into the theo ry of education. The mind is never passive; it is a perpetual activity, delicate , receptive, responsive to stimulus.You cannot postpone its life until you have sharpened it. Whatever interest attaches to your subject matter must be evoked hele and now; whatever powers you are strengthening in the pupil, must be exe rcised here and now; whatever possibilities of mental life your teaching should impart, must be exhibited here and now.That is the golden rule of education, and a very difficult rule to follow.

　The difficulty is just this: the apprehension of general ideas, intellectual habits of mind, and pleasurable interest in mental achievement can be evoked by no form of words, however accurately adjusted. All practical teachers know that education is a patient process of the mastery of details, minute by minute, hou r by hour, day by day.There is no royal roads to learning through an airy path o f brilliant generalizations.There is a proverb about the difficulty of seeing th e wood because of the trees. That difficulty is exatly the point which I am enfo rcing. The problem of education is to make the pupil see the wood by means of th e trees.

　…

　Again, there is not one course of study which merely gives general culture, and another which gives special knowledge. The subjects pursued for the sake of a general education are special subjects specially studied; and, on the other ha nd, one of the ways of encouraging general mental activity is to foster a specia l devotion. You may not divide the seamless coat of learning. What education has to impart is an intimate sense for the power of ideas, for the beauty of ideas, and for the structure of ideas together with a particular body of knowledge whi ch has peculiar reference to the life of the being possessing it.

　The appreciation of the structure of ideas is that side of a cultured mind w hich can only grow under the influence of a special study. I mean that eye for t he whole chess board, for the bearing of one set of ideas on another.Nothing bu t a special study can give any appreciation for the exact formulation of general ideas, for their relations when formulated, for their service in the comprehens ion of life. A mind so disciplined should be both more abstract and more concret e. It has been trained in the comprehension of abstract thought and in the analy sis of facts.On Education