高中英語晨讀美文3篇
高中英語晨讀美文(1)
高中英語背誦美文
Time Is Money
“Time is money.” This saying means that time is very valuable.
But time is more valuable than money. The money we have lost can be gained again, but the time we have wasted cannot be regained. Moreover, sometimes persons can exist without money, but nothing can be done without time, just as no one can live without air.
Despite being so valuable, time is often neglected by men. Since time is an invisible thing, men often waste their time unconsciously（無意地）. Without anything to do, they may gossip from morning till night.
Man can live only at most to about 100 years. It seems fairly long, but in fact it is rather short. We often say “How quickly time flies!” How many things can a man accomplish in such a short period? Hence we should use the valuable time properly to do our work. We will race with it. We will study and work hard. Never waste a little bit of it.
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Try to Be a Good Student
Perhaps it is the dream of everyone to be a good student at school, but quite a few students feel at a loss on how to make it. In my opinion it is rather easy if you can act on the following points.
First of all, make full use of your time and work hard. Don’t put off till tomorrow what should be done today, as time past will never come back. The fast developing society requires adequate knowledge, which presses us to spare no efforts to study. Of course, your hard work will be rewarded one day.
Secondly, use your own head and present your point of view. Credulous（輕信的）attitude will only make you take anything for granted. With your own judgment you will be able to tell right from wrong and set up your own theory.
Thirdly, set aside enough time for relaxation, entertainment, etc. don’t ignore the harm of all work and no play. Proper sports will build up your body and improve the efficiency of your studying.
To be a good student is easier said than done, for it needs a student’s consistent efforts. But nothing is difficult to a man if he puts his heart into it.
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Natural Resources
Nature has provided us with many kinds of resources. Almost everything we use in our everyday life comes from Nature. The food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, the concrete and bricks to build our houses, the materials to make bikes we ride, etc. all come originally from Nature.
People have been making use of these natural supplies for thousands of years. With the development of technology and the increase of the population, the amount and range of materials taken has increased. It is estimated that this tread will continue in the years to come.
However, natural resources are not in exhaustible. Some resources are already nearly used up. For example, the end of the world’s fuel is already within sight. Such an essential daily item as water is in short supply in many parts of the world. We can no longer thoughtlessly use the many resources provided by Nature. We must learn to conserve what remains.
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We Have Only One World
When industries grow, pollution also grows. Today the problem of environment has become more and more important. The world population is rising so quickly that the world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources too quickly and at the same time we are polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we don’t take action immediately, then we will destroy our only world.
Man has made great progress in environment protection. Government of many countries has established laws to protect the forest and sea resource and to stop the environmental pollution.
Still more measures should be taken to solve the problem. First, we should start by educating the public about the hazards of pollution. The government on its part should also design stricter laws. This is not only for our own generation but also for the future generation to come.
It is necessary to protect our nature environment. We must begin now to protect our only world.
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Make The Best Use of Our Land
It is the land that has been providing us with everything we need for centuries. In other words, almost everything we use daily comes from the land directly or indirectly. The food, clothes, houses, even the books and furniture are all supplied by the land. But the limited land is decreasing at a surprising speed. With the expanding of the cities, the development of the industry and over population, lots of large pieces of good farmland are being turned into residential areas with many houses and apartment buildings, or industrial areas, or warehouses.
Therefore some measures must be taken to stop the abusing of our farmland. On the other hand, we should let everyone realize the danger of being short of land. And also we should educate them how to make better use of our land.
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Health
It is said that we do not properly value a thing until we have lost it. It is only when a friend dies that we find out how much he was to us. So it is with health. When we are young and strong and have good health, we think little about it. It seems natural to us to be always well, and we cannot imagine what it is like to be ill. We are often careless about our health, and without thinking we spoil our health by bad habits and doing silly things. It is only when we have our good health that we find that it was one of God’s best gifts to us.
Health is our most important possession. We should do our best to maintain it. Good health is necessary to happiness and success. People who are in poor health are often pessimistic or depressed. As a rule, bad health means misery and failure.
How can we keep our health? Only by knowing and carefully obeying the laws of health. A happy man is a healthy man, and only the healthy man can live a happy life.
The desire for good health is universal. Everyone who loves life understands how important health is. First, good health is the guarantee for enjoying life. The only desire of a patient is always to live an ordinary and healthy life. Second, good health establishes a firm foundation for your ambition of the career. Without it, any lofty aspiration turns to be a daydream.
Then how to keep fit? Everyone has his own answers to this question, while I think three principal suggestions should be followed. The first one is that a scientific diet should be adopted, which offers the necessities for your body. The second one is that physical exercises must be persisted, especially for the indoor people. The last, but not the least, is that the cheerful mood should be kept.
In order to keep fit, I force myself to keep away from the “junk food”, although it usually tastes good, I even form a good habit of doing morning exercises. And the beautiful music and good books always cheer me up.
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Sports and Games
Sports and games do a lot of good to our health. They can make us strong, prevent us from getting too fat, and keep healthy and fit. Especially they can be of great value to people who work with their brains most of the day, for sports and games give people valuable practice in exercising the body.
What’s more, they make our life richer and more colourful. If we do not have a strong body, we will find it hard to do whatever we want. So persons of all ages enjoy watching and taking part in various kinds of sports-track and fields, swimming, skating, football, volleyball and basketball, etc.
Sports and games are also very useful in character training. They demand not only physical skills and strength but also courage, endurance, discipline and usually teamwork. For boys and girls, what is learned in the playground often has a deep effect on their character. If each of them learns to work for his team and not for himself on the football field, he will later find it natural to work for the good of his country instead of only for his own benefit.
A healthy citizen makes a strong country. Let’s all take part in sports and games.
?Smoking
It is well known that smoking does harm to the health. Today, so many people still keep smoking, which has drawn wide attention of the society.
Smoking has so many disadvantages but no advantages at all. First, the cigarettes with nicotine in them do great harm to the health. Such diseases as pneumonia, lung cancer may be caused or partly caused by them. Furthermore, the bad effects of cigarettes cost the smokers lots of money, which could be spent on other meaningful things. Thirdly, the accidents of fire all over the world every year are mostly caused by the still-burning butts (end).
The government has formulated the regulation of no smoking in public places. Yet its result is not so satisfactory. From my point of view, it needs the common efforts of the society. Not only the nonsmokers but the smokers should cooperate on this matter.
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Live in the City or in the Country
Where do you like to live, in the city or in the country?
Most cities are centers of economy, trade, transportation or culture. With the development of economy and society, more and more people have flooded into the cities, which makes the scale of the cities larger and larger. Surely, it is very convenient for shopping, education, business and so on. But it also has many disadvantages: the large population makes it crowded in each corner of the city; the big factories, too many cars, buses and trucks pollute the clean air; too much noise can make people mad. To live in the city, one even can’t get enough room for living.
To live in the country is another thing. You can breathe the fresh air cheerfully, own a spacious house with a big backyard, and relax yourself in quietness. But when you want to go shopping, or take your child to school, perhaps you will complain about its inconvenient transportation, its remoteness…I am an ordinary person. I am always longing for the peaceful idyllic（田園詩般的） life of the countryside.
Is Failure a Bad Thing?
Failure is a common occurrence (happening) in our daily life. Whatever we do, there are always two possible results: success or failure. Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries, sometimes failure can’t be avoided.
Different people hold different attitudes towards failure. When faced with it, some can stand up to it, draw a useful lesson from it and try their best to fulfill what they are determined to do. Others, however, lose heart and give in. They do nothing but complain about themselves and objective conditions.
As a popular saying goes, “Failure teaches success.” In my opinion, what really counts is not the failure itself, but the proper attitude we should take after it. I trust that as long as we keep to what is right and correct what is wrong, that is to say, learn a lesson from failure, we will be certain to succeed. So I am of the opinion that failure is not a bad thing.
My Mother"s Birthday
The sixth of August was my mother"s birthday. My father and I wanted to give her surprising birthday presents. On their mothers" birthday，I know some of my classmates are going to help their mothers with housework；others are going to the shop and buy some flowers for their mothers.
In the morning，my father and I went shopping and bought a very nice cake. Then we went to the market and bought some food. When we got home，my father cooked some nice food in the kitchen. I went to my room to make a birthday card. I wanted to say to my mother that I loved her very much. Then I wrote in the card，“I love you，my dear mother！”I put it on her pillow，then we cleaned the room. We felt very tired，but we were very happy.
My mother got home. We said，“Happy Birthday！”My mother smiled. We had our supper together. My mother said，“Thank you，my daughter！”
How happy we were！
The Value Of Time
I always think there is not enough time. For example， I have just taken a three-day holiday. But when I look back， I just feel that it‘s only one day. There goes a proverb， “Time is money”。 Now I want to say， time is more precious than money， because when money is spent， we can earn some more again. However， when time is gone or lost， never will it return.
Time goes without being noticed. The time for our study and work is usually limited. So I think we must make full use of our time. But it‘s a pity that I am always not aware of the importance of time until it’s too late.
So I think， I should get into the good habit of saving time because wasting time is equal to wasting one‘s life. Do not put off what can be done today till tomorrow！
Environment
Environmental problems are as big as not for individual country or individual people to address. In other word， we have reached the stage that environmental problems be solved for international view. To what extent do you agree or disagree？
In recent years，many nations have become more aware of the environmental issues each nation faces，such as air and water pollution. The question is，are the environmental issues a national problem or an international problem？It is my belief that the environmental issues have grown to the point of becoming an international problem needing international cooperation to resolve.
Because of the differences in environmental policies，resources and technology，international cooperation could provide quicker results and have a greater impact on bringing resolution to environmental problems for nations of differing environmental policies and of lesser resources and technology. By pooling international resources and technology to address the environmental problems，the disadvantaged nations are provided the assistance needed. Otherwise their environmental conditions deteriorate ultimately affecting the resources and environment of the world as a whole.
Self introduction
Teachers，good afternoon. Allow me to briefly talk about myself.
My name is - Xianning graduated from the south gate of the private secondary schools. Tourism now studying at the school in Hubei Province. Studying hotel management professional.
I was a character，cheerful girl，so my hobbies is extensive. Sporty. In my spare time likes playing basketball， table tennis，volleyball，skating. When a person like the Internet at home，or a personal stereo. Not like too long immersed in the world of books，and family members have told me，Laoyijiege is the best. Talking about my family，then I will talk about my family has. Only three people my family，my grandmother，grandfather and my own. My grandfather is a engineer，I am very severely on peacetime，the Church me a lot. Grandma is a very kindly for the elderly，care for my life in every possible way. Therefore，I have no parents in their care，childhood and growth were full of joy.
I like this hotel management professional，because I like to live in a strict order of the management environment. I have my professional self-confidence and hope，as long as the efforts will be fruitful，this is my motto. Since I chose this profession，I will follow this path，effort，perseverance path.
Thank you teachers. I finished presentation.
We have only one earth
Dear human being，
Have you ever seen such a notice “A black smelly earth with lots of dirty things on it is crying and struggling.”？ How terrible it is！ Long， long ago， the earth was healthy and beautiful， and it was covered with heavy forest and all kinds of plants. The water in the rivers and lakes and seas was clean and harmless. There were not so many disasters of nature. People lived in harmony with nature， Why has everything changed？ Because we human being do a lot of bad things to her. First， We cut down the forests， destroy the grasses， and the water washes away a lot of soil down the rivers into the lakes and seas， making a lot of places flooded and many people killed and making her surface ugly. Secondly， we use lots of chemical powder in the wars， we burn plenty of coals， gas in the factories and cars， making much SO2 and CO2 with the heavy smoke spread in the air， so a lot of people suffer from this terrible air pollution， especially in winter. As a result of this， the temperature of the earth is getting higher and higher. It is dangerous for human being， animals and plants to exist. Thirdly， we pour a lot of waste and poisonous water into the rivers， lakes and seas. Making all kinds of fishes， plants and birds die
Now， if we go on doing bad things to the earth， the earth will die. If the earth died， where would we human being go？ The earth is our common living place. So it is everyone’s duty to protect our home —— the earth. Do remember： We have only one earth！
My Home Village
My home village is a small one. It’s in Yuxian county of Shanxi Province. Small as it is， it’s very beautiful.
There are many hills around my home village and they are more beautiful than some big mountains. In spring， we can fly kites which are made by ourselves on the top of the hills. The kites fly very high. In summer， the trees are green and the grass is green，too. It is green everywhere on the hills. There are so many wild apple trees on the hills. The wild apples are nice to eat. In autumn， the corns under and around the hills are ripe. So we eat them almost every day. In winter， when it snows， all the ground is covered with snow. We can play with snow and sometimes we eat the clean snow with sugar. In my hometown the sky is blue， the air is clean， the water is sweet and the people are very friendly. I love my hometown！
The Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn is a very important Chinese festival. It falls on the 15th day of August. A few days before the festival， everyone in the family will help to make the house clean and beautiful. Lanterns will be hung in front of the house.
On the evening there will be a big family dinner. People who work far away from their homes will try to come back for the union. After dinner， people will light the lanterns which are usually red and round. Children will play with their own toy lanterns happily.
At night the moon is usually round and bright. People can enjoy the moon while eating moon-cakes which are the special food for this festival. They can look back on the past and look forward to the future together. It is said that there was a dragon in the sky. The dragon wanted to swallow up the moon. To protect the frighten the dragon away.
The Four seasons
A year has four seasons. Every season has three months. The weather of one season is different from that of any other. The life cycles of plants are controlled by the seasons.
The first season is spring. The three months in it are March， April and May. During that time we have warm weather and fine days. All plants come to life. Animals wake up from hibernation. It is time for farmers to get ready for their fields.
The second season is summer. The three months are June， July and August. The weather is very hot and it often rains. People can go swimming and sightseeing. It is time for all things to grow up.
The third season is autumn. The three months are September， October and November. The weather becomes cooler and cooler. Leaves begin to fall to the ground. It is the harvest time for farmers.
The fourth season is winter. December， January and February are the three months of that season. The weather is very cold， and most of the plants die at that time. Sometimes it snows. People can enjoy skating and skiing. But winter doesn’ t stay with us for a long time， for spring comes again soon.
四季
一年有四季，每個季節有三個月，每個季節的氣候都不一樣。生命的輪回由四季控制。
第一個季度是春季。春季的三個月為三月、四月和五月。在這段時間里，天氣溫暖、晴朗，萬物復蘇。冬眠的動物們也醒過來了，農民們開始忙農活。
第二個季節是夏季，包括六月、七月和八月。天氣非常熱，而且老是下雨。人們能游泳、觀光。夏季也是萬物生長的好時候。
第三個季節是秋季，三個月分別是九月、十月和十一月。天 氣越來越涼，樹葉開始飄落。這是一個收獲的季節。
最后一個季節是冬季，這一季包括十二月、一月和二月。天氣非常冷，大多數植物都死了。有時候還下雪，人們可以滑冰和滑雪。但是冬天不會太長，因為春天馬上就要來臨了。
Asking for trouble 自找麻煩
It must have been about two in the morning when I returned home. I tried to wake up my wife by ringing the door-bell, but she was fast asleep, so I got a ladder from the shed in the garden, put it against the wall, and began climbing towards the bedroom window. I was almost there when a sarcastic voice below said," I don"t think the windows need cleaning at this time of the night."
I looked down and nearly fell off the ladder when I saw a policeman. I immediately regretted answering in the way I did, but I said, "I enjoy cleaning windows at night."
"So do I," answered the policeman in the same tone. "Excuse my interrupting you. I hate to interrupt a man when he"s busy working, but would you mind coming with me to the station ?"
"Well, I"d prefer to stay here," I said. "You see, I"ve forgotten my key."
"Your what ?" he called.
"My key," I shouted."
Fortunately, the shouting woke up my wife who opened the window just as the policeman had started to climb towards me.
?我回到家時，肯定已是凌晨兩點左右了。我按響了門鈴，試圖喚醒我的妻子，但她睡得很熟。于是，我從花園的小棚里搬來了一個梯子，把它靠在墻邊，開始向臥室的窗口爬去。快要爬到窗口時，下面一個人用諷刺的口吻說：“我看不必在夜里這個時候擦窗子吧。”我向下面看去。當我看清是一個警察時，差一點兒從梯子上掉下去。我回答了他的話，但馬上又后悔不該那樣說，我是這樣說的：“我喜歡在夜里擦窗子。”
“我也是的，”警察用同樣的聲調回答，“請原諒我打斷了您。當一個人在忙著干活時，我是不愿意去打斷他的，但請您跟我到警察局去一趟好嗎？”
“可我更愿意呆在這兒，”我說，“您瞧，我忘帶鑰匙了。”
“什么？”他大聲問。
“鑰匙！”我喊道。
幸運得很，這喊聲驚醒了我的妻子。就在警察開始向我爬上來時，她打開了窗子。
In or out ？ 進來還是出去？
Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark. Every time he wanted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opened the gate. As the neighbours complained of the noise, my husband spent weeks training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shopping last week, I noticed him in the garden near the gate. This time he was barking so that someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed another bad habit. As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he comes into the garden and waits until the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks until someone lets him out. After this he immediately lets himself in and begins barking again. Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since.
?我家的狗雷克斯，過去常坐在大門外面叫。每當它想到花園里來時，便汪汪叫個不停，直到有人把門打開。由于鄰居們對狗叫很有意見，所以我丈夫花了幾個星期的時間訓練它用腳爪按住門閂把自己放進來。雷克斯很快成了開門的專家。然而上星期我正要出去買東西時，發現它正呆在花園里邊靠門的地方。這次它叫著讓人把它放出去！從那以后，它養成了另外一種壞習慣。它從外面把門一打開，就走進花園，等著門自動關上。這之后他就坐下汪汪叫起來，直到有人來把它放出去。出去之后，它又馬上把自己放進來，接著再開始叫。昨天，我丈夫把門卸了下來，雷克斯很生氣，此后我們便再也沒有見到它。
高中英語晨讀美文(2)
Time Is Money
Total:161 words
“Time is money.” This saying means that time is very valuable. But time is more valuable than money. The money we have lost can be gained again, but the time we have wasted cannot be regained. Moreover, sometimes persons can exist without money, but nothing can be done without time, just as no one can live without air.
Despite being so valuable, time is often neglected by men. Since time is an invisible thing, men often waste their time unconsciously. Without anything to do, they may gossip from morning till night.
People can live only at most to about 100 years. It seems fairly long, but in fact it is rather short. We often say “How quickly time flies!” How many things can a man accomplish in such a short period? Hence we should use the valuable time properly to do our work. We will race with it. We will study and work hard. Never waste a little bit of it.
1. neglect [n??glekt] vt. 忽略; 疏忽
2. invisible [?n?v?z?bl] adj. 看 不見的; 不易為視線所見的，隱匿的
3. unconsciously [?n?k?n??sli] adv. 未意識到地; 不知道地; 失去知覺地; 神志不清地‘
We Have Only One World
Total:160 words
When industries grow, pollution also grows. Today the problem of environment has become more and more important. The world population is rising so quickly that the world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources too quickly and at the same time we are polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we don’t take action immediately, then we will destroy our only world.
Man has made great progress in environment protection. Government of many countries has established laws to protect the forest and sea resource and to stop the environmental pollution.
Still more measures should be taken to solve the problem. First, we should start by educating the public about the hazards of pollution. The government on its part should also design stricter laws. This is not only for our own generation but also for the future generation to come.
It is necessary to protect our nature environment. We must begin now to protect our only world.
4. established [??st?bl??t] adj. 已建立的; 已設立的; 已制定的; 確定的;
5. measure [?me??(r)] n. 措施
6. hazard [?h?z?d] n. 危險
My Views on Large Modern Cities
Total:144 words
Since every coin has two sides, living in large modern cities offers us many advantages, simultaneously causes many troubles. Better education and better jobs are easy to get, and better medical care is convenient to receive in large modern cities.
People are usually well informed due to the advanced media, such as television, newspaper and net PC. Large modern cities also provide varied entertainment for the city-dwellers. The public places like cinema, bar, disco-ball are everywhere.
On the other hand, large modern cities are too big to control, so the traffic jams and traffic accidents often happen, and the social security is a headache problem. And city-dwellers have to face the housing problem. Usually a house is too expensive for the salary earning class to buy and the rent is also high. Moreover, noise and pollution in large cities bring harm to people’s health.
7. simultaneously [?s?m?l"te?n??sl?] adv. 同時地
8. varied [?ve?rid] adj. 各種各樣的
9. dweller [?dwel?(r)] n. 居民，居住者
Top Meal of the Day
Total:143 words
A recent study shows that nearly 50 percent of the school kids in Beijing do not have breakfast. They tend to feel sleepy all day and have bad memories, so it is hard for them to get high marks in all kinds of test.
Some students who study late into the night choose to miss breakfast so that they can have a few extra minutes in bed. Others are given money to buy their breakfast on the way to school because their parents are too busy to prepare it for them. In addition, a few schoolgirls want to stay slim and often go to school without breakfast.
In fact, the morning meal plays an important part. It can provide 30 percent of the whole day’s energy. For a creative mind and better judgment, school kids should start their day with a regular breakfast.
10. slim [sl?m] adj. 細長的; 苗條的，纖細的
Youth
Total:243 words
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being"s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite for what"s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.?
When?the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you"ve grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there"s hope you may die young at 80.
11. rosy [?r??zi] adj. 玫瑰色的
12. supple [?s?pl] adj. 靈活的
13. predominance [pr??d?m?n?ns] n. 優勢; 主導或支配的地位
14. timidity [t?"m?d?t?] n. 膽怯，羞怯
15. wrinkle [?r??kl] vt. 使起皺紋
16. enthusiasm [?n?θu:zi?z?m] n. 熱情，熱忱; 熱衷的事物
17. wireless [?wa??l?s] adj. 不用電線的，用無線電波傳送的
18. infinite [??nf?n?t] n. 無限，無窮
19. aerial [?e?ri?l] n. 天線
20. cynicism ["s?n?s?z?m] n. 玩世不恭; 憤世嫉俗
21. pessimism [?pes?m?z?m] n. 悲觀; 悲觀主義; 悲觀情緒
22. optimism [??pt?m?z?m] n. 樂觀; 樂觀主義
高中英語晨讀美文(3)
The Road to Happiness
It is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by pursuing it. This is only true if you pursue it unwisely. Gamblers at Monte Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are other ways of pursuing money, which often succeed. So it is with happiness. If you pursue it by means of drink, you are forgetting the hangover.
Epicurus pursued it by living only in congenial society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast days. His method proved successful in his case, but he was a valetudinarian, and most people would need something more vigorous.
For most people, the pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in various ways, is too abstract and theoretical to be adequate as a personal rule of life. But I think that whatever personal rule of life you may choose it should not, except in rare and heroic cases, be incompatible with happiness.If you look around at the men and women whom you can call happy, will see that they all have certain things in common. The most important of these things is an activity which at most gradually builds up something that you are glad to see coming into existence.
Women who take an instinctive pleasure in their children can get this kind of satisfaction out of bringing up a family. Artists and authors and men of science get happiness in this way if their own work seems good to them. But there are many humbler forms of the same kind of pleasure. Many men who spend their working life in the city devote their weekends to voluntary and unremunerated toil in their gardens, and when the spring comes, they experience all the joys of having created beauty.
The whole subject of happiness has, in my opinion, been treated too solemnly. It had been thought that man cannot be happy without a theory of life or a religion. Perhaps those who have been rendered unhappy by a bad theory may need a better theory to help them to recover, just as you may need a tonic when you have been ill. But when things are normal a man should be healthy ]without a tonic and happy without a theory. It is the simple things that really matter.
If a man delights in his wife and children, has success in work, and finds pleasure in the alternation of day and night, spring and autumn, he will be happy whatever his philosophy may be. If, on the other hand, he finds his wife fateful, his children’s noise unendurable, and the office a nightmare; if in the daytime he longs for night, and at night sighs for the light of day, then what he needs is not a new philosophy but a new regimen—a different diet, or more exercise, or what not.
Man is an animal, and his happiness depends on his physiology more than he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself disbelieve it. Unhappy businessmen, I am would increase their happiness more by walking six miles every day than by any conceivable change of philosophy.
