平安夜，旅美老友川亚先生发来电邮，再一次祝賀圣诞和2012新年！随函还发来了一篇诗体格言警句式的文字，题目是《人生的意义》（Live A Life That Matters）。前面是英文原文，后面是中文译文。在寂静的平安夜里读这段文字，颇有感触，于是边读边和老伴儿谈起我们所经历过的人生旅程，心绪平静，感悟颇多。今晨起来，将这一篇议论人生的文字收在“家事日记”里，以便于日后随时翻阅，也想和好友们共同分享。为了方便，我把中文译文放在前面，后面再附上英文原文，也便于对照原文的准确语意。
人生的意义
不管你是否有心理准备，人生总有尽头。
当时刻到来，你不再有分分秒秒也没有昼夜晨昏，
你所收集的事物，想珍藏或己遗忘的，终将传让他人。
无论拥有财富、名望及权力都将无用，
无论欠人或被欠都已不再重要，
妒忌、怨恨、挫折与猜忌终将消失。
同样的，你拥有的希望、抱负、计划及执行的细节都将终止，
曾经看来是重要的输赢大事也都将随之褪色消失，
从何处来或在何处留下了足迹，到头来己不重要。
你是否美丽动人或光彩照人也并不重要，
甚至性别及肤色也将没有关系。
什么事情是重要的？人的价值要如何衡量？
重要的不是购买什么，而是建造什么；
不是得到什么，而是给予什么。
重要的不是自己的成功，而是做出了那些有意义的事。
重要的不是自己学到什么，而是教导了别人什么。
重要的是对每件事使尽全力、心怀悲悯、充满勇气、或奉献牺牲，让其他人因此更富裕、更有能力或受到鼔舞。
重要的不是能力，而是优良的品格。
重要的不是认识多少人，而是走后能让多少人深深怀念。
重要的不是留下名声，而是在爱您的人心中留下多少回忆。
重要的是能留在人们记忆中的时间有多长，是什么样的作为使人难以忘怀。
快乐的生活并非来自偶然，也非命中注定，
而是自己一连串的选择。
当你遇见美好的事物时所要做的第一件事，
就是把它分享给你四周的人。
才能让这些美好的事物确确实实地散播到世界各个角落。
Live A Life That Matters
Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten,
will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from,
or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;
not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others
to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
While you meet something beautiful,
the first thing you should do is to share it with your friends anywhere.
So that these beautiful things will be able to spread out literally around the world.
