作者：知乎@魏剑峰（英语 话题优秀回答者）
原文：有什么适合大声朗读、文笔优美的英文散文？ （可点击）
是时候把我珍藏的几篇文章拿出来了：
1. Youth -- Samuel Vllman
作者塞缪尔年逾70才开始写作，笔力练达老成，这篇《青春》一经发表便不胫而走，影响了非常多人，文章非常经典，建议珍藏背诵。
"Whether they are sixteen or seventy,there is in every being's heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and starlike things and thoughts,the undaunted challenge of events,the unfailing childlike appetite for what is to come next, and the joy and the game of life."
2. Happiness Is a Journey -- Crystal Boyd
我非常喜欢的一篇文章，文章简洁有力，朗朗上口，推荐每个人都去读一读。
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we’re frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and we’ll be more content when they are. After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We’ll certainly be happy when they’re out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with…and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you’re off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you’ve had a drink, until you’ve sobered up, until you die, until you’re born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
网上曾流传是Alfred D'Souza 神父的作品，后来考证其真实作者是 Crystal Boyd ,链接说明:
Happiness is a Journey
https://link.zhihu.com/?target=http%3A//happinessisajourney.com/
从本文中也引申出了很多名句，比如下面这个：
3. When Love Beckons To You -- Kahlil Gibran
纪伯伦的名篇，这篇When Love Beckons To You出自其代表作《先知》(The Prophet)，初稿 在他年仅15岁时出炉，并于1923 年直接用英文在美国出版，《先知》以一位智者临别赠言的形 式，论述爱与美，生与死，婚姻与家庭等一系列的人生和社会问题，充满比喻和哲理的东方色彩。
When Love Beckons To You 最著名的应该是这句 ：
When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
4. On Studies -- Francis Bacon
培根的《论读书》，字字珠玑，极富思辨色彩，下面这段话与诸君共勉：
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.“
5. Summer Sunrises on the Mississippi -- Mark Twain
马克吐温的名篇《密西西比河上夏天的日出》，文章短小精悍，动词用得极其出色灵活，你们感受 一下：
I had myself called with the four o'clock watch, mornings, for one cannot see too many summer sunrises on the Mississippi. They are enchanting.First, there is the eloquence of silence; for a deep hush broods everywhere.Next, there is the haunting sense of loneliness, isolation, remoteness from the worry and bustle of the world.The dawn creeps in stealthily; the solid walls of black forest soften to gray, and vast stretches of the river open up and reveal themselves; the water is glass-smooth, gives off spectral little wreaths of white mist, there is not the faintest breath of wind, nor stir of leaf; the tranquillity is profound and infinitely satisfying. Then a bird pipes up, another follows, and soon the pipings develop into a jubilant riot of music.You see none of the birds; you simply move through an atmosphere of song which seems to sing itself.When the light has become a little stronger, you have one of the fairest and softest pictures imaginable. You have the intense green of the massed and crowded foliage near by; you see it paling shade by shade in front of you; upon the next projecting cape, a mile off or more, the tint has lightened to the tender young green of spring; the cape beyond that one has almost lost color, and the furthest one, miles away under the horizon, sleeps upon the water a mere dim vapor, and hardly separable from the sky above it and about it.And all this stretch of river is a mirror, and you have the shadowy reflections of the leafage and the curving shores and the receding capes pictured in it. Well, that is all beautiful; soft and rich and beautiful; and when the sun gets well up, and distributes a pink flush here and a powder of gold yonder and a purple haze where it will yield the best effect, you grant that you have seen something that is worth remembering.
6. The Joys of Writing -- Winston Churchill
丘吉尔的《写作的乐趣》，其中有一段广为流传：
”To my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class distinction in the world worth striving for; and I do not wonder that others are inclined to envy those happy human beings who find their livelihood in the gay effusions of their fancy, to whom every hour of labour is an hour of enjoyment, to whom repose—however necessary—is a tiresome interlude. And even a holiday is almost deprivation. Whether a man writes well or ill, has much to say or little, if he cares about writing at all, he will appreciate the pleasures of composition. “
7. Blood,Toil,Tears and Sweat -- Winston L. S. Churchill
1940年5月8日，由于前首相张伯伦遭到不信任质疑动议，被迫辞职。5月10日下午6时，国王召见 丘吉尔，令其组阁；一小时后丘吉尔会见工党领袖艾德礼，邀请工党加入内阁并获得支持。3天后丘 吉尔首次以首相身份出席下议院会议，发表了著名的讲话: Blood,Toil,Tears and Sweat .
”你们问：我们的目的是什么？我可以用一个词来答复：胜利，不惜一切代价去争取胜利，无论多 么恐怖也要争取胜利，无论道路多么遥远艰难，也要争取胜利，因为没有胜利就无法生存”，“ 下 议院最终以381票对0票的绝对优势表明了对丘吉尔政府的支持。 " I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." 即出自此文。
We are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history.... That we are in action at many points—in Norway and in Holland—, that we have to be prepared in the Mediterranean. That the air battle is continuous, and that many preparations have to be made here at home.
I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.
You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs—Victory in spite of all terror—Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
作者：
知乎@魏剑峰
英语 话题优秀回答者
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