英语沙龙：The Folly of Anxiety

Half the people on our streets look as though life was a sorry business.

It is hard to find a happy looking man or woman.

Worry is the cause of their woebegone appearance.

Worry makes the wrinkles; worry cuts the deep, down-glancing lines on the face;

worry is the worst disease of our modern times.

Care is contagious¹; it is hard work being cheerful at a funeral,

and it is a good deal harder to keep the frown from your face

when you are in the throng² of the worry worn ones.

Yet, we have no right to be dispensers of gloom;

no matter how heavy our loads may seem to be we have no right to throw their burden on others

nor even to cast the shadow of them on other hearts.

Anxiety is instability. Fret³ steals away force.

He who dreads⁴ tomorrow trembles today.

Worry is weakness.

The successful men may be always wide-awake, but they never worry.

Fret and fear are like fine sand, thrown into life's delicate mechanism⁵;

they cause more than half the friction⁶; they steal half the power.

Cheer is strength.

Nothing is so well done as that which is done heartily⁷,

and nothing is so heartily done as that which is done happily.

Be happy, is an injunction not impossible of fulfillment.

Pleasure may be an accident; but happiness comes in definite ways.

It is the casting out of our foolish fears that we may have room for a few of our common joys.

It is the telling our worries to wait until we get through appreciating our blessings⁸.

Take a deep breath, raise your chest, lift your eyes from the ground,

look up and think how many things you have for which to be grateful,

and you will find a smile growing where one may long have been unknown.

Take the right kind of thought—for to take no thought would be sin—but take the calm,

unanxious thought of your business, your duties, your difficulties,

your disappointments and all the things that once have caused you fear,

and you will find yourself laughing at most of them.

1 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

2 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

3 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

4 dreads   

n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The little boy dreads going to bed in the dark. 这孩子不敢在黑暗中睡觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A burnt child dreads the fire. [谚]烧伤过的孩子怕火（惊弓之鸟，格外胆小）。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

6 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

7 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

8 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》