Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy---ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness---that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what---at last---I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hatred burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.
譯文：
我為何而生
我的壹生被三種簡單卻又無比強烈的激情所控制：對愛的渴望，對知識的探索和對人類苦難難以抑制的嶼。這些激情像狂風，把我恣情吹向四方，掠過苦痛的大海，迫使我瀕臨絕望的邊緣。
我尋求愛，首先因為它使我心為之著迷，這種難以名狀的美妙迷醉使我願意用所有的余生去換取哪怕幾個小時這樣的幸福。我尋求愛，還因為它能緩解我心理上的孤獨中，我感覺心靈的戰栗，仿如站在世界的邊緣而面前是冰冷，無底的死亡深淵。我尋求愛，因為在我所目睹的結合中，我仿佛看到了聖賢與詩人們所向往的天堂之景。這就是我所尋找的，雖然對人的壹生而言似乎有些遙不可及，但至少是我用盡壹生所領悟到的。
我用同樣的激情去尋求知識。我希望能理解人類的心靈，希望能夠知道群星閃爍的緣由。我試圖領悟畢達哥拉斯所景仰的“數即萬物”的思想。我已經悟出了其中的壹點點道理，盡管並不是很多。
愛和知識，用它們的力量把人引向天堂。但是同情卻總把人又拽回到塵世中來。痛苦的呼喊聲回蕩在我的內心。饑餓的孩子，受壓迫的難民，貧窮和痛苦的世界，都是對人類所憧憬的美好生活的無情嘲弄。我渴望能夠減少邪惡，但是我無能為力，我也難逃其折磨。
這就是我的壹生。我已經找到它的價值。而且如果有機會，我很願意能再活它壹次。
When Love Beckons You
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.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
But if, in your fear, you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught but it self and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a payer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
譯文：
愛的召喚
當愛召喚妳時，請追隨她，盡管愛的道路艱難險峻。當愛的羽翼擁抱妳時，請順從她，盡管隱藏在其羽翼之下的劍可能會傷到妳。當愛向妳訴說時，請相信她，盡管她的聲音可能打破妳的夢想，就如同北風吹落花園裏所有的花瓣。
愛會給妳戴上桂冠，也會折磨妳。愛會助妳成長，也會給妳修枝。愛會上升到枝頭，撫愛妳在陽光下顫動力的嫩枝，也會下潛至根部，撼動力妳緊抓泥土的根基。
但是，如果妳在恐懼之中只想尋求愛的平和與快樂，那妳就最好掩蓋真實的自我，避開愛的考驗，進入不分季節的世界，在那裏妳將歡笑，但並非開懷大笑，妳將哭泣，但並非盡情地哭。愛只將自己付出，也只得到自己。愛壹無所有，也不會為誰所有，因為愛本身就已自足。
愛除了實現自我別無他求。但是如果妳愛而又不得不有所求，那就請期望：
將自己融化並像奔流的溪水壹般向夜晚吟唱自己優美的曲調。
明了過多的溫柔所帶來的苦痛。
被自己對愛的理解所傷害；
並情願快樂地悲傷。
在黎明帶著輕快的心醒來並感謝又壹個有家的日子；
在黃昏懷著感恩之心回家；
然後為內心所愛之人祈禱，吟唱贊美之歌，並帶著禱告和歌聲入眠。
The Goodness of Life
Though there is much to be concerned about, there is far, far more for which to be thankful. Though life’s goodness can at times be overshadowed, it is never outweighed.
For every single act that is senselessly destructive, there are thousands more small, quiet acts of love, kindness and compassion. For every person who seeks to hurt, there are many, many more who devote their lives to helping and to healing.
There is goodness to life that cannot be denied.
In the most magnificent vistas and in the smallest details, look closely, for that goodness always comes shining through.
There is no limit to the goodness of life. It grows more abundant with each new encounter. The more you experience and appreciate the goodness of life, the more there is to be lived.
Even when the cold winds blow and the world seems to be covered in foggy shadows, the goodness of life lives on. Open your eyes, open your heart, and you will see that goodness is everywhere.
Though the goodness of life seems at times to suffer setbacks, it always endures. For in the darkest moment it becomes vividly clear that life is a priceless treasure. And so the goodness of life is made even stronger by the very things that would oppose it.
Time and time again when you feared it was gone forever you found that the goodness of life was really only a moment away. Around the next corner, inside every moment, the goodness of life is there to surprise and delight you.
Take a moment to let the goodness of life touch your spirit and calm your thoughts. Then, share your good fortune with another. For the goodness of life grows more and more magnificent each time it is given away.
Though the problems constantly scream for attention and the conflicts appear to rage ever stronger, the goodness of life grows stronger still, quietly, peacefully, with more purpose and meaning than ever before.
譯文：
生命的美好
盡管有很多事讓人憂慮，但相比而言，值得感激的事要多得多。盡管生命的美好有時被蒙上陰影，但它卻永遠不會被埋沒。
相對於每壹個無謂的破壞行為而言，都有更多數以千計更為微小的，包含著愛，友善和同情的舉動靜靜地上演著。相對於每壹個試圖傷害他人的人而言，都有更多的人致力於幫助他人，治愈他人的創傷。
生命的美好不能否認。
在最為壯觀的前景和最為瑣碎的細節中，請仔細觀察，因為美好的事物總是散發著耀眼的光芒閃亮登場。
生命的美好沒有界限。每壹次相遇都會使這美好變得越發豐富。妳經歷得越多，越能欣賞生命的美好，生命中的美好就會變得越多。
即使當寒風襲來，整個世界似乎被霧氣掩蓋之時，生命的美好仍會存在。睜開雙眼，打開心扉，妳就會發現這美好無處不在。
盡管生命的美好有時似乎遭受挫折，但它總會挺過來。因為，在最黑暗的時刻，有壹點變得格外清楚，那就是，生命是無價的財富。因此，下正是與生命的美好相對立的事物使其越發強大。
無數次地，當妳擔心這美好已經遠離之時，妳會發現生命的美好其實只與妳相隔須臾。它就在下壹角落，存在於每個時刻之間，等著給妳驚喜。
花些時間讓生命的美好感動自己的靈魂，放松自己的思緒。然後，把妳的幸運與他人分享。因為生命的美好會在每次給予之間變得越來越壯觀。
盡管總是有問題讓妳去關註，沖突也似乎愈演愈烈，但生命的美好卻總是靜靜地，平和地，帶著比以往更強的意誌和更多的價值變得更加強大。