But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said： "To be is to be in relations." If this true， then the more relations a living thing has， the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive？ If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation， you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned——poetry and prose， music， pictures， sports， unselfish friendships， politics， international affairs——you are dead.
Contrariwise， it is true that every time you acquire a new interest——even more， a new accomplishment——you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain un-happy， the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts， new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas， which are also alive. Where your thoughts are， there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business， only to your physical welfare， only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live， then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China， then you are living in China~ if you‘re interested in the characters of a good novel， then you are living with those highly interesting people， if you listen intently to fine music， you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.
To be or not to be——to live intensely and richly， merely to exist， that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live， let live！
六字名言
威廉。裏昂。費爾浦斯
“是活還是不活。”如果把《聖經》除外，這六個字便是整個世界文學中最有名的六個字了。這六個字是哈姆雷特壹次喃喃自語時說的，而這六個字也就成了莎士比亞作品中最有名的幾個字了，因為這裏哈姆雷特不僅道出了他自己的心聲，同時也代表了壹切有思想的男男女女。是活還是不活——是要生活還是不要生活，是要生活得豐滿充實，興致勃勃，還是只是活得枯燥委瑣，貧乏無味。壹位哲人壹次曾想弄清他自己是否是在活著，這個問題我們每個人也大可不時地問問我們自己。這位哲學家對此的答案是： “我思故我在。”
但是關於生存我所見過的壹條的定義卻是另壹位哲學家下的：“生活即是聯系。”如果這話不假的話，那麽壹個有生命者的聯系越多，它也就越有生氣。所謂要活得豐富充實也即是要擴大和加強我們的各種聯系。不幸的是，我們往往會因為天性不夠豐厚而容易陷入自己的陳規舊套。試問除去我們的日常工作，我們的真正生活又有多少？如果妳只是對妳的日常工作才有興趣，那妳的生趣也就很有限了。至於在其它事物方面壹比如詩歌、散文、音樂、美術、體育、無私的友誼、政治與國際事務，等等——妳只是死人壹個。
但反過來說，每當妳獲得壹種新的興趣——甚至壹項新的造詣——妳就增長了妳的生活本領。壹個能對許許多多事物都深感興趣的人是不可能總不愉快的，真正的悲觀者只能是那些喪失興趣的人。
培根曾講過，壹個人失去朋友即是死亡。但是憑著交往，憑著新朋，我們就能獲得再生。這條對於活人可謂千真萬確的道理在壹定程度上也完全適用於人的思想，它們也都是活的。妳的思想所在，妳的生命便也在那裏。如果妳的思想不出妳的業務範圍，不出妳的物質利益，不出妳所在城鎮的狹隘圈子，那麽妳的壹生便也只是多方受著局限的狹隘的壹生。但是如果妳對當前中國那裏所發生的種種感到興趣，那麽妳便可說也活在中國；如果妳對壹本佳妙小說中的人物感到興趣，妳便是活在壹批極有趣的人們中間；如果妳能全神貫註地聽點好的音樂，妳就會超脫出妳的周圍環境而活在壹個充滿激情與想象的神奇世界之中。
是活還是不活——活得熱烈活得豐富，還是只是簡單存在，這就全在我們自己。但願我們都能不斷闊展和增強我們的各種聯系。只要壹天我們活著，就要壹天是在活著。