The life that I belong to — now that the world is a realistic world and inside
it my life roleplays a realistic life — shouldn't be bound by no principles.
Firstly, the material that I am allowed and naturally possess is always in
practice existing but limited, so there is either a cry for my own earnings,
or the passion for austerity. Secondly, as dishonorably as I am living my actual
life, I am putting burdens on those who insist on feeding me, and my attachment
to them causes unfavorable links of responsibility between my life and theirs.
Such being the case, I am living neither independently nor originally,
forasmuch my life involves others', and others' involve mine. To conclude, there
is in any wise no life of abandon, at least for most people; so the overall principle
of my life is to live on my own.
我属于的生活——既然这个世界是个现实的世界,而在这个世界里我的生活所扮演的是一个现实的生活——不能够没有原则。首先,我所被许可以及天然拥有的物质财富在实际上讲一直都存在但却是有限制的,所以这里面要么要有对自己赚得财富的呼声,要么就要有对勤俭的热情。第二,正如现实中我如何过着我的生活,我一直在给那些坚持补给我的人们造成负担,并且我对他们的依附在我和他们的生活之间造成了令人感到不宜的责任上的联系。正因如此,我生活得既不自立也不自主,因为我的生活牵涉了他人的生活,而他人的生活也牵涉到我。总之,这世上无论如何也不会有任意放纵的人生,至少对大多数人来说;所以我的生活中最首要的原则就是靠自己生活。
And then, as for my pursuit in this life, I have primarily freedom in my
mind. Rather than admit that my life is meaningful by the universal judgment,
I want it to make sense by my own contentment of affections — affections that I
acquire through exactly the pursuit for freedom, which is humble while noble,
for bystanders disregard it while faithfully I prize it. Fame temporarily, or
perhaps eternally, will not be at my elbow; nor will a sudden fortune, or even a
time when I am beckoned by love. But the pursuit for freedom, namely to make a
living freely, follow a career freely and make every choice freely, and, without
getting involved in anyone else's domination of life, do what I love to do
freely, will be exerted to last and endure. The life that I belong to belongs to
freedom; and freedom, as before, belongs to those who live on their own.
那么,至于在这个人生的追求,我想到最首要的东西就是自由。比起在大众判定之下认为我的生活有意义,我宁愿希望我的生活在我的情感上的满足之下是有意义的——我正是从对自由的追求中获得的这种情感,而这追求卑微而高贵,因为旁人对它不屑一顾而我忠实地珍视它。名誉暂时地,或者永远,不会来到我手边;突然的财富也不会,或者甚至我被爱情打一次招呼的时候都不会有。但对自由的追求,也就是自由地谋生,自由地从事事业,和自由地作每一个选择,以及,在不牵涉到其他任何人的生活领域的前提下,自由地做我爱做的事,将会竭尽全力地经久不息。我所属于的生活属于自由,而自由属于靠自己生活的人。