On His Ninetieth Birthday

(Oliver Wendell Holmes)
Mar. 7, 1931.
My friends
In this symposium, my better is it to only sit in silence. To express one's feelings as the end draws near is too intimate a task. That I would mention only one thought that comes to me as a listener-in: the riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal, there is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill, there is time to hear the kind voice of friends, and to say to oneself, the work is done. But just as one says, that the answer comes the race is over but the work never is done while the power to work remains. The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only coming to rest, it cannot be while you still live, but to live is to function, that is all there is in living. So I end with a land from a Latin voice who had heard the message more than fifteen hundred years ago: death, death, clutch my ear, and says, live, I am coming.

symposium 名词(pl. -sia ) 1.(古代希腊的)酒会，宴会。 2.专题讨论会，座谈会，学术报告会。3.专题论集。

intimate

intimate 1)形容词 1.亲密的，亲近的；密切的。2.直接的，完全的，详细的。3.内部的，内心深处的，本质的。4.个人的，私人的。5.私通的。
an intimate friend 亲密的朋友。 be on intimate terms with sb. 同某人关系密切。 an intimate knowledge of life 熟悉生活。 one's intimate feelings 心内感觉。 intimate reflections 内省。 the intimate structure of matter 物质的内部结构。 one's intimate affairs 私事。 an intimate diary 私人日记。 be intimate with a woman 同某妇人有不正当的性关系。
名词 亲密的朋友，知己。-ness 名词 intimate
intimate 2)及物动词 1.宣布，通知，通告，明白表示。2.暗示，提示。intimate one's approval of a plan 表明同意某项计划。-ly 副词

canter 

canter 1)名词【马术】普通跑步；慢跑。 ★马速共五种： walk, amble, trot, canter, gallop. a preliminary canter预备练习时的慢跑；〔比喻〕预备动作。 win at [in] a canter (马)轻易赛赢。
及物动词 使(马)慢跑。 不及物动词 (马)用普通慢跑前进 (along) 骑着马慢跑。
canter 2)名词 1.说黑话的人。2.哀诉者。3.伪善者。4.流浪者。

standstill

standstill 1)名词 停止，停顿，搁浅(come [be brought] to a stand停顿下来)。
standstill 2)形容词 停顿的，停滞的；引起停顿的，造成停滞的 (a stand strike 使生产停顿的罢工)。

当九十岁来临时

（奥利佛•文德尔•荷默斯）
1931.3.7
此时此刻，沉默是金。生命行将结束，要表达个人感受不是件容易的事。我只想谈一下作为一名听众的想法。骑手们并非一到终点就会即刻停止，而是继续缓步向前，倾听朋友的欢呼，并告诉自己行程结束了。但是，如人所言，只要能力尚在，人生之行程就永远不会结束。终点之后的慢跑并非止步不前，因为活着便不能如此。活着就要有所作为，这就是生命的真谛。最后，谨以一句古老的拉丁格言与诸位共勉：死神不至，生命不止。

On His Ninetieth Birthday mp3