原文：

The art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go.For life is a paradox: it enjoins us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains their eventual relinquishment. The rabbis of old put it this way:”A man comes to this world with his fist clenched, but when he dies, his hand is open. ”

Surely we ought to hold fast to lift, for it is wondrous, and full of a beauty that breaks through every pore of God’s own earth. We know that this is so,but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what was and then suddenly realize that it is no more.

We remember a beauty that faded, a love that waned. But we remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered, that we failed to respond with love when it was tendered.

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Hold fast to life but not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of life’s coin, the opposite pole of its paradox: we must accept our losses, and learn how to let go.

译文：

生活的艺术在于懂得什么时候追求，什么时候放弃。因为生活就是一个矛盾体：它要我们紧紧抓住它赐予我们的生命之礼，然后最终又让它们从我们手中跑掉。老先生们说：“人们紧握着拳头来到这个世界上，离开这个世界时却摊开了双手。”

当然我们应该紧紧把握生活，因为它美妙得不可思议，充满了从上帝的每个毛孔里蹦出来的美。我们都清楚这一点，但我们常常只有在回首往事时才会想去过去，才会突然意识到过去永远地消逝了，才会承认这个道理。

我们都记得美的褪去，爱的老去。但我们更痛苦地记得美正艳时，我们却没有发现，爱正浓时，我们却没有回应。

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注解：J.B.普里斯特列(J.B.Priestley) (1894---1984):英国作家,以小说批评出名，自己也从事写作。这是一篇教人们如何去追求美好生活的哲理小品文，语言精炼，读起来朗朗上口，值得细细品味。

练习：翻译句子

Hold fast to life but not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of life’s coin, the opposite pole of its paradox: we must accept our losses, and learn how to let go.

答案：抓住生活，但不要抓得太紧，以至你放不下手。这就是生活像硬币一样也有另一面，也是生活矛盾的另一极：我们必须接受放弃，并且学会怎样让它过去。