How to not grow old when you are growing old

Finishing reading Bertrand Russell ’ How to Grow Old, my great-grandfather, who is really somehow like this great-grandmother in this article, emerged from the ocean of my memory. My great-grandfather died at the extraordinary age of 96, and at that time I was in middle school. He was the first close people who turned from me and walked away. His death leaded me to meditating a lot, I understood death, and what’s more, I started getting to know how to not grow old though you are growing old.

In this article, Russell wrote this sentence which I couldn’t agree any more----This, I think, is the proper recipe for remaining young. If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective, you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived, still less of the probable brevity of your future. Sure it is. I still remembered that my great- grandfather enjoy reading newspaper everyday, and books some times.He shared his opinions with us when we came back home like we are friends of the same age. And he took care of his trees, flowers and little animals, like dogs, ducks and chicken with simple pleasure everyday. Till now, I am an adult, I finally figure out these jobs made his life plenary and colorful, he allocate no time to think about he old he was or how many years left for him, he

just live as a young and vigorous man, ignoring the unchangeable age.

And in this article, Russell pointed out that there are two dangers to take notice in old age, one is undue absorption in the past, and the other is clinging to youth in the hope if sucking vigor from its vitality. Actually, even the young people, especially who had really achievements, would be in dilemma like these. More terrible is that people cannot realize that they have been in these situations. Thus the way you become a successful old man is to have strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities.

As to the fear of death, Russell said the best way to overcome it---- so at least it seems to me----- is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. And in my point of view, it entirely depends on your attitude to life. Everyone was born to death. We have no means to avoid it but to face it. Faced with death, what we only can do is to go for what we want, what we need, and what we like. And when death is drawing on, you won’t feel fearful any more as you don’t regret a thing.

At the end of this article, Russell expressed his wish----I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no

longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done. I cannot help but feel deep respect for this man. He is really a philosopher. Doubtlessly, this kind of belief benefits us all no matter you are young or old.

 

第二篇：How to Grow Old两种译文对照

How to Grow Old

两种译文对照

Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat abject(gloomy) and ignoble. The best way to overcome it——so at least it seems to me——is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river——small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should with to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.

作者简介：伯兰特.罗素(1872-1970),英国哲学家、逻辑学家。毕业于剑桥大学三一学院，英国皇家学会会员。第一次世界大战期间因宣传和平而被监禁。19xx年获诺贝尔文学奖。19xx年创立罗素和平基金。在数学上提出“罗素悖论”，对20世纪数学基础产生很大的影响。在哲学上，提出逻辑原子论即所谓“中立一元论”。在政治上，反对侵略战争，主平主义。在美国制造出氢弹并进行爆炸试验后，他成了核武器的积极反对者。本篇是他具有代表性的演说How to Grow Old。

参考译文一：

论老之将至

有些老年人恐惧死亡。要是年轻人这样想，那倒情有可原。那些害怕在战争中阵亡的年轻人，想到自己被生活所欺骗，错失了生命中最美好的东西，感到苦涩理所当然。但对于一个尝遍人生酸甜苦辣，实现一生抱负的老人来说，恐惧死亡就有点不光彩了。

战胜对死亡的恐惧的最好的方法是――至少对我而言是可行的――逐步的拓宽你的兴趣，并使其不受人际感情的影响，直到自我的围墙慢慢地坍圮，你的生命加快融入到众生之中。一个人应当像一条河流――开始时窄而浅，静静流淌于两岸之中，然后，奔腾冲击于岩石之间，飞流直下于高崖之处。慢慢地，河流越走越宽，河岸逐步退去，水流更显平缓，直到最后，毫无迹象地融入大海，平和地失去了独自的存在。垂暮之人，倘能如此看待生命，也就不会不会惧怕死亡，因为他所关注的事业仍在继续。倘若精力日衰，疲劳日增，想要进入永恒的休息也许就不会那样无法接受了。我希望自己能在工作中死去，我知道他人会继续我未竞的事业。想到我曾经竭尽全力地工作过，我就心满意足了。

参考译文二： 老有何患 田荣昌 译

怕死之心于某些老者尤甚。此种心理对于年轻人尚可理解。惧怕战死沙场，或因岁月蹉跎，韶华不再而深感苦痛也无可非议。而老者，人生或坎坷遭逢，或心随所愿，于死还心存恐惧实是悲戚可笑啊！克服怕死心理，于我而言，提升兴趣，学会淡定，或许渐可使自我囹圄开解，融于社会。人生在世，如若河流：河口初始窄狭，河岸虬曲，而后狂涛击石，飞泻成瀑。河道渐趋开阔，狭岸退去，水流潺缓，终了，一马平川，汇于大海，消逝无影。人之老矣，

可以此喻己生命，而又后继有人，岂有怕死之理。设若精神褪减，困顿便生，隐退之心也未尝不可。我期冀事中逝去，唯后人承我未竟之事，且设想之事业也已完结，就可无憾而终了。