11月22日

我這一生
季羨林 ( 1911~2009 )

時間是亳不留情的，它真使人在自己製造的鏡子裡，
它照見自己的真相。

一點不忍的念頭是生民生物之根芽；
一段不為的氣節是撐天撐地之柱石。
一蟲一蟻不傷殘，它半絲半縷勿貪著，它可為民物立命。

不昧良心，它不違常情，它不用盡物力；
做到這三點，它就可以為天地確立心性，
它為百姓立命，它為子孫後代造福。

──選自《季羨林自述：我這一生》

November 22

My Entire Life
Ji Xianlin (1911 - 2009)
English translation: Miao Guang

                                   I
Time is merciless; it is a mirror which we have created
ourselves to reflect our truest faces.

                                   II
A thought of not bearing to see suffering is a sprouting root
that nurtures the lives of people and matters.

A moral integrity that refuses to do the inappropriate is the
pillar stone that keeps this world upright.

To not harm even a single bug or ant, nor covet for even a
bit of silk or thread, is what established life for this world.

                                   III
Not going against our conscience, not being contrary to
reason, and not exhausting the world’s resources: these
three conducts allow us to confirm the nature of the world,
to establish a means of life for the people, and to reserve
blessings for our future generations.

── from Ji Xianlin Zishu: Wo Zhe Yisheng
(My Entire Life: The Autobiography of Ji Xianlin)