四六级精读 | 接受命运、成就伟大

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泛读原文（盲听1遍，泛读1遍，对照文本听1遍）

When it comes to first impressions, we all want to make a good one. And that’s why we tend to focus on our best traits and qualities. However, we often fall into the trap of thinking that everything about us needs to be perfect. But that’s just unrealistic. We all have imperfections. It’s part of being human. And while it’s easy to believe that our ‘supposed flaws and imperfections’ make us less attractive, here are some that can actually make us seem more appealing to others:

In “Ecce Homo”, Nietzsche wrote, “[my] formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be other than it is, not in the future, not in the past, not in all eternity. Not merely to endure that which happens of necessity, still less to dissemble it – all idealism is untruthfulness in the face of necessity – but to love it.”

So according to Nietzsche, the way you become great is by loving your fate. And what does it mean to become great?

For Nietzsche, I think greatness means becoming nothing other than what you are. Greatness is the fulfilment of your destiny. It’s growing into your highest potential. It’s the acorn becoming the oak tree. See, the acorn contains the potential to become the mighty oak tree within it, but unless it learns to overcome itself, it will not achieve that greatness.

And Nietzsche says the way to this greatness is amor fati. But what’s the meaning of amor fati? In English, it translates to “love of fate”, and there are two key words we have to understand: love and fate.

Let’s start by analyzing the word ‘fate’. What does it mean?

Fate is the necessary effect that follows from every cause. It’s the outcome of every action. It’s the way things must be. It’s the reason why things are the way they are.

Now, let’s move on to the second term: love. What does it mean to love?

Love begins with acceptance. When you accept something as it is, you can give it your total attention. And when you give something your total attention, you see it as it is, not through the distorting lens of what you think it should be. And when you see something as it is, you understand it. And when you understand something, you can help it remain as it is, or better yet, to become fully what it is, which is to help it achieve its own greatness.

So now let’s combine both of the terms. What does it mean to love your fate?

It means accepting everything that happens to you as necessary. And when you accept everything that happens to you as necessary, you can begin to learn why, or how, it was necessary. You can learn how the actions you did or didn’t take led to that outcome. You can learn what causes led to that effect.

And when you learn the relationships between causes and their effects, you can allow or prevent those effects from happening again. And you might be wondering: how do I love my fate? How do I learn to accept everything that happens as necessary?

But that’s the wrong question. The question isn’t how do you love your fate, but why you don’t already. And the reason you don’t love your fate is because you don’t accept it. “My life shouldn’t be as it is,” you say, and you have an image – an ideal – in your mind of how it should be. And you measure your life against this ideal, and so you look at your past with regret, shame, guilt, anger, and sorrow. You look towards the future with fear. You measure others against this ideal, too, and the closer they are to it, the more you look at them with envy and resentment. You believe that the world is fundamentally flawed and shouldn’t be as it is. It should be constructed in a way that suits you better. Maybe you believe you should be stronger, richer, more beautiful, or happier than you are. Maybe you believe you should have more than you currently have and others should have less than they do now. And so you mistrust fate: the one who gives you what you have rather than what you believe you deserve – the one who gives you suffering.

And what happens when you mistrust fate?

You stop seeing the necessity of things. And when you stop seeing the necessity of things, you stop learning the relationship between causes and their effects. And when you stop seeing the relationship between causes and their effects, you become delusional. Your rejection of fate is also a rejection of truth, and so when you reject fate, you yourself become false. You become something you aren’t, and so you lose your greatness.

That concludes my exploration of Nietzsche’s teaching in “Ecce Homo”. As always, this is just my opinion and understanding of Nietzsche’s teaching, not advice. Feel free to use this information however you like, and if you have a different take on the his words, I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments.

精读原文

When it comes to first impressions, we all want to make a good one. And that’s why we tend to focus on our best traits and qualities. However, we often fall into the trap of thinking that everything about us needs to be perfect. But that’s just unrealistic. We all have imperfections. It’s part of being human. And while it’s easy to believe that our ‘supposed flaws and imperfections’ make us less attractive, here are some that can actually make us seem more appealing to others:

重点词汇：

1. greatness - 伟大

2. amor fati - 命运之爱

3. destiny - 命运

4. potential - 潜力

5. fate - 命运

6. acceptance - 接受

7. necessity - 必要性

8. cause and effect - 因果关系

9. ideal - 理想

10. delusional - 妄想的

长难句解析：

1. "Your rejection of fate is also a rejection of truth, and so when you reject fate, you yourself become false." - 这是一个复杂的并列句，其中第一个分句为"Your rejection of fate is also a rejection of truth"，其中主语为"Your rejection of fate"，谓语为"is also a rejection of truth"，宾语为"truth"，宾语中包含了一个介词短语作其补语；第二个分句为"when you reject fate, you yourself become false"，其中主语为"you"，谓语为"become"，宾语为"false"，宾语中包含了一个形容词作其表语。

多项选择阅读理解题目：

1. What does Nietzsche believe is the formula for greatness?

   A) Enduring what happens of necessity

   B) Dissembling what happens of necessity

   C) Loving one's fate

   D) Rejecting one's fate

2. What does it mean to love one's fate according to Nietzsche?

   A) To reject everything that happens as unnecessary

   B) To accept everything that happens as necessary

   C) To ignore everything that happens

   D) To change everything that happens

3. What happens when one mistrusts fate according to the article?

   A) One becomes delusional

   B) One becomes stronger

   C) One becomes happier

   D) One becomes richer

翻译（仅供参考）：

尼采在《瞧！人》中写道：“伟大的人的公式是命运之爱：一个人希望任何事情都不要变得与其不同，不管是将来、过去还是永远。不是仅仅忍受必然发生的事情，更不是掩饰它——所有的理想主义都是在必要性面前的虚伪——而是去爱它。”因此，根据尼采的观点，你成为伟大的方式就是爱你的命运。

那么成为伟大意味着什么呢？对于尼采来说，我认为伟大意味着成为除了你自己之外的任何东西。伟大是命运的实现。它是成长为最高潜力的过程。就像橡子成长为橡树一样。你看，橡子内含有成为强大橡树的潜力，但除非它学会克服自己，否则它将无法实现伟大。尼采说通往这种伟大的方式是命运之爱。但命运之爱的意义是什么呢？英文中意思是“命运之爱”，有两个关键词需要我们理解：爱和命运。让我们从分析“命运”这个词开始。它意味着必然发生的结果。它是每个行动的结果。它是事情必须发生的方式。它是事情变成现在这个样子的原因。

现在我们来看第二个术语：爱。爱始于接受。当你接受某件事物时，你可以全神贯注地投入其中。当你全神贯注地投入某件事物时，你会以它原本面目来看待它，而不是通过你认为它应该是什么的扭曲视角来看待它。当你以它原本面目来看待某件事物时，你就会理解它。当你理解某件事物时，你可以帮助它保持原状，或更好的是，帮助它完全成为自己，即帮助它实现自己的伟大。所以现在让我们结合这两个术语。爱你的命运意味着接受发生在你身上的一切都是必要的。当你接受发生在你身上的一切都是必要的时，你可以开始学习为什么或如何这些事情是必要的。

你可以学习到你所做或未做的行动导致了那种结果。你可以学习到导致那种效果的原因。当你学习到因果关系时，你可以防止或允许那些效果再次发生。你可能会想知道：我如何爱我的命运？我如何学会接受发生的一切都是必要的？但这是错误的问题。问题不在于你如何爱你的命运，而在于为什么你还没有爱上它。而你不爱你的命运的原因是因为你不接受它。“我的生活不应该是这样的”，你说，并且在脑海中拥有一个形象——一个理想——关于它应该是什么样子的。你用这个理想来衡量自己的生活，并因此对过去感到后悔、羞耻、内疚、愤怒和悲伤。

你对未来充满恐惧。你也用这个理想来衡量别人，越接近这个理想，你就越会对他们感到嫉妒和怨恨。你相信世界根本有缺陷，不应该像现在这样。它应该按照更适合您的方式构建。也许您认为您应该比现在更强壮、更富有、更美丽或更幸福。也许您认为您应该拥有比现在更多，而其他人应该拥有比他们现在拥有的更少。

因此，您不信任命运：给您提供您拥有而非您认为您应得的东西——给您带来痛苦之人。当您不信任命运时会发生什么？您将停止看到事物必要性。当您停止看到事物必要性时，您将停止学习因果关系。当您停止看到因果关系时，您会变得妄想。您对命运的拒绝也是对真理的拒绝，所以当您拒绝命运时，您自己也变得虚假。您变成了您不是的东西，所以您失去了伟大。

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