Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world.

生存还是毁灭。如果把《圣经》除外，这六个字便是整个世界文学中最有名的六个字了。

They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud,

这六个字是哈姆雷特一次喃喃自语时说的，

and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman.

而这六个字也就成了莎士比亚作品中最有名的几个字了，因为这里哈姆雷特不仅道出了他自己的心声，同时也代表了一切有思想的男男女女。

To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely.

是活还是不活——是要生活还是不要生活，是要生活得丰满充实，兴致勃勃，还是只是活得枯燥委琐，贫乏无味。

A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: "I think, therefore am."

一位哲人一次曾想弄清他自己是否是在活着，这个问题我们每个人也大可不时地问问我们自己。这位哲学家对此的答案是： "我思故我在。"

But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: "To be is to be in relations." If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive.

但是关于生存我所见过的一条最好的定义却是另一位哲学家下的："生活即是联系。"如果这话不假的话，那么一个有生命者的联系越多，它也就越有生气。

To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine.

所谓要活得丰富充实也即是要扩大和加强我们的各种联系。不幸的是，我们往往会因为天性不够丰厚而容易陷入自己的陈规旧套。

But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent.

试问除去我们的日常工作，我们的真正生活又有多少?如果你只是对你的日常工作才有兴趣，那你的生趣也就很有限了。

So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.

至于在其它事物方面，比如诗歌、散文、音乐、美术、体育、无私的友谊、政治与国际事务，等等——你只是死人一个。

Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a new accomplishment--you increase your power of life.

但反过来说，