吾之幸福观王雪飞 译 托尔斯泰于其著《安娜•卡列尼娜》开宗明义道，有福之家庭大多彼此类似，而不幸之家庭则各有其不幸。以我观之，亦可将个人二字取代家庭言之。且看周遭，众人可因千百缘由而遭遇不幸。然而，纵观世间享有幸福之男男女女，便可发现一条道理，即幸福源自从事纯属个人真心喜爱之事且能乐此不疲。 人类亦属动物。出于本能及生存之需，一生当中理应有所作为。关键则在于究竟何为。凡作一事，其着眼于个人喜爱乎，抑或指望于物质收益乎？吾等司空见惯者，当属偏重利益得失而为之；尤为不堪者，则系迫于无奈而为之。结果，因之而成百万乃至亿万富翁者有之，各类明星有之，显耀政治家有之，然而幸福竟未如期实现也。凡人生来便因个性而具备其特质与嗜好。一旦与客观条件相结合，便将形成个人之兴趣倾向。倘若容许其身心得到自然发展，其兴趣成为人生导向，则一般不幸者屡所抱怨之矛盾与失调大致可望避免，进而视人生为自由与享受之乐事。反之，倘若违心供职，难免感觉枯燥乏味，怏怏不乐，岂非其固有天性之报应乎？此类过程一旦延续过久，终将造就出一筹莫展寸心难平之苦主。 于此不禁忆及两位高中同窗，如今二人均已升入高校。其中一人堪称工程天才，自童年起，任何玩意，一旦伸手可及，无不反复拆装，乐此不疲，始终处于发明与革新之中。即便目光触及乃母怀中之幼妹，亦会突发奇想，意欲亲手造出格外优化之婴儿小床。此生情愿就读于技校以专攻机械工程，如今颇有平生足矣之感，故曰：所幸行走于当行之道也。 另一同窗已届大三，虽则专攻计算机科学，竟了无欢乐可言。该生绝非迟钝之辈，然除音乐之外，余者兴味几近索然。父母为其前途计而令其步入理科。呜呼，三载倏忽而过，其对父母代选之专业兴致竟未养成矣。于是动辄抱怨教育之无道，翘盼结业之早至。吾亦诚心哀其不幸，盖因本人亦有不堪之记忆，曾几何时，吾被迫以修理行当为业，其实却钟情于英文与油画而奈何不得。爱因斯坦有言：兴趣乃绝佳导师。依我观之，此亦可视为幸福感受之绝佳保姆。 人皆以物质条件为幸福之基，此言故然有理。所谓物质条件，若指饮食之类生活必需，理当不言自明。若指不断追求与索取导致生活舒适及满足个人物欲之每件物品，恕我直言，其谬处迟早必有验证。人类与其他动物相迥之处，即在于其能从诸多无形之物求取快乐，此亦人类一大天赋也。个人因所事之职而由衷欢喜，且因有所成就而愿遂意足，对于心仪挚爱者所怀之柔情或因蒙亲人之爱而所生之异感，对于期冀事物所抱之信义——此类情感，不一而足，无不赋以良多快乐，即便物质贫困亦不以为意。类似情形可从加拿大医生白求恩之生平观得一二。身为人类，白大夫憎恨法西斯；身为军医，白大夫不畏流血，更乐于止血。毅然放弃本国原有之物质享受，先赴西班牙，再赴中国，旨在反对法西斯侵略者以图民族之生存。大夫一生之艰难岁月，莫过于留华时期也，然于客死万里异邦之际，此公竟于遗言之中谓诸同志曰：吾甚感有福也。 世间固无绝对幸福之事。幸福其实因人而异，因时而异。某甲治学而乐之，某乙打鱼亦乐之。吾辈童年因向父母索取而乐；长成则予取兼乐，有所奉献，有所得益；晚年则以施为乐，而不图回报。然长远以观，吾辈但凡率性而作，当可时时感受幸福矣。 (2009年2月) |
My View of HappinessLev Tolstoy notes at the beginning of Anna Karenina that “happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I suppose we might as well replace the word “family” here with “individual human being”. Looking around us, we would find many people unhappy for a thousand and one reasons. But turning to those happy men and women, we would perceive only one truth, that is, happiness comes from doing things one really loves and is engaged in basically for its own sake. Man is an animal. Both his instincts and his needs of survival direct that he should do something in his lifetime. It is what he does that matters. Does he take up one thing because he appreciates it or just because he wants the material things that it will bring to him? Too often we do something just because it is profitable or beneficial, or, even worse, just because it is forced upon us. As a result, we may become millionaires or billionaires, pop stars or distinguished statesmen, but we don’t have happiness. Each individual is endowed with some traits and inclinations in his character. In combination with environmental factors these traits and inclinations will shape his interests or preferences. If he is allowed to develop his body and mind in a natural way, to live as his interests or preferences best guide him, he will be largely immune from the incongruities and contradictions that are so commonly found in an unhappy soul and feels free and joyful about life. If, however, he has to do things which he actually has no mind for, he will feel bored and unhappy — a revenge of his nature. And if the process lasts long enough, a frustrated or resentful being will most probably be the result. In this respect, I cannot help thinking of two high school classmates of mine, both of whom are now college students. The first one may rightly be called a born engineer. When he was a young boy, he would find great joy in first dismantling and then reassembling whatever gadgets he might lay his hands on. He was always inventing or innovating on something. Even the sight of his baby sister in his mother’s arms would set him conjuring up the vision of a better crib made with his own hands. Two years ago, he chose to enroll in a technical school to study mechanical engineering and he is now very much contented with his life, which he describes as “going on the right track”. The second classmate of mine, a college student in his third year in a university majoring in computer science, is not at all so cheerful. He is by no means a dull boy, but he does not seem to have any special interest other than music. His parents pushed him into science “for his future”. Unfortunately, three years have passed and he has still not cultivated an appetite for the specialty his parents chose for him. He has been grumbling about the “tyranny of education” and waiting impatiently for the day when he can graduate and leave the university. I genuinely sympathize with him, since I well remember how I felt when I had to work as a repairman when what really interested me was English and oil painting. Albert Einstein said: “Interest is the best teacher.” I think it is also the best nurse of a happy mind. It is generally claimed — with good reasons — that material conditions are essential for happiness. If by material conditions is meant food and drink and other necessities of life, the claim is certainly justified. If, however, the claim is made in reference to the incessant pursuit for and acquisition of every possible article which makes life comfortable and appeases one’s physical desires, I’d say that the idea will sooner or later prove to be mistaken. One of man’s natural endowments, that which makes him different from other animals, is that he has access to pleasures derived from many things other than physical ones. A true love of one’s work, and the satisfaction derived from one’s achievements in it, a tender passion for somebody one truly loves or the feeling of being loved by one’s dearest ones, a commitment to something one feels having a calling for, all these and many more may give one immeasurable happiness in spite of poor material conditions. We may turn to the life of Canadian doctor Norman Bethune to see that. As a human being, Dr. Bethune hated the fascists; as a doctor, he loved both seeing blood and stopping bleeding (Ted Allen & Sydney Gordon. [1952]. The Scalpel, the Sword: The Story of Dr. Norman Bethune. New York: Monthly Review Press.). So he abandoned all the physical comforts in which he had lived in Canada, and went first to Spain and then came to China to help with the people who were fighting for national survival against Fascist invaders. He spent in China what were perhaps the hardest years in his life, and yet, before he died at his post on this land which was so far away from his home country, he told his Chinese comrades in his will that he had been “very happy” in his stay with them. It is for certain that there is no such thing as absolute happiness. Happiness varies from individual to individual and from time to time. One person may be happy as a scholar, another may be equally happy as a fisherman. When we are young children, we are happy to receive from our parents. In adulthood, we are happy to give and take, to dedicate and to possess. When we get old, we will be happy to give without asking for anything in return. But all the time, so long as we do what our heart and soul direct us to do, we will be as happy as the day is long.
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