The Road of Life
            　　
            　　William.S.Maugham
            　　
            　　The lives of most men are determined by their environment. They
            accept the circumstances amid which fate has thrown them not only
            with resignation but even with good will. They are like streetcars
            running contentedly on their rails and they despise the sprightly
            flitter that dashes in and out of the traffic and speeds so jauntily
            across the open country. I respect them; they are good citizens,
            good husbands, and good fathers, and of course somebody has to pay
            the taxes; but I do not find them exciting. I am fascinated by the
            men, few enough in all conscience, who take life in their own hands
            and seem to mould it to their own liking. It maybe that we have no
            such thing as free will, but at all events, we have the illusion of
            it. At a cross-road it does seem to us that we might go either to
            the right or the left and, the choice once made, it is difficult to
            see that the whole course of the world’s history obliged us to take
            the turning we did.
            　　
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      威廉.S.毛姆     生活之路 (在线汉译英）
            　　
            　　威廉.S.毛姆
            　　
    大多数人的生活都是由他们所处的环境决定。他们顺从地甚至乐意地接受命运把他们所扔进的环境。他们就像电车一样满足地行驶于他们的轨道上，并且瞧不起那些在敏捷地出没车水马龙中，快乐地奔驰于旷野上的车子。我尊重他们，他们是好公民、好丈夫和好父亲，当然总得要有人来交税。但是，他们并没有令人兴奋的地方。我被另外一些人深深吸引，他们将命运掌握在自己手中，并且似乎把它改造成他们所喜欢的样子，这样的人是很少的。而或许我们并没有所谓的自由意志，但不管怎样我们总有那样的幻觉。在一个十字路口前，似乎我们可以走这条路也可以走那一条路，不过一旦做出选择，我们很难意识到其实是整个世界历史进程迫使我们选择那个方向的。
            　　
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    威廉.S.毛姆（1874－1965），英国著名小说家、剧作家、散文家。