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Bertrand Russell |
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A brilliant British mathematician, scientist, philosopher and
essayist, Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) received in
1950 the Nobel Prize for literature. All his life he was a
pacifist and an active opponent of the atom bomb. Because of his strong
opposition to the war of 1914-18 he was dismissed from Cambridge University and sent to prison. He
wrote and lectured a great deal on science,
sociology, psychology and the history of philosophy. In all his writings
he had the gift of making even difficult subjects clear and interesting. |
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How to Grow Old
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The other thing to be avoided is
clinging to youth in the hope of
sucking vigour
from its vitality. When your children
are grown up they want to live their own
lives, and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they
were young, you are likely to become a burden to them, unless they are unusually
callous. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them, but one's
interest should be contemplative and, if possible, philanthropic, but not unduly
emotional. Animals
become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can
look after themselves, but human beings, owing to the length of infancy, find
this difficult. |
I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong
impersonal interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that
long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom
born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive.
It is no use telling grownup children not to make mistakes, both because they will not
believe you, and because mistakes are an essential part of education. But if you
are one of those who are incapable of impersonal interests, you may find that
your life will be empty unless you
concern yourself with your children and
grandchildren. In that case you must realise that while you can still render
them material services, such as
making them an allowance or knitting them
jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your company. |
Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there there is
a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they
will be killed in battle may
justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they
have been
cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man
who has known human joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work
it was in
him to do, the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble. The best way to
overcome it -so at least it seems to me- is to make your interests gradually
wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit
the walls of the ego recede, and
your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human
existence should be like a river: small at first,
narrowly contained within its
banks, and rushing
passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the
river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the
end, without any visible
break, they become merged in the sea, and
painlessly
lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this
way, will not suffer from
the fear of death, since the things
he cares for will
continue. And if, with the
decay of vitality,
weariness increases, the thought
of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die
while still at work, knowing
that others
will carry on what
I can no longer do and content in the thought
that what was possible has been done. |
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GLOSSARY |
clinging to youth:
holding firmly
(adherirse a la juventud)
sucking: absorbing
(absorber, aspirar)
are grown up: have become adults
(han crecido, son adultos)
callous:
emotionally hardened
(emocionalmente
insensibles)
become indifferent to:
lose interest in
(pierden interés en)
impersonal interests: activities that do not depend on our relations
with other people. A hobby such as gardening or photography, would be an
impersonal interest
(preocupaciones
impersonales)
It is no use: it is in vain
(es inútil, no sirve de nada)
concern yourself with:
you are busy about
(te preocupes de)
making them an allowance: giving them some money
(pasarles algo de
dinero)
justifiably: rightly, with reason
(justificadamente)
cheated of: wrongly deprived
of
(erróneamente privados de)
it was in
him to do: he had the ability to do
(que logró realizar) |
the walls of the ego recede:
the person becomes less self-centred
(los muros que encierran al
yo retroceden, la persona se vuelve menos egocéntrica)
narrowly contained: because the banks
of a river are close together
(estrechamente limitada)
banks: sloping lands to both sides of a river
(orillas)
passionately: this is a human emotion applied to the river
(apasionadamente)
break: interval,
pause
(pausa, intervalo)
painlessly: without any pain (sin dolor)
the fear of death: being afraid of dying (el
temor a la muerte)
he cares for: that he is interested in (que él
estima, que le interesan)
decay: gradual decrease
(decadencia)
weariness: loss of strength and energy
(la fatiga)
while still at work: while I am in activity
(en plena actividad)
will carry on: will
continue (continuarán)
I can no longer do: I am not able to do anymore
(yo ya no puedo
hacer)
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