Part I
Professor: All right, so let me close today's class with some thoughts to keep in mind while you are doing tonight's assignment. You will be reading one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's best-known essays ‘Self-Reliance' and comparing it with his poems and other works. I think this essay has the potential to be quite meaningful for all of you as young people who probably wonder about things like truth and where your lives are going - all sorts of profound questions. Knowing something about Emerson's philosophies will help you when you read ‘Self-Reliance'.
好的，在今天课程结束之前我想讲一些思想观点，希望你们今晚在做作业的时候想想这些思想观点。
1. reliance |rɪˈlaɪəns|
noun. the state of needing sb/sth in order to survive, be successful, etc.; the fact of being able to rely on sb/sth 依赖；依靠；信任
E.g.: Heavy reliance on one client is risky when you are building up a business.
创业时过分依赖某一个客户是有风险的。
2. profound |prəˈfaʊnd|
adj. needing a lot of study or thought 艰深的；玄奥的
E.g.: profound questions about life and death
生死方面的玄奥问题
3. philosophy|fəˈlɒsəfi|
noun.a set of beliefs or an attitude to life that guides sb's behaviour 人生哲学；生活的信条（或态度）
E.g.: Her philosophy of life is to take every opportunity that presents itself.
她的处世态度是不放过任何呈现眼前的机会。
Part II
And basically, one of the main beliefs that he had was about truth. Not that it's something that we can be taught, Emerson says it's found within ourselves. So this truth, the idea that it's in each one of us, is one of the first points that you'll see Emerson making in this essay. It's a bit abstract but he's very into... into each person believing his or her own thought, believing in yourself, the thought or convictionthat's true for you.
But actually, he ties that in with a sort of ‘universal truth' – something that everyone knows but doesn't realize they know. Most of us aren't in touch with ourselves in a way, so we just aren't capable of recognizing profound truths. It takes geniuses, people like, say, Shakespeare, who're unique because when they have a glimpse of this truth, this universal truth, they pay attention to it and express it and don't just dismiss it like most people do. So Emerson is really into each individual believing in and trusting him or herself.
但实际上，他将其与某种“普遍真理”联系在一起——每个人都知道但却没有意识到他们知道的东西。从某个方面来说我们大多数人都不太了解自己，所以我们无法意识到玄奥的真理。
1. not that
used to state that you are not suggesting sth 倒不是；并不是说
E.g.: She hasn't written─not that she said she would.
她还没写信来——倒不是她说过她要写。
2. abstract |ˈæbstrækt|
adj. existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical reality 抽象的（与具体经验相对）
E.g.: We may talk of beautiful things but beauty itself is abstract.
我们尽可谈论美的事物，但美本身却是抽象的。
3. into|ˈɪntu:|
prep. if you are very interested in something and like it very much, you can say that you are into it. 对…很感兴趣; 极喜欢
E.g.: I'm into electronics myself.
我本身就对电子很感兴趣。
4. conviction |kənˈvɪkʃn|
noun. a strong opinion or belief 坚定的看法（或信念）
E.g.: She was motivated by deep religious conviction.
她的行动是出于虔诚的宗教信仰。
5. tie in with
to link sth or be linked to sth; to happen, or arrange for sth to happen, at the same time as sth else （使）连接在一起，同时进行
E.g.: The teacher tied in what we learned last week with today's lesson.
老师把我们上周学到的和今天的课结合了起来。
6. be/keep in touch with
to know what is happening in a particular subject or area 了解最新情况(或信息)
E.g.: keeping the unemployed in touch with the labour market
使失业者即时了解劳动力市场的最新动态
7. dismiss |dɪsˈmɪs|
verb. to decide that sb/sth is not important and not worth thinking or talking about 不予考虑；摒弃；对…不屑一提
E.g.: He dismissed the opinion polls as worthless.
他认为民意测验毫无用处而不予考虑。
Part III
You'll see that he writes about, well, first, conformity. He criticizes that people of his time for abandoning their own minds and their own wills for the sake of conformity and consistency. They try to fit in with the rest of the world even though it's at odds with their beliefs and their identities. Therefore, it's best to be a non-conformist – to do your own thing, not worrying about what other people think. That's an important point. He really drives this argument home throughout the essay.
When you are reading, I want you to think about that and why that kind of thought would be relevant to the readers of his time. Remember this is 1838, ‘Self-Reliance' was a novel idea at the time and the United State's citizens were less secure about themselves as individuals and as Americans. The country as a whole was trying to define itself. Emerson wanted to give people something to really think about, help them find their own way and what it meant to be who they were. So that's something that I think is definitely as relevant today as it was then, probably, um, especially among young adults like yourselves, you know, college being a time to sort of really think about who you are and where you're going.
他批评他那个时代的人为了一致从众而放弃自己的思想和意志。
所以我认为这在今天绝对和当时一样重要，尤其是在像你们这样的年轻人中，大学是真正思考你是谁以及你的未来的时候。
1. conformity |kənˈfɔ:məti|
noun. (formal) behaviour or actions that follow the accepted rules of society （对社会规则的）遵从，遵守
E.g.: Excessive conformity is usually caused by fear of disapproval.
氢原子可熔合成氦。
2. consistency |kənˈsɪstənsi|
noun. the quality of always behaving in the same way or of having the same opinions, standard, etc.; the quality of being consistent 一致性；连贯性
E.g.: She has played with great consistency all season.
她整个赛季表现相当稳定。
3. be at odds
to be different from sth, when the two things should be the same （与…）有差异，相矛盾
E.g.: These findings are at odds with what is going on in the rest of the country.
这些研究结果与国内其他地区的实际情况并不相符。
4. drive sth home
to make sb understand or accept sth by saying it often, loudly, angrily, etc. 把…讲透彻；阐明；使充分理解
E.g.: You will really need to drive your point home.
你的确需要把你的观点阐释清楚。
5. novel |ˈnɒvl|
adj. different from anything known before; new, interesting and often seeming slightly strange 新颖的；与众不同的；珍奇的
E.g.: Protesters found a novel way of demonstrating against steeply rising oil prices.
抗议者找到了抗议油价飞涨的新办法。
6. relevant |ˈreləvənt|
adj. having ideas that are valuable and useful to people in their lives and work 有价值的；有意义的
E.g.: Her novel is still relevant today.
她的小说今天仍有现实意义。
Part IV
Now we already said that Emerson really emphasizes non-conformity, right? As a way to sort of not lose your own self and identity in the world, to have your own truth and not be afraid to listen to it, well, he takes this a step further.
Not conforming also means, uh, not conforming with yourself or your past. What does that mean? Well, if you've always been a certain way or done a certain thing, but it's not working for you any more, or you're not content, Emerson says that it'd be foolish to be consistent even with our own past. “Focus on the future,” he says, “That's what matters more. Inconsistency is good.”
我们已经讲过Emerson很强调不顺从，对吗？这种不顺从作为一种在这个世界上不迷失自己和身份认同的方式，拥有自己的真理并且不害怕倾听自己的真理，他把这一观点更进一步阐释了。
1. emphasize |ˈemfəsaɪz|
verb. to give special importance to sth 强调；重视；着重
E.g.: His speech emphasized the importance of attracting industry to the town.
他的发言强调了吸引工业到城镇的重要性。
2. content |kənˈtent|
adj.happy and satisfied with what you have 满足的; 知足的
E.g.: Not content with stealing my boyfriend (= not thinking that this was enough) , she has turned all my friends against me.
她夺走了我的男朋友还不满足，又挑起我所有的朋友和我作对。
Part V
He talks about a ship's voyage and this is one of the most famous bits of the essay - how the best voyage is made up of zigzag lines. Up close, it seems a little all over the place, but from farther away, the true path shows and in the end it justifies all the turns along the way. So, don't worry if you are not sure where you're headed or what your long-term goals are. Stay true to yourself and it'll make sense in the end. I mean, I can attest to that.
Before I was a literature professor, I was an accountant. Before that, I was a newspaper reporter. My life is taking some pretty interesting turns and here I am, very happy with my experiences and where they've brought me. If you rely on yourself and trust your own talents, your own interest, don't worry, your path will make sense in the end.
因此，如果你不确定自己的前进方向或长期目标是什么，请不要担心，忠于自己，最终会有意义。
1. bit |bɪt|
noun. a part of sth larger （事物的）一部分，一段
E.g.: The school play was a huge success─the audience roared with laughter at all the funny bits.
学校的演出获得了巨大成功——所有的滑稽片段都令观众哄堂大笑。
2. all over the place
not neat or tidy; not well organized 凌乱；狼藉；杂乱无章
E.g.: Your calculations are all over the place (= completely wrong).
你算得一塌糊涂。
3. justify|ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪ|
verb.to show that sb/sth is right or reasonable 证明…正确（或正当、有理）
E.g.: Her success had justified the faith her teachers had put in her.
她的成功证明了老师对她的信心是正确的。
4. attest |əˈtest|
verb. to show or prove that sth is true 证实；是…的证据
E.g.: Contemporary accounts attest to his courage and determination.
当时的报道证实了他的勇气和决心。
