?? We don't read and write poetry because it's cute; we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. Medcine, law, business, engineering... these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love.... these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, " O me, O life of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish, what good amid these? O me, O life! Answer: that you are here, that life exists and identity, that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."

?? I stand upon my desk to remind

myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way. Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way, even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try. Now when you read, don't just consider what the auther thinks, consider what you think. Boys you must strive to find your own voice, because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most man lead lives of quiet desperation." Don't be resigned to that. Break out. Dare to strike out and find new ground.

梭羅說，大多數(shù)人都生活在平靜的絕望之中。不要逆來順受，要破繭而出。

?? "Gather you rosebuds while you may", the latin term for that sentiment is "carpe diem", and that's "seize the day". Carpe diem，gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Why does the auther use these lines? Because we are fool for worms(我們都是凡人), lads.?

?? I bought them up here to illustrate the point of conformity. The difficulty in maintaining your own beliefs in the face of others. Now, I see the look in your eyes like, "I would have walked differently." Well, ask yourself why you were clapping. We all have a great need for acceptance, but you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular, even though the herd may go, "That's bad." Robert Frost said, "Two roads diverged in the wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."?

?? 梭羅Henry David Thoreau

I went to the woods

because I wanted to live deliberately.

I wanted to live deep

and suck out all the marrow of life，

to put to rout all that was not life.

And not, when I came to die,

discover that I had not lived.

我步入?yún)擦郑驗(yàn)槲蚁Ｍ畹碾S意，

我希望活得深刻 汲取生命中所有的精華，

把非生命的一切都擊潰。

以免讓我在彌留之際，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己從未真正活過。