今天是小芳老师陪你精读外刊的第203天
泛读原文（盲听1遍，泛读1遍，对照文本听1遍）
When it comes to first impressions, we all want to make a good one. And that’s why we tend to focus on our best traits and qualities. However, we often fall into the trap of thinking that everything about us needs to be perfect. But that’s just unrealistic. We all have imperfections. It’s part of being human. And while it’s easy to believe that our ‘supposed flaws and imperfections’ make us less attractive, here are some that can actually make us seem more appealing to others:
If you wanna learn the truth or, to put it in a better way, live a life free of delusion, you have to be willing to challenge your own beliefs. As Nietzsche said, “one must never have spared oneself, harshness must be among one’s habits, if one is to be happy and cheerful among nothing but hard truths.”
Don’t spare yourself. Be critical of your own beliefs. And what does it mean to spare yourself? To not test a belief. Or even worse: to protect a belief. There’s a Latin phrase I really like, a phrase that I think carries great wisdom: veritas numquam perit. Or in English: truth never perishes. If you really challenge yourself, if you destroy all of the parts of you that can be destroyed, all that you’ll be left with is the truest parts. To be harsh towards yourself in this way is a great virtue. And what does it mean to be harsh towards yourself? To go a step further than not protecting your beliefs: to outright attack your beliefs. To destroy them, and disprove them, if you can. To only believe what you can’t help but believe, because you haven’t been able to disprove it yet. It means becoming an enemy to yourself, but in the best possible sense. You become an enemy towards what’s false in you, and as a result, you become the friend of what’s true.
To be able to be, and to have, enemies was very important to Nietzsche. He said, “to be able to be an enemy, to be an enemy – that perhaps presupposes a strong nature, it is in any event a condition of every strong nature. It needs resistances, consequently it seeks resistances…every growth reveals itself in the seeking out of a powerful opponent – or problem: for a philosopher who is warlike also challenges problems to a duel.”
To become true, to become strong, you need resistance. You need an enemy – an enemy that is capable and willing to challenge what is potentially false in you, even if that enemy is yourself. But this destruction is grounded in love. As Nietzsche wrote, “equality in face of the enemy – first presupposition of an honest duel. Where one despises one cannot wage war…to attack is with me a proof of good will…”
You must be capable of being an enemy to the people you love most, if they’re strong enough to bear it. And if you’re not capable of having enemies yourself, people who can criticize, test, and doubt you, people who can potentially destroy what’s false in you, then you’ll become weak.
So remember: veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes. If you challenge yourself, become an enemy to yourself, and allow yourself to have enemies, people who can test you, criticize you, and doubt you, but always in the spirit of love – you can eliminate what’s false in you. And as you eliminate more of what’s false in you, you’ll be left with more of what’s true. And if truth never perishes, the more truth you contain, the more imperishable you yourself become.
That concludes my exploration of Nietzsche’s teaching. As always, this is just my opinion and understanding of Nietzsche, not advice.
If you’re looking for another video to watch after this one, I recommend watching my video “Nietzsche: How to Become Who You Are.” I’ll put a link to it in the description below and in the top right of the screen right now.
精读原文
When it comes to first impressions, we all want to make a good one. And that’s why we tend to focus on our best traits and qualities. However, we often fall into the trap of thinking that everything about us needs to be perfect. But that’s just unrealistic. We all have imperfections. It’s part of being human. And while it’s easy to believe that our ‘supposed flaws and imperfections’ make us less attractive, here are some that can actually make us seem more appealing to others:
10个关键词汇：
挑战 - challenge
信仰 - beliefs
真相 - truth
批判性思维 - critical thinking
真实 - true
敌人 - enemy
爱 - love
锻炼 - resistance
坚强 - strong
尊重 - respect
2个难句：
"To become true, to become strong, you need resistance." 这是一个主语从句，主语是 "you"，谓语是 "need"，宾语是 "resistance"。从句中，"to become true" 和 "to become strong" 是并列的不定式短语，作为宾语的补语。
"You must be capable of being an enemy to the people you love most, if they’re strong enough to bear it." 这是一个复合句，主句是 "You must be capable"，谓语是 "must be capable"。从句中，"being an enemy to the people you love most" 是一个现在分词短语作为宾语补足语，if引导的是条件状语从句。
多项选择阅读理解题目：
What does it mean to spare yourself?
A) To challenge your beliefs
B) To protect your beliefs
C) To destroy your beliefs
D) To prove your beliefs
According to Nietzsche, why do you need an enemy?
A) To destroy what's false in you
B) To protect what's true in you
C) To challenge your beliefs
D) To prove your strength
What is the main idea of this passage?
A) The importance of critical thinking and challenging one's own beliefs
B) The benefits of having enemies and being an enemy to oneself
C) The philosophy of Nietzsche and his teachings on truth and strength
D) The relationship between love and destruction in personal growth