英语作为一门国际通用语，在21世纪已经向着多元化、多功能化的方向发展，其中也在了散文上。小编精心收集了英文优美散文，供大家欣赏学习!
英文优美散文：幸福的悖论
The Paradox of Happiness
What is the definition of "happiness?"Is it material wealth filled with fancy cars, a dream house,exteravagant furs and jewelry? Or is happiness simply having a roof over your head? Food in the fridge?Having a child? A pet?A swimming pool?A designer Gucci bag?Parents?Grandchildren?Love?Money?The perfct job?Winning the Lottery?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary,"happiness"is derived from the Middle English word hap—meaning"Luck."But does happiness really have anything to do with"luck?"Based on this description,one could assume that if you avoide* * **tal traffic accident but got fired by coming late to work,you would be filled with"happiness?"Is it luck or what you make of it?Maybe,"happiness"is exactly defined by its indirect alias:happiness-perhaps,happiness is in fact defined by the fortune thatwe permit to happen.
Do you recall a time—let's say when you were about 5 years old—what defined happiness back then?Was it getting a puppy for Christmas?
Or maybe,you were a child of divorce;and all you wanted was for Mom and Dad to get back together again?Then as you got older,you were hoping that someone would ask you to the prom that would've made your day,maybe your life for the moment.During college,good grades made you happy,but it was short-lived.Becaust in the real world,you had to look for a job,and competition was stark.It's an employer's world you thought.But then, you got the perfect job—now you could be happy—or could you?
Life requires more than just what we want. Inevitably,one must understand to truly find"happiness,"he must make his own happiness "happen".Sounds a bit redundant,but truthfully,there is no set guidelines that will bring one happiness.There is no "magic wand"we can wave to bring joy into our lives.Human nature thrives on the thrill of the chase.We dream and we hope for the next big brea—it is the grand adventure of licing.
We are hopeless creatures of comfort.We like having and accumulating things.Whether one admits to it or not,to a certain degree,we all try to keep up with"the Jones".We work so we can pay our rents,mortgages, credit card debts,school loans,car payments...the list goes on and on.And at some point,we realize,that aside from having most of what we want,we still arem't happy.Now since we've learned to adapt to new standards which we've created for ourselves,we find that we have less time,less patience,less sleep,which equates to more stress,more worry and more aggravation.So,is happiness honestly juest comprised of"things"?
Sometimes,we virtually reade our lives for not only basic necessities,but for excessive items and services as well.We become so obsessed with finding happiness,that we lose sight of the fact that happiness is within—always.Certainly you've heard of individuals trying to "find themselves",or"rediscover themselves".The reason they are attempting these innovantive approaches is because they are seeking inner happiness.But the point has been missed:Happiness is already there.
Disappointments and reagedies in life will come and go,but happiness never leaves you.The human's capacity to be resilient to reials is unfathomable.We can lose our jobs,but be grateful for our spouses.We can lose our homes to nature,but be thankful to alive.
Happiness is a perception of each indivdual.We are instincively compelled to find fault in our lives.By human nature,we begin our "fault-find-ing"mission the moment we're capable of free-thinking.It is then,that we lose sense of self-worth and the bigger picture of vitality altogether.Stuck in the patterns of the happiness paradox,we simply cannot find where our happiness has gone.
It's not a matter of bargaining,it's not an issue of money or fame—instead,happiness is what you resolve to accept.If we live through optimis-tic hope;if we dare to dream;if we empower ourselves to fully live;then we have regained our sense of happiness,There is no in berween.There is no other replacement.We only have one physical life to live—we have no choice but to make the most of it.
“幸福”是什么?幸福是拥有豪华的汽车、梦想的居室、名贵的裘皮和珠宝等物质上的富足嘛?或者，幸福其实很简单——有遮风避雨的住所，冰箱里有食物，有孩子、宠物、游泳池、Gucci的包，有父母、子孙、有爱情、金钱和理想的工作，彩票中奖了呢?
在《美国传统字典》中，幸福是从中古英语“Hap”一词演变而来，“Hap”意为“好运”。幸福真的与“好运”有关联吗?基于此，想想看，如果你在一场必死无疑的交通事故中幸免于难，却因此迟到，导致被老板炒鱿鱼。对此，我们应该感到“幸福”吗?这是好运吗?还是要看个人如何看待你能回忆起你5岁时对幸福的理解吗?那时，幸福是从圣诞树上摘下的一只小狗吗?或者爸爸妈妈离婚了，你唯一的愿望就是他们能和好如初，重新生活在一起?当你渐渐长大，你希望有人会邀请你参加舞会，希望所有的日子都凝固在那一天，那一刻。上大学期间，考试得了高分让你无比开心，但这种幸福感毕竟是短暂的。因为在现实中，你得找一份工作，而社会竞争也相当激烈。于是，你就会想，这是一个雇主的世界。随后，你找到了一份理想的工作——现在的你很开心，是吗?
生活向我们索要的远比我们想要的多。一个人必须明白，要想真正找到幸福，他就必须让自己幸福。可能听起来有些多余，但确是如此——生活中，没有能代来幸福的现成的指南，也没有挥一挥就能带来欢乐的魔棒。人性在追求幸福的刺激中不断升级、完善。我们梦想着，期望着下一个大的转变——这就是生活中的大冒险了。
我们是无助的享乐者，喜欢拥有和积攒东西。不论人们承认与否，一定程度上，我们都在相互攀比。我们之所以工作，是因为要付房租，偿还抵押贷款，还清信用卡透支费用，偿付助学贷款，买车，等等。此类费用接连而至，让我们应接不暇。于是，我们会突然意识到，尽管拥有了想要的一切，我们仍然不幸福。自从适应了自己定下的新生活标准，我们的时间短了，耐性没了，睡眠少了，但压力大了，焦虑多了，脾气也暴躁了。鉴于此，幸福真的是由“物质”组成的吗?
事实上，有时，我们不仅用生命交换生活必需品，还用生命交换多余的物质享受和服务。我们这般沉迷于追求幸福，却忽略了一个事实——幸福一直就在我们心中。当然，你一定听过这样的事，即有些人一直都在苦苦“找寻自我”或“重新发现自我”。他们创新尝试的理由只不过是想找寻心灵深处的幸福。但他们忽略了一点，即幸福从头至尾到在心中。
失望和悲伤在生命中交替轮回，但幸福从不会舍你而去。人类对困难的适应能力无可限量。我们可以失去工作，但会为拥有爱人而感恩不已;我们可以流离失所，但会为活着而心存感激。
幸福是个人的一种感知。我们本能地受限于外界，找寻着生活的瑕疵，出于人的天性，我们从有能力自由思考的那刻起，就开始对生活吹毛求疵。也就在那时，我们失去了对自我价值的认知，也失去了生命的活力，陷于幸福的矛盾中，找不到幸福的方向。
幸福是你决定去接受的东西，没有任何商量的余地，它于金钱或名誉毫无瓜葛。只要我们活在乐观希望之中，敢于大胆梦想，活得简单纯粹，那么，我们就会重新拥有幸福的感觉。那种感觉并非悬于幸于不幸之间的真空地带，也无任何替代品。我们只能活一次——除了好好活着，我们别无选择。
英文优美散文：天空的颜色
If we look at the sky on a perfectly fine summer‘s day we shall find that theblue colour is the most pure and intense overhead，and when looking high up in adirection opposite to the sun. Near the horizon it is always less bright，whilein the region immediately around the sun it is more or less yellow. The reasonof this is that near the horizon we look through a very great thickness of thelower atmosphere，which is full of the larger dust particles reflecting whitelight，and this diluter the pure blue of the higher atmosphere seen beyond，And inthe vicinity of the sun a good deal of the blue light is reflected back intospace by the finer dust，thus giving a yellowish tinge to that which reaches usreflected chiefly from the coarse dust of the lower atmosphere. At sunset andsunrise，however，this last effect is greatly intensified，owing to the greatthickness of the strata of air through which the light reaches us. The enormousamount of this dust is well shown by the fact that then only we can look full atthe sun，even when the whole sky is free from clouds and there is no apparentmist.
But the sun’s rays then reach us after having passed，first，throughan enormous thickness of the higher strata of the air，the minute dust of whichreflects most of the higher strata of the air，the minute dust of which reflectsmost of the blue rays away from us，leaving the complementary yellow light topass on，Then，the somewhat coarser dust reflects the green rays，leaving a moreorange-coloured light to pass on;and finally some of the yellow isreflected，leaving almost pure red. But owing to the constant presence of aircurrents，arranging both the dust and vapour in strata of varying extent anddensity，and of high or low clouds which both absorb and reflect the light invarying degrees，we see produced all those wondrous combinations of tints andthose gorgeous ever-changing colours which are a constant source of admirationand delight to all who have the advantage of an uninterrupted view to the westand who are accustomed to watch for those not infrequent exhibitions of nature‘skaleidoscopic colour painting. With every change in the altitude of the sun thedisplay changes its character;and most of all when it has sunk below thehorizon，and owing to the more favourable angles a larger quantity of thecoloured light is reflected toward us，Especially when there is a certain amountof cloud is this the case. These，so long as the sun was above thehorizon，intercepted much of the light and colour，but when the great luminary haspassed away from our direct vision，his light shines more directly on the undersides of all the clouds and air strata of different densities;a new and morebrilliant light flushes the western sky，and a display of gorgeous ever-changingtints occurs which are at once the delight of the beholder and the despair ofthe artist. And all this unsurpassable glory we oweto——dust!
晴空万里的夏日，如果我们观察一下天空，且背向太阳，极目仰望，就会发现头顶上空的蓝色最纯净，最浓郁。靠近天边，色彩往往较暗淡，太阳周围的地方则略呈黄色。这是因为我们向天边望去时，目光要穿过极厚的低空大气层，其中布满颗粒较大的尘埃，反射出白光，这就冲淡了天际高空大气层的纯蓝色。在太阳附近，大量蓝光则由细微的尘埃反射回太空。这样，主要由低空大气层的粗粒尘埃反射到地面的光线，便带有浅黄色。不过，在日出日落时，由于光线到达地面南非要穿过厚厚的大气层，这种反射效果大大增强了。只有在这种时候，我们才可以直视太阳，即使万里长空没有一点云彩，不见一丝雾霭。这就充分显示了低空尘埃的数量之大。
但是太阳的光线终于到达了地面。它们先是穿过厚度极大的高空大气层，其中的细微尘埃把大部分蓝色的光反射掉了，让补色的黄光继续通行。然后，粗粒尘埃又反射掉绿色的光，让偏橙色的光继续通行。最后，部分黄色的光也反射掉，剩下几乎是纯红色的了。不过，由于不断出现气流，把法埃与水汽分层排列，广度不均，密度各异，加上高低空常有云层，不同程度地吸收并反射阳光，我们这才看到各种奇异的色调斑剥陆离，诸多绚丽的色彩变化万千;任何人只要有幸将西方的景致一览无余，只要有心观看大自然不时展现的那一幅幅瞬息万变的彩画，都会为之赞不绝口，喜不自胜。随着夕阳缓缓西坠，这种景观也不断变幻;尤其是在太阳沉入地平线之后，由于角度更加适宜，五颜六色的光就都发射到地面上来。遇有些许云雾，更是如此。本来，只要太阳还位于地平线之上，云雾便截住了不少夕阳和色彩;而今太阳从我们的视野消失，阳关便更为直接地照射到密度各异的重重云霭与层层大气的底部;一片崭新的、更加灿烂的阳光染红了西天，一幅景观色彩绚丽，变化万千，观赏者固然赏心悦目，然而自叹莫及。而我们之所以能领略如此无与伦比的美景，全应归功于—尘埃!
英文优美散文：做鞋钉
The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks fly from his hammer.
The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith everyday and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked.
"Young man, why don't you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks, even if it is only to pass the time?" said the blacksmith. "Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you."
The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to take up residence in another country. It so happened that in this village there were numerous shoemakers who were spending a lot of money to buy tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers' shoes.
Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in his workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.
"How funny it seems," he used to say, "even making tacks can bring a fortune. My trade is more useful to me than were all my former riches."
【中文译文】：
琼斯是个非常勤劳的铁匠，常常一整天都在店里工作。他工作非常努力，他的铁锤下常常是火花飞舞。
邻居史密斯先生很有钱，他的儿子常常来看琼斯打铁。他喜欢看这位工匠工作，常常一看就是几个小时。
“年轻人，为什么不亲自尝试一下如何制作鞋钉呢，哪怕只是为了消磨时间?”铁匠说，“没准，有一天它会对你有帮助。”
懒懒的孩子开始想看看自己到底能做什么。然而，仅仅经过很短的练习，他便发现自己非常熟练起来，很快他就做出了最好的鞋钉。
老史密斯先生去世了，而他的儿子则因为战争的缘故失去了所有的财产。他不得不离开家园，在另外一个国家住了下来。巧的是，这个国家的这个地区，急需大量军鞋，所以这个村子里有很多鞋匠，他们总是花费很多钱购买鞋钉。有时，即使付了很高的价钱，也买不到他们想要的鞋钉。
在这食不果腹的困难时刻，年轻的史密斯记起自己曾学过制鞋钉这门手艺，便突发奇想，想和这些鞋匠们做一个交易。他对他们说，如果他们可以帮助他成立一个店铺，他就可以做鞋钉。鞋匠们对他的这一提议欣喜若狂。很快，史密斯发现他做的鞋钉是村里面最好的。
“这真是有趣，”他常常会说，“即便是做鞋钉也会带来财富。与我以前所有的财富相比，我现在做的事情对于我来说更有用。”
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