Ever since one midnight, in nineteen hundred and nine, when I first heard my mother crying, I have been groping for beliefs to help me through the rough going and confusions of life. My dad's voice was low and troubled as he tried to comfort Mother. And in their anguish, they both forgot the nearness of my bedroom. I overheard them. I was only seven then, and while their problem of that time has long since been solved and forgotten, the big discovery I made that night is still right with me: life is not all hearts and flowers; it's hard and cruel for most of us much of the time. We all have troubles, they just differ in nature, that' all. And that leads to my first belief.
自1909年的一個午夜第一次聽到母親哭泣以來，我一直尋找信仰幫我度過生活中的艱辛與困惑。父親安慰母親時，聲音低沉而憂鬱。極度的痛苦讓他們忘記我的臥室就在附近。我無意中聽到了他們的談話，那時我只有七歲。儘管他們當時的問題如今已經解決也被遺忘，但那一晚的重大發現仍然教導我：生活並不總是充滿鮮花和愛情。許多時候生活對於我們大多數人來說艱辛而殘酷，我們都有煩惱，只是煩惱的性質不同，僅此而已。這就是我的第一個信念。
I believe the human race is very, very tough—almost impossible to discourage. If it wasn't, then why do we have such words as “laugh” and “sing” and “music” and “dance”—in the language of all mankind since the beginning of recorded time? This belief makes me downright proud to be a human being.
我相信人類十分堅強，幾乎不可能感到灰心沮喪。如若不然，為何有史以來人類所有的語言中都有“歡笑”、“歌唱”、“音樂”和“舞蹈”這樣的詞呢?這一信念讓我無比自豪，因為我是一個人。
Next, I believe there is good and evil in all of us. Thomas Mann comes close to expressing what I’m trying to say with his carefully worded sentence about the “frightfully radical duality” between the brain and the beast in man—in all of us.
其次，我相信我們都有善和惡的一面。托馬斯.曼字斟句酌地闡述了人類(我們所有人)身上存在的理智這一“極基本的雙重性”時，幾乎道出了我的觀點。
This belief helps me because so long as I remember that there are certain forces of evil ever present in me—and never forget that there is also a divine spark of goodness in me, too—then I find the “score” of my bad mistakes at the end of each day is greatly reduced. “Forewarned of evil, is half the battle against it.” I believe in trying to be charitable, in trying to understand and forgive people, especially in trying to forgive very keen or brilliant people. A man may be a genius, but he can still do things that practically break your heart.
這種信仰讓我受益，因為只要記住自己身上一直存在著某些邪惡的力量——但也從未忘記自己身上也有上帝賜予的善良火花——我就會發現每天結束時，錯誤和悔恨的“得分”大大降低。可見“事先警惕惡行是與之鬥爭成功的一半”。我相信人要儘量樂善好施，儘量理解和寬恕別人，尤其要寬恕特別敏銳和聰慧的人，因為即使天才也會做出讓你傷心的事情。
I believe most if not all of our very finest thoughts and many of our finest deeds must be kept to ourselves alone—at least until after we die. This used confuse me. But now I realize that by their very nature, these finest things we do and cannot talk about are a sort of secret preview of a better life to come.I believe there is no escape from the rule that we must do many, many little things to accomplish even just one big thing. This gives me patience when I need it most.
我相信，即使不是全部，大多數我們提出的最富創見的思想，大多數我們實施的最富成果的行為，都不應讓人知道我們提出和實施的——至少要到我們去世之後才能讓人知道。這一點過去常讓我感到困惑，但如今我明白，我們完成這些最美妙的事情卻祕而不宣，實質上是暗地裡預見未來更美好的生活。我相信我們必須做許許多多小事才能成就大事，哪怕只一件大事。這一規律無法逃避。這種信仰使我在最需要辦大事的時候很耐心。
And then I believe in having the courage to be myself. Or perhaps I should say, to be honest with myself. Sometimes this is practically impossible, but I'm sure I should always try.
還有，我相信要有勇氣還自己本色。或許我該說，要對自己實事求是。有時這幾乎不可能，但我確信我應該永遠努力為之。
Finally, and most important to me, I do believe in God. I'm sure there is a very wise and wonderful Being who designed, constructed, and operates this existence as we mortals know it: this universe with its galaxies and spiral nebulae, its stars and moons and planets and beautiful women, its trees and pearls and deep green moss—and its hopes and prayers for peace.
最後一點，也是對我而言最重要的一點，我深深信仰上帝。我確信有一位非常睿智和神奇的神靈設計、建造並統治這個世界，就像我們凡人所認識的樣子：這個宇宙有星群、螺旋型的星雲、星星、月亮、行星、美女、樹木、珍珠和深綠的苔蘚，還有希望和對和平的祈禱。
