花生為何？河生為何？

問田野上的花﹕「覺得自己有用嗎？你除了一再開出同樣的花，沒其他作為。」 花會答﹕「我美麗，美就是花生意義。」 問河流﹕「覺得自已有用嗎？你只是不斷向著同一方向流動。」 河會說﹕「我沒試著成為有用，我試著成為河流。」 人別試著成為有用，應該做自己－－這就足夠，令人人不同。 與靈魂同步，惟有靈魂可教你每一步都有用。 力爭有時，微笑有時，且向路人由衷微笑。 簡單笑容有時足以拯救一個對人生絕望，瀕臨自絕的陌生人。 Ask a flower in the field: ‘Do you feel useful? After all, you do nothing but produce the same flowers over and over?’ And the flower will answer: ‘I am beautiful, and beauty is my reason for living.’ Ask the river: ‘Do you feel useful, given that all you do is to keep flowing in the same direction?’ And the river will answer: ‘I’m not trying to be useful, I’m trying to be a river.’ Don’t try to be useful. Try to be yourself: that is enough, and that makes all the difference. Walk neither faster nor slower than your own soul. Because it is your soul that will teach you the usefulness of each step you take. Sometimes taking part in a great battle But sometimes you can do that simply by smiling, for no reason, at someone you happen to pass in the street. Without intending to, you might have saved the life of a complete stranger, who also thought he was useless and might have been ready to kill himself, until a smile gave him new hope and confidence.

　來源﹕保羅·科賀爾