I realized that I already know most of what's necessary to live a meaningful life—that it isn't all that complicated. I know it. And have known it for a long, long time. Living it—well, that's another matter, yes? Here's my Credo1:
All I really know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile2 at Sunday School.
These are the things I learned:Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush3. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup—they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books4 and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule5 and love and basic sanitation6. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living7.
Think what a better world it would be if we all—the whole world—had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are—when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
我意识到，自己已经对如何才能使人生不至虚度有所了解——这一点儿都不复杂。我明白该如何做，我很早很早以前就明白。但要照着去做，这就是另外一回事儿了，对吧？以下即是我学到的人生真谛：
所有我需要学到的知识，例如如何生活，如何为人处世其实早在幼儿园就已经学过。智慧并不是在大学的研究生院达到顶峰的，它蕴含在主日学校的沙堆游戏中。
我在幼儿园学到了：与人分享一切；做事公正；不要攻击他人；记得物归原处。
清理干净自己的垃圾；不要拿不属于自己的东西；伤害了别人要道歉；吃东西前要洗手；入厕完后要冲水；热点心冷牛奶有益健康。
保持平衡的生活；每天，学习、思考、绘画、唱歌、跳舞、玩耍和劳动都要有一席之地。
每天中午小睡片刻。
出门注意交通安全，大家手牵手，互相照顾。
多留意奇景。还记得塑料杯里埋下的小种子吗？根往土里钻，叶子往上冒，没有谁知道这是为什么、怎么做到的，我们都像那粒种子。
金鱼，仓鼠，小白鼠甚至那粒塑料杯里的小种子都会死，我们也一样。
还有，记住儿童启蒙读物里你学到的第一个字——也是最重要的一个字——“看”。
你需要掌握的每件事那本书里都有。从做事的金科玉律，到爱，到卫生习惯；从生态平衡，政治权术，处事公正到养生之道，无一不备。
试想一下，如果我们全世界所有人——都能午后三点停下来喝点儿牛奶，吃点儿甜点，然后拉上毯子小睡一会儿；所有政府都能制定一条基本政策：物归原处，清理好自己的垃圾——世界一定会变得更美好。
还有一点千真万确的是：无论年龄大小，出门在外最好团结一致，相互扶持，携手共进。
1. credo n． 人生信条
2． sandpile n． （供儿童玩的）沙堆
3． flush v． （入厕后）冲水
4． the Dick－and－Jane books启蒙读物 Dick and Jane美国一年级教科书中代表典型中等家庭的一对夫妻
5． Golden Rule 金科玉律；办事重要原则
6． sanitation n． 卫生
7． sane [sein] living 养生之道