Alain de Botton霍比，英倫著名作家擂红，我自己非常喜歡的一位作家媒役，去年（2014）看過的他的若干本祝谚，其中的《The Art of Travel》（旅行的藝術(shù)）, 《Religion for Atheists》（寫給無神論者），《The Consolation of Philosophy》(哲學(xué)的慰藉)酣衷，皆是文筆優(yōu)美交惯，能從新角度啟發(fā)，并引人深思的佳作穿仪。
這本書是關(guān)于信息的席爽。有沒有偶爾覺得，這個小時代里啊片，打開手機只锻，微信、G+等紫谷，有點被各方面的信息淹沒齐饮，無法有效的從中提取出好文，好好消化笤昨，體會祖驱，汲取養(yǎng)分 － 而這，正是閱讀（手機瞒窒，報紙捺僻，雜志）的最大目的。德波頓的這本冊子崇裁，說的就是如何閱讀各類新聞時事匕坯，如何三觀正確的看待，并正確回饋自己的方法拔稳。最喜歡的下面幾段的論述葛峻。
關(guān)于Envy
好了，每人周圍都有自己熟悉的朋友巴比，親友泞歉，他們和你差不多年紀逼侦，或者比你跟年輕匿辩，當你反復(fù)能從各種媒介中聽到他們的成功（開發(fā)了影響大多數(shù)人的產(chǎn)品腰耙，創(chuàng)立引領(lǐng)了自己的公司，上市融資等等）故事時铲球，作者提出了2個問題挺庞，一你如何做想，二你如何思考稼病，又如何反過來影響自己选侨？
第一，你如何想然走？不要不好意思承認援制，envy or a little bit crazy 是會有一點的，對不芍瑞？正常晨仑，再正常不過了 － 作者說道 － It should admit that it takes an exceptionally unimaginative person to read of someone of their own age who has bought and sold businesses, consorted with the mighty and attracted the attention of millions - and in response, experience only a broad and serene pleasure without being driven a little crazy as a result.
而且適度可控的envy，一旦你理解后拆檬，是有益處的 － It is a call to action that should be heeded, for it contains garbled messages sent by muddled but important parts of our personalities about what we should be doing with the rest of our lives. Listening to envy should help us to take painful yet necessary steps towards becoming who we really are.第二洪己，該如何思考，從而正面影響自己呢竟贯？作者說 － 不必過分壓抑自己的envy答捕，而是應(yīng)當問自己 “what should I learn from here?” 擦這不是老生常談嗎？沒結(jié)束呢 － We start to envy certain individuals in their entirety, when in fact, if we took a moment to analyze their lives calmly, we would realize that it is only a small part of what they have done that really resonates with, and should guide, our own next steps. 也就是說屑那，成功的因素拱镐，常常是他們身上小小的一部分，找出他們身上的這一兩個光亮點持际，具體化沃琅，再學(xué)習(xí)之，而不是空空的泛泛的說“向他們學(xué)習(xí)”选酗。
那最后呢阵难，還是會要安慰安穩(wěn)一下讀者們 －
While the supplements may be continuously filled with success stories, success itself will always remain highly anomalous, achieved by no more than a few thousand out of many millions - a detail that the editors of the news carefully (and sadistically) keep carefully out of our imaginations. We shouldn’t lament our own condition just because it doesn’t measure up against a deeply unrealistic benchmark, or hate ourselves solely for our inability to defy some breathtaking odds.
關(guān)于Tragedy
新聞報道中，幾乎隔幾天就會有tragedy的報道芒填，說它低品位也好呜叫，博眼球也好，那我們能從中找尋出哪些有意義殿衰，有價值的東西呢朱庆？
古希臘時期，每個三月底闷祥，城邦民眾都會聚集在Acropolis (雅典衛(wèi)城）的Theatre of Dionysus聽故事娱颊，那是什么故事呢 － 悲劇故事傲诵！這些故事無論哪個都可冠以血腥，暴力箱硕，反人倫拴竹，放在今天，絕對可以做“頭條”的剧罩。比如弒父栓拜，娶母，自殘（俄狄浦斯）惠昔；比如弒女復(fù)仇（Iphigenia）幕与；比如母殺二子留夫（Medea），等等镇防。問題來了啦鸣，希臘人怎么這么變態(tài)？愛聽這些来氧。
那時的大智人诫给，亞里士多德，如此描述悲劇對于民眾教化的力量 －Tragedy’s power is to demonstrate the ease with which an essentially decent and likable person could end up generating hell饲漾。蝙搔。。They are crucial resources for the emotional and moral education of a whole society
一部優(yōu)秀的悲劇作品（the plot should be well arranged and the motives and the personalities of the characters properly outlined to us）在民眾面前一步步展示它的發(fā)展軌跡 － 常人／凡人／凡事是如何一步步滑向地獄的 － 而觀眾在最后不由自主的一句 － “What, how easily I, too, might done the same!” 則是悲劇教化效果的最好實證考传。
所以吃型，tragedy，警世鐘也僚楞！
關(guān)于Culture
新聞報道中勤晚，也時常會有關(guān)于文化，藝術(shù)的報道泉褐，那這類報道有什么用呢赐写？那藝術(shù)又有什么具體作用呢？作者給出這段描述 －
Art is a tool to help us with a number of psychological frailties which we would otherwise have trouble handling: our inability to understand ourselves, to laugh sagely at our faults, to empathize with and forgive others, to accept the inevitability of suffering without falling prey to a sense of persecution, to remain tolerably hopeful, to appreciate the beauty of the everyday and to prepare adequately of death.
在人類歷史已有并且還在不斷擴大的浩瀚的藝術(shù)膜赃，文學(xué)寶庫中挺邀，總有一些，會給你心靈的幫助跳座，會是一劑良藥端铛，就像作者說的 －
… art delivers its healing power, offering us, for example, a poetry book that delineates an emotion we had long felt but never understood, a comedy that shakes us from self-righteous indignation, an album that gives us a soundtrack of hope, a play that turns horror into tragedy, a film that charts a saner path through the difficulties of love or painting that invites us to a more gracious acceptance of age and disease.
最后再贊一次，作者文筆之優(yōu)美疲眷，完全感覺不到他是在講述一個道理禾蚕，卻是像在讀一本散文。以上英語句子狂丝，（基本）都是原文换淆，從中摘抄哗总，雖然少了上下文的支撐，卻也一眼就能看出文字的優(yōu)美倍试、力量讯屈。
