How to Grow Old

Bertrand Russell

學习任务

Activity 1

Think about the following questions， and write down your answers before reading the essay.

（1） What does it feel to be old？ What does it feel to be getting old？

（2） Why do most people fear death？

Activity 2

Read the essay， and try to answer the question.

What is （are） the major theme（s） of this essay？

1

In spite of the title， this article will really be on how not to grow old， which， at my time of life， is a much more important subject. My first advice would be to choose your ancestors carefully. Although both my parents died young， I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors. My maternal grandfather， it is true， was cut off in the flower of his youth at the age of sixty-seven， but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty. Of remoter ancestors I can only discover one who did not live to a great age， and he died of a disease which is now rare， namely， having his head cut off. A great-grandmother of mine， who was a friend of Gibbon， lived to the age of ninety-two， and to her last day remained a terror to all her descendants. My maternal grandmother， after having nine children who survived， one who died in infancy， and many miscarriages1， as soon as she became a widow devoted herself to womens higher education. She was one of the founders of Girton College， and worked hard at opening the medical profession to women. She used to tell of how she met in Italy an elderly gentleman who was looking very sad. She asked him why he was so melancholy2 and he said that he had just parted from his two grandchildren. “Good gracious，” she exclaimed， “I have seventy-two grandchildren， and if I were sad each time I parted from one of them， I should have a miserable existence3！” “Madre snaturale，” he replied. But speaking as one of the seventy-two， I prefer her recipe. After the age of eighty she found she had some difficulty in getting to sleep， so she habitually spent the hours from midnight to 3 a.m. in reading popular science. I do not believe that she ever had time to notice that she was growing old. This， I think， is the proper recipe for remaining young. If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective， you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived， still less of the probable shortness of your future.

2As regards health， I have nothing useful to say as I have little experience of illness. I eat and drink whatever I like， and sleep when I cannot keep awake. I never do anything whatever on the grounds4 that it is good for health， though in actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.

3Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is undue absorption in the past. It does not do to live in memories， in regrets for the good old days， or in sadness about friends who are dead. Ones thoughts must be directed to the future， and to things about which there is something to be done. This is not always easy; ones own past is a gradually increasing weight. It is easy to think to oneself that ones emotions used to be more vivid than they are， and ones mind more keen. If this is true it should be forgotten， and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.

4The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth5 in the hope of sucking vigour from its vitality. When your children are grown up they want to live their own lives， and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they were young， you are likely to become a burden to them， unless they are unusually callous6. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them， but ones interest should be contemplative and， if possible， philanthropic， but not unduly emotional. Animals become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves， but human beings， owing to the length of infancy， find this difficult.

5I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong impersonal7 interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful， and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive. It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes， both because they will not believe you， and because mistakes are an essential part of education. But if you are one of those who are incapable of impersonal interests， you may find that your life will be empty unless you concern yourself with your children and grandchildren. In that case you must realise that while you can still render8 them material services， such as making them an allowance or knitting them jumpers， you must not expect that they will enjoy your company.

6Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows， and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do， the fear of death is somewhat abject9 and ignoble10. The best way to overcome it—so at least it seems to me—is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal， until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede， and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river： small at first， narrowly contained within its banks， and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider， the banks recede， the waters flow more quietly， and in the end， without any visible break， they become merged in the sea， and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who， in old age， can see his life in this way， will not suffer from the fear of death， since the things he cares for will continue. And if， with the decay of vitality， weariness increases， the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work， knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.

1. If a pregnant woman has a miscarriage， her baby dies and she gives birth to it before it is properly formed.

2. If someone feels or looks melancholy， they feel or look very sad.

3. You can refer to someones way of life as an existence， especially when they live under difficult conditions.

4. If something is grounds for a feeling or action， it is a reason for it. If you do something on the grounds of a particular thing， that thing is the reason for your action.

5. Here youth should refer to the young people as a group.

6. A callous person or action is very cruel and shows no concern for other people or their feelings.

7. If you describe someones behaviour as impersonal， you mean that they do not show any emotion about the person they are dealing with. Here the author may mean “not involving people （e.g.， ones grown-up children）.”

8.  If you render someone help or service， you help them.

9.  If you describe someone as abject， you think they have no courage or respect for themselves.

10. If you describe something as ignoble， you mean that it is bad and something to be ashamed of.

學习任务

Activity 3

Read the essay again， and answer the following questions.

（1） How did the authors remoter ancestor die， the one who did not live to a great age？ （para. 1）

（2） Why didnt the authors maternal grandmother have time to notice that she was growing old？ （para. 1）

（3） How do you understand “ones own past is a gradually increasing weight？” （para. 3）

（4） Why do human beings find it difficult to become indifferent to their young as soon as they can look after themselves？ （para. 4）

Activity 4

Study the words in bold and the underlined phrase. Complete the blank-filling task below.

（1） You may be stuck with a miserable e________ for the rest of your life.

（2） We must be as i________ as a surgeon with his or her knife.

（3） It was in these hours of the late afternoon that Tom felt most m________.

（4） Any assistance you can r________ him will be appreciated.

（5） The court overturned that decision ________ ________ ________ that the Prosecution had withheld crucial evidence.