In this symposium, better is it to only sit in silence. To express one's feelings as the end draws near is too intimate a task. That I would mention only one thought that comes to me as a listener-in: the riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal, there is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill, there is time to hear the kind voice of friends, and to say to oneself, the work is done. But just as one says that, the answer comes, the race is over, but the work never is done while the power to work remains. The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only coming to rest; it cannot be while you still live. But to live is to function, that is all there is in living. So I end with a land from a Latin voice: death, death, clutches my ear, and says, live, I am coming.--By Oliver Wendell Holmes
譯文：
此刻，沉默是金。要在生命即將完結(jié)之時表達個人感受并非易事。但我只是想談談作為一名傾聽者的看法。騎士們并非一到終點就立刻止步。他們繼續(xù)緩步向前，傾聽朋友們的歡呼。他們雖然告訴自己行程已經(jīng)結(jié)束了。正如人們所說結(jié)果出來了,比賽結(jié)束了。但只要動力仍在，人生之旅就尚未結(jié)束。終點之后的慢跑并非停止不前，因為活著便不能如此?；钪鸵兴鳛?，這才是生命的真諦。最后謹以一句古拉丁格言與各位共勉：死神不止，奮斗不止。
--[美]奧利佛·文德爾·荷默斯
in this symposium:此刻
At this timegoal: n.目的,目標
standstill: n.停止
