Someone--I forget who--has said: "Words are the only things last for ever." That is, to my mind, always a wonderful thought. The most durable structures raised in stone by the strength of man, the mightiest monuments by his power, crumble into dust, while the words spoken with fleeting breath, the passing expression of the unstable fancies of his mind, endure not as echoes of the past, not as mere archaeological curiosities or venerable relics, but with a force and life as new and strong, and sometimes far stronger than when they were first spoken, and leaping across the gulf of three thousand years, they light the world for us today.
我记得有人曾说过这样一段话,“文字是世界上唯一能够永远留存的东西。”无论何时想起来,都觉得这句话在闪耀着真理的光芒。即使是万千人力堆砌的最为坚固的石头建筑,或是最雄伟的纪念碑,也终有化为尘土的一日。然而那些人们娓娓道来的话语,那些对人类转瞬即逝的思想的表达,不会像回音般消散在过去,也不会像古玩或珍贵的历史遗迹那样一成不变没有生命。文字充满了力量,它们像新生儿般生机勃勃顽强不屈。有的文字甚至历久弥坚,越是经过时间的磨砺,越是充满力量,甚至比他们初说时更给人震撼。跨跃了三千年时光的鸿沟,今天文字仍然为我们照亮世界
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