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It reminds us of the shaping power that reaches through the flower stem and through our own hands. It restores our faith in the generosity of nature. By giving us a taste of the kinship between our own small minds and the great Mind of the Cosmos, beauty reassures us that we are exactly and wonderfully made for life on this glorious planet, in this magnificent universe. I find in that affinity a profound source of meaning and hope. A universe so prodigal of beauty may actually need us to notice and respond, may need our sharp eyes and brimming hearts and teeming minds, in order to close the circuit of Creation.
无论是一朵花或是一双手，都让我们联想到美的创造力量。美让我们重拾信念---相信自然对于我们的无私恩惠与慷慨。美在人类渺小的心灵和宇宙伟大的精魂之间，化身为一座沟通的桥梁，并以此让我们不再怀疑：在这片恢宏的宇宙中，在这颗璀璨的星球上，人类的存在实为天工之作，神明之意。宇宙和人类对于美的共识，给予我生存的意义与希望。我们的宇宙中，美无处不在；她等待着我们敏锐的眼睛、充实的心灵，和泉涌般的智慧，去发现美，去回应美，由此成全造物的圆满。 译者注：
本文为美国当代作家司各特·罗素·桑达（Scott Russell Sander，1945-）所写。桑达出生于美国田纳西州(Tennessee)的孟菲斯(Memphis)。1963年，他就读于布朗大学(Brown University), 其后，又就读于剑桥大学（Cambridge University）并获得文学博士。1971年，他携妻子(就是本文一开始提到的Ruth，而Eva则是作者的女儿)迁往印地安那州(Indiana)的布鲁明顿(Bloomington), 并在那里的印地安那大学(Indiana University)任教至今。印地安那的自然风光给予他创作的灵感，他在作品中对于自然的生动细致描写充分体现出他对环境的关注。本文选自他新近出版的作品《寻找希望》（Hunting for Hope）。（编辑：李吉琴）
The Literature of Knowledge and the Literature of Power byThomas De Quincey
知识文学与力量文学托 马斯·昆西
What is it that we mean by literature? Popularly, and amongst the thoughtless, it is held to include everything that is printed in a book. Little logic is required to disturb that definition. The most thoughtless person is easily made aware that in the idea of literature one essential element is some relation to a general and common interest of man—so that what applies only to a local, or professional, or m