品味書香：應該多讀書的12個理由

The more books you read, the better your life will be. If you don’t believe me, please consider these twelve compelling reasons to read more books.

你讀的書越多，你的生活就會越好。如果你不相信我的話，請考慮這十二個令人信服的理由多讀書。

1. You will optimize your brain power

多讀書會優(yōu)化你的腦力

This shouldn’t come as a shock, but studies suggest reading makes you smart. Unlike watching television, which requires no thought process, reading is an active learning experience that will keep your mind sharp (even in old age).

這條理由應該在大家意料之中：研究表明閱讀使人變聰明。讀書不像看電視，看電視不需要有思維活動過程，閱讀是一個積極的學習體驗，會讓你的思維保持敏捷(即使到了老年思維也能保持敏捷)。

2. You will increase your odds of success

多讀書會增加你的成功幾率

The more books you read, the more knowledge you will have, the more strategies and resources your brain will store, the more likely you will succeed.

你讀的書越多，你的知識就會越多，你的大腦中會存儲的策略和資源就越多，你就越有可能成功。

3. You will immerse yourself in a new world

你會沉浸在一個嶄新的世界

Sometimes our daily life can start to feel dull, dry or depressing — I know it, you know it, we all know it. At times like this, I like to dive into a good fiction book for a much-needed escape into another world, where I can forget about whatever problems are stressing me out. Whether you want to travel to the land of the Hobbits, a galaxy far away or a tropical destination in a steamy romance novel is up to you. You’ll come back refreshed after your mini-vacation to a fresh and exciting place in the world of words.

有時候我們在日常生活中感到枯燥、乏味或憂郁，我懂的、你懂的、我們都懂的。遇到這樣的時候，我喜歡一頭扎進好看的小說書中，我急需逃到另一個世界中，在那里我可以忘記任何讓我感到有壓力的問題。不論你是想前往霍比特人的土地上體驗一下，還是想暢游在一個很遙遠的星系，或是去往愛情小說中的熱帶勝地，都取決于你自己。在書中世界的某個讓你感到興奮的新鮮地方度過一個迷你假期，等你回來后，你會讓自己的身心煥然一新。

4. You will improve your vocabulary

多讀書會增加詞匯量

The more words you’re capable of using, the better you will become at expressing your thoughts and feelings. I couldn’t imagine how I would write articles like this if I didn’t actively aim to expand my vocabulary, because using the same few words to express myself would get awfully boring in a hurry (don’t you agree?).

你運用的單詞越多，你就越能更好地表達你的想法和感受。如果我沒有積極地想去擴充我的詞匯量，真想不到我會寫出這么好的文章，因為總用那幾句話來表達自己，勢必會了無新意非常枯燥乏味。(你也這么認為吧?)

5. You will have things to talk about at parties

在聚會時你有的聊

Reading more books will enable you to say the sentence, “Did you know ________?” more often, making it easier to start conversations with strangers (or, as I like to say, “People who aren’t my friends yet”).

多閱讀書籍會讓你說這句話，“你知道____ 嗎?” 以這樣的方式開始與陌生人對話比較容易(或者我會說，“那些還不是我朋友的人”)。

6. You will entertain yourself for a low price

很低廉的方式取悅自己

If you’re looking for entertainment on a budget, you can’t beat books. Thanks to the popularity of electronic reading devices like the Kindle and re-selling websites like eBay, it’s never been easier to entertain yourself for hours at a time, for the low cost of a few dollars.

如果你還想花錢找樂子但又預算有限，那么看書就是無敵的自娛自樂方式。由于電子閱讀設備的普及，像Kindle和像eBay等轉售閱讀網(wǎng)站非常方便，借助它們每次你都能輕松自娛自樂數(shù)小時之久，成本不過幾美元而已。

7. You will discover surprising new ideas that are interesting and engaging

多讀書你會發(fā)掘出自己驚人的、有趣的、很棒的新想法

Reading introduced me to concepts like mindful eating, relaxation exercises, and the importance of loving yourself. If I didn’t read, I wouldn’t even be aware of these ideas, which have defined my entire coaching philosophy. If you don’t read, you could be missing out on intriguing ideas that would likewise re-define your personal purpose or business philosophy.

閱讀使我形成這些概念：用心飲食、放松鍛煉和愛自己的重要性。如果我不讀書，我甚至不會意識到這些想法，它重新定義了我的整個人生指導哲學。如果你不讀書，你也許就不會發(fā)掘出自己的一些有趣想法，這些想法則能重新定義你的個人目標和職業(yè)哲學。

8. You will eliminate boredom during down-time

讀書可以在閑暇時間打發(fā)無聊

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a waiting room, bored out of your mind, with nothing to read but gossip magazines? If so, you should know that it is wise to keep a book in your purse or car at all times, as you never know when you’ll find yourself with some time to kill. Even if you just take a few minutes to read a chapter during your commute and lunch break every day, those minutes will quickly turn into hours if repeated consistently.

你一定有過等在候診室無事可做的時候，感覺很無聊死了，除了翻看八卦雜志就沒什么可閱讀的好書?如果你遇到過這樣的情況，你就會知道在你的包里或車里始終放一本書是多么明智的選擇，你永遠都無法預知自己什么時候會遇到需要消磨時間的情況。即使你每天只是在上下班的車上或者午休時間都可以用幾分鐘的時間讀一章內容，堅持幾分鐘幾分鐘地累計，很快閱讀時間就累計成數(shù)小時。

9. You will strengthen your patience muscles

多讀書會增強你的耐力肌肉

We live in a society that expects instant gratification, which is anything but a blessing for most people’s success in life, as there is nothing “quick” or “easy” about losing weight or starting a successful business. While it might be “easier” to watch a two-hour movie, it is far more beneficial to spend forty-eight hours reading a book. Opting for the book over the TV will strengthen your patience muscles over time, resulting in more success in business and life.

我們生活在一個期望即時滿足的社會，對大多數(shù)人成功生活而言，我們只能祝福了：因為對于減肥或成功開始一份事業(yè)，并沒有什么“快速” 或“容易” 的路途可走。雖然看兩小時的電影可能會比較“容易”，但花48個小時閱讀一本書卻有益得多。選擇閱讀而不是看電視，隨著時間的推移這會增強你的“耐力肌肉”，結果工作和生活都會取得比較大的成功。

10. You will become an expert in your field

多讀書你在你的領域會變成專家

Don’t you think reading academic journals, articles, and books by experts in your field might make you better at what you do? If you can’t be bothered to learn more about your profession, then your lack of passion could be a sign that you’re in the wrong field.

你不覺得閱讀你的領域的專家們所著的學術期刊、文章和書籍，可能會使你在自己的領域上做的更好嗎?如果對于你自己的職業(yè)你不愿意多學習，那么可能代表你對自己這個職業(yè)缺少激情，你自己選錯了職業(yè)領域。

11. You will reduce stress and unwind into a good night’s sleep

多讀書會減輕壓力并放松地睡個好覺

Exposing yourself to artificial light on your cellphone, TV or tablet reduces your body’s production of melatonin, which can make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep, if you do so late at night. You would be wise to cut off all electronics at least an hour before bed, and replace that with a good book, which is a much better sleep-friendly alternative.

你總是處在手機、電視或平板電腦這類人造光的環(huán)境下，會造成身體褪黑激素量降低，這樣就很難睡個好覺，尤其是如果你晚上睡得那么晚。明智的選擇是：至少在睡覺前一個小時，切斷所有電器，換成一本好書，這是一種更加睡眠友好的選擇。

12. You will change your life

多讀書會改變你的生活

I firmly believe that if it wasn’t for books, I wouldn’t have achieved an awful lot in my life; nor would I have the knowledge, imagination or creativity that I depend on as a writer, business owner, and coach. I hope these reasons to read more books encourage you to unlock your potential with the power of reading.

我堅信在我的生活中，如果不多讀書的話，我不會有今天的收獲和成就，我也沒有知識、想象力或創(chuàng)造力從事作家、企業(yè)主和教練這些職業(yè)。我希望這些理由能鼓勵你多讀書，開發(fā)你在閱讀力量上的潛能。

Three Questions for the Comments:

歡迎評論回復下面三個問題：

What are you reading right now (or, if you don’t have a book in process, what was the last thing you read)?

你現(xiàn)在在讀什么書?(或者，如果你目前沒有在讀任何一本書，你最近一次讀的是哪一本書)?

What was your favorite book as a child?

你小時候最喜歡哪一本書?

What book made the largest impact on who you are today?

哪一本書對今天的你影響最大?