Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 10
Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost.
Das Alter ist nicht besser, kaum ebenso gut, als Lehrmeister geeignet wie die Jugend, denn es hat nicht so viel gewonnen, wie es verloren hat.
One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned any thing of absolute value by living.
Man kann fast daran zweifeln, ob der weiseste Mensch durch das Leben irgendetwas von absolutem Wert gelernt hat.
Practically, the old have no very important advice to give the young, their own experience has been so partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures, for private reasons, as they must believe; and it may be that they have some faith left which belies that experience, and they are only less young than they were.
Praktisch gesehen haben die Alten den Jungen keinen besonders wichtigen Rat zu geben, denn ihre eigene Erfahrung war so einseitig, und ihr Leben war, aus persönlichen Gründen, wie sie glauben müssen, ein so erbärmliches Scheitern; und es mag sein, dass ihnen noch etwas Glaube geblieben ist, der jener Erfahrung widerspricht, und dass sie nur weniger jung sind als zuvor.
I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors.
Ich habe etwa dreißig Jahre auf diesem Planeten gelebt, und ich habe von meinen Älteren noch keine einzige Silbe wertvollen oder auch nur ernsthaften Rates gehört.
They have told me nothing, and probably cannot tell me any thing to the purpose.
Sie haben mir nichts gesagt, und können mir wahrscheinlich auch nichts Zweckdienliches sagen.
Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me; but it does not avail me that they have tried it.
Hier ist das Leben, ein Experiment, das ich in großem Maße noch nicht erprobt habe; aber es nützt mir nichts, dass sie es erprobt haben.
If I have any experience which I think valuable, I am sure to reflect that this my Mentors said nothing about.
Wenn ich irgendeine Erfahrung gemacht habe, die ich für wertvoll halte, so stelle ich mit Sicherheit fest, dass meine Mentoren darüber nichts gesagt haben.
One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;" and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plough along in spite of every obstacle.
Ein Bauer sagt zu mir: „Man kann nicht allein von pflanzlicher Kost leben, denn sie liefert nichts, woraus man Knochen machen könnte;" und so widmet er gewissenhaft einen Teil seines Tages damit, seinen Körper mit dem Rohmaterial für Knochen zu versorgen; wobei er die ganze Zeit hinter seinen Ochsen hergeht und redet, die ihn und seinen schwerfälligen Pflug mit ihren aus Pflanzen gemachten Knochen trotz aller Hindernisse vorwärtsziehen.
Vocabulary
- Alter
- Age or old age; period of life
- besser
- Better; comparative form of gut (good)
- kaum
- Hardly, barely, scarcely any amount
- ebenso
- Just as, equally, likewise in comparison
- Lehrmeister
- Teacher, master instructor who imparts knowledge
- geeignet
- Suitable, appropriate, fit for a purpose
- Jugend
- Youth; the period of being young
- denn
- Because, for; causal conjunction in German
- gewonnen
- Won, gained; past participle of gewinnen
- verloren
- Lost; past participle of verlieren
- Man
- One, you, people; impersonal pronoun
- fast
- Almost, nearly, close to entirely
- daran
- At it, about it; prepositional pronoun
- zweifeln
- To doubt, to question something's truth
- ob
- Whether, if; introduces indirect questions
- weiseste
- Wisest; superlative of weise (wise)
- Mensch
- Person, human being, individual human
- irgendetwas
- Anything, something; indefinite pronoun
- absolutem
- Absolute; of unqualified, unconditional value
- Wert
- Value, worth; importance of something
- gelernt
- Learned; past participle of lernen
- Praktisch
- Practically, in practice; from a practical standpoint
- Alten
- The old ones, elderly people collectively
- Jungen
- The young ones, young people collectively
- besonders
- Especially, particularly, notably important
- wichtigen
- Important; inflected form of wichtig
- Rat
- Advice, counsel; guidance given to someone
- eigene
- Own; belonging specifically to oneself
- Erfahrung
- Experience; knowledge gained through practice
- einseitig
- One-sided, biased, partial in perspective
- persönlichen
- Personal; relating to an individual person
- Gründen
- Reasons; plural of Grund (reason, ground)
- glauben
- To believe, think, have faith in
- müssen
- Must, have to; modal verb of necessity
- erbärmliches
- Miserable, pitiful, wretched in nature
- Scheitern
- Failure, failing; act of not succeeding
- mag
- May, might; modal verb mögen conjugated
- noch
- Still, yet, even; temporal or additive adverb
- etwas
- Something, some, a little; indefinite pronoun
- Glaube
- Faith, belief; conviction in something unseen
- geblieben
- Remained, stayed; past participle of bleiben
- jener
- That one, the former; demonstrative pronoun
- widerspricht
- Contradicts; third-person singular of widersprechen
- weniger
- Less, fewer; comparative of wenig (little)
- zuvor
- Before, previously, beforehand in time
- etwa
- About, approximately, around a number
- dreißig
- Thirty; the number 30
- Planeten
- Planet; celestial body orbiting a star
- gelebt
- Lived; past participle of leben (to live)
- Älteren
- Elders, older people; plural comparative form
- einzige
- Single, sole, only one; unique item
- Silbe
- Syllable; a unit of spoken sound
- wertvollen
- Valuable; of great worth or usefulness
- ernsthaften
- Serious; of a sincere and grave nature
- Rates
- Advice, counsel; genitive of Rat
- gehört
- Heard; past participle of hören (to hear)
- nichts
- Nothing, not anything; negative pronoun
- wahrscheinlich
- Probably, likely; expressing high probability
- Zweckdienliches
- Something useful, expedient, serving a purpose
- Experiment
- Experiment; a scientific test or trial
- Maße
- Measure, degree, extent of something
- erprobt
- Tested, tried out, proven through experience
- nützt
- Benefits, is useful; third-person of nützen
- irgendeine
- Any, some; indefinite article pronoun
- wertvoll
- Valuable, worthwhile; of considerable worth
- halte
- Consider, hold; first-person of halten
- stelle
- Place, find, establish; first-person of stellen
- Sicherheit
- Certainty, security, safety; state of being sure
- fest
- Firmly, definitely; also an adjective: solid
- Mentoren
- Mentors; experienced guides or advisors
- darüber
- About it, over it; prepositional pronoun
- Bauer
- Farmer, peasant; person working agricultural land
- allein
- Alone, solely, only; without others present
- pflanzlicher
- Plant-based, vegetable; of plant origin
- Kost
- Diet, food, nourishment; what one regularly eats
- liefert
- Delivers, supplies, provides; third-person of liefern
- woraus
- From which, out of which; relative pronoun
- Knochen
- Bones; hard connective tissue of skeleton
- könnte
- Could; subjunctive II of können
- widmet
- Dedicates, devotes; third-person of widmen
- gewissenhaft
- Conscientiously, diligently, with great care
- Teil
- Part, portion, section of a whole
- damit
- With it, so that; purpose conjunction or pronoun
- Körper
- Body; the physical structure of a person
- Rohmaterial
- Raw material; unprocessed substance for production
- versorgen
- To supply, provide for, take care of
- wobei
- Whereby, in doing so; relative conjunction
- hinter
- Behind, after; preposition of position
- Ochsen
- Oxen; castrated male cattle used for work
- hergeht
- Goes along, proceeds; third-person of hergehen
- redet
- Talks, speaks; third-person singular of reden
- schwerfälligen
- Cumbersome, clumsy, heavy-moving; awkward in motion
- Pflug
- Plow; farm tool for turning soil
- Pflanzen
- Plants; living organisms that photosynthesize
- trotz
- Despite, in spite of; preposition of concession
- Hindernisse
- Obstacles, hindrances; things blocking progress
- vorwärtsziehen
- To pull forward, draw ahead; compound verb
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