Compared with genuine personal advantages, such as a great mind(1) or a great heart, all the privileges of rank (2) or birth, even of royal birth, are but as kings on the stage, to kings in real life.
人真正拥有的个人优势，例如伟大的心灵和高尚的情感，与人的社会地位、出身（甚至于是王公贵族的出身）等诸多优势相比，就犹如真正的国王比之于戏剧舞台上假扮的国王一样。
The same thing was said long ago by Metrodorus,the earliest
disciple of Epicurus,who wrote as the title of one of his chapters, The happiness we receive from ourselves is greater than that which we obtain from our surroundings.
很多年之前，伊壁鸠鲁的第一个门徒门采多罗斯发表过同样的看法。他曾在他的著作里为其中一个篇章冠以这样的题目“：我们幸福原因在于自身之内，而不是自身之外。
And it is an obvious fact, which cannot be called in question, that the principal element in a man's well-being,-indeed（3）, in the whole tenor of his existence,-is what he is made of, his inner constitution.
所以显而易见且毋庸置疑的是，在个人的幸福当中，更确切的说是一个人的整个人生基调当中，最主要的影响因素，就是一个人的内在素质，自我构成。
For this is the immediate source of that inward satisfaction
or dissatisfaction resulting from the sum total of his sensations, desires and thoughts; whilst his surroundings, on the other hand, exert only a mediate or indirect influence upon him.
因为人的内心幸福或痛苦上根源于个人的感情、意愿和想法。而人自身之外的所有事物，对于人的幸福与否都只发挥间接的影响。
This is why the same external events or circumstances affect no two people alike; even with perfectly similar surroundings every one lives in a world of his own.
这就是为什么相同的外部事件或者环境对不同的人影响不一样；即使周边环境几乎一模一样，其中生活的每个个体也会活在自己的独一无二的世界当中。
For a man has immediate apprehension only of his own ideas, feelings and volitions（4）; the outer world can influence him only in so far as it brings these to life.
因为与一个人直接相关的就是个人的想法，情感以及意愿。而周边环境，除非能直接施加作用于上述上面， 否则对人无法产生影响。
The world in which a man lives shapes itself chiefly by the way in which he looks at it, and so it proves different to different men; to one it is barren, dull, and superficial; to another rich, interesting, and full of meaning.
所以一个人看待世界的方式决定了他 / 她所生活的世界的模样，在这方面可以说是千人千面。对一个人来说，这个世界是荒芜，无聊和肤浅的； 对于另外一个人来说，这个世界就是丰富多彩，充满了乐趣和意义。
On hearing of the interesting events which have happened in the course of a man's experience, many people will wish that similar things had happened in their lives too, completely forgetting that they should be envious rather of the mental aptitude（5）which lent（6）those events the significance they possess when he describes them; to a man of genius they were interesting adventures; but to the dull perceptions of an ordinary individual they would have been stale,everyday occurrences. This is in the highest degree the case with many of Goethe's and Byron's poems,which is obviously founded upon actual facts;
例如，不少人羡慕他人在生活中遇到的饶有趣味的事情，其实前者更应该羡慕后者所具有的理解事物的禀赋才对。在后一种人的描述中，他们经历过的事情都含意深远，令人回味无穷，而这一点正可归功于他们认识事物的禀赋。因为在一个精神丰富的人看来是饶有趣味的事件，如果反映在一个肤浅、庸俗的头脑里面，同样的事件就只不过是平凡世界里面的乏味一幕而已。这种情形尤其明显见之于歌德和拜伦创作的、明显取材于真实事件的许多诗篇。
单词注解：
great mind
高尚的情感rank （这里理解为（社会）地位更恰当）
[U, C] （尤指较高的）地位，级别
the position, especially a high position, that sb has in a particular organization, society, etc.indeed
ADV (表示语气的递进)实际上,其实,确切说来
You use indeed to introduce a further comment or statement which strengthens the point you have already made.volition
意志;意志力;自愿选择;自行决断
volition的词源：Volition ultimately derives from the Latin verb velle, meaning "to will" or "to wish." (The adjective "voluntary" descends from the same source.)aptitude
N-VAR 天资;天赋;才能
Someone's aptitude for a particular kind of work or activity is their ability to learn it quickly and to do it well.
本文中的mental aptitude指的是 心智方面的天资、禀赋
- lend sth (to sb/sth) | ~ (sb/sth) sth
(formal) 给…增加，增添（特色）
to give a particular quality to a person or a situation
