I. Summary
II. The Sentence
1. Incorrigible as he was, that very day he wrote two poems again wherein he said that "facing the wine cup" he "felt like coming out of a dream," and trying his poetic pen, he "found it was already inspired."
incorrigible someone who is incorrigible is bad in a way that cannot be changed or improved – often used humorously
2. His mind was inspired by the beauty of the place, and his heart was soothed by its pliant charm.
soothe to make someone feel calmer and less anxious, upset, or angry
pliant soft and moving easily in the way that you want.
3. The question of savation is after all, only the achievement of spiritual harmony in which the baser instincts of man can be brought under contol of his higher nature. If one could attain such a spiritual harmony through intelligent self-discipline, one did not have to leave human society entirely in order to achieve salvation.
解脱非关乎外在，而是内心的精神力量，在有能力控制自己的内心抵御诱惑时，自然也就达到了解脱的境界。
4. It has always seemed to me that wherever the spirit of man lives, religion comes to life again. Whenever the spirit of man dies, religion also decays.
宗教并非是孤立存在的神性，而是深藏于人们的心灵与精神之中，与之共生。
III. Thoughts
从第十一章开始，主要内容是苏东坡离京外任的生活。在杭州、徐州与密州任上，苏东坡的生活不仅仅是风花雪月，而是心系黎民疾苦，比如作于杭州的讽喻诗、修建苏堤与黄楼。在宋代文人身上，儒道互济的豁达与淡然似乎是一种共性。唐以前文人作品中“遇”与“不遇”的主题在宋人这里已经逐渐淡化，无论是身居高位还是处于乡野，“不以物喜，不以己悲”的情怀几乎成了宋人风骨的显著特征。而苏东坡的独特之处在于，他的豁达包含着儒释道合一的圆融，黄州时期的苏东坡对佛教有了更深入的体验，因此，黄州之时的苏东坡才真正成为了后世眼中的苏东坡。林语堂先生深谙此理，因而将“东坡居士”这一章作为第三卷Maturity的开篇，可见被贬黄州于苏东坡而言，不仅是生活中的历练，更是精神上的境界提升与身份重塑。
