第4句见：Day4
《哲学的故事》的第5句：序言中的第1段第5句。
Introduction
On the uses of Philosophy
There is a pleasure in philosophy, and a lure even in the mirages of metaphysics, which every student feels until the coarse necessities of physical existence drag him from the heights of thought into the mart of economic strife and gain. Most of us have known some golden days in the June of life when philosophy was in fact what Plato calls it, “that dear delight”; when the love of a modestly elusive Truth seemed more glorious, incomparably, than the lust for the ways of the flesh and the dross of the world. And there is always some wistful remnant in us of that early wooing of wisdom. "Life has meaning,”we feel with Browning—“to find its meaning is my meat and drink.” So much of our lives is meaningless, a self-cancelling vacillation and futility; we strive with the chaos about us and within; but we would believe all the while that there is something vital and significant in us, could we but decipher our own souls. We want too understand; “life means for us constantly to transform into light and flame all that are or meet with”; we are like Mitya in The Brothers Karamazov —“one of those who don’t want millions, but an answer to their questions”; we want to seize the value and perspective of passing things, and so to pull ourselves up out of the maelstrom of daily circumstance. We want to know that the little things are little, and the big things big, before it is too late.We want to see things now as they will seem forever—"in the light of eternity." We want to learn to laugh in the face of the inevitable, to smile even at the looming of death. We want to be whole, to coördinate our energies by criticizing and harmonizing our desires; for coördinated energy is the last word in ethics and politics, and perhaps in logic and metaphysics too."To be a philosopher," said Thoreau, "is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live, according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust." We may be sure that if we can but find wisdom, all things else will be added unto us. "Seek ye first the good things of the mind," Bacon admonishes us, "and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt." Truth will not make us rich, but it will make us free.
浙江大学版本：*生命的大半难寻所谓“意义”，我们优柔寡断，碌碌无为，不停地与来自内心和周围环境的混乱无序作斗争；但是我们愿意相信，假使能够读懂自己的灵魂，我们身上那种不可或缺、意义重大的东西必将呈现。
解析
这句话探讨了人生意义与否，看似无意义看似乱糟糟的，但总想看透里面的价值及意义。
1、So much of our lives is meaningless, a self-cancelling vacillation and futility;句首So，起势就很高，为后面铺垫。同时这句也是首短So much of our lives，尾长(meaningless, a self-cancelling vacillation and futility)都来说大多数我们生活。我们的生活时常毫无意义，时常犹豫不决，时常徒劳。
vacillation： Vacillation is when you constantly change your opinion. It also refers to swinging back and forth physically. 游离不定；犹豫不决
You might think that the government's vacillations are ancient history or that doing the right thing is more important than saying it.你可能会认为政府的犹豫不决已是过去式，相比下做对的事情比把事情做对更重要。
Futility: Futility is a total lack of purpose or usefulness. [oft N of n/-ing]无益；无用；徒劳；白费
His speech focused on the futility of violence.他的演讲聚焦于暴力的无用处。
2、we strive with the chaos about us and within;此处有省略，完整是：the chaos about us and the chaos within us. “我们身边周遭及内心的混乱”。
3、but we would believe all the while that there is something vital and significant in us, could we but decipher our own souls. all the while = all the time = always
vital and significant 叠用，两个词都表示“重要”
could we but deciper：虚拟省略句： 完整= if we could, but decipher our own souls. if 省略，需要将if后面的句子倒装，这里we could变成could we。
but不表示转折，could ... but... 固定搭配，表示“能够……”，用于强调
I could but sing.我能够唱歌/我只能唱歌。
decipher：to find the meaning of (something that is difficult to read or understand)
When it comes to deciphering body language, norming is crucial.当需要破译身体语言的时候，模式化的分析方法至关重要。
总之，“我们生命的很大部分都是无意义的，是自相矛盾的，是徒劳的；我们与周围以及自身作斗争；但是我们相信，如果我们能破译我们自己的灵魂，我们内心总是有那么些东西是至关重要的。”
冥冥之中，觉得自己存在是有意义的，到底是何种意义，总若隐若现。总是缺少些耐心缺少些动力去内省。生命太短了，一旦定了就坚持吧，坚持没准就能看到成果。
