英语美文欣赏
记住的和忘记的（一）
Two friends were walking through the desert. At one point, they had an argument, and the first friend slapped the other in the face.
一个人和他朋友穿越沙漠。他们因为某事起了争执，他朋友扇了他一耳光。
The other friend was hurt, but quietly he wrote in the sand:” Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”
他受伤了，他静静的在沙上写着“今天，我最好的朋友给了一耳光。”They kept walking, until they found an oasis. There they decided to cool off and swim.
他们接着走，直到看见一处绿洲，他们决定在那里乘乘凉游游泳。
The other friend started drowning, but his friend saved him.
他溺水了，他的朋友救了他。
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: “Today my best friend saved my life.”
当他恢复的时候，他在石头上写着“今天我最好的朋友救了我一命。”The friend, who had both slapped and saved his best friend, asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied: “When someone hurt us, we should write it down in sand, where the winds of time and forgiveness can erase it. But when someone dose something good for you, we must engrave it on stone, where no wind can ever erase it.”
扇了他一耳光又救了他的朋友问：“我伤了你，你写在沙上，我救了你，你写在石头上，为什么？”他回答到：“当你被人伤害时，把他写在沙上，总有一天时间和宽恕会抚平他。当有人为你做了好事，你必须刻在石上，没有风可以磨灭它。”
（二）爱的召唤
When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you, believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
当爱召唤你时，请追随他，尽管爱的道路艰难险峻。当爱的羽翼拥抱你时，请顺从他，尽管隐藏在其羽翼之下的剑可能会伤到你。当爱向你诉说时，请相信他，尽管她的声音可能打破你的梦想，就如同北风吹落花园里所有的花瓣。
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning . Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to our roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
爱会给你戴上桂冠，也会折磨你。爱会助你成长，也会给你修枝。爱会上升到枝头，抚爱你在阳光下颤动的嫩枝，也会下潜至根部，撼动你紧抓泥土的根基。
But if, in your fear, you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.
但是，如果你在恐惧之中只想寻求爱的平和与快乐，那你就最好掩盖真实的自我，避开爱的考验，进入不分季节的世界，在那里你将欢笑，但并非开怀大笑，你将哭泣，但并非尽情地哭。爱只将自己付出，也只得到自己。爱一无所有，也不会为谁所有，因为爱本身就已自足。
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must have desires, let these be your desires:
爱除了实现自我别无他求。但是如果你爱而又不得不有所求，那就请期望：
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
将自己融化并像奔流的溪水一般向夜晚吟唱自己优美的曲调。
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
明了过多的温柔所带来的苦痛。
To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
被自己对爱的理解所伤害；并情愿快乐地悲伤。
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
在黎明带着轻快的心醒来并感谢又一个有家的日子。
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
在午间休息并思考爱情带来的狂喜；
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
在黄昏怀着感恩之心回家；
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
然后为内心所爱之人祈祷，吟唱赞美之歌，并带着祷告和歌声入眠。Have you ever thought life would be better anywhere other than where you are right now? Maybe some of your thoughts go something like this:
你曾否有过这样的想法——无论如何别处的生活都比此处的更好？或
许你是这样想的：
Life will be better once I'm out of debt.
还清债务生活会更好。
I can't wait until I'm retired because then I can do what I want when I want.
我急不可耐的想要退休，那样就可以随时做想做的事情了
If only I lived somewhere warm I could exercise all year round and I would be so fit.
真希望生活在一个温暖的地区，我可以一年四季坚持锻炼，我将会更健康。
If I could just lose 10 pounds I know I would feel better.
如果我可以减掉10磅的体重，我会感觉更好。
Truth is some of your problems may go away once you have met all of your "if only's" and "better when's" but it won't make the perfect life that fairy tales are made of. New problems will arise and you'll likely find yourself wishing for this "perfect" life to be different still. We can only imagine that the grass will be greener on the other side because it's only when we live it do we actually see it for what it really is.
问题点在于许多问题会在你实现所有“真希望”和“会更好”之后得
到解决，但是那绝对不是童话故事中制造的完美生活。新的问题会出现，你仍会发现自己希望对“完美”生活加以改变。我们想象别处的草地比此处的更绿，因为，只有当我们生活在此处时，我们才会知道它真正的样子。
Whatever ideal you have in mind about an alternate lifestyle, location, financial situation etc ... rest assured that each one will be met with it's own unique set of problems.
只有当意识中不同的生活方式、居住地、财务状况等等你都体验过后，才会确信每种生活都会遇到所属的问题。
So what can you do about this? Choose to be content with what you already have.
那你该怎么应对呢？试着满意你已得的生活。
经典英语美文欣赏80篇（适用于成人） 英语美文欣赏80篇 01-The Love of Beauty 英语美文欣赏80篇 02-The Happy Door 英语美文欣赏80篇 03-Born to Win 英语美文欣赏80篇 04-Work and Pleasure 英语美文欣赏80篇 05-Mirror,Mirror-What do I See 英语美文欣赏80篇 06-On Motes and Beams 英语美文欣赏80篇 07-An October Sunrise 英语美文欣赏80篇 08-To be or not to be 英语美文欣赏80篇 09-Gettysburg address 英语美文欣赏80篇10-First Inaugural Address
英语美文欣赏80篇11-American black bears 英语美文欣赏80篇 12-Coal-fired power plants 英语美文欣赏80篇 13-Statistics 英语美文欣赏80篇 14-Obtaining Fresh water from icebergs 英语美文欣赏80篇 15-The source of Energy 英语美文欣赏80篇 16-Vision 英语美文欣赏80篇 17-Folk Cultures 英语美文欣赏80篇 18-Bacteria 英语美文欣赏80篇 19-Sleep 英语美文欣赏80篇 20-Cells and Temperature 英语美文欣赏80篇21-Youth 英语美文欣赏80篇 22-Three Days to See 英语美文欣赏80篇 23-Companionship of Books 英语美文欣赏80篇24-If I Rest,I Rust 英语美文欣赏80篇 25-Ambition 英语美文欣赏80篇 26-What I have Lived for 英语美文欣赏80篇 27-When Love Beckons You 英语美文欣赏80篇 28-The Road to Success
经典英语名篇文章：青春 作者：Samuel Ullman 青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志、宏伟的想象、炽热的感情；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。 经典英语文章《青春》背后的故事： 太平洋战争打得正酣之时，麦克阿瑟将军常常从繁忙中抬起头，注视着挂在墙上的镜框，镜框里是篇文章，名为《青春》。这篇文章一直伴随着他，也跟着他到了日本。后来，日本人在东京的美军总部发现了它，《青春》便开始在日本流传。 一位资深的日本问题观察家说，在日本实业界，只要有成就者，没有哪一个不熟知不应用这篇美文的，就连松下电器的创始人松下幸之助几十年来也把《青春》当作他的座右铭。 还有这么一件趣事，足以证明《青春》在日本的魅力。一天，美国影片销售协会主席罗森菲尔德参加日本实业界的聚会，晚宴之前的谈话，他随意说了一句：“《青春》的作者，便是我的祖父。”在座的各位实业界领袖大为惊讶，其中有一位一边激动地说“我一直随身带着它呢”，一边从口袋里掏出了《青春》。 Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life. Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exits in a man of 60, more than a boy of 20.nobody grows merely by the number of years; we grow old by deserting our ideas. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust1 bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust. Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the 青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志、宏伟的想象、炽热的感情；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。 青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安，如此锐气，二十后生有之，六旬男子则更多见。年年有加，并非垂老；理想丢弃，方堕暮年。 岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓唐必至灵魂。烦忧、惶恐、丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。 无论年届花甲，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆
高中优秀英语美文摘抄 试着训练自己的思想朝好的一面看，这样你就会汲取实现目标的动力，而不会因为消极沉沦停滞不前。 一旦变换看问题的角度，你的生活会豁然开朗，幸福快乐会接踵而来。 别交出掌握命运的主动权，也别指望局面会不可思议的好转。 你必须与内心希望与热情步调一致。 建立自信，敢于与困难短兵相接，而非绕道而行。 记住，力量不是驾驭局势的法宝，无坚不摧的能力才是最重要的。 请坚信，美好的降临并非不可能，失误也许是成功的前奏。 将惶恐化作信任，学会超越担忧和疑虑。 让“诚惶诚恐的时光变得“富有成效。 不要挥霍浪费精力，将它投到有意义的事情中去。 当你下意识品尝生命的欢愉时，美好就会出现。 当你积极地看待生活，并以此作为你的日常准则时，你就会找到快乐的真谛。 该研究的主要作者、美国印第安纳州诺特丹大学的心理学家杰西卡?佩恩认为，在学完新东西后打个盹就像把要记住的东西“告诉睡眠中的大脑。 她和同事一起对207名学生进行了研究，这些学生习惯每晚至少睡六个小时。
参与者被随机分配到几个学习小组，学习内容是陈述性知识，包括语义相连或不相连的词组。 学习时间在早上9点或晚上9点。 学完后他们在30分钟、12小时或24小时后回来做测试。 陈述性记忆指的是有意识地记忆事实和事件的能力，可以分为情节记忆(对事件的记忆)和语义记忆(对事实类知识的记忆)。 人们每天都会例行运用这两种记忆——回想今天我们把车停在了哪里或了解一个同事喜欢别人怎么称呼他。 在12小时后再次进行测试时，总体来看睡了一夜的人相比还没睡觉的人记忆效果更好。 在24小时后再度测试时，所有的实验对象都睡了一整夜，也在清醒中度过了一个白天。 这次，那些在学习后不久就入睡的人比那些学习后过了一整个白天才睡觉的人记忆效果更好。 佩恩说：“我们的研究证实，在学习新东西后马上睡觉对记忆有帮助。 这项研究的创新之处在于，我们试图通过对语义相连和不相连的词组的记忆研究来揭示睡眠对于两种陈述性记忆的影响。 “我们发现在学习之后很快就睡觉对两种记忆都有帮助，这意味着在上床睡觉前温习你要记忆的东西将很有好处。 在某种意义上，你可能在‘告诉’睡眠中的大脑需要巩固强化的记忆。
关于经典英语美文摘抄 【篇一】关于经典英语美文：美国革命的历史意义 The Historical Significance of American Revolution The ways of history are so intricate and the motivations of human actions so complex that it is always hazardous to attempt to represent events covering a number of years, a multiplicity of persons, and distant localities as the expression of one intellectual or social movement; yet the historical process which culminated in the ascent of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency can be regarded as the outstanding example not only of the birth of a new way of life but of nationalism as a new way of life. The American Revolution represents the link between the seventeenth century, in which modern England became conscious of itself, and the awakening of modern Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. It may seem strange that the march of history should have had to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but only in the North American colonies could a struggle for civic liberty lead also to the foundation of a new nation. Here, in the popular rising against a "tyrannical" government, the fruits were more than the securing of a freer constitution. They included the growth of a nation born in liberty by the will of the people, not from the roots of common descent, a geographic entity, or the ambitions of king or dynasty. With the American nation, for the first time, a nation was born, not in the dim past of history but before the eyes of the whole world. 美国革命的历史意义
Sun smile 阳光般的微笑 The sun shone brightly on the ground in front of her feet as she pondered the reality of light. 太阳光芒四射地照耀这她脚前这片大地。她在沉思，思考着阳光是怎么一回事: How did light get here? Who made it and why? 它是怎么来到这儿的?谁让它来的?来做什么? She instinctively stepped into the sun spot and instantly felt warmer, brighter, and fuller of life and energy. 她下意识地踏进阳光里，整个人立刻觉得暖和，清醒起来，浑身充满了生机和活力。 The sun wrapped her in comfort and stability for, if nothing else,she could always count on the sun waking her up most mornings. 阳光笼罩着她，她感到很舒服很踏实，如果没有其他事情，大多数早晨，她都会让阳光叫她起床。
Its predictable radiance felt like the mother she never had as her childhood was characterized more so by pain and heartache than comfort and love. 太阳那如期而至的光芒就像妈妈一样，虽然她从来就没有感受过母爱，她的童年记忆里满是痛苦和伤心，而不是关怀和爱。 She stepped out of the sunlight and felt that all-too-familiar anxious pang in the pit of her stomach as she remembered how horrible it was to live in her childhood home. 她从阳光里走出来，一阵再熟悉不过的恼人的悲痛袭击了她的胸口，让她回忆起童年时的可怕生活。 Memories flooded her mind as she unsuccessfully tried to block them out by thinking good thoughts. 她努力朝好的方面想，希望能抵挡住如洪水般泛滥的痛苦回忆，但是无济于事。 Oh how she wished she could curl up in the middle of the sun and allow its love to encase her for all eternity. 她是多么希望可以蜷缩在温暖的阳光里，让太阳的爱包裹着她直到永远。 But, no, she was stuck here on earth with those who didn't feel the sun's rays the same way she did,who didn't feel deeply connected to this amazing source of life. 然而，这是不可能的。她只能在这儿，和其他人一起。其他人不像她一样渴望阳光，也不曾觉得自己与这神奇的生命之源有什么紧密联系。 All she could do was stand in the sun on occasion and shut out the rest of the world for a little while. 她唯一能做的就是偶尔站在阳光里，和阳光以外的世界短暂地隔离。 Maybe if she stood here long enough they would cease to exist. 她想也许只要一直站在阳光里，外面的世界也就不复存在了。
优秀英语美文摘抄带翻译 【导语】优美的文字于细微处传达出美感,并浸润着学生的心灵。通过英语美文,学生不仅能够感受语言之美,领悟语言之用,还能产生学习语言的兴趣。以下是由分享优秀英语美文摘抄带翻译，希望可以帮助大家! 【篇一】优秀英语美文摘抄带翻译 We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you’ve read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o’clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won’t need to live in fear of it. 我们的勇气并不是与生俱来的，我们的恐惧也不是。也许有些恐惧来自你的亲身经历，别人告诉你的故事，或你在报纸上读到的东西。有些恐惧可以理解，例如在凌晨两点独自走在城里不安全的地段。但是一旦你学会避免那种情况，你就不必生活在恐惧之中。 Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.
高中英语美文欣赏_0 精品文档 高中英语美文欣赏 美文,是文质兼美的文章。引导学生读好读美,诵读悟情 积累。学生对美的体验和领悟,来自感觉的整体性,一定要从 语言材料的氛围中去获得。学习啦小编整理了高中英语美 文，欢迎阅读! 高中英语美文篇一 The Source of Energy A summary of the physical and chemical nature of life must begin, not on the Earth, but in theSun; in fact, at the Sun's very center. It is here that is to be found the source of the energythat the Sun constantly pours out into space as light and heat. This energy is liberated at thecenter of the Sun as billions upon billions of nuclei of hydrogen atoms collide with each otherand fuse together to form nuclei of helium, and in doing so, release some of the energy that isstored in the nuclei of atoms. The output of light and heat of the Sun requires that some00million tons of hydrogen be converted into helium in the Sun every second. This the Sun hasbeen doing for several thousands of millions of nuclear energy is released at theSun's center as high-energy gamma radiation, a form of electromagnetic 1 / 8 精品文档
关于经典英语美文摘抄 【导语】在英语教学中,开展经典美文教学不仅能提高学生的文学水平,而且能提高学生的语文素养,对培养学生的语言素养和人文素养具有极大益处,更能丰富学生的精神世界,磨炼学生的意志。本文是由小编整理的关于经典英语美文，希望对大家有帮助! 【篇一】关于经典英语美文：美国革命的历史意义 The Historical Significance of American Revolution The ways of history are so intricate and the motivations of human actions so complex that it is always hazardous to attempt to represent events covering a number of years, a multiplicity of persons, and distant localities as the expression of one intellectual or social movement; yet the historical process which culminated in the ascent of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency can be regarded as the outstanding example not only of the birth of a new way of life but of nationalism as a new way of life. The American Revolution represents the link between the seventeenth century, in which modern England became conscious of itself, and the awakening of modern Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. It may seem strange that the march of history should have had to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but only in the North American colonies could a struggle for civic liberty lead also to the foundation of a new nation. Here, in the popular rising against a "tyrannical" government, the fruits were more than the securing of a freer constitution. They included the growth of a nation born in liberty by the will of the people, not from the roots of common descent, a geographic entity, or the ambitions of king or dynasty. With the American nation, for the first time, a nation was born, not in the dim past of history but before the eyes of the whole world.
精选英语美文赏析 优美的文字于细微处传达出美感，并浸润着人们的心灵。通过英语美文,不仅能够感受语言之美,领悟语言之用，还能产生学习语言的兴趣。度过一段美好的时光，即感悟生活，触动心灵。下面是为大家带来精选英语美文赏析，希望大家喜欢! 精选英语美文：无需苦苦寻找诚实的人 I BELIEVE in people. However much of a mess we seem to make of the world, it is people who have brought about all the progress we know, and I don't mean just material progress. All have been for-mulated and expressed by men and women. Even when people make mistakes it seems to me they usually make them from right motives. Most of us want to do good. I believe in people because I have seen a great many of them in different parts of the world. I would rather trust my own experience and observation than the cynical remarks of unhappy men. My belief not only has given me a happy life but has made possible any really useful work I have done. Of course I like people, too. As a newspaperman for twenty years in this country, Europe and Australia, I met all
关于经典英语美文带翻译摘抄 导读：我根据大家的需要整理了一份关于《关于经典英语美文带翻译摘抄》的内容，具体内容：情景美文在思品教学中加以应用,能更有效地实现情感态度价值观目标。我精心收集了关于经典英语美文带翻译，供大家欣赏学习!关于经典英语美文带翻译：勇气The courag... 情景美文在思品教学中加以应用,能更有效地实现情感态度价值观目标。我精心收集了关于经典英语美文带翻译，供大家欣赏学习! 关于经典英语美文带翻译：勇气 The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no lessa magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must in spite of personal consequences，in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures and that is the basis of all human morality. To be courageous...requires no exceptional qualifications，no magic formula，no special combination of time，place and circumstance.It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all. Politics merely furnishes one arena which imposes special tests of courage.In whatever arena of life one may meet the challengeof courage，whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience，the loss of his friends，his fortune，his
经典英语美文欣赏50篇关于爱家的英语美文欣赏 不要太注意家庭的外观及形式，最主要的，是要注重家庭里特有的，充满了爱、温暖与明朗的气氛。了关于爱家的英语美文，欢迎阅读! Home is a warm noun, because it means a place full filled with love and support. Home is not just a place where we live in, but a place where families support each other and show their love to others. When we have something happy, we first want to bring them home and share the happinesswith families. On the contrast, if we get into trouble, home is the first place where we look for support and fort. In short, home is not just a house we live in; moreover, it's our home of spirit. I was panic a while absolute being, stand Be frightenning into inaction simultaneously, stare greatly eyes to looking at father and mother, the in the mind worries very much they will blame me.Just at I daze of time, father said a words:"Unimportant of, ground(from year to year) and peaceful!"
英语美文欣赏 第一篇：A Grain of Sand 一粒沙子William Blake/威廉.布莱克To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild fllower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour. 从一粒沙子看到一个世界，从一朵野花看到一个天堂，把握在你手心里的就是无限，永恒也就消融于一个时辰。 第二篇：Love Your Life 热爱生活Henry David Thoreau/享利.大卫.梭罗However mean your life is,meet it and live it ;do not shun it and call it hard names.It is not so bad as you are.It looks poorest when you are richest.The fault-finder will find faults in paradise.Love your life,poor as it is.You may perhaps have some pleasant,thrilling,glorious hourss,even in a poor-house.The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode;the snow melts before its door as early in the spring.I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there,and have as cheering thoughts,as in a palace.The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any.May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving.Most think that they are above being supported by the town;but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means.which should be more disreputable.Cultivate poverty like a garden herb,like sage.Do not trouble yourself much to get new things,whether clothes or friends,Turn the old,return to them.Things do not change;we change.Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. 不论你的生活如何卑贱，你要面对它生活，不要躲避它，更别用恶言咒骂它。它不像你那样坏。你最富有的时候，倒是看似最穷。爱找缺点的人就是到天堂里也能找到缺点。你要爱你的生活，尽管它贫穷。甚至在一个济贫院里，你也还有愉快、高兴、光荣的时候。夕阳反射在济贫院的窗上，像身在富户人家窗上一样光亮；在那门前，积雪同在早春融化。我只看到，一个从容的人，在哪里也像在皇宫中一样，生活得心满意足而富有愉快的思想。城镇中的穷人，我看，倒往往是过着最独立不羁的生活。也许因为他们很伟大，所以受之无愧。大多数人以为他们是超然的，不
Friends or 'Enemies?' When I was younger, my Dad used to tell me: "Boys don't want to be your friend." He then left the rest to my imagination. At the time, I didn't agree. I thought: I can crack a good joke, I know how to shoot a hoop, and I'm a cheerful person (but not in an annoying way). What kind of boy wouldn't want to be around that kind of girl? Turns out, my Dad was right. Not to be all "Samantha Brick" about it, but in my experience, single, heterosexual men aren't actively looking for an exclusively platonic relationship with a woman they find sexually attractive. This of course is not a revolutionary concept. In fact, it seems pretty natural to me. Now, I will be the first to say that it is really and truly the most wonderful thing in the world if the attraction is mutual. But the Powers That Be seem to like to play these complicated little mating games with humans where the guy we want to re-enact scenes from 9? Weeks with sees our attractiveness level as akin to that of a discarded dishcloth, and the most physical we could see ourselves being with the guy who actually likes us is a game of ping pong over an especially long table. All of which means that someone usually ends up getting rejected. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I have struggled with the scenario where I am not interested in a man romantically, but I want to keep him as a friend because he is funny and I enjoy his company, or he has shown himself to be that rare specimen known as "a nice, genuine person, " or he simply doesn't mention his therapist in every other sentence. Rather than string him along and give him hope, I feel compelled to somehow communicate to him sooner rather than later that we'll just be staying friends, nothing more. Otherwise, I think I am being unfair to him. Why should he waste his romantic stamina on me when there are loads of other single women out there who might fall instantly in love with him? The thing is, it can sometimes be tricky to reject a man and keep him as a friend. If the operation is not executed carefully, you may end up creating a "menemy." It requires a certain amount of skill to be able to turn down a man's sexual advances or romantic gestures and then get him to agree to meet you for blueberry pancakes the following weekend and chat about the latest Woody Allen film. Some men aren't satisfied with just that. I'm not clear why. What's so bad about friendship? Everyone needs buddies. But I've seen men react poorly or simply fall off the face of the earth. I get it -- their feelings are hurt. None of us likes getting rejected. But in my experience, some men find it especially soul-crushing. I am only bringing all of this up because I recently had to go through this scenario again. I had spent some time cultivating a friendship with a man who, in my defense, I thought was gay. So I didn't see the harm in him buying me the occasional falafel, or accepting an invitation to see a film with him. Isn't that what friends are for? But a mutual friend shed light on his sexual orientation (straight) and suggested that his intentions -- and attentions -- weren't platonic. He had never "made the moves" but now it was all crystal clear -- that explains the way he had looked at me that time the tahini sauce dribbled down my chin! Since he had clearly been too timid to express his feelings, I thought I would be clever this time and subtly mention the dates I had been going on, focusing on the one guy I was kind of keen on, so that he would know that I was "unavailable" for heavy petting and those sorts of activities, but that I was available for things like roller skating, falafel-eating and shooting the breeze. Doesn't that sound nice? That way, he would known not to try to lean in for a kiss, and I wouldn't have to pull the Stevie Wonder dance and dodge him went he went for it. It was like pre-rejection, yet I was sparing his feelings because he didn't even have to put himself out there! I really thought I was being brilliant. It backfired, of course. Said man ended up sending me an email rant accusing me of being insensitive by talking about other men when he had "feelings for me." As if I am psychic, by the way, just because I am a woman! How was I supposed to know that? I think in his mind we were dating. In my mind, he was my new gay BFF. In the end, I got mad at him for getting mad at me, and now the friendship has ended. And I have created yet another "menemy." Look, I have also tried the direct thing: "I really like you, but only as a friend, " but you can only do that when the guy has made his intentions clear, and in my experience, they either cope okay (though rarely do I feel much enthusiasm for friendship after that), or they really don't cope well. I also tried the thing where you make them think they are rejecting you, but it gets quite confusing and only works if the guy isn't very sharp, and why would I -- or you -- be hanging out with someone not that sharp in the first place? As we all remember, Billy Crystal's character says men and women can't be friends in When Harry Met Sally because the sex stuff gets in the way. I do have single, male, heterosexual friends with whom I have an easy, non-romantic rapport, but I honestly don't know if they would walk away if I was sprawled naked on a bed calling out to them. I may not be everybody's cup of tea, but sometimes, I wonder if they wonder. And they may wonder if I wonder. If so, I hope they'll keep it to