Your children are not your children.
你的孩子不是你的孩子。
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
他們是緣於自身渴慕而生的兒女。
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
他們經你而生，非從你而生，
他們和你相伴，但並不屬於你。
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
你可以給他們愛而非強加你的想法，
因為他們擁有自己。
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
你關住他們的身體但困不住他們的靈魂，
因為他們的靈魂住在明日，你到不了，甚致夢想不到。
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
你可以學著像他們，但找不到方法像讓他們像你。
因為生命不能倒轉，也不會留在昨日。
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
你像弓，而你的孩子像有生命的箭一樣被射出前進。
弓箭手從無限的道路裡尋找標靶，用他的意志彎曲你讓他手上的箭飛速遠離。
Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrows that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
欣喜的讓弓手彎折你吧；
弓手愛飛出的箭，也愛停留在掌上的弓。