本文的作者是英国二十世纪著名的哲学家、数学家、逻辑学家和历史学家一伯纳德・罗素，他是无神论和不可知论者，也是二十世纪西方最著名、影响最大的学者和和平主义社会活动家之一。罗素也被认为与弗雷格、维特根斯坦和怀特海一同创建了分析哲学。他与怀特海合著的《数学原理》对逻辑学、数学、集合论、语言学和分析哲学有着巨大影响。1950年，罗素获得诺贝尔文学奖，以表彰其“多样且重要的作品，持续不断地追求人道主义理想和思想自由”。本文并不是其最著名的《西方哲学史》中的内容，而是选自《记忆中的肖像及其他》一书。这本书主要以散文居多，但还是属于偏文学作品的内容，翻译时略带有口语化的特点，由庄绎传翻译。

In spite of the title, this article will really be on how not to grow old, which, at my time of life, is a much more important subject.

题目虽然这样写，实际上本文所要谈的却是人怎样才可以不老。对于像我这样年纪的人来说，这个问题就更是重要得多了。

My first advice would be to choose your ancestors carefully.

我的头一条忠告是，你可得要挑选好你的先人啊。

Although both my parents died young, I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors.

我的父母年纪轻轻就去世了，可是说到祖辈，我还是选得不错的。

My maternal grandfather, it is true, was cut off in the flower of his youth at the age of sixty-seven, but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty.

我外祖父固然是在风华正茂之年就去世了，当时他只有六十七岁，但是我的祖父、祖母和外祖母却都活到了八十岁以上。

Of remoter ancestors I can only discover one who did not live to a great age, and he died of a disease which is now rare, namely, having his head cut off.

再往远一点说，在我的先人之中，我发现只有一位活得不长，他得了一种现在已不多见的病，那就是头让人砍掉了。

A great-grandmother of mine, who was a friend of Gibbon, lived to the age of ninety-two, and to her last day remained a terror to all her descendants.

我的一位曾祖母，和吉本是朋友，活到了九十二岁，她直到临终都使儿孙望而生畏。

My maternal grandmother, after having nine children who survived, one who died in infancy, and many miscarriages, as soon as she became a widow devoted herself to women higher education.

我外祖母有九个孩子活了下来，有一个孩子很小就死了，她还流产过多次。丈夫一死，她就致力于女子高等教育。

She was one of the founders of Girton College, and worked hard at opening the medical profession to women.

她是戈登学院的创办人之一，曾竭力让医学专业对妇女开放。

She used to relate how she met in Italy an elderly gentleman who was looking very sad.

她常对人说，她在意大利碰到过一位愁容满面的老先生。

She inquired the cause of his melancholy and he said that he had just parted from his two grandchildren.

她就问他为什么闷闷不乐，他说两个小孙孙刚刚离开他。

"Good gracious," she exclaimed, “I have seventy-two grandchildren, and if I were sad each time I parted from one of them, I should have a dismal existence!"

“我的天哪!”我外祖母就说，“我的孙子孙女有七十二个，要是每离开一个都要难过，我的生活可就太痛苦了。”

“Madre snaturale," he replied.

听了这话，老先生竟说:“Madre snaturale.” 

But speaking as one of the seventy-two, I prefer her recipe.

但是我作为七十二人中的一员，倒是赞成她的办法的。