Language Point 1
Feeling guilty is nothing to feel guilty about. (Para. 1)
Meaning: Having a feeling of guilt is nothing that a person has to feel guilty about.
Language Point 2
Yes, guilt can be the excess baggage that keeps us paralyzed if we dwell upon it, but it can also be the engine that fuels us. (Para. 1)
Meaning: Yes. Guilt can become a heavy and unnecessary burden on us and can make us unable to do anything if we let it dominate our thoughts; but at the same time, feeling guilty can also serve as a driving force to motivate us.
Note: In this sentence, two metaphors are used, i.e. "guilt can be the excess
baggage", which connotes "burden", and "it can also be the engine", which means "driving force".
Language Point 3
..., it can also be the conscience that keeps us civilized. (Para. 1)
civilized: a. polite; well-bred; refined; good-mannered
Such an affront to civilized behavior will no longer be tolerated. 对文明行为如此侮辱，再也无法容忍了。
Language Point 4
For the past decade or more, the popular psychiatrists who use book jackets rather than couches have endeavored to reassure us that I am okay, you are okay and whatever we do is okay. (Para. 2)
Meaning: For more than a decade, based on book covers instead of the medical practice, the popular psychiatrists have been trying to help us get rid of the feeling of guilt.
book jackets: book covers, but not the real essence or content of the book
couch: a type of high bed, esp. one in a doctor's office
Note: "Book jackets" and "couches" are both used figuratively here. From the angle of figure of speech, it is metonymy (换喻, 转喻). The use of the metonymy gives the sentence an effect of satire. More examples:
Great minds think alike. 英雄所见略同。("Minds" stands for people.)
Gray hair should be respected in society. 全社会都应尊重老年人。("Gray hair" stands for old people.)
Here in the sentence "book jackets" stands for flowery book covers and "couch" for psychoanalysis or psychiatric treatment that is going on the couch.
Language Point 5
In most of their books, guilt was given a bad name, and defined as a toxic emotion forced on us by our: (1) parents (2) culture (3) religion. (Para. 2)
Meaning: In most of their books, they gave guilt a bad name, and defined it as a poisonous, harmful feeling forced on us by our parents, culture and religion.
Language Point 6
To be truly liberated was to be free of guilt about being rich, powerful, number one, bad to your mother, selfish, late, a smoker, or taking a mistress. (Para. 2)
Meaning: To be actually free of guilt meant not feeling guilty about being rich, powerful, number one, being bad to your mother, selfish, late for work or appointments, a smoker or having a mistress, etc.
Language Point 7
There was an erroneous notion, in fact, that self-love began by abolishing one's guilt. (Para. 3)
Meaning: It is in fact an incorrect idea that self-love began with not feeling one's guilt.
Language Point 8
People all around us spent a great portion of the last decade in an assault against guilt instead of interpreting guilt's message and learning what it was trying to tell us. (Para. 3)
Meaning: People all around us spent much of the last decade in their verbal attack against guilt rather than trying to explain what it was and what it might tell us.
Language Point 9
At the deepest, most destructive level, guilt is the criminal in us that longs to be caught. (Para. 4)
Meaning: At the deepest level of our minds, where our desires can be most threatening to our own welfare, guilt is like a criminal that demands to be caught.
Language Point 10
It is the brooding, pit-of-the-stomach sense of having done wrong. (Para. 4)
Meaning: It is the very worrying and heart-felt feeling that we feel whenever we sense that we have done something wrong.
brooding: a. worrying; fond of pondering about unhappy things
She can change from a bright, outgoing mood one day to a dark and brooding one the next. 她可能头一天还活泼开朗，第二天就变得郁郁寡欢。
pit-of-the-stomach: When used as a modifier (as it is used here), it has the meaning of "true", "sincere", "heart-felt".
Compare: pit of the stomach: the hollow place just below the chest, esp. thought of as being the place where fear is felt
The pain is just in the pit of the stomach and it comes especially after meals. 我胸口疼，尤其是在吃过饭之后。
Language Point 11
It is the foul stain that no one else can see... and we can't see around. (Para. 4)
Meaning: Guilt is a filthy stain that no one else can see and we can't see it either.
foul: a. disgusting; smelling or tasting unplesant
The air in the room was foul. 房间里气味很难闻。
stain: n. a thing that brings disgrace to sb. or sth.
He regarded his time in court as a stain on his character. 他将上法庭看成是品德上的污点。
Language Point 12
To be without guilt is to be without a conscience. (Para. 5)
Meaning: To be free of a feeling of guilt is to be without a conscience.
Language Point 13
Guilt-free people don't feel bad when they cause pain to others, and so they go on freely causing more pain. (Para. 5)
Meaning: Those people who are free from guilt don't feel bad whenever they cause pain to others, and so they continue hurting people more.
Language Point 14
The last thing we need more of is less conscience. (Para. 5)
Meaning: What we do not need most is less conscience./What we need is more conscience, never less.
The last thing/person... is...: It's a sentence pattern to indicate strong negation.
The last thing I want to do today is to attend another class. 我今天一节课都不想再上了。
He is the last person I will love. 他是我最不喜欢的人。
He is the last person to tell a lie. 他决不会撒谎。
Language Point 15
Freud once said, "As regards conscience, God has done an uneven and careless piece of work, for a large majority of men have been endowed with only a modest amount of it, scarcely enough to be worth mentioning." (Para. 5)
Meaning: Freud once said that when God gave conscience to people, he distributed it unevenly and without careful consideration so that a large majority of men got so little conscience that it is hardly worth mentioning.
as regards: concerning; in respect of; with regard to; as far as... is concerned
As regards content, the program will cover important current issues. 就内容而言，该方案包含了目前的重要问题。
endow: vt. (with)furnish or provide with a quality, ability or asset
Man is endowed with an insatiable curiosity about himself and the world around him. 人类对自身和周围的世界有着永不满足的好奇心。
Language Point 16
But there has to be some line between the claim that we all should feel guilty for, say, poverty, and the declaration that the oppressed have "chosen" their lot in life. (Para. 6)
Meaning: But there has to be a line drawn between the idea that we should all feel guilty for other people's poverty and the idea that those living in terrible hardships have "chosen" such a lifestyle for themselves.
there has to be some line between: we have to draw a linking line between
Notice that the sentence pattern "there has to be some line between" appears three times in this paragraph. The parallel sentences reinforce the author's argument effectively.
Language Point 17
There has to be something between unlimited sacrifice and unlimited selfishness. (Para. 6)
Meaning: There has to be something between the idea of giving everything of ourselves to other people, unlimitedly, and the idea of looking out for/taking care of our own needs, unlimitedly.
Language Point 18
There has to be something between the harassment of parents, whose blame causes their children to feel guilty across every stage of life and the neglect of parents who offer no guidance, no moral point of view. (Para. 6)
Meaning: There has to be something between persistent interference from parents who make their children feel guilty at every point in their lives and the neglect of duties of parents who never offer any guidance or moral ideas to their children.
Language Point 19
At quite regular intervals, for example, my daughter looks up at me in the midst of a discussion (she would call it a lecture) and says: "You're making me feel guilty." (Para. 7)
Meaning: Quite regularly, for example, my daughter looks at me in the middle of a discussion (although she would call it a lecture) and says, "You're making me feel guilty."
Language Point 20
At quite regular intervals, ...(Para. 7)
Meaning: Quite often/frequently,...
at intervals:
1) with time between, not continuously; frequently; repeatedly
If the light flashed at intervals, that means there is low battery. 要是指示灯不停地闪烁，就说明电量不足。
2) with spaces between
The path, marked with rocks at intervals runs long and winding, appearing somewhat mysterious. 那条小径断断续续用石头铺着，又弯又长，显得有些神秘。
Language Point 21
For a long time this made me, in turn, feel guilty. (Para. 7)
Meaning: For a long time, her comments, in return, made me feel guilty.
Language Point 22
But now I realize that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing: building in her the ability to discriminate between right and wrong so that she will feel uncomfortable if she behaves in hurtful ways. (Para. 7)
Meaning: Now I realize that I am doing exactly what I should do by building in her the ability to know the difference between right and wrong. In that way, she will not feel good whenever she behaves in bad ways.
Language Point 23
This is, of course, a very tricky business. (Para. 8)
Meaning: This is, of course, a thing that requires some tricks/ tactics/methods.
tricky：a.
1) (of a person or act) deceitful; sly; crafty
The tricky lawyer at last convinced the judge of the innocence of the accused. 那位狡猾的律师最终使法官认定被告无罪。
2) (of a task, problem, or situation) requiring a clever, intricate, or demanding approach; demanding; difficult
English study turns out to be a tricky task to quite a few learners. 英语学习对不少人来说都是一件难事。
Language Point 24
Guilt is ultimately the way we judge ourselves. (Para. 8)
Meaning: Whatever guilt we feel is the way we judge ourselves.
Language Point 25
It is the part of us that says, "I deserve to be punished." (Para. 8)
Meaning: "I deserve to be punished" should come from our inner world and become part of our soul.
Language Point 26
But we all know people who feel guilty just for being alive. (Para. 8)
Meaning: But we all know that there are some people who feel guilty for no reason at all.
Language Point 27
We know people who are paralyzed by irrational guilt. (Para. 8)
Meaning: We know there are some people who are made unable to do or to think normally because of unreasonable guilt.
Language Point 28
And we certainly don't want to be among them, or to shepherd our children into their flock. (Para. 8)
Meaning: We certainly don't want ourselves to be one of them or to lead our children into this group of people.
Language Point 29
But it seems to me that the trick isn't to become weakly accommodating, but to figure out whether we are being fair judges of ourselves. (Para. 9)
Meaning: But to me, the trick is not to adapt ourselves to others' demands in every way but to decide or make out if we are judging ourselves fairly.
accommodating: a. fitting in with sb.'s wish or demands in a helpful way; adjusting; obliging; compliant; adapting
Rigid teachers are not welcomed by their students, but excessively accommodating teachers can also disappoint them. 过于严厉的老师不受学生欢迎，但过分迁就的老师同样会令学生失望。
figure out:
1) solve or discover the cause of a problem; understand
Education assesses and discusses needs, but urges those being assessed to figure out how to meet their own needs. 教育评价并讨论其对象的需求，但同时要求其对象搞清如何满足自身的需求。
2) calculate; compute
He did not go to bed until he had figured out the difficult problem assigned by his math teacher. 他直到做出数学老师布置的那道难题后才就寝。
Language Point 30
A psychiatrist once wrote that one aim of psychological treatment isn't to disregard guilt, but "to get people's guilt feelings attached to the 'right' things". (Para. 9)
Meaning: A psychiatrist once wrote that one of the goals of psychological treatment is not for people to ignore the feeling of guilt, but to ensure people attach their guilt feelings to what is considered morally right.
Language Point 31
Guilt has also been defined as "nothing else but a disturbance arising in our mind from our perception of having done contrary to what we believed was our duty". (Para. 9)
Meaning: Guilt has also been defined as nothing but a simple disturbance that comes after we realize that we might have done something that we would normally think was against our duties.
Language Point 32
If guilt is a struggle between our acceptance of what is and isn't permissible, it is a powerful and intensely human one. (Para. 10)
Meaning: If guilt is a feeling of ours that results from the struggle to decide what is allowed and what is not allowed, it is very powerful and intensely human in its sense.
Note: In this clause, "it" refers to the "struggle".
Language Point 33
It has also been written that "Guilt represents the noblest and most painful of struggles. It is between us and ourselves." (Para. 10)
Meaning: It has also been written that guilt represents the noblest and most painful struggles. It is a struggle, an internal conflict between us as social beings and our inner world.
Language Point 34
It is better to struggle with ourselves than give up on ourselves. (Para. 10)
Meaning: It is better to fight with ourselves (over what is right and wrong) than to completely lose confidence in ourselves.
give up on: completely lose confidence or interest in (sb. or sth.); stop trying with (sb. or sth.)
That was why she could not, must not, give up on the boy. 这就是她不能也不应该放弃那个男孩的原因。
What I'd like to do is to help them to see that they don't need to give up on the computer that they can actually be the master of it, although of course I'm not suggesting that they become programmers. 我要做的是使他们知道他们没有必要对计算机丧失信心, 他们可以掌握计算机， 当然我也不是说他们要成为计算机程序员。
Language Point 35
This worst emotion, in a sense, is an inspiration to us. (Para. 11)
Meaning: Although guilt is painful and regarded as the worst feeling or emotion, it can stimulate/incite/inspire us to do our best.
Language Point 36
The desire to avoid feeling guilty makes us avoid the worst sort of behavior. (Para. 11)
Meaning: Our desire to avoid feeling guilty is what makes us avoid having the worst sort of behavior, those immoral things.
Language Point 37
The early guilt of a child who has hurt a younger sister or brother, even when no one else knows, is a message. (Para. 11)
Meaning: The guilt that a child feels shortly after hurting a younger brother or sister, even when no one else knows about it, is a telling message to us.
Language Point 38
The adult who has inflicted pain on an innocent, who has lied, stolen, cheated on their spouse—each of us has a list—wakes up in the middle of the night and remembers it. (Para. 11)
Meaning: The adult who has hurt someone innocent, who has lied or stolen, or who has cheated on his/her spouse-each of us has a list of our won wrongful acts-wakes up in the middle of the night and remembers it.
Language Point 39
In that sense guilt is the underlying engine of civilization, the internal referee that helps us choose to show courtesy to each other rather than to join in a rising tide of selfishness. (Para. 12)
Meaning: In that way, guilt is a fundamental driving force for our civilization, and our inner consciousness helps us decide to be courteous to other people rather than join in a rising tide of selfishness.
Note: Two metaphors are used in this sentence: "engine of civilization" for driving force for civilization; "internal referee" for inner consciousness or inner world.
underlying: a. fundamental; basic
In the country, the underlying tide of opinion is favourable to Labour; two-thirds of respondents believe they would be better off under Labour. 这个国家的基本舆论趋向有利于工党, 调查对象中三分之二的人认为工党掌权, 他们的日子会好过些。
Language Point 40
"If guilt is coming back," says one historian, "one reason is that a tremendous surge of young people overwhelmed the adults in the sixties..." (Para. 12)
Meaning: If the sense of guilt is coming back to us, says one historian, one reason is that young people suddenly became much more in number than the adults in the 1960s.
Language Point 41
"... Now, in the aftermath, there are more adults around who are trying to restore some stability." (Para. 12)
Meaning: "... Now in consequence when those people have become responsible adults, more adults are trying to restore some stability in the culture."
Language Point 42
Guilt is the adult in each of us, the parent, the one who upholds the standards. (Para. 12)
Meaning: Guilt plays the part of being a mature adult or parent inside each of us that upholds the standards for us to follow.
Language Point 43
It is the internal guide that mocks us when we argue "everybody else is doing it". (Para. 12)
Meaning: Guilt is also our inner world guide that ridicules or teases us whenever we try to argue for ourselves that "everybody else is doing it".
Language Point 44
It is never easy to separate right from wrong, irrational guilt from rational guilt. (Para. 13)
Meaning: It is never easy to tell right from wrong, and to distinguish irrational guilt from rational guilt.
Language Point 45
But, we may resolve irrational guilt by changing our view of it, and rational guilt by changing our behavior. (Para. 13)
Meaning: But, we may do away with an irrational feeling of guilt by changing our view of the problem, and rid ourselves of rational guilt by changing our behavior.
resolve: vt.
1) deal with successfully; solve
The meeting was called to resolve the dispute. 召开这次会议的目的是解决这场争端。
2) decide; determine
She resolved to ring Carl as soon as she got home. 她打定主意，一回家就给卡尔打电话。
Language Point 46
For all of us, in the dozens of daily decisions we make, guilt is one of the many proper motives for action. (Para. 14)
Meaning: We make dozens of decisions every day and the feeling of guilt is one of the motives for us to take the right action.
Language Point 47
I am not saying our lives should be ruled by guilt. (Para. 14)
Meaning: I am not saying that everything in our lives should be controlled by the feeling of guilt.
Language Point 48
But guilt is inherent in the underlying question: "If I do that, can I live with myself?" (Para. 14)
Meaning: But the feeling of guilt is underlying as a natural and basic part of the question: If I do that, can I accept or tolerate myself?
live with: accept; tolerate (sth. unpleasant)
Our experiment was a failure—you have to live with the fact. 我们的试验失败了，你得接受这一事实。
Language Point 49
It is the claim of others on the self, the recognition both of our flaws and of our desire to be the people we want to be. (Para. 15)
Meaning: It is the demand or the request of others imposed upon us, and it is also the recognition of our bad points and our desire to be the people we want ourselves to be.
