英语美文欣赏(友谊爱好)
美文欣赏：沙子与石头
The story goes that two friends are walking through the desert. During some
point of the journey they have an argument, and one friend slap the other one in the face.
话说两个好朋友正在穿越一个沙漠。途中他们忽然争吵了起来，其中一个一巴掌扇在另外一个人的脸上。
The one is hurt, but without saying anything, he writes in the sand: "Today my best friend slaps me in the face."
被扇的那个人受了伤害，但他一句话也没有说，只是在沙子上写道：“今天我最要好的朋友打了我一个耳光。”
They keep on walking until they find an oasis and they decide to take a bath. The one who has been slapped gets stuck(被卡在）in the mire and starts drowning, but the friend saves him.
他们继续走下去，后来发现了一片绿洲，他们于是决定洗个澡。先前被打的那个人这时不小心陷入了一个泥潭里面，差点被淹死了，幸运的是他的朋友把他给救了出来。
After he recovers from the near drowning, he writes on a stone: "Today my best friend saves my life."
他苏醒过来后，立刻在一块石头上写道：“今天我最要好的朋友救了我一命。”
His friend askes him, "After I hurt you, you write in the sand and now you write on a stone. Why?"
他的朋友于是问他说：“我打了你之后你在沙子上写字，而现在你却在石头上写，为什么呢？”
He replies: "When someone hurts us we should write it down in the sand, the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave(雕刻，铭记）it in a stone，therefore，no wind can ever erase it."
写字的那个人回答说：“当我们被别人伤害了之后，我们应该把它写在沙子上，那样，宽容的风就很快就会将其抹去，但当我们受到别人的帮助之后，我们必须将它刻在石头上，那样，风就不会轻易把它磨灭。”
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits on the stone.
学会将你所受到的伤害写在沙子上，把别人给你的帮助记在石头上。
The Happy door
快乐之门
Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-wid ening circle of ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.
快乐就像一块为了激起阵阵涟漪而丢进池塘的小石头。正好史蒂文森所说，快乐是一种责任。
There is no exact definition of the word happiness. Happy people are hap py for all sorts of reasons. The key is not wealth or physical well-being, since we find beggars, invalids and so-called failures, who are extremely happy.
快乐这个词并没有确切的定义，快乐的人快乐的理由多种多样。快乐的关键
并不是财富或身体健康，因为我们发现有些乞丐，残疾人和所谓的失败者也都非常快乐。
Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend. But staying happy is an
accomplishment, a triumph of soul and character. It is not selfish to strive for it. It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.
快乐是一种意外的收获，但保持快乐却是一种成就，一种灵性的胜利。努力追寻快乐并不自私，实际上，这是我们对自己和他人应尽的责任。
Being unhappy is like an infectious disease. It causes people to shrink aw ay from the sufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered.
There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at
first glance, ridiculous; if you don’t feel happy, pretend to be!
不快乐就像传染病，它使得人们都躲避不快乐的人。不快乐的人很快就会发现自己处于孤独，悲惨，痛苦的境地。然而，有一种简单得看似荒谬的治病良方：如果你不快乐，就假装你很快乐！
It works. Before long you will find that instead of repelling
people, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the c enter of wider and wider circles of good will.
这很有效。不久你就会发现，别人不再躲着你了，相反，你开始吸引别人了。你会发觉，做一块能激起好意涟漪的小石头有多么值得。
Then the make-believe becomes a reality. You possess the secret
of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.
然后假装就变成了现实。你拥有了使心灵平静的秘密，会因帮助他人而忘我。
Being happy, once it is realized as a duty and established as a
habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful
friends.
一旦你认识到快乐是一种责任并使快乐成为习惯，通向不可思议的乐园的大门就会向你敞开，那里满是感激你的朋友。
赞美友情的英文短句
赞美友情的英文短句 我们学习英语都这么久了，革命友谊早就建立起来了。下面是给大家整理的关于友情的英文短句，供大家参阅! 关于友情的英文短句1、Friends are like fiddle-strings, they must not be screwed too tight. 朋友像琴弦，不能太拧紧。 2、Without a friend the world is a wilderness. 没有朋友，世界就等於一片荒野。 3、Between friends all is common. 朋友之间不分彼此。 4、In time of prosperity, friends will be plenty; In time of adversity, not one amongst twenty. 富在深山有远亲，穷在闹市无人 5、A father is a treasure, a brother is a comfort, but a friend is both. 父亲是财富，兄弟是安慰，朋友兼而有之。 6、Trust not the praise of a friend, nor the contempt of an enemy. 不要信赖朋友的赞扬，也不要仇敌的轻蔑放在心上。 7、Friendship the older it grows the stronger it is.
友谊地久天长。 8、Familiar paths and old friends are the best. 熟路好遵循，老友最可珍。 9、To preserve a friend three things are required: to honour him present, praise him absent, and assist him in his necessities. 维持友谊需要三点∶当面尊重他，背后赞扬他，需要时帮助他。 10、A bosom friend afar brings distant land near. 海内存知己，天涯若比邻。 11、A FRIEND is a 'gift' if of our heart treasures. Thank you forbeing the treasure in my heart. 朋友是心里的一个宝物。 12、Hunger knows no friend. 饥难周友。 13、He is rich enough who has true friends. 有真朋友的人是富翁。 14、Better lose a jest than a friend. 宁可不说一句俏皮话，以免得罪朋友们。 15、Friends must part. 天下无不散之筵席。 经典友情的英文短句1、a bosorn friend after brings distant land near 海内存知己,天涯若比邻.
经典英语美文欣赏80篇(适用于成人)
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
散文诗名篇赏析《Youth-青春》中英文
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
关于写朋友的英语句子
关于写朋友的英语句子 关于写朋友的英语句子 Hypocritical friendship is like your shadow; when you are in the sun, it will closely follow you, but once you go into the shadow, it will leave you.虚伪的友谊有如你的影子；当你处在阳光下时，它会紧紧地跟着你，但你一旦走到阴暗处时，它立刻就会离开你。 A true friend is for ever a friend. ---Grorge Macdonald, British novelist 真正的朋友是永远的朋友。 Friendship is the greatest pleasure in life友谊是人生最大的快乐。 A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother. 兄弟未必是朋友，而朋友总是兄弟。 Friendship is the golden thread that ties the hearts of all the world. 友谊是一根金线，把全世界的心连在一起。 if you would be loved, love and be lovable. 想被人爱，就要去爱别人，并让自己可爱。 He that will not allow his friend to share the prize must not expect him to share the danger.---Aesop, Ancient Greek fable writer 不肯让朋友共享果实的人，不要指望朋友与他共患难。 The course of true love never did run smooth.,通向真
关于经典英语美文摘抄
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
英语美文欣赏
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
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.
关于朋友的英语句子大全
关于朋友的英语句子大全 社会生活的信息化和经济活动的全球化使外语,特别是英语,已经成为我国对外开放和与国际交往的重要工具。小编分享关于朋友的英语句子，仅供参考! 最新的关于朋友的英语句子1、The best mirror is an old friend. 最好的镜子是老朋友。 2、Between friends all is common. 朋友之间不分彼此。 3、A life without a friend is a life without a sun. 人生在世无朋友，犹如生活无太阳。 4、The friendship of a gentleman is insipid as water. 君子之交淡如水。 5、Set great store by friendship. 情意重千斤。 6、Your forever friend lifts you up in spirits and makes that dark and empty world suddenly seem bright and full. 你真正的朋友会让你振作起来，原本黯淡、空虚的世界顿时变得明亮和充实。 7、Your forever friend gets you through the hard times,the sad times,and the confused times.
你真正的朋友会与你一同度过困难、伤心和烦恼的时刻。 8、A friend in need is a friend indeed. 患难见真情 9、Old friends and old wine are best. 陈酒味醇，老友情深。 10、Fire is the test of gold, adversity of friendship. 烈火试真金，苦难试友情。 11、Friendship cannot stand always on one side. 友谊是双方的事。 12、A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody. 广交友，无深交。 13、Friendship is like wine---the older the better. 友谊像美酒，越陈越醇厚。 14、Friends are like wine; the older, the better. 朋友象酒，越久越淳。 15、There is no friend so faithful as a good book. 最忠实的朋友莫过于一本好书 16、A friend is easier lost than found. 得朋友难，失朋友易。 17、True friendship lasts forever. 真正的友谊恒久不变。 18、He who mistrusts most should be trusted least.
关于经典英语美文摘抄
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
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
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
最新关于朋友的英语句子大全
【篇一】关于朋友的英语句子 1、The best mirror is an old friend. 的镜子是老朋友。 2、Between friends all is common. 朋友之间不分彼此。 3、A life without a friend is a life without a sun. 人生在世无朋友，犹如生活无太阳。 4、The friendship of a gentleman is insipid as water. 君子之交淡如水。 5、Set great store by friendship. 情意重千斤。 6、Your forever friend lifts you up in spirits and makes that dark and empty world suddenly seem bright and full. 你真正的朋友会让你振作起来，原本黯淡、空虚的世界顿时变得明亮和充实。 7、Your forever friend gets you through the hard times,the sad times,and the confused times. 你真正的朋友会与你一同度过困难、伤心和烦恼的时刻。 8、A friend in need is a friend indeed. 患难见真情 9、Old friends and old wine are best. 陈酒味醇，老友情深。 10、Fire is the test of gold, adversity of friendship. 烈火试真金，苦难试友情。
经典英语美文欣赏50篇关于爱家的英语美文欣赏
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
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
英语美文欣赏带翻译
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