在伦敦闻名世界的威斯敏斯特大教堂地下室的墓碑林中，有一块名扬世界的墓碑。
其实这只是一块很普通的墓碑，粗糙的花岗石质地，造型也很一般，同周围那些质地上乘、做工优良的亨利三世到乔治二世等二十多位英国前国王墓碑，以及牛顿、达尔文、狄更斯等名人的墓碑比较起来，它显得微不足道，不值一提。并且它没有姓名，没有生卒年月，甚至上面连墓主的介绍文字也没有。
原文
When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits,I dreamed of changing the world.
As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too,seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none ofit.
And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize:
If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.
From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country,and who knows, I may have even changed the world.
翻译
*当我年轻的时候，我的想象力从没有受到过限制，我梦想改变这个世界。
*当我成熟以后，我发现我不能改变这个世界，我将目光缩短了些，决定只改变我的国家。
*当我进入暮年后，我发现我不能改变我的国家，我的最后愿望仅仅是改变一下我的家庭。但是，这也不可能。
*当我躺在床上，行将就木时，我突然意识到：如果一开始我仅仅去改变我自己，然后作为一个榜样，我可能改变我的家庭；在家人的帮助和鼓励下，我可能为国家做一些事情。然后谁知道呢？我甚至可能改变这个世界。
墓碑上的一段话