子曰：“吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。”
Confuciussaid,“Sincetheageof15,Ihavedevotedmyselftolearning;since30,Ihavebeenwellestablished;since40,Ihaveunderstoodmanythingsandhavenolongerbeenconfused;since50,Ihaveknownmyheaven-sentduty;since60,Ihavebeenabletodistinguishrightandwronginotherpeople’swords;andsince70,IhavebeenabletodowhatIintendfreelywithoutbreakingtherules.”
春秋战国时期，人的平均寿命是多少呢？一种说法，大约是十九岁。孔子活了72到73岁，少有的寿星。即使我们只计算当时有权有闲阶层，一般也很难达到孔子的高寿，所以，孔子的修行是很高的，非一般人所能企及。所以，孟子的理想社会是70岁的人有肉吃。
TheaveragelifeexpectancyattheSpringandAutumnPeriodsandWarringStatesPeriodswas,accordingtosomeresearch,about19years.Confuciuslived72to73years,araregodoflongevityindeed.Itwasevenhardforthosewithpowerandleisuretoreachsuchanage.Therefore,Confuciuscouldbeverywelllearned,farfromwhatanordinarypeoplecouldexpectathistimes.Thus,Mencius"sidealsocietywasenabling70yearoldpeopletohavemeatintheirmeals.
2001年最新统计证明全球人口平均寿命为62.27岁。世界各国和地区中最长寿的仍是日本人，平均寿命达79.66岁。而中国人的平均寿命为69.98岁。还是没有达到七十而从心所欲的年龄。难怪，不逾矩很难。
Thelateststatisticsin2001showsthattheworldlifeexpectancyis62.27withtheJapanesetakingtheleadtobe79.66whileChinagainingapositionsurpassingalldevelopingcountriesbyits69.98.However,theChinesehavenotyetreachedtheagetodowhattheyintendfreelywithoutbreakingtherules.Thus,rulesarehardnottobebroken.
若以孔子志学的时间推算，我们学习英语10年，也没有什么了不起，还没有到而立之年呢。要想没有疑问，学25年。要想真正懂得学习英文的目的，学35年。要想辨别他人英文的好坏，学45年。要想随心所欲地运用英文，学55年。
CalculatedinthetermsConfuciussetforusinlearning,thoseofuswhohavebeenlearningEnglishfortenyearsstillhavealongwaytogobeforereachingthetimetobeestablished.Tohavenoconfusion,onehastospend25years.TotrulyunderstandthepurposeofEnglishlearning,onehastodoitfor35years.Ittakes45yearsifonewantstodistinguishrightandwronginotherpeople’swords,and55yearstomanipulateEnglishlanguagefreelywithoutbreakingtherules.