Letras Libres traduce al español un ensayo Robert Louis Stevenson sobre la virtud, lo mucho que tiene que ver con la muerte y lo poco que tiene que ver con la felicidad.
En estos tiempos que vivimos prevalece, entre la gente seria, un idealismo de noble carácter: nunca les parece que han prestado suficiente servicio, viven incluso con la impaciencia de su propia virtud. Sin embargo, quizás sería más modesto agradecer personalmente por no estar peor; no solo nuestros enemigos –personas desesperadas a nuestros ojos– sino también nosotros mismos desconocemos qué debe hacerse; de ahí deriva la sutil esperanza de que acaso hemos hecho más de lo que pensábamos: la esperanza de que tan solo haber zanjado este negocio de la vida –tan inconstante– con manos relativamente limpias, tan solo haber jugado el papel de una persona que obtuvo algunos logros, tan solo haber resistido el mal y, al final, aún seguir resistiéndolo, significa, para el pobre soldado humano, haber actuado bien.
Por Robert Louis Stevenson | Letras Libres | diciembre 2012 (publicado originalmente en 1888)
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The Case for More Urban Trees
The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.
If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3 percent less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12 percent.
One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen.
A number of studies have shown that real estate agents and home buyers assign between 10 and 23 percent of the value of a residence to the trees on the property.
Surgery patients who could see a grove of deciduous trees recuperated faster and required less pain-killing medicine than matched patients who viewed only brick walls.
Read more. [Image: Colorbox]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m815dgEvJb1qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
- The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.
- If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3 percent less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12 percent.
- One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen.
- A number of studies have shown that real estate agents and home buyers assign between 10 and 23 percent of the value of a residence to the trees on the property.
- Surgery patients who could see a grove of deciduous trees recuperated faster and required less pain-killing medicine than matched patients who viewed only brick walls.
Read more. [Image: Colorbox]
It’s incredibly energizing to be in a big city, surrounded by crowds of people, flashing lights, and cars zipping past. It’s a complete sensory overload! Things move quickly, though, and sometimes it can seem like you are caught in a big blur of commotion. In these Cityscapes, photographer Stephanie Jung has developed a way to prolong a single moment of this chaotic excitement, particularly along the streets of Japan.
