关于它是由什么构成的，人们有各种不同的看法，但大家一致认为，有这样一种本质是存在的，也就是说，有一种东西可以作为人就是人的依据。

There were various views about what constitutes it, but there was agreement that such an essence exists—that is to say, that there is something by virtue of which man is man.

youdao

我认为有这样一种本质帝国主义的存在。

I think there is an essential sort of imperialism.

youdao

在这种感觉里面，这是一种本质的精华，并不拥有所有的要素。

In that sense, there is a distillation to an essence that does not have all the ingredients.

youdao

My belief in books had risen more out of a sense of desperation than from my abiding conviction of their ultimate value.

我对书的信仰更多的是来自一种绝望,而非我对其本质的长期依赖，“

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选

It's a social experience, in this view, and the social experience is intrinsically a conservative one.

读诗是一种社会经历，这种社会经历本质又是保守的。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

I think it's his way of formulating a view about the nature of time.

我想这是他对时间的本质的,一种阐释。

麻省理工公开课 - 电影哲学课程节选