诚恳的批评为作者创造了一个宝贵的机会，让他在自己的领域变得更好——这个过程通常极其痛苦，但往往都是有意义的。

Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms—a process that is often extremely painful, but also almost always meaningful.

youdao

许多人说，失业虽然极其痛苦，却在某些方面改善了他们的生活：他们变得不那么物质主义，在财务上更加谨慎了，并且更加了解别人的难处。

Many said that unemployment, while extremely painful, had improved them in some ways: they had become less materialistic and more financially prudent; they were more aware of the struggles of others.

youdao

然后，我确实感觉到了，我甚至没法咽回自己极其痛苦的尖叫。

But then I did feel it, and I couldn't hold back my scream of agony.

youdao

It was probably the pivotal point of our friendship when he realized I had actually spent some hours thinking about him and his troubles and he was trying to place that in his tremendously involved and tormented mental categories.

这或许是我们之间友谊的关键时刻,他知道我的确用了许多时间考虑他和他的困境,在他陷入极其复杂的痛苦的精神危机时,他更是急于想了解这一点。

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选