《英语即兴三分钟演讲(汇编19篇)》

英语即兴三分钟演讲（精选19篇）

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇1

Good afternoon, my dear friends.

I am very happy to meet you here.It is my great honor to communicate with you at such a special occation.First of all,please allow me to express my appreciation to you all to listion to me.

I am proud of being a college student.The collegelife is fresh,new teachers, new classmates and new friends. I like the friendship, and their wide knowledge and opening mind. The grand library, school buildings and wide playground attrattde me very much.My college life is better than I expected, I can do anything I like. In the college we can not only learn the professional knowledge,but also develop our comprehensive abilities.If we can make full use of the period,we can learn many useful things.Besides,we should have the active attitude to our life,do a contributionto the society.Collegelife is the most precious time in our life.Most of us want to become an outstanding man. But there are some students still waste their time. They get together for eating, drinking or playing cards. They're busy in searching for a girlfriend or a boyfriend. They completely forget their task as college students.

Finally, I hope everybody can try their best to become a worthy person to our country, and make great contributions to the society!

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇2

敬的各位领导，亲爱的同事们：

大家上午好!

今天，我要演讲的题目是《有健康，才有快乐》!

人的生命只有一次，在这仅有的一次生命当中，什么才是最重要的呢?我认为是健康，生命是相对的有限时空构成，而具有健康的身心，就会使生命的相对有限时空得以延续与拉长。

那么，什么是健康?健康包含了两个方面：身体，心理，只有身体没有疾病，心理没有缺陷了才真正算得上时隔健康的人，也只有健康的人才能拥有幸福与快乐。此时我想说，有健康，才有快乐。

当今社会，人们对健康越来越重视，看看我们的社区，一个个运动设施建立了起来，看看我们的身边，一家家运动养生馆红火起来，再看看我们的社会，心理专家越来越多，这一切都说明了一个问题，那就是健康很重要。在过去，人们“比肚子”，看你吃得好不好;后来，人们“比银子”，你的钱有多少、你的房子怎么样、你的汽车是什么档次;到现在，很多人“比身子”，崇尚健康第一，知识第二，家庭第三，金钱排第四!人们的意识加强的，那是因为健康是竞争力，是生命当中最宝贵的财富。健康不止能使自己快乐，还能让家庭幸福，社会也幸福。如果没有了健康，我们用什么去面对事业，面对学业?又拿什么去享受辛辛苦苦赚来的金钱?可以这样说，没有健康，也就没有了一切，有健康，才有快乐。

有健康，才有快乐。同志们，要拥有健康的第一要素是什么?我认为是心态，要有好的心态，乐观开朗，积极向上，碰上问题从容面对，遇到麻烦，坦然处之。有了好的心态之后，就让我们加强身体锻炼，强健我们的体魄。身体是革命的本钱，加入体育锻炼，并不是浪费时间，而是在节约时间，因为减少了看病，减少了痛苦，锻炼是一项利于我们身体，也利于我们身心的活动，让我们都加入进来吧，为了自己，也为了家人，为了社会。

我的演讲完毕，谢谢大家!

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇3

大家好!

一年一度的植树节又到了，大家对植树节了解多少?为什么我国将植树节定在每年的3月12日呢?

植树节的意义不是在于每个人都要在植树节这天去种一棵树，而是通过植树节的又一次来临，使我们大家更加的关注绿化、环保的问题。

众所周知：地球正在沙化，沙漠的覆盖面积正在逐年的增加——可我们似乎觉得这些离我们还很远，但是在我们的身边有这样的一群人：他们在默默无闻地为这片大地播种着绿色，他们有的被称为“英雄"、有的被称为“当代愚公”，有的甚至是外国友人……

他们用他们的实际行动告诉我们，植树是全人类的大事，是造福子孙万代的伟业。

3月12日是孙中山先生逝世纪念日。广东省中山市翠杏村，是我国新民主主义创始人、伟大的革命先驱孙中山先生的家乡。在孙中山先生的故居中，今天还生长着一棵百年以上树龄的檀香山酸豆树。这是1883年，年仅17岁的孙中山从美国檀香山带回，并亲手栽种在这里的。

中山先生生前十分重视林业建设。他任临时大总统的中华民国南京政府成立不久，就在19__年5月设立了农林部，下设山林司，主管全国林业行政事务。19__年11月颁布了我国近代第一部《森林法》，191_年7月，政府又规定将每年“清明”定为植树节。

孙中山是中国近代最 早意识到森林的重要意义和倡导植树造林的人。

197_年，第五届全国人民代表大会决定，每年的孙中山逝世纪念日——3月12日为我国的植树节，以纪念一贯倡导植树造林的孙中山先生。

我国幅员辽阔，气候条件差异较大，各地适合植树的时间也不尽一致，所以，许多省市还规定了自己的植树日。

同学们，在植树节到来之前也要积极行动起来，在校内保护花草，给花坛里的小花浇一点水，给操场上的小树培一培土，一起来美化绿化我们的校园。除此之外我们同学更要争做绿化宣传员、环保小卫士，要爱护我们校园中的一草一木，爱护我们这个城市中的一草一木。

同学们，在植树节里，让我们牢记，多爱护树木，不攀枝折叶，不砍伐树木。“勿以善小而不为，勿以恶小而为之”，从我做起，从你做起，从小事做起，从身边做起，从现在做起，做绿化、美化环境的有心人。

谢谢大家!

植树节演讲稿三分钟5

老师们，同学们：早上好!

我今天演讲的题目是：植树节，我们期待绿水青山。

今天是3月12日，是一个营造绿色环境，期待绿水青山，呼唤人们爱护环境的特别日子——植树节。

今年的植树节学校没有安排植树活动，同学们可以在自己家的庭前、屋后、阳台栽一棵树，养一盆花，或在今天特别注意爱护学校一草一木等活动来纪念这个节日。

植树节，我赞美绿色，因为有了藻类到参天大树，才使荒芜的地球生机勃勃，才有了动物，才有了人类。

我赞美绿色，由植物开始的植物链养育了地球所有动物，养育了人类。

我赞美绿色，绿色大自然是人类财富的宝藏，也是人类美感与艺术的源泉。

植树节里，我期待有一天，清澈的河流漫游着鱼群，在家乡清澈的小河欢快游淌，鸟儿在枝头放声鸣唱，寂静的春天不再寂静。

谢谢大家!

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇4

good morning, ladies and gentlemen. i’d like to share my teaching dream with you. but before that, i want to say something about the beginning of this dream. in march this year, three teachers from australia came to our school. during the meeting, we exchanged a lot about education. i found that though we have almost the same teaching philosophy, we have different routines. what impressed me most was that their schools end at 3:00 in the afternoon and have no night classes. i can’t tell which kind of routine is better, but the sharp contrast made me think about a better education. the following is a dreamy school in my mind, in which there is no pressure but pleasure.

in this school, the buildings are well designed, close to nature. in the morning, children can read while enjoying the beautiful sunrise. in the evening, they can exercise by the lake reflecting the amazing sunset. in the spring, they can go to the wild, lie on the lawn, and watch the kite flying in the blue sky. in the summer, they can go to the forest, live in a cabin, and listen to the rhythm of the rain. …

students are free but polite and they respect each other. they can leave at 4:00 every afternoon, or perhaps earlier. they have the freedom to organize time. they can go to the library, go to the lab, the computer rooms or the playground. they’re self-motivated and have a strong thirst for knowledge. and there are no frequent exams and rankings. students won’t be forced to wear uniforms everyday, and there is no required hair style. everyday is so colorful that they are looking forward to the next day when going to bed at night,

every teacher in this school can give a course as they like. there is no tedious rating, no scraps of quantitative management and no rigid standard. teachers can fully display their personality in class, and they feel very happy and content to teach. every morning, on thoughts of giving lessons, they are excited. after class, they are delighted , with smiles on their faces. some experts, scholars and masters are also visiting teachers in this school.yang zhenning can give physics classes for a day. yi zhongtian opens lectures on chinese culture for a week. speaking of music, we can ask wang lihong to give music lectures, just as he did in oxford university. if necessary, we can also invite david beckham to speak something about the world cup …

the principal of the school focuses on education rather than waste time in endless meetings and social activities. teachers’ wages are not high but enough to live comfortably. there are no other things to do except to teach. there are no paper requirements, no titles and no ranks because they don’t need to be judged by those things. almost every teacher is a well-known scholar and master in a particular field. a language teacher may be a writer at the same time. a math teacher may try to overcome a world-class guess. a physics teacher can win invention awards and a music teacher may return from an international music competition again.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇5

亲爱的老师、同学们：

你们好!

一年一度的端午节到了。你们知道端午节的来历吗?让我来告诉你们吧!

每年农历五月初五为端午节。端午节是我国民间的传统节日，端午节又称重午节。关于端午节还有一道儿歌呢：“五月五，是端阳。插艾叶，戴香囊。吃粽子，撒白糖。龙船下水喜洋洋。”

每年我们都要吃粽子，传说是：“屈原投江，老百姓怕屈原尸体被鱼、虾吃掉，所以用竹筒装好米食投入江中，后来演变成用竹叶包好投入江里喂鱼、虾。”我们还要把菖蒲绑成一束，挂在门前，象征去除不祥的宝剑，用来避邪驱魔。

端午节最隆重的活动就是划龙舟。他的来历是：相传起源于古时楚国人因舍不得贤臣屈原投江死去，许多人划船追赶拯救。他们争先恐后，追至洞庭湖时不见踪迹。我们现代人以划龙舟来纪念屈原。

我知道的端午知识还可以吧!你们知道吗?

谢谢大家!

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇6

Hello! Everyone. I’m Tony, an 11-year-old happy boy.I live with my parents and we love each other.

I have many hobbies, such as sports, singing and reading books.And I love animals most. Now I will tell you about my favorite animal.

They are very precious sea animals with long bodies.Theylive on fish, shrimps and so on.They are very clever. People often train them for performances which brings us a lot of happiness and joy.They are very friendly and peaceful. They never attack people. Instead, they have saved many people in danger.

Now,do you know what they are? Yes, you are right. They are dolphins.

I hope we can take actions to protect dolphins, so they will always be with us.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇7

Good afternoon Dear teachers and my fellow classmates, I really appreciate having this opportunity to introduce myself. I’m from …… school of class. I’ve been paying attention to the Outlook English for many years and I am very interested in it For me, learning English is considered an enjoyment. At first, I have not participated in any oral competition before and I hesitated. I thought it was a hard thing to do in the past but I now believed that I should have a try. My teachers and friends have also given me the courage and I’ve become more confident through the process and that’s why I’m standing here. Everybody should have the courage to catch the chance and hold on to the given opportunity. If we didn’t try , how can we be near our goals? I believe we can all achieve our goals if we continue to take a step forward.

Just like when I’m learning English, the courage of facing the difficulties and my goal motivated me to move forward. Just as the old saying goes, “the one who you must defeat is you yourself”, not only did I attained experiences and confidence throughout the process, I am also willing to learn that in order to improve, I had to defeat myself.

finally, I wish to thank all of my teachers and friends who gave me the chance here to participate in this activity, and I am really grateful and that I will strive for the better. Thank you for your kind attention and have a nice afternoon.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇8

feeling of youth

no young man believes he shall ever die. it was a saying of my brother's, and a fine one. there is a feeling of eternity in youth, which makes us amend for everything. to be young is to be as one of the immortal gods. one half of time indeed is flown-the other half remains in store for us with all its countletreasures; for there is no line drawn, and we see no limit to our hopes and wishes. we make the coming age our own-

the vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us.

death. old age. are words without a meaning. that paby us like the idea air which we regard not. others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them-we "bear a charmed life“, which laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies. as in setting out on delightful journey, we strain our eager gaze forward-

bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail!

and see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance; so, in the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations. nor to the unrestricted opportunities of gratifying them. we have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag; and it seems that we can go on so forever. we look round in a new world, full of life, and motion, and ceaseleprogress; and feel in ourselves all the vigor and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things, decline into old age, and drop into the grave. it is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedneof our feelings in youth, that (so to speak) identifies us with nature, and (our experience being slight and our passions strong) deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it. our short-lives connection with existence we fondly flatter ourselves, is an indissoluble and lasting union-a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar, nor separation. as infants smile and sleep, we are rocked in the cradle of our wayward fancies, and lulled into security by the roar of the universe around us0we quaff the cup of life with eager haste without draining it, instead of which it only overflows the more-objects prearound us, filling the mind with their magnitude and with the strong of desires that wait upon them, so that we have no room for the thoughts of death.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇9

小朋友，你们听，这首儿歌念的是什么?(放录音：三字经儿歌)，对啦，这是《三字经》。《三字经》是我国古代的教育家孔子根据我国传统的教育、伦理、道德以及民间的一些传说等写成的。小朋友想一想：每句话都是几个字组成的?对啦，每句话都是三个字。那么，你们知道这些话都说的什么意思吗?

“人之初，性本善，性相近，习相远”讲的是：人生下来原本都是一样，但从小不好好教育，善良的本性就会变坏。所以，小朋友从小就要好好学习，区分善恶，才能成为一个对社会有用的人才。后面还有很多，以后老师会慢慢将给你们听的。

现在跟着老师一起来读《三字经》好不好?

“人之初，性本善，性相近，习相远，苟不教、性乃迁，教之道，贵以专”(反复两遍)

小朋友，记住了吗?下次老师再接着念给你们听。

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇10

change the ingredients of your life

this is a glass of water, tasteless, right? however if you add sugar, it will taste sweet, but if you add vinegar, it will become bitter. the same is true with our life____ the flavor is created by our choices.

if kindness is added to a strange you will have a friend; but if hostility is added, you will have an enemy. if love is added to a pile of red bricks you will have a home, but if hatred is add to those bricks , you will have an concentration camp.

so my dear friends, never complain that life is boring and the world is disappointing. if don’t like the taste of your life, change the ingredients. three year ago, i weighed more than 100 hundred kilograms which caused significant embarrassment and frustration in my life. like always failing my p.e examinations, like always being laughed at by girls, like being terrified to speak in public. it was my grandmother’s encouragement that revived from my passive attitude to become confident in myself. she said “ my dear, if you can’t change you figure, why not treat it as your own style. so i began to cautiously employ the new way of thinking. by choosing to change my outlook on life, i developed the confidence to make a difference and finally i found a totally new world. so my dear friend, if faith, hope, love, endurance are added to your life, you will find the confidence to conquer your limitation and embrace new challenges. and hopefully with my speech included, you will have a fantastic speech contest.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇11

every one of us, rich or poor, should at least have one or two good friends. my friends will listen to me when i want to speak, will wipe my eyes when i cry, will take care of me when i am sick, and my friends will go together with me side by side through this journey of life.

but in this fast-developing modern society, the reality is not that. more and more people forget to enjoy the beauty of friendship. they work hard in order to gain a higher position in the society and to earn more money for their work. they have few time to share with their friends. with the time goes by, they will be far away from each other.

friend is kind of treasure in our lives. it's actually like a bottle of wine, the longer it is kept, the sweeter it will be. it also likes a cup of hot tea, when we are in bed time, it will warm our broken hearts.

friends,especially best friends. it is what we should have in our lives,and it can make our lives be colorful go beyond our imagination.

thanks for your listening. this is what i concerned.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇12

借此机会，首先我要感谢学院领导老师一年来对我的鼓励、指导和关怀。其次我要感谢大家在学习、生活、工作上给予我的支持与帮助。

这次社联的换届选举，为我们每一个人提供了更多发挥自我，展示自我的空间和舞台，同时也为我们提供了成长、锻炼的机会和平台。面对这次竞选，我曾徘徊、考虑、迟凝很久，最后我鼓足勇气走上了讲台，陈词自己的见解与想法。今天，我竞选的岗位是社联宣传部部长。

宣传部是社联比较重要的一个部门，宣传工作的好与坏直接影响到社联的形象。当前，社联宣传工作最重的压力是加强宣传力度，最大的难题是提高社联影响力，最大的优势是有充足的人力资源。假如我这次我竞选成功，我将从以下几个方面来做好宣传部的工作：

第一、加强队伍建设虽然社联宣传部有较充足的人力资源，但是要做到人尽其才，各尽其责，充分调动大家的积极性，这不是一件容易的事，所以要加强队伍的自身建设着手，只有自身建设搞好了，其他的宣传工作才能顺利开展。

第二、加强宣传力度社联从筹建到现在的全面运作，可以说在学院的知名度还不是很高，很多同学只知道有学生会，并不知道有社团联合会，也许是社联太年轻了吧!但是我相信，如果从多方面来加强社联的宣传力度，将会有更多的人了解社联、关注社联。

第三、加强海报管理为了更好的规范海报的张贴，保证海报的质量以及宣传效果，宣传部将制定海报管理制度，对各社团海报的内容、书写与张贴进行质量监督，使宣传能达到预定的效果。

总之，我会尽几之力，尽几之能与大家共同努力把社联的宣传工作做好。最后我用一句话来结束我的演讲，那就是“踏踏实实做人、勤勤恳恳做事”。

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇13

however, in this fast-developing modern society, the reality is not that. more and more people forget to enjoy the beauty of life and -the beauty of friendship. they work hard in order to gain a higher position, in the society and to earn more money for their work. of course, we don't deny that it is important to find a bet-ter place in our lives, but we wish more and more people could pay a little more attention to themselves and their friends. all of us have to spare some time for personal lives. we have to find the chance to express our emotion and love. when staying with our friends, we can release ourselves completely. we can do whatever we want, we can laugh together, talk together, and even cry to-gether. i should say that being together with our best friends is the most wonderful moment of our lives.

as we know, we would feel lonely if we didn't even have a friend. but it doesn't mean we could depend on our friends all the time. there is a famous motto saying that “a friend is like a quilt with cotton wadding, but the real thing that keeps you warm is your own temperature.” it is really true. we have to work hard together with our friends, encourage each other and help each other. when we receive love and friendship, we should repay as much as we can.

finally, let's pray together now that one day, all of us could find the person we want to find, and could enjoy a real beautiful friendship in our lives. let's pray the flower of friendship be-tween our friends and us would always bloom brightly in our hearts.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇14

真正的友情不依靠什么，不依靠事业、祸福和身份，不依靠经历、地位和处境。他在本质上拒绝功利，拒绝归属，拒绝契约。他是独立人格之间的互相呼应和确认，他使人们独而不孤，互相解读自己存在的意义。因此，所谓朋友，是使对方活得更加温暖、更加自在的那些人。

友情因无所求而深刻，不管彼此是平衡还是不平衡。友情是精神上的寄托。有时他并不需要太多的言语，只需要一份默契。

人生在世，可以没有功业，却不可以没有友情。以友情助功业则功业成;为功业找友情则友情亡。二者不可颠倒。

人的一生需要接触很多人，因此，有两个层次的友情。宽泛意义的友情和严格意义的友情，没有前者未免拘谨，没有后者难于深刻。

宽泛意义的友情是一个人全部履历的光明面，但不管多宽，都要警惕邪恶，防范虚伪，反对背判;严格意义的友情是一个人终其一生所寻找的精神归宿。但在没有寻找到真正友情的时候，只能继续寻找，而不能随脚停驻。因此，我们不能轻言知己。一旦得到真正友情。我们要倍加珍惜。

来一次世间，容易吗?

有一次相遇，容易吗?

叫一声朋友，容易吗?

我们只能学会珍惜!每一个人都会有缺点，我们要学会用一颗宽容的心去对待每一个人，原谅他人就等于原谅我们自己，帮助他人就等于帮助我们自己，世界是美好的，不要把每一个人都想得那么邪恶，每一个人都是美丽的天使，他们用自己所学的知识造福人类，人与人是平等的，不会因为自己的家庭背景而低人一等或者高人一等，我们每个人都是一样的，贫穷与富贵要靠我们自己的努力，善有善报，恶有恶报，不是不报，时候未到，多做好事少做坏事，做事要凭良心做!

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇15

Good afternoon, everyone!

The topic of my speech today is “Being a Good Listener”.

Good listening can always show respect, promote understanding, and improve interpersonal relationship.

Many people suggest that parents should listen more to their children, so they will understand them better, and find it easy to narrow the generation gap; teachers should listen more to their students, then they can meet their needs better, and place themselves in a good relationship with their students; students should listen more to their classmates, thus they will help and learn from each other, and a friendship is likely to be formed.

What I want to stress is that each of us should listen more to others. Show your respect and never stop others till they finish their talk; show you are interested by a supportive silence or a knowing smile; be open-minded to different opinions even though you don’t like them. In a word, good listening can really enable us to get closer to each other.

Thank you for your listening!

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇16

hello,everyone. good afternoon. thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about my top concern. i'm no.26, i'll talk about friend.

everyone of us,rich or poor,should at least have one or two good friends. my friend will listen to me when i want to speak, will help me when i need,will take care of me when i am sick,and my friends will go together with me side by side through this journey of life.

when i was ten, i was suddenly confronted with the anguish of transferring to other school. i had to left my friends i had ever known. as a kid,i feel lonely when i study in a new environment without a person i had known. nobody i could talk,nobody could know when i feel lonely. the time when i couldn't sleep, i'll always miss them, then the tears filled my eyes.

later, i became familar with the environment ,and made some friends ,which became my best friends then. they talked with me when i felt lonely, they helped me when i needed, they took care of me when i was sick. even through we were part, we still keep in touch with each other.

in our whole lives,we'll meet too much people but only a few can be our best friends. when staying with them,we can release ourself completely. we can do whatever we want, we can laugh together, talk together, and even cry together. i should say that being together with our best friends is the most wonderful moment of our lives.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇17

Most people would like to be popular with others, but not everyone can achieve this goal. What is the secret to popularity? In fact, it is very simple. The first step is to improve our appearance. We should always make sure that we stay in good shape and dress well.

When we are healthy and well'groomed, we will not only look better but also feel better. In addition, we should smile and appear friendly. After all, our facial expression is an important part of our appearance. If we can do this, people will be attracted to our good looks and impressed by our confidence.

Another important step is developing more consideration for others. We should always put others first and place their interests before our own. It's also important to be good listeners; in this way people will feel comfortable enough to confide in us. However, no matter what we do, we must not gossip.

Above all, we must remember to be ourselves, not phonies. Only by being sincere and respectful of others can we earn their respect. If we can do all of the above, I am sure popularity will come our way.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇18

in the matter of courage we all have our limits. there never was a hero who did not have his bounds. i suppose it may be said of nelson and all the others whose courage has been advertised that there came times in their lives when their bravery knew it had come to its limit.

i have found mine a good many times. sometimes this was expected--often it was unexpected. i know a man who is not afraid to sleep with a rattle-snake, but you could not get him to sleep with a safety-razor.

i never had the courage to talk across a long, narrow room. i should be at the end of the room facing all the audience. if i attempt to talk across a room i find myself turning this way and that, and thus at alternate periods i have part of the audience behind me. you ought never to have any part of the audience behind you; you never can tell what they are going to do.

i'll sit down.

英语即兴三分钟演讲 篇19

One day in 1819, 3,000 miles off the coast of Chile, in one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean, 20 American sailors watched their ship flood with seawater.

They'd been struck by a sperm whale, which had ripped a catastrophic hole in the ship's hull. As their ship began to sink beneath the swells, the men huddled together in three small whaleboats.

These men were 10,000 miles from home, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest scrap of land. In their small boats, they carried only rudimentary navigational equipment and limited supplies of food and water.

These were the men of the whaleship Essex, whose story would later inspire parts of “Moby Dick.”

Even in today's world, their situation would be really dire, but think about how much worse it would have been then.

No one on land had any idea that anything had gone wrong. No search party was coming to look for these men. So most of us have never experienced a situation as frightening as the one in which these sailors found themselves, but we all know what it's like to be afraid.

We know how fear feels, but I'm not sure we spend enough time thinking about what our fears mean.

As we grow up, we're often encouraged to think of fear as a weakness, just another childish thing to discard like baby teeth or roller skates.

And I think it's no accident that we think this way. Neuroscientists have actually shown that human beings are hard'wired to be optimists.

So maybe that's why we think of fear, sometimes, as a danger in and of itself. “Don't worry,” we like to say to one another. “Don't panic.” In English, fear is something we conquer. It's something we fight.

It's something we overcome. But what if we looked at fear in a fresh way? What if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination, something that can be as profound and insightful as storytelling itself?

It's easiest to see this link between fear and the imagination in young children, whose fears are often extraordinarily vivid.

When I was a child, I lived in California, which is, you know, mostly a very nice place to live, but for me as a child, California could also be a little scary.

I remember how frightening it was to see the chandelier that hung above our dining table swing back and forth during every minor earthquake, and I sometimes couldn't sleep at night, terrified that the Big One might strike while we were sleeping.

And what we say about kids who have fears like that is that they have a vivid imagination. But at a certain point, most of us learn to leave these kinds of visions behind and grow up.

We learn that there are no monsters hiding under the bed, and not every earthquake brings buildings down. But maybe it's no coincidence that some of our most creative minds fail to leave these kinds of fears behind as adults.