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Certain phrases one commonly hears among Americans capture their devotion to individualism:
经常能从美国人那儿听到的一些常用语，不难看出他们崇尚个人主义：
Do your own thing.
“自己的事自己做。”
I did it my way.
“我按自己的办法做了这件事。”
You'll have to decide that for yourself.
“你得自己拿主意。”
You made your bed, now lie in it.
“你这是自作自受。”
If you don't look out for yourself, no one else will.
“天助自助者。”
Look out for number one.
“要谋求自身的利益。”
Closely associated with the value they place on individualism is the importance Americans assign to privacy.
美国人对隐私的重视与他们的个人主义价值观密切相关。
Americans assume that people need some time to themselves
美国人认为人们“需要一些留给自己的时间”
or some time alone to think about things or recover their spent psychological energy.
或“一些独处的时间”来考虑事情或者恢复耗尽的心理能量。
Americans have great difficulty understanding foreigners who always want to be with another person, who dislike being alone.
美国人很难理解有人总是想同别人在一起，不喜欢一人独处。
If the parents can afford it, each child will have his or her own bedroom
如果父母有条件，每个孩子都会有自己的卧室，
Having ones own bedroom even as an infant,
甚至连婴儿也拥有自己的卧室，
fixes in a person the notion that she is entitled to a place of her own where she can be by herself, and keep her possessions.
这就使人们具有了这样的思想，即他们有权利拥有一块属于他们自己的地方，在那儿他们能够独处，而且能够保存他们的物品。
She will have her clothes her toys, her books, and so on.
有自己的衣服、玩具、书本等等。
These things will be hers and no one elses.
这些东西是他们的私人物品。
Americans assume that people will have their private thoughts that might never be shared with anyone.
美国人认为，人们有自己的、无需跟任何人分享的“秘密想法”。
Doctors, lawyers, psychiatrists, and others have rules governing confidentiality
医生、律师、精神科医生还有其它专业人士都有关于“保守秘密”的原则，
that are intended to prevent information about their clients personal situations from becoming known to others.
这些原则的目的就在于防止他人获知他们的病人或当事人的私人情况。
Americans attitudes about privacy can be hard for foreigners to understand.
美国人对于隐私的态度可能会让外国人难以理解。
American's houses, yards and even their offices can seem open and inviting.
美国人的房子，院子，甚至办公室似乎都对外人开放，欢迎外人进去，
Yet in the minds of Americans, there are boundaries that other people are simply not supposed to cross.
然而，在美国人的思想中，却有着他人绝对不应跨越的界限。
When those boundaries are crossed, an Americans body will visibly stiffen and his manner will become cool and aloof.
一旦这些界限被跨越，美国人便会板起面孔，他们的态度也会变得冷漠。
