I have been attached, deeply attached, to a few people; but I have been interested in men in general not for their own sakes, but for the sake of my work. I have not, as Kant enjoined, regarded each man as an end in himself, but as material that might be useful to me as a writer. I have been more concerned with the obscure than with the famous. They are more often themselves. They have had no need to create a figure to protect themselves from the world or to impress it. Their idiosyncrasies have had more chance to develop in the limited circle of their activity, and since they have never been in the public eye it has never occurred to them that they have anything to conceal. They display their oddities because it has never struck them that they are odd. And after all it is with the common run of men that we writers have to deal; kings, dictators, commercial magnates are from our point of view very unsatisfactory. To write about them is a venture that has often tempted writers, but the failure that has attended their efforts shows that such beings are too exceptional to form a proper ground for a work of art. They cannot be made real. The ordinary is the writer’s richer field. Its unexpectedness, its singularity, its infinite variety afford unending material. The great man is too often all of a piece; it is the little man that is a bundle of contradictory elements. He is inexhaustible. You never come to the end of the surprises he has in store for you. For my part I would much sooner spend a month on a desert island with a veterinary surgeon than with a prime minister.

Life moves relentlessly forward one day at a time, and there is nothing any of us can do to stop it or slow it down.

We are all getting older every day, but we don’t have to grow older every day. Taking time to daydream, visit a friend, watch your children grow, or just work in your garden is time well-spent. People are always rushing to tomorrow. We are being prodded4 into the future by faster computers, shorter delivery times, and a general need to have it, do it, and see it all now!

Take time today for yourself. Take time to breathe in life, all of it: its color, splendor5, smells, tastes, and sounds. From the smallest, most insignificant6 event to the things you have taken for granted.

Tomorrow will be here before you know it. Today will be a distant7 memory before you realize it. We create our futures and memories in the present. Go through life today, conscious of your surroundings.

Why not take a long weekend walking through nature? xiaogushi8.com There are a lot of lessons that nature can teach us, if we will only carefully watch and listen.

Today is a gift of life. Live it with thankfulness and don’t let the sun set today without seeing it, embracing it, and enjoying it.

Seven Chinese nationals have been charged with enacting a widespread cyber-attack campaign.

They are accused of ties to a hacking operation that ran for 14 years.

The US state department announced a reward of up to $10m (£8m) for information on the seven men.

The justice department said hackers had targeted US and foreign critics of China, businesses, and politicians.

The seven men allegedly sent over 10,000 "malicious emails, impacting thousands of victims, across multiple continents", in what the justice department called a "prolific global hacking operation" backed by China's government.

"Today's announcement exposes China's continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation's cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation," FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

"As long as China continues to target the US and our partners, the FBI will continue to send a clear message that cyber espionage will not be tolerated, and we will tirelessly pursue those who threaten our nation's security and prosperity," he added.

The charges come after the UK's government also accused China of being responsible for "malicious cyber campaigns" targeting the country's Electoral Commission and politicians. Diplomats at the Chinese embassy in London said it "strongly opposes" the accusations, calling them "completely fabricated and malicious slanders".

New Zealand's government also said its parliament had been targeted by China-backed hackers, the New Zealand Herald reported.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington DC said "without valid evidence, relevant countries jumped to an unwarranted conclusion" and "made groundless accusations".

• UK hits out at Chinese-backed cyber-attacks

In an indictment setting out charges against the seven Chinese men, US prosecutors said the hacking resulted in the confirmed or potential compromise of work accounts, personal emails, online storage and telephone call records.

The emails they are accused of sending targets often appeared to be from prominent news outlets or journalists, containing hidden tracking links. If a person opened the email sent to them, their information - including their location and IP addresses - would be sent to a server allegedly controlled by the seven defendants.

This information was then used to enable more "direct and sophisticated targeted hacking, such as compromising the recipients' home routers and other electronic devices", US prosecutors said.

As well as targeting US government officials working at the White House and US state departments, and in some cases their spouses, they were also said to have targeted foreign dissidents globally.

In one example cited by the justice department, the men "successfully compromised Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and their associates located in Hong Kong, the United States, and other foreign locations with identical malware".

US companies were hacked too, with the men allegedly targeting defence, information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and trade, finance, consulting, legal, and research industries.

Companies targeted included defence contractors who provide services to the US military and "a leading provider of 5G network equipment", the justice department said.