摘要：你的生活与其说取决于生活带给你的什么，倒不如说取决于你对生活报以什么样的态度；与其说取决于发生在你身上的事情, 倒不是说取决于你对所发生的事的看法。——纪伯伦

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. —— Khalil Gibran

你的生活与其说取决于生活带给你的什么，倒不如说取决于你对生活报以什么样的态度；与其说取决于发生在你身上的事情, 倒不是说取决于你对所发生的事的看法。——纪伯伦

这是著名黎巴嫩阿拉伯诗人纪伯伦的一句名言。句中用了两个not so much …… as …… 结构。

not so much …… as …… “与其说……, 不如说……”肯定后面，否定前面。

可以连接两个并列成分比如动词、名词、介词短语、不定式等。比较状语从句。例：

She doesn't so much like him as wants to control him.

她与其说是喜欢他，不如说是想控制他。

A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.

聪明的恋人不在乎爱人给的礼物，而在乎给礼物人的爱。

He is not so much a writer as a reporter.

他与其说是个作家，毋宁说是个记者。

Helen is not so much an auther as a teacher.

海伦与其说是位作家，不如说是位老师。

He is not so much my teacher as my friend.

与其说他是我的老师，不如说他是我的朋友。

His happiness is not so much for his success as for your kind help.

他的开心与其说是因为他的成功，还不如说是因为你的好心帮助。

She was not so much leaving her job as it was leaving her.

与其说是她辞了工作，不如说是工作辞了她。

Success lies not so much in luck as in hard work.

成功与其说在于运气，不如说在于努力工作。

Her success was not so much by chance as by diligence.

她的成功与其说由于机遇，不如说是由于勤奋。

There came an explosion, not so much a bang as a shaking like an earthquake.

发生了一次爆炸，没听到一声轰然巨响，倒像是地震那样地面猛晃了晃。

We do not so much help her as teach her.

与其说我在帮她，不如说我们在教她。

His manner is not so much regal as professorial

他的言行举止不太像帝王，倒更像学者一些。

The greatest use of a school education is not so much to teach you things as to teach you the art of learning.

学校教育的巨大作用与其说是教你知识，不如说是教你学习的方法。

One’s greatness lies not so much in his wealth as in his character.

一个人的伟大尤其说是他的财富来判断，还不如说是由他的品德来判断。

The life is not so much to teach us how to solve the problems as to teach us how to facethe differculties.

生活与其说教我们怎么样解决问题，不如说教我们怎么样正视困境。

Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.

与其说人类的幸福来自偶尔发生的鸿运，不如说来自每天都有的小实惠。

The oceans do not so much divide the world as unite it.

与其说海洋把世界分隔开来,不如说把世界连接起来。

A good birth depends not so much on who you are but where you are and how much you know.

好的出身与其说是取决于你的身份，还不如说是取决于你的生活环境和知识水平。（第二个as可以换成but或rather,）《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》

而"not so much as"="without(not)even,"可译为"甚至……还没有"。

He can not so much as spell this simple word.

他甚至连这么简单的单词也不会拼。

来源：翅膀英语一点号