Visions and Ideals
愿望与理想

你的愿望与理想是什么？不同的人会有不同的答案。不能否认的是，不管一个人的理想是什么，他/她所取得的成就都是由自己心中的愿望和理想所决定的。一个人可能暂时处于低谷，但只要他/她有远大的理想并不断为之而努力，总会越来越靠近成功。梦想是现实的萌芽。

James Allen
詹姆斯·艾伦

He who cherishes a beautiful vision and a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered it; Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it.

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.

Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the vision of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts, you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision, your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.

The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grown rich, they say, “How lucky he is!” Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, “How highly favored he is!”

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart—this your will build your life by, this you will become.

心中珍藏着美好愿望和崇高理想的人，终有一天会将它们变成现实。哥伦布怀着对另一个世界的愿景，于是他发现了新大陆；哥白尼想象着有多重世界，想象着宇宙范围其实更大，而他后来确实揭示了这一点。

最伟大的成就最初并在一段时间里只是一个梦想。橡树从橡子里萌发，小鸟需要等待破壳而出，苏醒的天使诞生自心灵最崇高的愿望。梦想是现实的萌芽。

你当前的处境也许并不顺遂，但是如果你心怀梦想，并为了实现梦想而努力奋斗，那么这种状况很快就会改变。一个人的内心在发生变化的时候，他的外在也会发生变化。而你们也一样，年轻的读者们，不论你们心中的理想是渺小还是绚丽，或者两者兼而有之，因为你终将被心里的最爱所吸引，所以那梦想也终究会实现。你双手中握着的将会是你自己思想的结果，你的收获也都是自己争取来的，不会多也不会少。不管你现在身处什么样的环境，你都会跟随你的思想、愿望和理想起起落落或者原地不动。你可以变得像你那被约束的心愿那样渺小，也可以变得像你那崇高的抱负那般伟大。

那些轻率、无知和懒惰的人，只能看见事情的表面，而看不到事物本身，总是认为一切都是靠运气、命运和机会。看到别人变得富有，他们会说：“他太幸运了！”看到一个人变得聪明睿智，他们会惊呼：“上天真是眷顾他啊！”

人类所有的事情都需要人们自己去付出努力，也都会产生结果，而衡量结果的标准便是为之努力的程度，而不是运气。天赋、力量、物质、智慧和精神财富都是努力的结果；它们是被付诸实践的想法，是被完成的目标，是被实现的愿望。

塑造你的生命和未来的，便是你心中崇尚的愿望和理想。

巧记词汇

lofty [ˈlɒfti] a. 崇高的

【拓】loft [lɒft] n. 阁楼；顶楼

foster [ˈfɒstə(r)] v. 抱有（希望）

【拓】cultivate [ˈkʌltɪveɪt] v. 培养

multiplicity [ˌmʌltɪˈplɪsəti] n. 多重性

【拓】multiple [ˈmʌltɪpl] a. 多重的

acorn [ˈeɪkɔːn] n. 橡子

【拓】oak [əʊk] n. 橡树

uncongenial [ˌʌnkənˈdʒiːniəl] a. 不称心的

【拓】pleasant [ˈpleznt] a. 惬意的

gravitate [ˈɡrævɪteɪt] v. 被吸引到

【拓】attract [əˈtrækt] v. 吸引

indolent [ˈɪndələnt] a. 懒惰的

【拓】diligent [ˈdɪlɪdʒənt] a. 勤勉的

glorify [ˈɡlɔːrɪfaɪ] v. 崇尚

【拓】glorious [ˈɡlɔːriəs] a. 光荣的

enthrone [ɪnˈθrəʊn] v. 崇拜；立……为王

【拓】admire [ədˈmaɪə(r)] v. 崇敬

趣学短语

strive to do sth. 努力做某事

【例】Though it might be difficult, I hope you could strive to make the best of life. 我希望你能够努力过好人生的每一天，虽然要做到这一点可能并不容易。