第6章 踏上梦想的舞台，书写精彩
Come On the Stage of Dreams
Life is tough, whether we want it to be or not. What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the Eternal, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be swept asunder.
不管我们愿不愿意，生活总是艰难的。我们需要做的是祈祷深植我们的信念之根，这样，当面对风吹雨打时，我们就不会被伤害。
■鞋钉
The Shoe Tacks
◎Tom Cawley
The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks fly from his hammer. The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith everyday and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman（tradesman[treidzmən]n. 零售商，店主；手艺人，技工） worked.
"Young man, why don't you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks, even if it is only to pass the time?" said the blacksmith. "Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you." The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to take up residence in another country. It so happened that in this village there were numerous（numerous['nju:mərəs]a. 许多的；为数众多的） shoemakers who were spending a lot of money to buy tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers' shoes.
美丽语录
Give everything a shot. You never know what (or who) is going to change your life.
任何事情都应该去尝试一下，因为你无法知道，什么样的事或人将会改变你的一生。
琼斯是个勤劳的铁匠，常常一整天都在他的店里工作。他工作非常努力，他的锤子时常会火花四溅。史密斯先生的儿子，一个很有钱的邻居，几乎每天都来看铁匠工作。他喜欢观看这位工匠工作，而且一看就是几小时。
“年轻人，你为什么不尝试一下如何制作鞋钉呢，哪怕只是用来消磨时间？”铁匠说，“谁知道呢，有一天，它或许就会对你有用呢。”那个懒孩子开始想看看自己到底能做什么。但是，仅仅经过小小的实践练习，他就发现自己变得非常熟练，很快他就做出了最好的鞋钉。
老史密斯先生去世了，他的儿子则因为战争而失去了所有的财产。他不得不离开家园，被迫住在了另一个国家。事情就是这样巧合，这个国家的这个地区急需大量军鞋，所以这个村子里有很多鞋匠，而他们总是花费很多钱购买鞋钉。甚至有时即使付了很高的价钱，也买不到他们想要的鞋钉。
Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain（bargain['bɑ:gin]n. 协议；买卖，交易） with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in his workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village. "How funny it seems," he used to say. "Even making tacks can bring a fortune. My trade is more useful to me than were all my former riches."
在这食不果腹的艰难时刻，我们的小史密斯先生想起了自己从前学过制鞋钉这门手艺，突然冒出了一个想法，和这些鞋匠做一个交易。他告诉他们，如果他们帮他成立一个店铺，他就可以做鞋钉。结果，鞋匠们对他的这一提议欣喜若狂。过了不久，史密斯先生发现他做的鞋钉是村里最好的。“看起来可真有意思，”他常常会说，“即便是做鞋钉也会带来财富。与我以前所有的财富相比，我现在的生意更有益。”
■每个人都有梦想
Everybody Has a Dream
◎Virginia Satir
Some years ago I took on an assignment in a southern county to work with people on public welfare. What I wanted to do was show that everybody has the capacity to be self-sufficient and all we have to do is to activate them. I asked the county to pick a group of people who were on public welfare, people from different racial groups and different family constellations. I would then see them as a group for three hours every Friday. I also asked for a little petty cash to work with, as I needed it.
The first thing I said after I shook hands with everybody was, "I would like to know what your dreams are." Everyone looked at me as if I were kind of wacky.
"Dreams? We don't have dreams."
I said, "Well, when you were a kid what happened? Wasn't there something you wanted to do?"
One woman said to me, "I don't know what you can do with dreams. The rats are eating up my kids."
"Oh," I said. "That's terrible. No, of course, you are very much involved with the rats and your kids. How can that be helped?"
名人语库
No man is useless in this world who lightens the burden of someone else.
~Charles Dickens
在这个世界上能为别人减轻负担的人都是有用的。
——查尔斯·狄更斯
几年前，我被派遣到南部的一个镇上去指导依靠公共福利生活的人。我想做的就是告诉每个人，他们都有自给自足的能力，我们要做的就是激励他们。我让镇里挑选一批靠公共福利生活的人，他们应来自不同的种族和不同的家庭出身。然后，我会在每星期五与这些人待上3个小时。我还申请了一小笔工作资金，以备不时之需。
在同每个人一一握手之后，我说的第一句话就是：“我想知道你们的梦想都是什么。”每个人都用异样的眼光看着我，好像我是一个怪人。
“梦想？我们没有梦想。”
我说：“好吧，当你们还是个孩子的时候呢？你们没有什么想做的事吗？”
一位女士对我说：“我不知道有了梦想又能做什么。老鼠就要吃掉我的孩子了。”
"Well, I could use a new screen door because there are holes in my screen door."
I asked, "Is there anybody around here who knows how to fix a screen door?"
There was a man in the group, and he said, "A long time ago I used to do things like that but now I have a terribly bad back, but I'll try."
I told him I had some money if he would go to the store and buy some screening and go and fix the lady's screen door.
"Do you think you can do that?"
"Yes, I'll try."
The next week, when the group was seated, I said to the woman, "Well, is your screen door fixed?"
"Oh, yes," she said.
"Then we can start dreaming, can't we?" She sort of smiled at me.
I said to the man who did the work, "How do you feel?"
He said, "Well, you know, it's a very funny thing. I'm beginning to feel a lot better."
That helped the group to begin to dream. These seemingly small successes allowed the group to see that dreams were not insane. These small steps began to get people to see and feel that something really could happen.
I began to ask other people about their dreams. One woman shared that she always wanted to be a secretary. I said, "Well, what stands in your way?" (That's always my next question.)
She said, "I have six kids, and I don't have anyone to take care of them while I'm away."
"Let's find out," I said.
“哦，”我说，“那可真糟糕。你老是想着老鼠和你的孩子，那梦想当然没什么用。怎样才能帮到你呢？”
“嗯……我也许需要一扇新的纱门，我的纱门洞太多了。”
我问：“这里有没有谁知道怎么安装纱门？”
这时，人群里有个男人说道：“很久以前，我常做那样的工作，但现在我的背痛得厉害，不过我会试试。”
我告诉他我有些钱，问他能否去商店买些网眼纱，然后去帮那位女士安装纱门。
“你认为你能做到这些吗？”
“是的，我试试。”
一周以后，当小组成员都坐好后，我对那位女士说：“好吧，你的纱门安装好了吗？”
“哦，是的。”她说。
“那么我们可以开始梦想了，不是吗？”她对我笑了笑。
我对那个安装纱门的男人说：“你感觉如何？”
他说：“噢，你知道，这是件很有趣的事。我现在感觉好多了。”
这件事使得整组人开始梦想起来。这些看似微不足道的成功让他们领会到，梦想并不愚蠢。这些小小的步骤开始让人们看见并感受到，有些事情真的会发生。
我开始询问其他人的梦想。一位女士分享道，她一直想做一个秘书。我说：“嗯，那么是什么阻碍了你的梦想呢？”（这总是我下一个要问的问题。）
她说：“我有6个孩子，当我外出的时候，我找不到人去照顾他们。”
"Is there anybody in this group who would take care of six kids for a day or two a week while this woman gets some training here at the community college?"
One woman said, "I got kids, too, but I could do that."
"Let's do it," I said. So a plan was created and the woman went to school.
Everyone found something. The man who put in the screen door became a handyman. The woman who took in the children became a licensed foster care person. In 12 weeks I had all these people off public welfare. I've not only done that once, I've done in many times.
“让我们来看看有没有办法。”我说。
“这位女士每周在社区大学接受培训的一两天里，这个小组里有人能照顾一下她的6个孩子吗？”
一位女士说道：“我也有孩子，但我可以帮忙。”
“那就这么办。”我说。于是一个计划出炉了，那位女士去上课了。
每个人都有所领悟。那位安装纱门的男人成了一名杂务工。这位帮忙照看孩子的女人成了一名有执照的看护师。12周后，我使得这组人都不再依靠公共福利而生活。这样的事，我不仅只成功了一次，而是已经帮助了更多的人自食其力。
■年轻与年老
Youth and Age
◎Robert Louis Stevenson
As we grow old, a sort of equable jog-trot of feeling is substituted for the violent ups and downs of passion and disgust; the same influence that restrains our hopes, quiets our apprehensions（apprehensions[,æpri'henʃənz]n. 恐惧，忧虑，担心（apprehension的名词复数）） ; if the pleasures are less intense, the troubles are milder and more tolerable; and in a word, this period for which we are asked to hoard up everything as for a time of famine, is, in its own right, the richest, easiest, and happiest of life. Nay, by managing its own work and following its own happy inspiration, youth is doing the best it can to endow the leisure of age. A full, busy youth is your only prelude to a self-contained and independent age; and the muff inevitably develops into the bore. There are not many Doctor Johnsons, to set forth upon their first romantic voyage at sixty-four. If we wish to scale Mont Blanc or go down in a diving dress or up in a balloon, we must be about it while we are still young. It will not do to delay until we are clogged with prudence and limping with rheumatism（rheumatism['ru:mətizəm]n. 风湿病） and people begin to ask us: "What does Gravity out of bed?" Youth is the time to go flashing from one end of the world to the other both in mind and body; to try the manners of different nations; to hear the chimes at midnight; to see sunrise in town and country; to be converted at a revival; to circumnavigate the metaphysics, write halting verses, run a mile to see a fire, and wait all day long in the theatre to applaud HERNANI.
美丽语录
Go for the happy endings, because life doesn't have any sequels.
为了一个美丽的结果而努力吧，因为人生没有续集。
当我们慢慢变老时，一种平淡而缓慢的感觉代替了强烈的爱憎沉浮。同样，这种感觉让我们克制自己的希望，消除心中的忧虑。如果快乐不再那么热烈，那么烦恼就能变得微不足道，更容易忍受。总而言之，在这段时间里，我们必须备好一切，以备不时之需。这段时间是整个生命中最丰富多彩、最轻松、最幸福的。不但如此，通过管理自己的行为，随着快乐的灵感律动，年轻人尽力让自己的时代变得闲适安逸。充实忙碌的年轻时代是独立自主的老年生活的唯一前奏。而那些年轻时碌碌无为的人，他们的晚年注定是沉闷无聊的。世上的约翰逊博士并不多——在64岁那年才开启人生中的首次浪漫之旅。如果我们想要丈量勃朗峰，或者穿上潜水衣潜水，或者乘坐热气球飞上高空，我们必须趁年轻时去做，不要拖到自己变得小心谨慎、腿脚不便时才去。那时，人们就会问我们：“为何如此不安分？”年轻时代就是周游世界的时代，不论是精神游历还是身体力行；去体验不同国家的不同风情；去聆听午夜的钟声；去欣赏城市和乡间的日出；去为了重生而虔诚悔过；去博览玄学，写一些差强人意的诗句，跑一英里的路看篝火，等上一整天只是为了给《艾那尼》喝彩。
■让计划动起来
Make a Plan and
Make It Work
◎Douglas Lurton
When you determine what you want you have made the most important decision of your life. To attain what you want you must have a plan. Actually, planning is a simple process, but it is amazing how many persons survive without planning. They survive but they do not attain the full richness that life has to offer.
Most of the failures in life are due to lack of planning or to faulty planning. Whatever you may want to accomplish, whether it be the building of a boat, a rise in pay, or the building of a successful career, your chances of success are immeasurably increased by observing these underlying principles of planning.
1. Determine your objective and visualize it. Picture what you want and the kind of person you want to be. Visualize yourself in the boss's private office; in that full professorship; as the president of the bank or factory; as the surgeon performing the miracle of saving life.
2. Get the facts. Get all the facts about what will be required to attain the objective you have determined upon and visualized.
名人语库
If you wish to succeed, you should use persistence as your good friend, experience as your reference, prudence as your brother and hope as your sentry.
~Thomas Edison
如果你希望成功，当以恒心为良友，以经验为参谋，以谨慎为兄弟，以希望为哨兵。
——托马斯·爱迪生
当你明确自己想要什么时，你已经做出了人生中最重大的决定。为了实现这个目标，你必须有一个计划。事实上，制订计划是个简单的过程，然而令人吃惊的是，竟然有很多人在毫无计划地活着。他们活着，却没有充分领悟生活所能给予的充实和丰盛。
人生中大多数的失败都源于缺乏计划或计划不当。无论你想实现什么——是造一条小船，是涨工资，还是开创一项成功的事业——只要你能遵循计划背后的种种规则，成功的机会就会大大增加。
1.确定你的目标，并想象目标实现时的情景。确定你想要什么，以及你想要成为什么样的人。想象自己坐在老板的办公室里；想象自己成为大学教授；想象自己成为银行家或工厂老板；想象自己成为创造挽救生命奇迹的医生。
2.收集基本信息。弄清楚实现自己的目标有哪些要求。
3. Analyze, evaluate, group those facts. Put them in logical order of importance of accomplishment. Put them in a flexible order of accomplishment, be sure they are attainable in order, make certain they are practical.
4. Adopt a timetable for the accomplishment of your objective and cleave to that timetable.
5. Have faith, clear, abiding faith, in the ultimate attainment of your objective and the minor objectives that contribute to the whole program of accomplishment. Don't let anyone—friend, relative, or foe—divert you for long from the way in which you know you must go.
6. Take action today to put your plan into effect. A plan without action is a futile dream. Let go of the ball. Don't be content to be continually winding up; you have to let go of the ball to make a strike.
7. Persistently take steps to further your plans. Don't let obstacles get you down. Washouts on the way may delay you, but you can go around or over if you refuse to surrender.
8. Concentrate on one good step at a time and don't walk in more than one direction.
9. Regularly check up on yourself and others assisting you on the way. Adjust your plans as required by circumstances you can't control. Study and follow your timetable.
10. Put your plan and timetable on paper.
Men without plans are at the mercy of the vagrant winds of fortune. Men with plans and determination to follow them have control of their destiny. The choicest prizes that life has to offer go to those who make plans. The leftovers go to the aimless.
3.分析和评估这些信息，并将其分类。将这些要求按照实现的重要程度进行逻辑排序，按照实现的先后灵活排序；同时，还要确保这个顺序符合实际。
4.为实现目标制定时间表，并恪守这个时间表。
5.在实现终极目标和组成它的小目标的过程中心存信念，此信念务必清晰而持久。不要让任何人——朋友、亲戚或敌人——分散你的注意力，令你心猿意马。
6.今天就采取行动，将你的计划付诸实践。没有行动的计划无异于白日梦。放手去干吧，不要满足于来回兜圈子，放手一搏才能给予最有力的一击。
7.坚持不懈，步步为营，让计划越走越长远。不要让任何障碍阻挡你前进的步伐。也许你会在路上遭遇挫折，但如果不想投降，就必须绕过它或跨越它。
8.每次只专注于一个方面，不要同时进行几项工作。
9.定期对自己和一路上帮助你的人进行反思。根据实际情况调整计划。研究并遵循你的时间表。
10.将你的计划和时间表写在纸上。
没有计划的人总是受制于无常的命运，有计划、有决心的人才能掌握自己的人生。生命中最好的奖品总是奖励给那些制订计划并实施计划的人，剩下的人只是漫无目的地游荡。
■觉醒时分
A Time to Awake
◎Dawn
What has become of your fondest dreams? If you were guaranteed（guaranteed['gærən'ti:d]a. 必定的，肯定的） success, what would you dare to attempt?
We all have dreams, deep inside ... Those moments when we take a voyage in our imagination, into a world where everything was possible, a world where fear is a strange concept, limits are non-existent and we are at peace with ourselves.
How come our dreams remain just those dreams? Why are we stuck in jobs we hate, held bound by the fear of the unknown, if we dare to stand up and walk away?
Every new day seems to take us farther away from our dream. Sometimes we get so caught up in the rat race; our dreams seem like a distant memory. Little by little we let our dreams die.
How come our biggest dreams don't come true? The answer is not a profound revelation from the east, culled from wisdom of the ancients. It is so simple, you begin to wonder why it skipped you all these years.
美丽语录
Re a long way, a step by step can be completed, and then a short road, do not stride feet cannot be reached.
再长的路，一步步也能走完；再短的路，不迈开双脚也无法到达。
你最渴望的梦想怎么样了？如果你注定会成功，那么你还敢尝试些什么呢？
我们都有梦想，深深地埋藏在心里……带着梦想，我们乘着想象之翼，进入一个一切皆有可能的世界。那是一个没有恐惧、没有限制、人人心境宁静的世界。
为何我们的梦想依旧只是梦想呢？假如我们勇敢地站起来走开，那我们是不是就不会陷入厌恶的工作中，被莫名其妙的恐惧困扰呢？
每个崭新的一天都好像让我们离梦想越来越远。有时，我们被毫无意义的竞争困扰着；有时，我们的梦想就像是一段遥不可及的回忆。渐渐地，我们的梦想幻灭了。
为何我们最大的梦想无法实现？答案并不是从东方古人的智慧中领悟出的深刻启迪。它其实十分简单，你甚至会开始思考，为什么这么多年自己却没有发现。
Our dreams simply don't come true because we keep on sleeping after dreaming. We don't wake up, get out of bed, and do something about it. The best dreams come to pass when you are awake.
Sometimes we actually wake up and take one giant leap for mankind. Then we plummet（plummet['plʌmit]n. 坠子，测铅；重压） back to earth, lick our wounds, and convince ourselves that it is not feasible and promptly go back to sleep. Sometimes we give it a second or third shot, before we say goodbye and return to Status Quo Avenue. Well, we gave our best shot ...
The only way our dreams can come true is when we start doing something about it. Start with a baby step, one tiny step after another. With time, you will be amazed by how far you had gone. The more steps you take in the direction of your dreams, the bolder you become. Soon you start seeing shafts of light at the end of the tunnel. The closer you get, the more feasible it becomes. Gradually, your fears begin to ebb away. Taking the first step is a scary business. You can determine the magnitude（magnitude['mæɡnitju:d]n. 巨大，广大；大小） and direction of that first step. Some folks take the bull by the horn, quit their day jobs, and go for it. Others keep their day jobs, and moonlight at sun down, till they get to the point they can comfortably fire their boss. For others still, it means a change of career.
Whichever route you take to the land of your dreams, the starting point is waking up, and doing something. Then keep on keeping on. It is only a matter of time. You will get there.
我们的梦想无法实现的原因其实很简单，那就是：我们做完梦便又再次沉沉地睡着了。我们没有立刻醒来，起床，然后将它实现。等你醒来时，最好的梦想都已消失不见。
有时，我们的确醒来了，还为全人类的进步迈出了一大步。接着，我们便摔倒在地，只顾舔舐伤口，劝自己说这是不可行的，不一会儿便又回到了梦乡。有时，在彻底放弃和安于现状之前，我们会象征性地尝试一两次。那么，我们真的尽力了吗？
让梦想实现的唯一方法就是：动起来。先迈一小步，接着再迈一小步。随着时间的推移，你会惊奇地发现自己已经走了很远。你朝着梦想的方向迈的步子越多，就会越勇敢。很快，你就能看见隧道另一端的光亮了。你越靠近它，就越可能实现梦想。慢慢地，你的恐惧消失不见了。迈出第一步是一件让人恐慌的事情。但是，第一步的大小和方向全都掌握在你的手中。有些人勇敢地面对困难，辞去工作，去追逐梦想；而另一些人则选择留在原地，继续着从前那起早贪黑的日子，直到自己也有勇气炒老板鱿鱼的那一天。毕竟对这些人来说，这意味着要转变职业道路。
无论你选择以哪种方式实现自己的梦想，起点永远都是：醒过来，动起来，然后继续下去。能否实现梦想，这只是时间问题。你终将到达目的地。
■梦想照进现实
Make It Come True
◎Dan Clark
In 1957, a ten years old boy in California set a goal. At that time Jim Brown was the greatest running back ever to play pro football and this tall, skinny boy wanted his autograph. In order to accomplish his goal, the young boy had to overcome some obstacles.
He grew up in the ghetto（ghetto['getəʊ]n. 少数民族的集中住宅区；贫民区） , where he never got enough to eat. Malnutrition took its toll and a disease called rickets forced him to wear steel splints（splints[splints]n.（固定骨折的）夹板（splint的名词复数）） to support his skinny bow out legs. He had no money to buy a ticket to get into the game, so he waited patiently near the locker room until the game ended and Jim Brown left the field. He politely asked Brown for his autograph. As Brown signed, the boy explained, "Mr. Brown, I have all your pictures on my wall. I know you hold all the records. You are my idol."
Brown smiled and began to leave, but the young boy was not finished. He proclaimed（proclaimed[prə'kleimd]v. 正式宣布（proclaim的过去式和过去分词）；显示） , "Mr. Brown, one day I am going to break every record you hold!" Brown was impressed and asked, "What's your name, son?"
名人语库
Don't believe that winning is really everything. It's more important to stand for something. If you don't stand for something, what do you win?
~Lane Kirkland
不要认为取胜就是一切，更重要的是要有信念。倘若你没有信念，那胜利又有什么意义呢？
——莱恩·柯克兰
1957年，加利福尼亚有一个10岁小男孩立下了目标。当时，吉姆·布朗是最有名的职业足球运动员，而这个高高瘦瘦的小男孩很想要他的签名。为了实现愿望，这个年轻的小男孩必须战胜种种阻碍。
他在贫民窟里长大，在那儿始终都吃不饱。营养不良导致他患上“佝偻病”，这使他不得不带上钢夹板以支撑那瘦弱弯曲的腿。他没钱买票去看比赛，所以他就耐心地待在更衣室里，直到比赛结束、吉姆离场的那一刻。他很礼貌地问吉姆要他的亲笔签名。在吉姆签名时，这个男孩解释道：“布朗先生，我的墙上挂满了你所有的照片。我知道你保持的所有比分纪录。你是我的偶像。”
The boy replied, "Orenthal James Simpson. My friends call me O.J."
O. J Simpson went on to break all but three of the rushing records held by Jim Brown before injuries shortened his football career.
Goal setting is the strongest force for human motivation.
Set a goal and make it come true.
布朗笑了笑，准备离开，但这个年轻的小男孩并没有停下脚步。他向布朗宣称道：“布朗先生，总有一天我要打破你的所有纪录！”这给布朗留下了深刻的印象，他问道：“孩子，你叫什么名字？”
男孩回答道：“O.J.辛普森。朋友们都叫我O.J.。”
在O.J.辛普森因受伤终止自己的足球生涯之前，除了由吉姆·布朗保持的三项带球冲刺纪录外，他一举打破了其他全部纪录。
设定目标是激励个人动力的最强的力量。
设定目标，然后实现它。
■年轻人应该有理想
Young People Should Have Ideals
◎Paul Angone
To different people, the word "ideal" may mean different things. To some, it may mean success and fame in their career; to others, a peaceful life. Very often, we have ideals for the "self" and no ideal for society, not to mention the people of the world. Is it a sound attitude towards life?
In my opinion, a youth should have ideals. But it is more important that these ideals are not merely centered on（center on 把……集中在，以……为中心） the "self". They should be also the ideals of the majority of people. Then you would get strength and confidence towards life.
The setting up of an ideal does not merely mean to go without doing anything. Real and concrete action should be taken. For us students, the most important thing to do is to study both inside and outside school. We study not to become bookworms but to be well-equipped（well-equipped['welɪkw'ɪpt]a. 设备精良的） and prepared for the pursuit（pursuit[pə'sju:t]n. 追踪，追击） of our ideals.
美丽语录
If you identify your way, the world is gonna give way to you.
如果你明确自己的方向，世界也会为你让路。
“理想”一词对于不同的人可能有着不同的含义。在一些人看来，它可能意味着事业上的成功和名誉；而在另一些人看来，它可能意味着平静的生活。一般情况下，我们有为“自我”的理想，却没有为社会的理想，至于为全人类的理想就更不用提了。这是一种健康的人生态度吗？
我认为年轻人应该有理想。然而，更为重要的是，这些理想不能仅仅以“自我”为中心，而应以大多数人的理想为中心。这样，你才能得到力量，并对生活充满信心。
确立一个理想不能夸夸其谈，而应该采取真正的、具体的行动。对于我们学生来说，最重要的事不仅是在校内学习，还要在校外学习。我们学习的目的不是为了学成书呆子，而是为了好好地武装自己，为了做好准备去追求我们的理想。
Sometimes, in striving toward our ideals, we may encounter certain difficulties and failures. But we should not give up or lose hope, for as long as we try, there is always a way out. We will not lose heart if our ideals are the wish of the many!
有时，在向着理想前进的时候，我们可能会经历一些困难和失败。然而，我们不应该放弃或丧失希望，因为只要我们尝试了，终究会有摆脱困境的办法。假如我们的理想正是许多人的愿望，我们就不会丧失勇气！
■坚持不懈，勇往直前
I Will Persist Until I Succeed
◎Og Mandino
In the Orient young bulls are tested for the fight arena in a certain manner. Each is brought to the ring and allowed to attack a picador（picador ['pikədɔ:] n. 骑马斗牛士） who pricks them with a lance. The bravery of each bull is then rated with care according to the number of times he demonstrates his willingness to charge in spite of the sting of the blade. Henceforth will I recognize that each day I am tested by life in like manner. If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will succeed.
I was not delivered unto this world in defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious. Let them join the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.
The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner.
美丽语录
Millions of failures are caused by people who do things not thoroughly. It happens that some people cease or give up when it is just one step before success.
世界上千万人的失败，都是失败在做事不彻底，往往做到离成功尚差一步就终止不做了。
在古老的东方，挑选小公牛竞技场格斗有一定的程序。它们被带进场地，向手持长矛的斗牛士攻击。裁判以它受激后再向斗牛士进攻的次数多少，来评定这只公牛的英勇程度。从今往后，我必须承认，我生命的每一天都在接受这样的考验。如果我坚持不懈，如果我不断尝试，如果我勇往直前，我就一定会成功。
我不是为了失败才来到这个世界上的，我的血管里也没有失败的血液流动。我不是任人驱赶的羔羊。我是猛狮，拒绝与羊群为伍。我不想听失意者的哭泣、抱怨，他们是羊群中的瘟疫。我不能被它传染。失败者的屠宰场不是我命运的归宿。
生命的奖赏远在旅途的终点，而非起点附近。我不知道要走多少步才能达到目标。踏上第一千步的时候，仍可能失败，但成功就隐藏在下一个拐角处，除非我转过拐角，否则永远不知道它是如此接近。
Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult.
Henceforth, I will consider each day's effort as but one blow of my blade against a mighty oak. The first blow may cause not a tremor in the wood, nor the second, nor the third. Each blow, of itself, may be trifling, and seem of no consequence. Yet from childish swipes the oak will eventually tumble. So it will be with my efforts of today.
I will be likening to the raindrop which washes away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger; the star which brightens the earth; the slave who builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.
I will never consider defeat and I will remove from my vocabulary such words and phrases as quit, cannot, unable, impossible, out of the question, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless, and retreat; for they are the words of fools. I will avoid despair but if this disease of the mind should infect me then I will work on in despair. I will toil and I will endure. I will ignore the obstacles at my feet and keep my eyes on the goals above my head, for I know that where dry desert ends, green grass grows.
I will remember the ancient law of averages and I will bend it to my good. I will persist with knowledge that each failure to sell will increase my chance for success at the next attempt. Each nay I hear will bring me closer to the sound of yea. Each frown I meet only prepares me for the smile to come. Each misfortune I encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow's good luck. I must have the night to appreciate the day. I must fail often to succeed only once.
再前进一步。如果没有用，就再向前一步。事实上，每次进步一点点并不太难。
今后，我承认每一天的努力就像对参天大树的一次砍击。头几刀可能在树林里了无痕迹。每一击本身看似都是微不足道的，似乎毫无结果。然而，累积起来，巨树终会倒下。这恰如我今天的努力。
就像冲刷掉高山的雨滴，吞噬猛虎的蚂蚁，照亮大地的星辰，建起金字塔的奴隶，我也要一砖一瓦地建造起自己的城堡，因为我深知水滴石穿的道理，只要持之以恒，什么事都可以做到。
我绝不考虑失败，我的字典里不再有放弃、不可能、办不到、没法子、成问题、不大可能、失败、行不通、没希望、退缩……这类愚蠢的字眼。我要尽量避免绝望这种疾病，一旦受到它的威胁，我会立刻设法向它挑战。我要辛勤耕耘，忍受苦楚。我放眼未来，勇往直前，不再理会脚下的障碍。我坚信，沙漠尽头必是绿洲。
我要记住古老的平衡法则，并将其作为我的行为准则。我会牢记每一次的失败都会增加下一次成功的机会。这一次的拒绝就是下一次的赞同，这一次的皱眉就是下一次的笑容。我遭遇的每一个不幸，都预示着明天的好运。夜幕降临，回想一天的遭遇，我总是心存感激。我深知，只有失败多次，才能成功。
I will try, and try, and try again. Each obstacle（obstacle ['ɔbstəkl] n. 障碍（物）；妨碍） I will consider as a mere detour to my goal and a challenge to my profession. I will persist and develop my skills as the mariner develops his, by learning to ride out the wrath of each storm.
Henceforth, I will learn and apply another secret of those who excel in my work. When each day is ended, not regarding whether it has been a success or a failure, I will attempt to achieve one more sale. When my thoughts beckon my tired body homeward I will resist the temptation to depart. I will try again. I will make one more attempt to close with victory, and if that fails I will make another. Never will I allow any day to end with a failure. Thus will I plant the seed of tomorrow's success and gain an insurmountable（insurmountable[,insə'mauntəbl]a. 不能克服的；不能超越的） advantage over those who cease their labor at a prescribed time. When others cease their struggle, the mine will begin, and my harvest will be full.
Nor will I allow yesterday's success to lull me into today's complacency, for this is the great foundation of failure. I will forget the happenings of the day that is gone, whether they were good or bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that this will be the best day of my life.
So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles of success; if I persist long enough I will win.
I will persist. I will win.
我要尝试，尝试，再尝试。每一个障碍都是我成功之路上的弯道，是对我的挑战。我会坚持和提升自己的能力，像水手一样乘风破浪，渡过每一次暴风雨。
今后，我要学习和借鉴别人成功的秘诀。当每一天结束时，不论是非成败，我全不计较，只坚信明天会更好。当我精疲力竭时，我要抵制回家的诱惑，再试一次。我一试再试。我不会允许任何一天以失败收场。我要为明天的成功播种，超过那些按部就班的人。在别人停滞不前时，我会继续拼搏，终有一天我会丰收。
我不因昨日的成功而自满，因为这是失败的先兆。我要忘却昨日的一切，无论是好是坏，都让它随风而去。我信心百倍，迎接新的太阳，相信今天是我生命中最好的一天。
只要我一息尚存，就要坚持到底。现在我已深知成功的秘诀。如果我坚持不懈，我就有足够的时间赢得胜利。
坚持不懈，终会成功。
■成功之路，永不言迟
It's Never Too Late for Success
◎Charles D. Rice
You and your parents can stop worrying—Edison, Darwin and lots more were far from being geniuses in their teens.
History books seldom mention it, but the truth is that many of our greatest figures were practically "beatniks" when they were teenagers. They were given to daydreaming, indecision, hebetude（hebetude['hebitju:d]n. 迟钝；愚钝） (plain dullness), and they showed no promise of being a doctor, lawyer or teacher.
So, young men and women, if you suffer from the same symptoms, don't despair. The world was built by men and women whose parents worried that they would "never amount to a hill of beans". You don't hear too much about their early failures because parents prefer to cite more inspiring examples.
A MAN THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT
If you take piano lessons and your attitude towards practicing is marked by laziness, your parents might justly complain and flaunt before you the famous picture of little Mozart in his ruffled night-shirt, playing the piano at midnight in the attic. But the point is, your parents would not show you a picture of a certain part who never showed a whit of interest in music during his formative years. In fact he never showed talent in any direction whatever. Finally put to studying law, he barely passed his final exams. It was not until he was 22 that he suddenly became fired with a great passion for music and his name was Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
美丽语录
You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. If you want something, go get it.
如果你有梦想，守护它。 当人们做不到一些事情的时候，他们就会说你也同样不能。既然有了目标，你就要努力实现。
你和你的父母可以不必担忧了——爱迪生、达尔文还有许多其他人在他们年少时远非天才。
历史书上很少提到这些，但事实是：我们许多伟人在他们青少年时是“垮掉的一代”。他们也会做白日梦，也会优柔寡断，也会犯傻。而且，他们身上也没有显现出能够成为医生、律师或教师的潜质。
所以，年轻的男女们，如果你们遇到了同样的状况，不必绝望。这个世界就是由那些父母担心会一事无成的男男女女创造的。他们早年失败的事情，想必你很少听说，因为父母更喜欢引用更多鼓舞人心的例子。
他们不向你谈起的一个人
EDISON WAS "ADDLED"
In the sciences, there have been hundreds of geniuses who aimed straight at the goal from their earliest years, and hundreds who showed no aptitude at all. So it goes. You have the Wright Brothers, who were brilliant in engineering in their early teens, and you have Thomas Alva Edison, whose teacher tried to get him out of the class because his brain was "addled". You have the Nobel Prize physicist Enrico Fermi, who at 17 had read enough mathematics to qualify for a doctor's degree. And you have the great Albert Schweitzer, who wavered between music and the church until he was 30. Then he started his medical studies.
DARWIN HATED SCHOOL
Charles Darwin's early life was a mess. He hated school, and his father once shouted, "You care for nothing but shooting dogs and rat catching, and you will be a disgrace（disgrace[dis'greis]n. 丢脸，耻辱；失宠；丢脸的事或人） to yourself and all your family!" He was sent to Glasgow to study medicine, but he couldn't stand the sight of blood. He was sent to divinity school and barely managed to graduate. Whereupon he chucked the whole business and shipped out to the South Seas on the famous exploring ship Beagle. On that voyage, one of history's greatest scientists was born. It was here that he collected the material for the book that would revolutionize biological science—The Origin of the Species.
如果你正在学钢琴，可你并不勤于练习。这时，你的父母可能会一边指责你，一边在你面前对着一张著名的画尽情夸耀——穿着睡袍的小莫扎特大半夜还在阁楼上练钢琴。可关键是，你的父母不会给你看另外一幅画——少年时期对音乐不感兴趣的那些人。准确地说，他从未在任何领域表现出超凡的天赋。最终，他选择了法律，但期末考试门门不及格。直到22岁那年，他突然对音乐有了强烈的兴趣。他的名字就叫彼得·伊里奇·柴可夫斯基。
爱迪生是“愚蠢”的
在科学领域里，有许多天才在早年时便瞄准了自己的目标，而有的却从未显露过自己的天赋。就是因为这样，我们才有了从小擅长机械引擎的莱特兄弟；有了因为“愚蠢”而差点被老师赶出教室的托马斯·阿尔瓦·爱迪生；有了17岁便博览数学类书籍并获得博士学位的诺贝尔物理学奖获得者恩里科·费米；有了30岁之前还在音乐和牧师之间犹豫不决，之后才开始学医的伟大的埃博特·施威茨。
达尔文讨厌上学
查尔斯·达尔文早年的生活就像一团乱麻。他讨厌上学。有一次，父亲冲他大声喊道：“除了打狗和追老鼠，你什么都不会。你会成为你自己和家人的耻辱！”就这样，他被送到格拉斯哥学医，可是他一见到血就晕。无奈之下，他又被送到神学院，可是他却无法毕业。于是他抛下一切，乘坐著名的探险之船——比格——来到南海。历史上最伟大的科学家之一就在此次航海中诞生了。《物种起源》——这本足以引发一场生物科学变革的书，它的素材就是在这次航海中收集到的。
FAULKNER FAILED IN ENGLISH
Politics offers a familiar example of contrast. Herbert Hoover must have learned administration in the cradle. When he was at school he was drafted as football manager, though he didn't know the game, and the glee club manager, though he couldn't sing a note. Whatever he touched went smoothly, glee club or food for a starving Europe.
But one of his successors in the White House had about as checkered a youth as can be imagined. Turned down by West Point because of poor vision, Harry Truman tried a dozen jobs, including in a drugstore, a bank, a bottling works, and a railroad yard. But he got there just the same.
Great writers are supposed to be born, not made, but here again there are many fascinating exceptions. William Faulkner quit school in the fifth grade and rattled around the country as a house painter and a dishwasher.
Once he tried attending college, but failed in freshman English and quit. He wangled a postmaster's job in a small Mississippi town, and infuriated the populace by getting the mail all mixed up and closing the office whenever he felt like it. Faulkner was 25 before he started the writing career that won him a Nobel Prize.
HOW ABOUT THOSE PRODIGIES
And added to all the aforementioned paradoxes（paradoxes['pærədɔksiz]n. 自相矛盾的议论/人/事（paradox的名词复数）） you have a small army of child prodigies who were graduated from college when they were 15, and are now obscure clerks in accounting departments. And you have a small army of men who were too stupid or indolent to get into or finish college and who are today presidents of the firms that hire the prodigies.
福克纳英语考试不及格
政界为我们提供了一个熟悉的反例。赫伯特·胡佛一定在婴儿时期便学会了行政管理。在学校，他是校足球队队长，尽管他对足球一窍不通；他也是校合唱队队长，尽管他对唱歌也是一无所知。凡是他参加的活动总能顺利开展，不论是组织合唱队，还是为欧洲筹集食物。
然而，在白宫，他的一位接班人的青年时代却充满了艰辛。因为视力不佳未被西点军校录取的哈里·杜鲁门试着做过许多工作，包括在药店、银行、装瓶厂和铁路换装场上班。可他终究还是坐上了总统的宝座。
伟大的作家照理说应是天生的，而非后天塑造的。可这儿有许多典型的例外。威廉·福克纳五年级时便辍学了，从此他就穿梭在全国各地，靠给别人油漆房子和洗碗为生。
他曾经上过大学，可在大学一年级的英语考试中，他就考了个不及格，于是他便辍学不上了。他用诈骗手段在密西西比亚的小镇上找到了一份邮递员的工作。可是他把邮件弄得一团糟，令民众激怒不已，并且由着自己的性子想什么时候收工就什么时候收工。在福克纳开始那段给自己带来诺贝尔奖的写作生涯时，他已经25岁了。
如何解释这些神童呢
So who's to say what about youth? Any young boy or girl who knows what he wants to do in life is probably the better off for it. But no teenager needs despair of the future. He has that one special advantage over the greatest man alive—time! If you don't think time counts, look at Grandma Moses, she never sold a painting till she was 80.
除了前面提到的那些怪才，你也知道不少神童。他们有的15岁便大学毕业，可最后却沦为财务部的一名小职员。也有一些孩子，因为当年太笨或太懒而放弃了大学，如今却成了聘请昔日神童的那些公司的总裁。
那么，关于青春，到底谁说了算呢？任何心中拥有人生目标的少男少女都可能处于优势地位。但任何青少年都无须对未来感到绝望。和一位尚在人间的伟人相比，他拥有一个特别的优势——时间！如果你觉得时间算不上什么，那就请你看看摩西奶奶吧！直到80岁她才卖出第一幅画。
■与其做梦，不如行动
From Dreamers to Doers
◎Allison Burgess
Most potential entrepreneurs dream of breakthrough businesses all their lives and never get started. On the other hand, those who have listened to their intuition often wish they took the plunge earlier.
When surveyed, entrepreneurs（entrepreneurs[,ɔntrəprə'nə:z]n. 企业家（entrepreneur的名词复数）；事业创办者；承包人） say 29 is the ideal age to start a business. The average age that entrepreneurs actually start a business is 35. They wish they'd started earlier.
There's no perfect age to start living your dreams. Being too young or too old is no excuse. The perfect time to start is right now.
These people did.
Nola Ochs—the Energizer Student
1972. Nola Ochs is widowed on her wheat farm in the town of Jetmore, Kansas (population 1,000). She tends to her farm with the help of her children. In 1978, she realizes she wants more from life. Age 68, she signs up for a tennis class at the nearest community college.
美丽语录
There's never a perfect age to live your dreams. The perfect age is right now.
根本没有所谓的实现梦想的理想年龄。最佳时机就是立刻开始。
世界上很多人都有成为创业家的潜力，可惜他们一生都在蹉跎中度过了，从未实现自己的创业梦想。另一方面，那些听从了直觉的企业家也常常感叹自己没有早点放手一搏。
调查结果显示，企业家们认为29岁是创业的理想年龄。然而，企业家真正开始创业的平均年龄却是35岁。他们都希望自己能早点开始创业。
其实根本没有所谓的实现梦想的理想年龄。年纪太小或太大都不是理由。最佳时机就是立刻开始。
这些企业家就是这样做的。
诺拉·奥克斯——不安分的学生
1972年，诺拉·奥克斯独自一人居住在堪萨斯州杰特摩尔镇（人口1000）一个种植小麦的农场上。她在子女的帮助下照管农场。1978年，她意识到自己的生活应该是丰富多彩的。68岁时，她到最邻近的社区大学报名参加了一个网球班。
Years pass. Nola works full-time on her farm and occasionally drives into town to attend a class. After ten years studying everything from agribusiness to the Bible, she's told that she is one class away from an associate's degree. All she must do is complete college algebra（algebra['ældʒibrə]n. 代数学） .
With an associate's degree she is pleased but not fulfilled. College algebra will not be the end of her scholarly career. Several years later she decides to make the two- hour trek to Fort Hays State University. Enrolling at age 94, she lacks only 30 class hours to earn a bachelor's degree. In May 2007, at 95, she becomes the world's oldest college graduate.
Is it time to sit back and enjoy the framed diploma on the farmhouse wall? Not yet. She's started a Masters Degree.
Cliff Burgess—the Marathon Man
1993. Cliff Burgess is 55. He's tired of his potbelly and vows to start walking.
Cliff hits the pavement in his suburban Texas town. A walk around the block turns into twice around the block. Walking feels good, but he knows he can pick up some speed. The weight starts to come off as he signs up for 5km and 10km races. In less than a year, he enters in the San Antonio marathon thinking of it as a training run in preparation for his first marathon—42km (26.2 miles). He feels good during the race, and he crosses the finish line faster than expected.
Averaging 15 marathons（marathons['mærəθɑnz]n. 马拉松赛跑（marathon的名词复数）；长距离比赛；耐力比赛） per year, he completes his 100th marathon six years later at the age of 62.
Reaching 100 marathons isn't the final goal. His running gives him an excuse to travel the world to add to his marathon list. He finds himself in Finland, France, Romania, China, Argentina, Brazil, 25 other countries, and nearly all of the 50 states of the USA in a record 15 years.
多年后，诺拉全身心投入到农场上，只是偶尔开车到镇上上课。10年间，从农业综合业到圣经，她学了一样又一样。拿大专学位的话，她只剩代数一门课程未学完。她要做的就是修完大学代数。
获得大专学位，她很高兴，但不满足。学完代数这门课并不意味着她的学涯就此结束。多年后，她决定花两小时开车到富特海斯州立大学上课。入学时，她已经94岁了。她还差30个课程才能获得学士学位。2007年5月，95岁的她成为世界上最年长的大学毕业生。
她是不是应该坐下欣赏挂在农舍墙上的那张裱起来的文凭呢？还是不行。她又开始攻读硕士学位了。
克里夫·伯吉斯——参加马拉松的老汉
1993年，克里夫·伯吉斯55岁。他厌倦了自己的啤酒肚，于是决定开始散步。
克里夫看上了德州小镇郊外的那条柏油马路。在街区行走一圈慢慢变成了两圈。散步让他觉得很舒服，可他知道自己应该走得更快一些。体重开始减少了，他报名参加了5公里和10公里的赛跑。不到一年时间，他进入了圣·安东尼奥马拉松队。他把平时跑步当作自己首次参加马拉松比赛——42公里（26.2英里）的赛前训练。比赛时，他感觉良好，冲过终点的速度比他预想的还要快。
他平均每年参加15场马拉松比赛。6年后，62岁的他跑完了100场马拉松赛。
At age 70, he's at Marathon #226 and counting. One of his finest highlights is qualifying multiple times for the runner's dream: a bib number in the Boston Marathon. In April 2009, he will travel to Boston, Massachusetts for the fourth time to take part yet again in all the running glory.
"Nothing happens unless first we dream."
~ Carl Sandburg
Action summary
● Make your goal known. Travel one step at a time.
● Keep your dream alive. Long-term goals exist because they take a long time.
● Success and determination are intimate siblings. Talent is merely success's distant cousin.
跑完100场马拉松赛并非他的终极目标。他的长跑经历让他有了充分的理由，把跑遍全世界列入自己的马拉松计划中。15年来，他发现自己的马拉松参赛记录遍布芬兰、法国、罗马尼亚、中国、阿尔及利亚、巴西等25个国家，还几乎跑遍了了美国50个州。
70岁时，他总计参加了226场马拉松赛。他最引以为豪的一样东西，就是多次取得赛跑者梦寐以求的参赛资格——他拿到了波士顿马拉松赛的参赛选手编号。2009年4月，他将第四次到马萨诸塞州的波士顿参赛，一展自己的长跑辉煌。
“除非我们梦想在先，否则只能一事无成。”
——卡尔·桑德堡
行动总结
● 明确你的目标，一步一个脚印。
● 让你的梦想永远充满活力。长期的目标需要长时间的努力。
● 成功和决心是最亲的兄弟姐妹。天赋只是成功的远房亲戚。
■马克·吐温致青年人的忠告
Advice to Youth
◎Mark Twain
Being told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth—something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice. Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young; for it is in one's tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable, First, then. I will say to you my young friends—and I say it beseechingly, urgingly—
Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don't, they will make you. Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition（superstition[,sju:pə'stiʃən]n. 迷信；盲目崇拜；盲目恐惧） than you can by acting on your own better judgment.
Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient. If you shall find that he had not intended any offense, come out frankly and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didn't mean to. Yes, always avoid violence; in this age of charity and kindliness, the time has gone by for such things. Leave dynamite to the low and unrefined（unrefined[ʌnri'faind]a. 未提炼的；不高尚的；粗俗的） .
美丽语录
If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.
想要实现梦想，就先从梦中醒来。
听说期望我来谈谈，我便想要知道应该发表怎样的谈话。他们说应该是适合于青年人的话题，比如教育性的、启发性的，或者是一些本质上是金玉良言那类的话题。好吧！关于指导青年人，我心里其实有几件时常想要说的事。因为就是在人的幼年时期，这些事情才更容易扎根，更能持久和最有价值。那么，首先，我要对青年朋友们说的是——我诚恳地、迫切地想要说的是——
父母在场的时候，要永远服从他们。长远看来这是上策，因为如果你不服从他们的话，他们也会想方设法让你服从。大多数父母觉得他们比你懂得多，一般来说，你们相信这种迷信的说法，要比根据自以为是的判断行事来得好。
尊重你的上司，在你有了上司之后。尊重陌生人，有时也要尊重其他人。如果一个人冒犯了你，你要稍微怀疑一下，看看他们是存心的还是无心的，不要采取极端的方法。如果你发现他并无心要冒犯你，那就坦白承认自己打他是不对的。像个男子汉那样承认错误，并说声不是故意的。是的，永远都不要采用暴力。身在这个充满仁慈善意的时代里，暴力的时代已然远去。把“炸药”留给低俗又无教养的人吧！
Go to bed early, get up early—this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark is really the best thing to get up with. It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every time—it's no trick at all.
Now as to the matter of lying, you want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught. Once caught, you can never again be in the eyes to the good and the pure, what you were before. Many a young person has injured himself permanently through a single clumsy and ill finished lie, the result of carelessness born of incomplete training. Some authorities hold that the young out not to lie at all. That of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, and precision which alone can make the accomplishment graceful and profitable. Patience, diligence, painstaking attention to detail—these are requirements; these in time, will make the student perfect; upon these only, may he rely as the sure foundation for future eminence. Think what tedious years of study, thought, practice, experience, went to the equipment of that peerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world the lofty and sounding maxim that "Truth is mighty and will prevail"—the most majestic（majestic[mə'dʒestik]a. 雄伟的，威严的，崇高的） compound fracture of fact which any of woman born has yet achieved. For the history of our race, and each individual's experience, are sewn thick with evidences that a truth is not hard to kill, and that a lie well told is immortal. There is in Boston a monument of the man who discovered anesthesia; many people are aware, in these latter days, that that man didn't discover it at all, but stole the discovery from another man.
早睡早起——这是一种明智之举。有些权威人士说要跟着太阳起床；而有些则说跟着这个东西起床，其他人说跟着那个东西起床。然而，跟着云雀起床是最好不过了。你因此获得好名声，人人都知道你跟着云雀起床。如果你有幸找到一只好的云雀，在它身上花点工夫，你能很容易地把它训练成每天九点半起床——这可不是骗人的把戏。
现在来谈谈说谎的问题。你要小心应付说谎，否则你被揭穿的机会十有八九。一旦被揭穿，在善良和纯洁的目光中，你再也不是以前的你了。许多青年人，由于接受的教育不完整而导致处事轻率，从而编造了一个难以自圆其说的笨拙谎言，最后伤害了自己。一些权威人士认为青年人根本不该说谎。当然，这种说法有点过于偏激，或者说情况并非真的如此。虽然我无法把话说得太过，但我仍然坚信自己的观点是正确的。我认为青年人应该适当地运用这门伟大的艺术，当然前提条件是他们从实践和经验身上获得了信心、高雅和严谨。因为这三点中的任何一点都能让谎言变得高雅、有益。耐心、勤奋和细致入微——这些都是必要的素质。随着时间的推移，这些素质能够让学生变得完美。有了这些，只要有了这些，他才能为以后的功成名就打下坚实的基础。试想一下，通过多年乏味的学习、思考、实践、亲身体验，那位盖世无双的大师才能拥有这些素质，才能强迫整个世界接受“真理是强大的，而且终将取得胜利！”这句崇高而掷地有声的格言——这句关于事实的复杂层面说出的最崇高的话，任何一个女人都未曾获得过。因为人类的历史和每个个人的经验都深深地将这样的证据埋藏起来：一个真理不难抹杀，可一个巧妙的谎言却能经久不衰。波士顿有个纪念碑，专门为发现麻醉法的人而立的。后来人们才知道，那个人根本就没有发现麻醉法，他只是盗取了另一个人的发现。
Is this truth mighty, and will it prevail? Ah no, my hearers, the monument is made of hardy material, but the lie it tells will outlast it a million years. An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid; such a lie as that has no more real permanence than an average truth. Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it. A feeble, stupid, preposterous lie will not live two years—except it be a slander upon somebody. It is indestructible, then of course, but that is no merit of yours. A final word: begin your practice of this gracious and beautiful art early—begin now. If I had begun earlier, I could have learned how.
这个真理强大吗？它能最终取得胜利吗？唉，不会的。听众们，纪念碑是用坚硬的材料建成的，但它向世人说的谎却比它持久百万年。一个笨拙的、不攻自破的、漏洞百出的谎言是你应该不断学会避免的东西。这样的谎言甚至不比一个普通的事实来得更具真实的永恒性。那你为何不既讲真话又相信真理呢？一个不攻自破的、愚蠢的、荒谬的谎言持续不了两年——除非是对某人的诽谤。因为那种谎言是牢不可破的，当然那也不是你值得夸耀的东西。最后说一句：早点开始实践这门高雅美妙的艺术——立刻开始吧！如果我能早点开始实践，我想我已经学会这门艺术了。