书城成功励志呵护你的梦想(上)
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第13章 成功在你手中(5)

Youth is a state of mind

青春心境

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks、red lips and supple knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exits in a man of 60, more than a boy of 20.nobody grows merely by the number of years; we grow old by deserting our ideas. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from infinite, so long as you are young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with the snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.

青春不是年华,而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝,而是深沉的意志、宏伟的想象、炽热的感情;青春是生命的深泉在涌流。

青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯弱,进取压倒苟安,如此锐气,二十岁后生有之,六旬男子则更多见。年年有加,并非垂老;理想丢弃,方堕暮年。岁月悠悠,衰微只及肌肤;热忱抛却,颓唐必至灵魂。烦忧、惶恐、丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰。

无论年届花甲,抑或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线,只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号,你就青春永驻,风华常存。

一旦天线倒塌,锐气被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生,即使年方二十,实已垂老矣;然则只要竖起天线,捕捉乐观的信号,你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉得年轻。

You are a marvel

你就是个奇迹

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again … And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.

When will we also teach them what they are?

We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?

You must work — we must all work — to make the world worth of its children.

我们活着的每一秒都是独一无二的

我们活着的每一秒都是世界上独一无二、不可重现的。我们应该教给我们的孩子些什么呢?2+2=4,法国的首都是巴黎?

何时我们也将教他们:他们是什么?

我们应该对他们每一个说:你知道自己是什么吗?——你是一个奇迹。你是独一无二的。过往的所有日子里,从来没有出现过像你一样的孩子。你的腿,你的手,你灵巧的手指,你的一举一动都是与众不同的。

你可以成为莎士比亚,米开朗基罗,或者是贝多芬。你有成就一切的能力。是的,你是一个奇迹。而当你长大之后,你会忍心去伤害另一个如你一般的奇迹吗?

我们必须同心协力,让这个世界成为值得孩子们生活的乐土。

Relish the moment

拥抱今天

Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering --waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"When we reach the station, that will be it! "we cry. "When I"m 18. ""When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz! ""When I put the last kid through college. ""When I have paid off the mortgage!""When I get a promotion.""When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after! "

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

"Relish the moment "is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24:"This is the day which the Lord hath made;we will rejoice and be glad in it. "It isn"t the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. In stead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

我们的潜意识里藏着一派田园诗般的风光! 我们仿佛身处一次横贯大陆的漫漫旅程之中! 乘着火车, 我们领略着窗外流动的景色:附近高速公路上奔驰的汽车、十字路口处招手的孩童、远山上吃草的牛群、源源不断地从电厂排放出的烟尘、一片片的玉米和小麦、平原与山谷、群山与绵延的丘陵、天空映衬下城市的轮廓, 以及乡间的庄园宅第!

然而我们心里想得最多的却是最终的目的地! 在某一天的某一时刻, 我们将会抵达进站! 迎接我们的将是乐队和飘舞的彩旗! 一旦到了那儿, 多少美梦将成为现实, 我们的生活也将变得完整, 如同一块理好了的拼图! 可是我们现在在过道里不耐烦地踱来踱去, 咒骂火车的拖拖拉拉! 我们期待着, 期待着, 期待着火车进站的那一刻!

"当我们到站的时候, 一切就都好了! "我们呼喊着! "当我18岁的时候! ""当我有了一辆新450SL奔驰的时候! ""当我供最小的孩子念完大学的时候! ""当我偿清贷款的时候! ""当我官升高任的时候! ""当我到了退休的时候, 就可以从此过上幸福的生活啦! "