一天下午，我们在学校的地下室里印制戏剧表演广告。莉迪娅告诉我一个消息：“我收到读高中时认识的一位男孩的来信，过几天他要进城来。他叫皮特。”
“皮特？”
“我想我可能要去见他。他就要参加海军了。”
“海军？”
“我们也许会共进晚餐……当然还有别的人。就在里奇路那个地方。但这不是约会。”
“不是！我是说，当然不是约会。肯定的，我猜……肯定的。”
我把事情弄砸了，不过也许还有一线希望。她可能还不愿意嫁给我，但我不会在自己参加二战前5天失去她。皮特来访的那个晚上，我软硬兼施地从一位朋友那儿借到了汽车。“就借一个小时，看在上帝的面上。我当然有驾驶执照。”（我压根儿就没有。）
我驾车朝着餐馆的方向奔驰。可恶的皮特正在那儿设计偷走我的女孩。我不断地练习准备好的演说词，以夺回她的芳心。我安全抵达并满怀信心大步跨入那家餐馆，看到莉迪娅正坐在一张大桌子旁边。所有的人都转过身来看着我……我早已忘了那些演说词，一个词儿也记不得了。
沉默继续着。我举步走到餐桌前，拉起莉迪娅的手，对她说：“跟我走！”她照做了。
我全身心地感觉到，我后来的人生是从那一刻开始的。我就这么孩子气而想当然地打断了她跟朋友的晚宴，这是我有生以来所采取的最重要的一次行动。至今我仍引以为豪，并永远对我的女友充满感激——当她站起来挽起我的手，跟我一道走出餐馆时，她的确已经无可争议地成了我的女友。
我参加军训之后，开始加倍努力地向莉迪娅发起进攻，好让她答应嫁给我。我给她写信：“好好想想，亲爱的，如果我们结了婚而我又不幸阵亡，你将能净得1万美元的抚恤金。”对我这个苏格兰人来说，这一请求显然是合理的，但仍打动不了她的芳心。
军训的折磨使人精疲力竭，在给莉迪娅写信时，我甚至没有再提结婚的事。有一天，做了几个小时的越障训练之后，我返回军营，发现自己的铺位上有一封黄纸电文：“决定接受你的求婚。爱你的，莉迪娅。”
她就这样来到北卡罗来纳州格林斯伯勒的松林跟我结婚。我设法请了两天假，火速进城为我们俩订了一个房间，并用我的二等兵的薪水为她买了一枚12美元的婚戒。
我穿着军服，显得十分瘦长。莉迪娅则身披极为美丽的紫罗兰色婚纱，这一幕至今还在我脑海中闪闪发光。去教堂的路上，阵雨如注。这又有什么关系呢？我们笑着跑着，冲向台阶，走上教堂的圣坛。
我和莉迪娅如今一道庆祝了我们的金婚纪念日。那是一段漫长的时光。但是从我和我的女友——我的妻子并肩站在卡罗来纳州教堂里的那一刻起，已经半个世纪了，我们有了两个孩子，后来又有了一个极为可爱的孙子，而这一切仿佛只发生在一瞬间。
Follow your dream
追随你的梦想
If you have a dream， follow it. No matter how wild， outrageous and improbable it may seem. If possible travel on your journey with friends who will support you. Friendship can keep your faith alive long after your energy and hope have been worn away. Another thing you might want to do is to go where your probability of success is greatest.
When you work long and hard at the apparently futile， remember that your sense of futility is a lie； it is merely your conditioned mind reminding you of your limits； the lie seeks to eliminate your future promise.
Sooner or later， you"ll get results.
Above all， in the throes of failure persist. Persistence can initiate success. When talent and effort have been exhausted， persistence will carry you through to the end. Sometimes all that is needed to change a hopeless situation is hanging on until you find the millionth pebble.
In the memorable words of Winston Churchill，“Never， never， never， never give up.”
The mass appeal of movie-character Indiana Jones is that he symbolizes the quality of persistence. No matter how bad things get， he keeps on trying one more time.
Eventually， somehow， despite every reversal， he breaks through to his goal.
You， too， must learn the art of persistence. Persist when you"re completely exhausted. Persist when all efforts fail. Persist when you feel hopeless. You will find your dream if you can persist long enough.
You may sometimes win through sheer luck. You may sometimes win through broad talent. But， eventually， neither luck nor talent will be enough， and the principle of persistence is all that you will have left. In the end， it may be that persistence is your only abiding friend. It will pull you through all the pain， all the toil， all the hardship. In the long run， persistence， more than any other trait of success， makes a true winner. Persistence pays. It pays handsomely. With persistence comes learning and adaptation. With persistence comes luck and change.
To succeed in anything， learn how to endure adversity， learn how to feel confident in the midst of obvious failure. Let no-one and nothing deter you from your heart"s desire.
Water persistently washing against the hardest rock will eventually erode it away. Be as water. “Beware of no-one more than of yourself，” said Charles Spurgeon.“We carry our worst enemies within us.” When you give up， you let yourself down. You lose your chance at success. You also lose your self-confidence.
Persist！ Stick to what you set out to do. Stick to it even if it doesn"t seem worth it. Physical energy， moods， circumstances change. The darkness passes. In the face of failure， poverty， loneliness and obscurity， persistence brings you success.
如果你有一个梦想，那么就去追随它。无论这个梦想看起来是多么疯狂，超乎寻常或是不可思议。如果可能的话，就和那些愿意支持你的朋友们一起踏上追随梦想的旅途。在你的精力和希望被耗尽之后，友谊可以使你的信念保持长久。
另一件你也许会做的事情就是向着最可能成功的地方前进。
当你长时间努力做着那些显然是徒劳的工作时，请记住你的徒劳感只是一种假象。这仅仅是定型化的思维在提醒你的体力到达了极限；这个假象企图破坏你将来成功的希望。
或早或晚，你会看到结果。
而最重要的是，深陷失败的困境中仍要坚持。坚持可以带来成功。当天赋和努力都被耗尽时，坚持可以一直带你走到最后。有的时候，改变绝望境地的惟一办法就是坚持下去，直到你找到了第一百万颗鹅卵石为止。
温斯顿· 丘吉尔曾经说过这样一句令人难忘的话：“永远，永远，永远，永远不要放弃。”
电影角色印第安纳·琼斯深受大众青睐之处在于他象征着坚持不懈的品质。无论事情变得多么糟糕，他都坚持再试一次。
尽管一再遇到挫折，他还是突破了重重困难并最终实现了他的目标。
你，也是一样的，必须学习坚持这门艺术。当你精疲力竭的时候，需要坚持。当所有的努力都失败的时候，需要坚持。当你感到绝望的时候，需要坚持。如果你可以坚持相当长的时间，那么你将会实现你的梦想。
有时，你可以凭借十足的运气迈向成功。有时，你可以凭借过人的天赋取得胜利。但是，事实上，无论是运气还是天赋都是不够的，你惟一能够留下的只有坚持的信条。最终，也许只有坚持才是你永远的朋友。它将会带你脱离痛苦，克服辛劳，度过难关。从长远来看，是坚持塑造出真正的胜利者，而不是其他任何某一种成功的素质。坚持可以带来好处，带来相当大的好处。学识和适应力会伴随坚持一起到来，运气和变化也会随之而来。
若想在任何一方面取得成功，就要学会如何承受逆境，学会当身处显而易见的失败中时如何树立信心。不要让任何人任何事压制你内心中的渴望。
水滴终会石穿。要像水一样坚持不懈。查尔斯·斯珀吉翁曾说过：“比起其他人，你最要当心的是自己。最强大的敌人就在我们的内心中。”当你放弃的时候，你便失信于自己。你失去了成功的机会。你也失去了你的自信。
坚持！将你着手去做的事情进行下去。哪怕它似乎并不是那么值得去做也要坚持下去。体力、情绪、环境改变了。黑暗过去了。当你面对着失败、贫穷、孤独以及默默无闻时，坚持为你带来成功。
Answering Life"s Most Difficult Question
承受生命之轻
As a parent， one of my most difficult tasks is to explain to my children why things happen. I can fall back on my considerable knowledge of science to help me deal with questions like “Why is the sky blue？”or “Why do leaves fall from the trees in the fall？” Now I have to face the challenges of answering questions like “Why do people act the way they do？” or the most difficult question of all： “Why do things have to die？” I was confronted with this question recently in dealing with the loss of a pet. This particular pet was a cat that had lived with us for almost 10 years. She has shared in the good times and the bad and has provided comfort to every member of my family.
My son is taking this loss especially hard. Sure， he has seen death on a limited scale in the loss of a fish or an occasional hamster， but they don’t really survive long enough to create a lasting bond. They don’t rub up against you， purring and meowing， begging for attention. They don’t respond to your emotions and jump into your lap or lick your hand to lend moral support.
So how do you explain to a child the concept of life and death？ How do you comfort him when he feels he has lost such a close friend？ Like anyone else， I draw on my past experiences.