大學(xué)三年級的時(shí)候，在一堂“愛普”課程的（高中課程可在大學(xué)拿學(xué)分）美國歷史課上，雅各布森老師曾說：“我打賭你們誰都沒見過毒品交易”。他很肯定的看著教室里的所有學(xué)生，臉上露出詭異的笑。“我曾經(jīng)看過”，我回答道。教室里的每一個(gè)人都轉(zhuǎn)過身，用那種即好奇，又半信半疑的眼神看著我。我知道也許這些經(jīng)歷與大部分的優(yōu)等生不同。盡管我有著與大家不同的經(jīng)歷，但我仍然有些非常棒的優(yōu)等生朋友，優(yōu)格特，耐婷，漢娜斯，威莎爾，尼克等，從八年級開始我們就在一起上課。我和耐婷都喜歡美食和購物。我們一起購物的時(shí)候，甚至?xí)驅(qū)Ω郀I業(yè)稅以及福利制度的作用的看法不同而爭論不休。優(yōu)格特和我總是一塊去圖書館借書，然后去她家讀。我喜歡和這些積極向上的朋友們一塊兒完成我的學(xué)習(xí)任務(wù)。我也很喜歡我的那些“失敗者”朋友們，因?yàn)樗齻兏艺\、更真實(shí)。

回首過去，九年級的經(jīng)歷是我永不想改變的。因?yàn)槲覐哪切┡笥焉砩稀⒗蠋熀图议L們的偏見里領(lǐng)悟了很多人生哲理，朋友的危險(xiǎn)經(jīng)歷也讓我明白了什么事情不該做。在將來的時(shí)間里，除了學(xué)習(xí)我會繼續(xù)幫助青少年。通過“改變”這個(gè)項(xiàng)目對更多青少年的接觸以及不懈的努力，我獲得了1998年度的“杰出青少年”獎(jiǎng)。我對青少年情況的了解加強(qiáng)了我的認(rèn)同度和影響力。我將會是一個(gè)成功的人，因?yàn)槲液軜芬夂腿魏稳撕献鳎以敢饨o每個(gè)人機(jī)會。我也希望有機(jī)會把其他孩子的生活變得更加美好。

Achieving Success 收獲成功

Anonymous 佚名

We cannot travel every path.Success must be won along one line.We must make our business the one life purpose to which every other must be subordinate.

I hate a thing done by halves.If it be right，do it boldly.If it be wrong，leave it undone.

To live with a high ideal is a successful life.It is not what one does，but what one tries to do，that makes a man strong.

Unceasing effort is the price of success.If we do not work with our might，others will；and they will outstrip us in the race，and pluck the prize from our grasp.

Success grows less and less dependent on luck and chance.Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures.

The great and indispensable help to success is character.Character is a crystallized habit，the result of training and conviction.Every characteris influenced by heredity，environment and education.But these apart，if every man were not to be a great extent the architect of his own character，he would be a fatalist，and irresponsible creature of circumstances.

Instead of saying that man is creature of circumstances，it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstances.From the same materials one man builds palaces，other hovels.Bricks and mortar are mortar and bricks，until the architect can make them something else.

The true way to gain much is never to desire to gain too much.Wise men don’t care for what they can’t have.

收獲成功兩大要素：一，努力。若懷有僥幸心理，成功只會漸行漸遠(yuǎn)。二，滿足。不是因成功才滿足，而是因滿足才獲得成功。

參考翻譯（高昆）

我們不可能嘗盡每一種方法。只有確定方向，并堅(jiān)定地走下去才能獲得成功。目標(biāo)既定，其他一切都要圍繞著這個(gè)目標(biāo)進(jìn)行。

我討厭半途而廢。如果是對的，就放手去做。如果不對，就干脆不要接觸。

成功的生活取決于一個(gè)人是否懷揣一份崇高的理想。一個(gè)人是否堅(jiān)強(qiáng)不是取決于他做了什么事，而是取決于他為了做什么事而去付出了多少努力。

成功需要不懈地努力。如果我們不盡心盡力地工作，別人就會超越你，并拿走本應(yīng)屬于你的成功。

若懷有僥幸心理，成功只會漸行漸遠(yuǎn)。氣餒是失敗的首要原因。高尚的品格是獲取成功的得力助手，是一種確定的習(xí)性，是訓(xùn)練和信念的成果。每種品格都受遺傳、環(huán)境和教育等諸多因素的影響。忽略這些影響因素，如果一個(gè)人不去優(yōu)化自己的品格，那么他就是一個(gè)宿命論者，是環(huán)境失職的產(chǎn)物。

與其說人是環(huán)境的創(chuàng)造物，不如說人是環(huán)境的建造師。相同的材料，有的人可以用它建造宮殿，有的人卻只能用它建造茅屋。磚頭和水泥無法改變自身的本質(zhì)，但是建造師們卻可以將其塑造成各種各樣的東西。

若想多收獲，就要低期望。智者不會為了得不到的東西煩惱。

True Nobility 真正的高貴

Ernest Hemingway 海明威

In a calm sea every man is a pilot.

But all sunshine without shade，all pleasure without pain，is not life at all.Take the lot of the happiest—it is a tangled yarn.Bereavements and blessings，one following another，make us sad and blessed by turns.Even death itself makes life more loving.Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life，under the shadows of sorrow and loss.

In the affair of life or of business，it is not intellect that tells so much as character，not brains so much as heart，not genius so much as self-control，patience，and discipline，regulated by judgement.

I have always believed that the man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without.In an age of extravagance and waste，I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are.

To regret one’s errors to the point of not repeating them is true repentance.There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man.The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.

永遠(yuǎn)和自己看齊。一個(gè)人優(yōu)于別人不是真正的高貴，優(yōu)于以前的自己才是真正的高貴。

參考翻譯（修立芬）

平靜的海上易駛船。但是只有陽光沒有倒影，只有歡樂沒有痛苦的生活，不能稱之為真正的生活。即使最快樂的人，他的生活也會有亂作一團(tuán)的時(shí)候。失去與恩賜是相輔相成的。失去讓我們傷心，而恩賜使我們快樂。也許死亡才會使人們更加熱愛生活。也只有在人生傷心和失去的陰影下，人生才能得以沉淀，人們才可以更接近真實(shí)的自己。

有時(shí)候，在我們的日常生活、或者是職場生活中，才智不如品性，頭腦不如內(nèi)心，天資不如克制、耐心和自律。

我始終相信，內(nèi)心開始精打細(xì)算的人，外在也會開始不張揚(yáng)。在這個(gè)物欲橫流的時(shí)代，我想告訴人們其實(shí)我們真正需要的很少很少。

一個(gè)人為犯了的錯(cuò)而后悔，不算是真正的悔悟，只有記住教訓(xùn)不再犯同樣的錯(cuò)誤才算真正的悔悟。一個(gè)人優(yōu)于別人不是真正的高貴，優(yōu)于以前的自己才是真正的高貴。

How To Grow Old 老之將至

Anonymous 佚名

Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age.One of these is undue absorption in the past.It does not do to live in memories，in regrets for the good old days，or in sadness about friends who are dead.One’s thoughts must be directed to the future，and to things about which there is something to be done.

This is not always easy；one’s own past is a gradually increasing weight.It is easy to think to oneself that one’s emotions used to be more vivid than they are，and one’s mind more keen.If this is true it should be forgotten，and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.

The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth in the hope of sucking vigour from its vitality.When your children are grown up they want to live their own lives，and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they were young，you are likely to become a burden to them，unless they are unusually callous.I do not mean that one should be without interest in them，but one’s interest should be contemplative and，if possible，philanthropic，but not unduly emotional.Animals become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves，but human beings，owing to the length of infancy，find this difficult.