作者：冯铃之
出版社：新世界出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
美丽英文袖珍馆Ⅰ：成功是一种选择试读：
版权信息COPYRIGHT INFORMATION书名：美丽英文袖珍馆Ⅰ：成功是一种选择作者：冯铃之排版：青杨出版社：新世界出版社出版时间：2012-10-01ISBN：9787510429316本书由北京紫云文心图书有限公司授权北京当当科文电子商务有限公司制作与发行。— · 版权所有 侵权必究 · —如果你心里有一个大大的目标，不要放弃，不管你感到别人多么冷淡、你自己多么疲惫或灰心。即使我在这里所谈论的每一点都错了，你也要这么做：守住你的梦想——即便它此时此刻并没有那么美妙。不管怎样，都要抓住它。这样，当风暴转晴，你的梦想仍然完美无缺，准备再次上路吧！
If you have a great goal in mind, don't give up on it, no matter how apathetic, exhausted, or frustrated you might feel. If everything I've said up until this point fails, do this: hold on to your dream—even if it doesn' t feel like much of a dream at the moment. Hold on to it anyway. That way, when the storm clears, your dream will still be intact, ready for another try.成功是一种选择Success Is a Choice
我们选择快乐，选择健康，选择安全，选择富裕；生活中所有的事实都在告诉我们，成功是一种选择，不是仅仅靠机会或巧合就能获得的结果。PREFACE
Success
成 功
◎ Ralph Waldo Emerson
What is success?
To laugh often and love much,
To win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends,
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others,
To give oneself;
To leave the world a little better,
Whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation,
To know even one life has breathed easier;
Because you have lived—
This is to have succeeded.
什么是成功？
笑口常开，爱心长存，
赢得智者的尊重和孩子们的爱戴；
赢得真诚的认可，容忍损友的背叛；
欣赏一切美好，
发现别人的可爱，
无私地奉献；
给世界增添光彩。
要么培育出健康的孩子，要么留下花园一块，或是改善社会条件；
尽情娱乐、笑得畅快，把欢乐的歌唱起来；
甚至知道一个生命活得自在，
因为你的一路走来——
这就是成功的内涵。Chapter 1有梦想，才有力量
Goals determine what you are going to be.—— Julius Erving
目标决定你将成为什么样的人。——尤里乌斯·欧文Success in Life成 功◎ Anonymous
Success means different things for different people. Some may equate it with fame, some with wealth and still some with accomplishments. For me, it means fulfilling one’s dreams. Whatever your dreams are, you have a goal there and then focus all your attention on it. Dreams bring you hope and happiness. In the process of struggling for it, you cry, sweat, complain or even curse, but the joy of harvesting makes you forget all the pains and troubles you have gone through. So an old proverb says that the sweetest fruit is one that has undergone the bitterest ordeal.
There are several keys to success. First, your goal must be practical and practicable. If you set your goal too high, chances are that you will never attain it. Next, you have to make a plan of doing it. You can take some steps to realize it. Since the process is quite tough, you need to be diligent, patient and persevering. Even if you meet with some difficulties or frustrations, just take them in your stride. You can always tell yourself that there is nothing insurmountable. With this will and determination, success is sure to wait for you at the end of the tunnel!
成功对于不同的人来说意义不同。有些人将它等同于名誉，有些人将它等同于财富，另一些人将它等同于成就。对我来说，成功意味着实现你的梦想。不管你的梦想是什么，你有一个目标并且为之倾注心力。梦想为你带来希望和幸福。在为之奋斗的过程中，你流泪、流汗、抱怨甚至诅咒，但是收获的快乐会令你忘却所有你所经历的痛苦与艰辛。所以有一句老话说，最甜蜜的果实一定经历了最苦涩的考验。
这里有一些成功的秘诀。首先，你的目标必须现实可行。如果你制订的目标太高，你也许永远都无法达到。再者，又必须为之制订计划。你可以分步骤地实现它。因为过程将是艰苦的，你必须勤奋、耐心、坚持不懈。即使你遇到了困难与挫折，也要将之克服。你要不断地告诉自己，没有什么是无法逾越的。带着这样的意愿和决心，成功必然会在道路的尽头等着你！Opportunity善待机会◎ Stephen
The air we breathe is so freely available that we take it for granted. Yet without it we could not survive more than a few minutes. For the most part, the same air is available to everyone, and everyone needs it. Some people use the air to sustain them while they sit around and feel sorry for themselves. Others breathe in the air and use the energy it provides to make a magnificent life for them.
Opportunity is the same way. It is everywhere. Opportunity is so freely available that we take it for granted. Yet opportunity alone is not enough to create success. Opportunity must be seized and acted upon in order to have value. So many people are so anxious to “get in” on a “ground floor opportunity”, as if the opportunity will do all the work. That’s impossible.
Just as you need air to breathe, you need opportunity to succeed. It takes more than just breathing in the fresh air of opportunity, however. You must make use of that opportunity. That’s not up to the opportunity. That’s up to you. It doesn’t matter what “floor” the opportunity is on. What matters is what you do with it.
空气到处都有，我们是如此容易得到它，以至于我们常将此视为理所当然。然而，一旦失去它，我们就只能活上几分钟。基本上，谁都能呼吸到空气，谁也都需要空气。有的人呼吸空气只为了碌碌无为地活着，或是在懊悔中度过余生。有的人呼吸空气并利用它提供的能量，让自己的生活丰富多彩。
机会也是如此。机会无处不在。机会如此易得，以至于我们将此视为理所应当。然而机会本身并不能创造成功。必须抓住机会，见机行事，创造价值。许多人都渴望能夺得先机，似乎只要夺得先机就能万事大吉。这是不可能的。
正如你需要呼吸空气一样，你需要机会才能成功。然而成功靠的并不仅仅是唾手可得的机会。你必须利用机会。成功并不取决于机会，而是取决于你自己。重要的并不是你在哪一个阶段遇到机会，而是面对机会时你做了什么。We Are the Architect of Our Life我的命运自己掌握◎ Anonymous
Consider...YOU！In all time before now and in all time to come, there has never been and will never be any one just like you. You are unique in the entire history and future of the universe. Wow! Stop and think about that. You’re better than one in a million, or a billion, or a gazillion...
You are the only one like you in a sea of infinity①!!!
You’re amazing! You’re awesome! And by the way, TAG, you’re it. As amazing and awesome as you already are, you can be even more so. Beautiful young people are the whimsy of nature, but beautiful old people are true works of art. But you don’t become “beautiful” just by virtue of the aging process.
Real beauty comes from learning, growing, and loving in the ways of life. That is the Art of Life. You can learn slowly, and sometimes painfully, by just waiting for life to happen to you. Or you can choose to accelerate② your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers. You are the artist that paints your future with the brush of today.
Paint a Masterpiece.
God gives every bird its food, but he doesn’t throw it into its nest. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, it’s truly up to you.
试想一下……你！一个空前绝后的你，不论是以往还是将来，都不会有一个同你一模一样的人。在整个历史和未来的宇宙中，你都是独一无二的。哇！停下来思考吧，你是万里挑一、亿里挑一、兆里挑一的……
在无穷无尽的宇宙中，你是举世无双的！！！
你是了不起的！你很棒！没错，就是你。你已经是了不起的，是卓越的，你还可以更卓越、更了不起。美丽的年轻人是大自然的奇想，而美丽的老人却是艺术的杰作。但你并不会由于衰老的过程就自然而然变得“美丽”。
真正的美丽源于生命里的学习、成长和热爱他们的生活方式。这就是生命的艺术。你可以只听天由命，慢慢地学习，有时候会很痛苦，因为你只是等待着人生在你身上发生什么。又或者你可以选择加速自己的成长，故意地挥霍生活及其提供的一切。你就是那个手握今日之刷描绘自己未来的艺术家。
画出一幅传世之作吧！
上帝给了鸟儿食物，但他没有将食物扔进它的巢里。不管你想要去哪里，不管你想要做什么，真正作决定的还是你自己。Life Is a Do-It-Yourself Project生命如同为自己打造的工程◎ Amber Alent
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.
The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and the employer came to inspect the house and handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.”
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live in it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Who could say it more clearly? Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
一位上了年纪的木匠作好了退休的准备。他告诉老板他准备离开建筑行业，与老伴和儿孙们一起共享天伦之乐，过一种更悠闲自得的生活。虽然他因此而少了份薪水，但他想退休了。至于日子嘛，还能够过得去。
眼看这位优秀的木工就要离去，老板很遗憾。他问木工可否在私下里帮忙建一所房子。木工答应了，可明眼人一眼就看得出来，此时他做事心不在焉。做出的活儿技艺粗糙，用劣质材料来应付。他就这样为自己的建筑生涯画上了句号，真是令人遗憾。
木匠完工后，老板过来查看新房，并交给木工一把前门钥匙。他说：“这房子归你了，算是我送给你的礼物。”
多么让人吃惊，太可惜了！假如他早知道是在为自己造房，他会做得大不一样。现在他不得不住在自己建造的那所粗制滥造的房子里了。
我们又何尝不是如此呢？我们心不在焉地打造自己的生活，不是主动工作，而是被动应付，能省事就省事。重要的时候也没尽心尽力做好工作。蓦然回首，才瞠目结舌地发现我们正住在自己建造的那所房子中，自食苦果。早知如此，何必当初。
把你自己当成那位木工吧。想想你在为自己建房。每天你都要钉钉子、铺木板、砌墙。那么，你就该用心地去建。你的生活只能这样建造。哪怕你只在房子里多生活一天，这一天也应该活得优雅、有尊严。墙上的铭匾写道：“生活正如一项为自己打造的工程。”还有什么比这更清楚的呢？明日的生活之果，孕育于你今日的态度和抉择之树上。If the Dream Is Big Enough, the Facts Don’t Count心中有目标，风雨不折腰◎ Cynthia Stewart
I used to watch her from my kitchen window, she seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from my home and I would often watch the kids as they played during recess. A sea of children, and yet to me, she stood out from them all.
I remembered the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could.
I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone. She would practice dribbling and shooting over and over again, sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked directly in my eyes and without a moment of hesitation. She said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball. I decided that if I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Then she smiled and ran towards the court to recap the routine I had seen over and over again.
Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her varsity team to victory.
One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came to a soft reply. “I’m just too short.” The coach told her that at“5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college.
She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She lifted her head from her hands and told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just didn’t understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, that nothing could stop her except one thing—her own attitude. He told her again, “if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”
The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter. She was indeed offered a scholarship, a full ride, to a Division I, NCAA women’s basketball team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.
It’s true: If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.
我过去常常从我家厨房的窗户看她，她强行挤过操场上的一群男孩子，显得那么矮小。学校在我家的街对面，我经常看到孩子们在休息时间打球。尽管有一大群的孩子，但对我来说，她是最吸引我注意的一个。
我记得第一次看到她打篮球的情景。当她绕着其他孩子身旁游走的时候，我感到十分惊奇。她设法跳起投篮，球恰好越过他们的头顶飞入篮筐。那些男孩总是试图阻止她，但没有人可以做得到。
其他一些时候，她一个人练球，我开始注意观察她的举动。她一遍遍地练习运球和投篮，有时直到天黑。有一天，我问她为什么这么刻苦地练习。她直视着我的眼睛，毫不犹豫地说：“我想上大学。唯一能让我上大学的就是获得一笔奖学金。因为我喜欢打篮球，所以我决定了，只要我成为一个出色的球员，我就能获得奖学金。我想在大学里打篮球。我想成为最好的。我爸爸告诉我说，如果心中有目标，任何风雨都无法阻挡。”说完她笑了笑，跑向篮球场，又开始了我之前见过的一遍又一遍的练习。
嘿，我真服了她——她是个有决心的人。我看着她这些年从初中升到高中。每个星期，由她带领的学校篮球队都能够获胜。
在她读高中的最后一年，一天，我看见她坐在草地上，头埋在臂弯里。我穿过街道，坐到她身旁清凉的草地上，轻声问她发生了什么事。她轻轻地回答：“哦，没什么，只是我太矮了。”原来篮球教练告诉她，以她5.5英尺的身材，她永远也没有机会到一流的球队去打球，更不用说获得奖学金了，所以她应该放弃上大学的梦想。
她很伤心，我感受到了她的失望，也觉得自己的喉咙开始发紧。我问她是否同她的爸爸谈过这件事。她从臂弯里抬起头来，告诉我，她父亲说那些教练错了。他们只是没有懂得梦想的力量。他告诉她，如果她真的有心去一所好大学打篮球，如果她真的想获得奖学金，任何东西也不能阻止她，除非她自己没有这个态度。他又一次跟她说：“如果梦想远大，就一定可以克服艰难险阻。”
第二年，当她和她的球队去参加北加利福尼亚州冠军赛时，她被一位大学的招生人员看中了。那所大学真的为她提供了一份全额奖学金，而且，她进入了一个女子甲组篮球队。她将接受到她曾梦想并为之奋斗多年的大学教育。
这句话说得真好：如果梦想足够大，风雨不折腰。The 50-Percent Theory of Life生活、理论半对半◎ Steven Porter
I believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they are worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.
Let’s benchmark the parameters: Yes, I will die. I’ve dealt with the deaths of parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.
Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son’s baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he’s swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.
But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.
One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone those neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal—the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioner died, the well went dry, the marriage ended, the job lost, the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tune—music I loathed. Only a surging Kansas City Royals team, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my spirits.
Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn’t last long. I am owed and savor the halcyon times. They reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that I can thrive. The 50- percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals’ recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.
Oh, yeah, the corn crop? For that one blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with corn—fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip—while my neighbors’ fields yielded only brown, empty husks.
Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.
我信奉对半理论。生活时而无比顺畅，时而倒霉透顶，好坏参半。我相信生活就像来回晃动的钟摆。读懂生活的常态需要时间和阅历，也正是这样才练就了我面对未来宠辱不惊的生活态度。
让我们掂量这些点点滴滴：是的，我注定会死去。我已经经历了双亲的去世，一位友人的亡故，一位敬爱的老板的离世，还有心爱的宠物的死亡。其中一些变故突如其来，直击于我眼前；有些却长期折磨我，让我痛苦不堪。这些都是糟糕的事儿，让它们驻留谷底。
当然生活也不乏光彩熠熠：坠入爱河缔结良缘；身为人父，训练儿子的棒球队，当他和狗在水中嬉戏时，摇桨划船前瞻后顾，感受他如此强烈的同情心——即使对蜗牛也善待有加，发现他如此丰富的想象力——即使零散的积木也能堆出宇宙飞船。
但在它们发生期间有一片宽广的草坪，在那儿上演的各种好事坏事像耍杂技一样地翻新。这就是让我信服对半理论的原因。
有一年春天，我在一片容易被淹的低洼地过早地种下了玉米，邻居们都为此嘲笑我。一番心血付之东流让我懊恼不已。接着我生命中最难熬的酷暑来临了——夏天热浪袭人，酿至旱灾。空调失灵，水井枯竭，婚姻破裂，惨遭失业，积蓄挥空。我正经历某个乡村调频台播放的歌目所描绘的境况，我憎恨这种音乐。只有一支人气攀升的堪萨斯皇家棒球队的小组，因他们的第一次出征世界大赛团结起来使我精神振奋。
回想那个可怕的夏天，我很快就明白了，所有的好事坏事不过是正负抵消。更糟糕的境遇不会延宕过久。宁静的时光是我应得的，我要尽情享受。它们给我新的活力以应对突如其来的险境，并确保我能茁壮成长，再度辉煌。对半理论甚至帮我在我喜爱的皇家棒球队最近的低潮中看到希望——这是一块艰难行进的新手们耕耘的土地，播种了，假以时日我们就可以收获十月的金秋。
哦，对了，玉米收成？对于那个炎热的夏天，庄稼地的湿度恰到好处，过早的种植使授粉避开酷热在顶梢干枯前完成，雨水稀少使地里长着的玉米免遭水灾。那年冬天，我的粮仓里堆满了玉米——饱满结实的玉米每株秆儿上结三个，每个玉米从底到顶端长满了玉米粒——而我的邻居们地里长出来的只是暗沉干瘪的外壳。
尽管过去播种的收获没有达到百分之五十的期望，而且将来也可能是这样，我仍然要为经历旱季依然丰收的玉米而坚守阵地。Born to Win生而为赢◎ Muriel James
Each human being is born as something new, something that never existed before. Each is born with the capacity to win at life. Each person has a unique way of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and thinking. Each has his or her own unique potentials—capabilities and limitations. Each can be a significant, thinking, aware, and creative being—productive person, a winner.
The word “winner” and “loser” have many meanings. When we refer to a person as a winner, we do not mean one who makes someone else lose. To us, a winner is one who responds authentically by being credible, trustworthy, responsive, and genuine, both as an individual and as a member of a society.
Winners do not dedicate their lives to a concept of what they imagine they should be; rather, they are themselves and as such do not use their energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretence and manipulating others. They are aware that there is a difference between being loving and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting knowledgeable. Winners do not need to hide behind a mask.
Winners are not afraid to do their own thinking and to use their own knowledge. They can separate facts from opinions and don’t pretend to have all the answers. They listen to others, evaluate what they say, but come to their own conclusions. Although winners can admire and respect other people, they are not totally defined, demolished, bound, or awed by them.
Winners do not play “helpless”, nor do they play the blaming game. Instead, they assume responsibility for their own lives. They don’t give others a false authority over them. Winners are their own bosses and know it.
A winner’s timing is right. Winners respond appropriately to the situation. Their responses are related to the message sent and preserve the significance, worth, well-being, and dignity of the people involved. Winners know that for everything there is a season and for every activity a time.
Although winners can freely enjoy themselves, they can also postpone enjoyment, can discipline themselves in the present to enhance their enjoyment in the future. Winners are not afraid to go after what he wants, but they do so in proper ways. Winners do not get their security by controlling others. They do not set themselves up to lose.
A winner cares about the world and its peoples. A winner is not isolated from the general problems of society, but is concerned, compassionate, and committed to improving the quality of life. Even in the face of national and international adversity, a winner’s self-image is not one of a powerless individual. A winner works to make the world a better place.
每个人的出生都是崭新的，是前所未有的存在。每个人皆生而能赢。每个人都有其特立独行的方式去观察、聆听、触摸、体味及思索大千世界。每个人都具备独一无二的潜质——能力和局限。每个人都有可能成为一个举足轻重、思虑明达、洞察秋毫、富有创意的人，即胜者。“胜者”与“败者”含义颇多。当我们称一个人为胜者时，并不是指令他人一败涂地之人。对我们而言，成功的人必要为人守信、值得信赖、聪慧机敏、态度真诚，或为个人、或为社会的一员，都能以真诚回应他人。
胜者行事并不拘泥于某种信条，即便是他们认为应为其穷其一生的理念；而是本色行事，所以并不把精力用来表演，保持伪装或操控他人。他们意识到真爱与装爱、愚蠢与装傻、博学与卖弄之间迥然有别。赢家无须藏匿于面具之后。
成功者敢于利用自己的知识，进行独立思考。他们能够区分事实与观点，而且并不佯装通晓所有问题的答案。他们倾听他人意见，品评他人言论，但能得出自己的结论。尽管他们也钦佩他人、尊敬他人，但并不为他人所局限、所影响、所束缚，也不对他人敬若神灵。
成功者既不会佯装“无助”，也不会怨天尤人，为自己开脱。相反，他们对人生总是独担责任。他们不以名不副实的权威姿态管束他人。他们主宰自己的命运，并且对此一清二楚。
成功者善于审时度势，随机应变。他们对所接受的信息作出回应，维护当事人的利益、价值、幸福和尊严。成功者深知，成一事要看好时节，行一事要把握时机。
尽管成功者可以自由自在地享乐，但他们更知如何推迟这种享乐，适时自律，以使未来的享受更加丰厚。成功者并不怕追求他想要的东西，但他们取之有道。他们也并不靠控制他人而获取安然之感。他们总是使自己立于不败。
成功者关注这个世界，心忧天下。他们并不孤立于世俗之外，而是置身事内、满腔热忱，致力于改善生活品质。即使面对民族、国家之危亡，成功者也不是无力回天的个体形象。他总是竭力使世界变得更美好。Think it over...好好想想……◎ Charles Chaplin
Today we have higher buildings and wider highways, but shorter temperaments and narrower points of view;
We spend more, but enjoy less;
We have bigger houses, but smaller families;
We have more compromises, but less time;
We have more knowledge, but less judgment;
We have more medicines, but less health;
We have multiplied out possessions, but reduced out values;
We talk much, we love only a little, and we hate too much;
We reached the Moon and came back, but we find it troublesome to cross our own street and meet our neighbors;
We have conquered the utter space, but not our inner space;
We have higher income, but less morals;
These are times with more liberty, but less joy;
We have much more food, but less nutrition;
These are the days in which it takes two salaries for each home, but divorces increase;
These are times of finer houses, but more broken homes;
That’s why I propose, that as of today;
You do not keep anything for a special occasion. Because every day that you live is a special occasion.
Search for knowledge, read more, sit on your porch and admire the view without paying attention to your needs;
Spend more time with your family and friends, eat your favorite foods, visit the places you love;
Life is a chain of moments of enjoyment; not only about survival;
Use your crystal goblets. Do not save your best perfume, and use it every time you feel you want it.
Remove from your vocabulary phrases like “one of these days” or “someday”;
Let’s write that letter we thought of writing “one of these days”!
试读结束[说明：试读内容隐藏了图片]