Application and Perseverance Give Results


勤奋有恒结硕果 ( 2 )

IN THIS ARTICLE: Samuel Smiles, the eldest of eleven children, was born on 23rd December, 1812 in Scotland. He was apprenticed to a doctor, studied medicine at Edinburgh University and graduated in 1832. Five years later, he abandoned medicine to become editor of the Leeds Times, following the successful publication of several of his articles about self-improvement. His famous book Self Help; With Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance was published in England in 1859. Now, more than 140 years later, it still provides sound advice. ---- Editor

[7] Dalton, the chemist, repudiated the notion of his being "a genius", attributing everything which he had accomplished to simple industry and accumulation. John Hunter said of himself, "My mind is like a beehive; but full as it is of buzz and apparent confusion, it is yet full of order and regularity, and food collected with incessant industry from the choicest stores of nature." We have, indeed, but to glance at the biographies of great men to find that the most distinguished inventors, artists, thinkers, and workers of all kinds, owe their success, in a great measure, to their inde-fatigable industry and application. They were men who turned all things to Gold-- even time itself.

[8] Disraeli the elder held that the secret of success consisted in being master of your subject, such mastery being attainable only through continuous application and study. Hence it happens that the men who have most moved the world, have not been so much men of genius, strictly so called, as men of intense mediocre abilities, and untiring perseverance; not so often the gifted, of naturally bright and shining qualities, as those who have applied themselves diligently to their work, in whatsoever line that might lie. "Alas!" said a widow, speaking of her brilliant but careless son, "he has not the gift of continuance." Wanting in perseverance, such volatile natures are outstripped in the race of life by the diligent and even the dull. Who goes slowly, goes long, and goes far, says the Italian proverb.

[9] Hence, a great point to be aimed at is to get the working quality well trained. When that is done, the race will be found comparatively easy. We must repeat and again repeat; facility will come with labour. Not even the simplest art can be accomplished without it; and what difficulties it is found capable of achieving! It was by early discipline and repetition that Sir Robert Peel cultivated those remarkable, though still mediocre powers, which rendered him so illustrious an ornament of the British Senate.

[10] When he was a boy at Drayton Manor, his father was accustomed to set him up at table to practise speaking extempore and he early accustomed him to repeat as much of the Sunday's sermon as he could remember. Little progress was made at first, but by steady perseverance the habit of attention became powerful, and the sermon was at length repeated almost verbatim. When afterwards replying in succession to the arguments of his parliamentary opponents--an art in which he was perhaps unrivalled--it was little surmised that the extraordinary power of accurate remembrance which he displayed on such occasions had been originally trained under the discipline of his father in the parish church of Drayton.

[11] It is indeed marvellous what continuous application will effect in the commonest of things. It may seem a simple affair to play upon a violin; yet what a long and laborious practice it requires! Giardini said to a youth who asked him how long it would take to learn it, "Twelve hours a day for twenty years together." Industry, it is said, makes the bear dance. The poor ballet dancer must devote years of incessant toil to her profitless task before she can shine in it. When the ballet dancer Taglioni was preparing herself for her evening exhibition, she would, after a severe two hours' lesson from her father, fall down exhausted, and had to be undressed, sponged, and resuscitated from being totally unconscious. The agility and bounds of the evening were insured only a price like this.

[12] Progress, however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step. De Maistre says that "to know HOW TO WAIT is the great secret of success". We must sow before we can reap, and often have to wait long, content meanwhile to look patiently forward in hope; the fruit best worth waiting for often ripening the slowest. But "time and patience," says the Eastern proverb, "change the mulberry leaf to silk."

[13] To wait patiently, however, men must work cheerfully. Cheerfulness is an excellent working quality, imparting great elasticity to the character. Cheerfulness and diligence are nine-tenths of practical wisdom. They are the life and soul of success, as well as of happiness; perhaps the very highest pleasure in life consisting in clear, brisk, conscious working; energy, confidence, and every other good quality mainly depending upon it.

本文简介：塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯在1812年12月23日出生于苏格兰．是11个孩子中最大的。他曾跟一位大夫当学徒，后在爱丁堡大学学医，1832年毕业。五年之后，他放奔了医学，成为《利兹时报》的编辑，此前，他已成功地发表了几篇关于自我修养的文章。他的名著《自助；附有关于品德和坚持不懈的图例》于1859年在英国出版。140多年后的今天，这本书仍然可以提供明智的忠告。----编者

[7］化学家道尔顿拒绝接受他本人是“天才”的看法，他认为他完成的一切工作都完全是由于勤奋和积累。约翰·亨特谈到自己时说：“我的脑袋像个蜂巢；实际上里面充满了嗡嗡声和明显的混乱，然而又满有条理和规律性，还有以不间断的勤奋从大自然最优质的储藏品中收集而来的食物。”确实，我们只要侧览一下伟人们的传记，就会发现，那些最杰出的发明家、艺术家、思想家以及各行各业的成功者，在很大程度上都把成功归于他们不知疲倦的辛勤劳动和努力工作。他们是把一切----甚至时间本身----变成黄金的人。

［8］大迪斯累里坚持认为成功的秘诀在于精通你的专业，这种精通只有通过不断努力和研究才能达到。那些最令世人感动的人，严格地说不是天才，而是那些热忱的、能力中等而不屈不挠的人；他们经常不是天生才华出众的人，而是那些不论在什么行业里都埋头刻苦工作的人。“哎呀！”一位寡妇说到她的有才华而粗心大意的儿子时说，“他没有持久性。”缺乏了毅力，那些反复无常的人就会在生存竞争中被勤奋甚至迟钝的人所超越。意大利的格言说：谁走得慢，走得久，才能走得远。 [9]因此，要瞄准的大目标就是要练好工作本领。本领练好了，竞争就比较容易了。我们必须一再重复；熟练来自劳动。没有这一点，即使最简单的技艺也不能完成；能够成功是多么困难呀！罗伯特·皮尔爵士就是靠早期的训练和重复，培养了引人瞩目的能力，尽管只是中等之才，也使他成为为英国参议院如此增光的辉煌人物。

［10]他小时候在德雷顿在园时，他父亲总是让他坐在桌旁练习即席讲话；并且很早使他习惯于尽量重复他所记忆的礼拜天的布道文。起初进步很小，可是靠持续不断的努力，专心的习惯变得颇有成效，终于布道文复述得几乎一字不差。后来在议会上应对对手一个接一个的争论时----他在这门技艺上也许是无人可比的----很少有人猜想得到他在这样的场合显露出的不寻常的准确记忆力，原来是在德雷顿牧区教堂里他父亲的训练之下培养成功的。 ［11］最普通的事，只要不断努力，所产生的结果的确是令人惊奇的。演奏小提琴似乎是简单的事；然而这需要多么长期和艰苦的练习呀！一位青年问基阿迪尼，学会小提琴要多长时间，他说：“每天12小时，连续20年。”据说，勤奋可使狗熊跳舞。可怜的芭蕾舞演员必须把多年不断的辛劳献给她无益的苦差事，之后她才能在芭蕾上大放异彩。芭蕾舞演员泰格利欧尼准备晚会演出时，在跟着父亲上了两小时非常严格的芭蕾课程之后，她会精疲力尽跌倒在地，不得不让别人帮她脱下衣服，用湿海绵擦身，使她从完全失去知觉中苏醒过来。只有付出这样高的代价，才能保证晚会演出时动作灵活、跳跃自如。 [12]然而最使人满意的进步是相对比较缓慢的。伟大的成果不可能片刻获得；我们必须满足于生活中所得的进步，如同走路一样，是一步一步前进的。麦斯特说：“懂得怎样等待是成功的一大秘诀。”我们必须先下种，然后才能收获，往往得长时间地等待，在满足的同时耐心地期待；最值得等待的水果常常成熟得最慢。但是东方格言说：“时间和耐心把桑叶变成蚕丝。”

[13]可是，要想耐心地等待，人们必须愉快地工作。愉快是非常好的工作品质，给人很开朗的心情。愉快和勤奋就是绝大部分的实用知识。两者不仅是幸福的关键，也是成功的关键；或许人生最大的乐趣莫过于明确、轻快、自觉地工作；干劲、自信及其他优点全赖于这样的工作态度。

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