优秀英语美文摘抄

美文,大概就是美的化身,它是一种情感,一种体验和一种表达。下面是我带来的经典英语美文摘抄，欢迎阅读!经典英语美文摘抄篇一 什么东西比金钱更重要 It is physically impossible for a well-educated intellectual, or brave man to make money the chief object① of his thoughts; as physically impossible as it is for him to make his dinner the principal object of them. 一个受过良好 教育 、有头脑的、有胆识的人完全不可能将金钱当作他考虑的主要对象，正如他完全不可能将美餐当做他主要考虑对象一样。 All healthy people like their dinner, but their dinner is not the mainobject of their lives. So all healthy-minded people like making money--ought to like it and to enjoy the sensation② of winning; but the main object of their lives is not money; it is something better than money. 所有健康的人都喜欢享用美餐，但美餐并不是他们生活的主要目标。同样道理，所有思想健全的人都喜欢挣钱--喜欢并体验挣到钞票的兴奋感是正当的;然而，他们生活的主要目标并不是金钱，而是比金钱更珍贵的东西。 A good soldier, for instance③, mainly wishes to do his fighting well. He is glad of his pay--very properly so --and justly grumbles④ when you keep him ten months without it; still, his main notion⑤ of life is to win battles, not to be paid for winning them. 例如，一位优秀的士兵主要想打好仗。他为自己的薪饷感到高兴--完全合乎情理;假如，你扣发他十个月军饷，他发牢骚理所应当。不过，他的人生主要目标仍然是打胜仗，并非为了薪饷而打胜仗。 So too of doctors. They like fees no doubt--ought to like them; yet the entire object of their lives is not fees. They, on the whole desire to cure the sick, would rather cure their patients and lose their fee than kill them and get it. And so with all other brave and rightly trained men: their work is first, their fee is second, very important always, but still second. 医生也是如此。毫无疑问，他们都喜欢收诊费--本应如此;然而他们人生的全部目标并不是诊费。总的说来，他们都想把病人治好，而且宁愿把病人治好而得不到诊金，也不愿为了诊金而把病人治死。所有其他有胆识的、受过正当培训的人也是如此：他们总是工作第一、报酬第二。报酬尽管总是非常重要，但还是第二。 But in every nation, there is a vast class of people who are cowardly⑥, and more or less stupid. And with these people, just as certainly the fee is first and the work second, as with brave people the work is first and the fee second. 可是，在每个国家，都有一大批怯懦的、多少有点愚蠢的人。对于这些人而言，无疑是报酬第一、工作第二，正如有胆识的人工作第一、报酬第二一样。 And this is no small distinction⑦. It is the whole distinction in a man. You cannot serve two masters; you must serve one or the other. If your work is first with you, and your fee is second, work is your master. 这决非细微差异，这是根本性差异，区分一个人的根本性差异。你不能侍奉两个主人，你必须侍奉其中一个，非此即彼。假如就你而言是工作第一、报酬第二，那么工作就是你的主人。 Observe, then, all wise work is mainly threefold⑧ in character. It is honest, useful, and cheerful. I hardly know anything more strange than that you recognize honesty in play, and do not in work. 请注意，一切明确的工作本质上都具有三重性：诚实、有用和愉悦。人们在娱乐中讲究诚实而在工作中却不讲诚实--据我所知，没有比这更奇怪的事情了。 In your lightest games you have always someone to see what you call "fair play". In boxing you must hit fair; in racing, start fair. Your watchword is fair play; your hatred, foul play. Did it ever strike you that you wanted another watchword⑨ also, fair work, and another hatred also, foul⑩ work? 在最不重要的比赛中，你总是请人做裁判，确保人们常说的公平竞赛。 拳击 中，你出拳必须公正;赛跑时，你起跑必须公正。你的 口号 就是公正比赛，你所深恶痛绝的就是违反规则。那么，你可曾想过，你还需要另一个口号，那就是老老实实地工作;你深恶痛绝的应是投机取巧。 经典英语美文摘抄篇二 Mother & Child 妈妈与孩子 It was Christmas 1961. I was teaching in a small town in Ohio where my twenty-seven third graders eagerly anticipated the great day of gifts giving. 那是1961年的 圣诞节 。我在俄亥俄州的一个小镇上教小学三年级。班上27个孩子都在积极参加"礼物赠送日"的活动。 A tree covered with tinsel and gaudy paper chains graced one corner. In another rested a manger scene produced from cardboard and poster paints by chubby, and sometimes grubby, hands. Someone had brought a doll and placed it on the straw in the cardboard box that served as the manger. It didn't matter that you could pull a string and hear the blue-eyed, golden-haired dolly say, "My name is Susie." "But Jesus was a boy baby!" one of the boys proclaimed. Nonetheless, Susie stayed. 教室的一角被一棵树装点得熠熠生辉，树上缀满了金银丝帛和华丽的彩纸。教室的另一角是一个涂着海报油彩由纸板制成的马槽，这出自孩子们那胖乎乎、脏兮兮的小手。有人带来了一个娃娃，把它放在纸板槽里的稻草上(假装小耶稣)。只要拉拉它身上的一条细绳，这个蓝眼睛、金发的娃娃就会说道，"我叫苏西"，不过这都没有关系。一个男孩提出："耶稣可是个小男孩呀!"不过苏西还是留了下来。 Each day the children produced some new wonder -- strings of popcorn, hand-made trinkets, and German bells made from wallpaper samples, which we hung from the ceiling. Through it all she remained aloof, watching from afar, seemingly miles away. I wondered what would happen to this quiet child, once so happy, now so suddenly withdrawn. I hoped the festivities would appeal to her. But nothing did. We made cards and gifts for mothers and dads, for sisters and brothers, for grandparents, and for each other. At home the students made the popular fried marbles and vied with one another to bring in the prettiest ones. " You put them in a hot frying pan, Teacher. And you let them get real hot, and then you watch what happens inside. But you don't fry them too long or they break."So, as my gift to them, I made each of my students a little pouch for carrying their fried marbles. And I knew they had each made something for me: bookmarks carefully cut, colored, and sometimes pasted together; cards and special drawings; liquid embroidery doilies, hand-fringed, of course. 每天孩子们都会做点儿新玩意--爆米花串成的细链子、手工做的小装饰品和墙纸样做的德国式风铃，我们把这些风铃挂在了天花板上。但自始至终，她都是孤零零地远远观望，仿佛是隔了一道几里长的障碍。我猜想着这个沉默的孩子发生了什么事，原来那个快乐的孩子怎么突然变得沉默寡言起来。我希望节日的活动能吸引她，可还是无济于事。我们制作了许多卡片和礼物，准备把它们送给爸爸妈妈、兄弟姐妹、祖父母和身边的同学。学生们在家里做了当时很流行“油炸"玻璃弹子，并且相互比着，要把最好看的拿来。"老师，把玻璃弹子放在热油锅里，让它们烧热，然后看看里面的变化。但不要炸得时间过长否则会破裂。"所以，我给每个学生做了一个装"油炸弹子"的小袋作为礼物送给他们。我知道他们每个人也都为我做了礼物：仔细剪裁、着色，或已粘集成串的书签; 贺卡 和特别绘制的图片;透明的镶边碗碟垫布，当然是手工编制的流苏。 The day of gift-giving finally came. We oohed and aahed over our handiwork as the presents were exchanged. Through it all, she sat quietly watching. I had made a special pouch for her, red and green with white lace. I wanted very much to see her smile. She opened the package so slowly and carefully. I waited but she turned away. I had not penetrated the wall of isolation she had built around herself. 赠送礼物的那天终于到了。在交换礼物时我们为对方亲手做的小礼品不停地欢呼叫好。而整个过程，她只是安静地坐在那儿看着。我为她做的小袋很特别，红绿相间还镶着白边。我非常想看到她笑一笑。她打开包装，动作又慢又小心。我等待着，但是她却转过了身。我还是没能穿过她在自己周围树起的高墙，这堵墙将她与大家隔离了开来。 After school the children left in little groups, chattering about the great day yet to come when long-hoped-for two-wheelers and bright sleds would appear beside their trees at home. She lingered, watching them bundle up and go out the door. I sat down in a child-sized chair to catch my breath, hardly aware of what was happening, when she came to me with outstretched hands, bearing a small white box, unwrapped and slightly soiled, as though it had been held many times by unwashed, childish hands. She said nothing. "For me?" I asked with a weak smile. She said not a word, but nodded her head. I took the box and gingerly opened it. There inside, glistening green, a fried marble hung from a golden chain. Then I looked into that elderly eight-year-old face and saw the question in her dark brown eyes. In a flash I knew -- she had made it for her mother, a mother she would never see again, a mother who would never hold her or brush her hair or share a funny story, a mother who would never again hear her childish joys or sorrows. A mother who had taken her own life just three weeks before. 放学后，学生们三三俩俩地离开了，边走边说着即将到来的圣诞节：家中的圣诞树旁将发现自己心系已久的自行车和崭新发亮的雪橇。她慢慢地走在后面，看着大家拥挤着走出门外。我坐在孩子们的小椅子上稍稍松了口气，对要发生的事没有一点准备。这时她向我走来，双手拿着一个白色的盒子向我伸过来。盒子没有打包装，稍有些脏。好像是被孩子未洗过的小手摸过了好多遍。她没有说话。"给我的吗?"我微微一笑。她没出声，只是点点头。我接过盒子，非常小心地打开它。盒子里面有一条金色的链子，上面坠着一块闪闪发光的“油炸"玻璃弹子。然后我看着她的脸，虽只有8岁，可却是成人的表情。在她深棕色的眼睛里我找到了问题的答案。我在一瞬间明白过来--这是她为妈妈做的项链，她再也见不到的妈妈，再也不能抱她、给她梳头或一起讲 故事 的妈妈。她的妈妈已再也不能分享她充满童稚的快乐，分担她孩子气的忧伤。就在3个星期前她的妈妈离开了人世。 I held out the chain. She took it in both her hands, reached forward, and secured the simple clasp at the back of my neck. She stepped back then as if to see that all was well. I looked down at the shiny piece of glass and the tarnished golden chain, then back at the giver. I meant it when I whispered," Oh, Maria, it is so beautiful. She would have loved it."Neither of us could stop the tears. She stumbled into my arms and we wept together. And for that brief moment I became her mother, for she had given me the greatest gift of all: herself. 我拿起那条链子。她用双手接过它，向前探了探身，在我的脖子后把简易的项链钩系好。然后她向后退了几步，好像在看看是否合适。我低下头看着闪闪发亮的玻璃珠和已失去光泽的金色链子，然后抬起头望着她。我很认真地轻声说道：“哦，玛丽亚，这链子真漂亮。你妈妈一定会喜欢的。"我们已无法抑制住泪水。她踉踉跄跄地扑进我的怀里，我们都哭了。在那短暂的一刻我成了她的妈妈，而她送给了我一份最珍贵的礼物：她的信任和爱。By Patricia A. Habada 经典英语美文摘抄篇三 FAMILY FAMILY= (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER, (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door. Daddy, may I ask you a question? Yeah sure, what is it? replied the man. Daddy, how much do you make an hour? That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing? the man said angrily. I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour? pleaded the little boy. If you must know, I make $20 an hour. Oh, the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, Daddy, may I please borrow $10? The father was furious, If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior. The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. Are you asleep, son? He asked. No daddy, I'm awake, replied the boy. I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier, said the man, It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10you asked for. The little boy sat straight up, smiling. Oh, thank you daddy! He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father. Why do you want more money if you already have some? the father grumbled. Because I didn't have enough, but now I do, the little boy replied. Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.

古今中外的经典美文是知识的结晶,是智慧的源泉。开展经典美文诵读,能拓宽学生视野,开发学生智力,培养学生美好情操,对提高全民族人民的素质也能起到积极的作用。下面是我带来的关于经典英语美文摘抄，欢迎阅读!关于经典英语美文摘抄篇一 埃及艳后Three centuries later, shortly before the birth of Christ, Egypt was still ruled by a living goddess, Cleopatra, a Greek descended from one of Alexander's generals. She looked back to the Golden Age of Alexander's world empire and was determined to do even better herself. Alexander died at the age of 32. By the time Cleopatra was 23, she had gone ever further than Alexander making her entrance into Rome as Queen of Egypt and consort of Julius Caesar, the most powerful man in the world. These were complex times. To keep your throne, you had to be adaptable, ruthless, intelligent and a great politician. Cleopatra had all these traits which is why history has provided us with lots of interpretations of Cleopatra. Renaissance poets saw her as a heroine dying for love. And painters alluded to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals of the dying queen. Hollywood reinforced the image of Cleopatra as a vamp starting with Theda Bara's seductive portrayal in 1917. But who was the real Cleopatra? What did she really look like? We're in Berlin because this is the best portrait of Cleopatra in the world. There are very few ancient sculptures that are existing. So this is probably as close as we're ever going to get to how she really looked. She's rather plain looking, isn't she? Look at her hair. It's tied up in a simple bun. It's a classical Greek hairstyle. It's practical but not exactly designed to captivate a Roman general. We know from ancient sources that her hair was a reddish color, wavy. But look at her nose. It's a little bit too long and hooked at the end. And her mouth, is not exactly sensual. She's not wearing any jewelry. There are no earrings, no necklace. This is not the portrait of a femme fatale. The ancient sources tell us she was intelligent, witty, charming, a linguist and along with this, she had a tremendous determination. It was this amazing combination of abilities that made Cleopatra the most famous woman in history. It wasn't her beauty. Women in Egypt had always been powerful: Queen Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and now Cleopatra. But during the era of the Ptolemy's, the role of Greek women had changed. They gained an identity apart from that of their husbands or families. Women participated in the arts and civic life and marriage became a union of two people, not just two houses. The portraits of the women of this period show strong individuals looking back at you with confidence. They're almost haunting. Women would not have this power again until the 20th century. Cleopatra was well educated, strong minded with ideas of her own and a female. As a intellectual, Cleopatra would have been heartbroken: when during fighting between Egyptians and Caesar's Roman troops, there occurred one of the greatest tragedies of the ancient world - the burning of the library of Alexandria. It's sad to think about what was lost in the fire at Alexandria. There are the missing manuscripts of Aristotle and Plato. They were probably there. There was an entire room with editions of Homer. Maybe even there were early manuscripts of the Old Testament, which could probably help settle Biblical questions today. Cleopatra was eventually able to replace 200,000 of the manuscripts. Books were very important to her. It's ironic that today everybody knows her for her beauty, but it was her intelligence that was most important asset she had. 耶稣诞生的三百年后，埃及依然在克莉奥帕卓女王的统治下，她是亚历山大大帝手下一名将领的后代。她一面追怀着亚历山大帝国的黄金时期，一面决意自己做得更出色。 亚历山大于32岁驾崩，当时埃及艳后仅23岁，她远行得疆界比亚历山大更远，她以埃及王后和世界上最有权力的人——朱利安·恺撒情人的身份走进罗马。 当时局面非常复杂。要保住王位则必须是一名灵活，无情、机智兼出色的政客。这些特点埃及艳后全部具备，这也解释了为什么我们会从历史上看到关于她的多种不同说辞。文艺复兴时期的诗人将她视成为爱情献身的女英雄。画家们把她描绘为裸胸垂死的贪欲的女王。好莱坞的电影强化了她的荡妇形像——第一部始于桑德·芭拉在1917年媚人的扮演。 可是埃及艳后究竟是什么样的人?她的外貌是怎样的呢? 于是我们来到了柏林，这儿有全世界最好的埃及艳后的肖像。现在仅存的古代雕像已是凤毛麟角，所以这一尊也许能帮助我们尽多地了解她的外貌。她长得挺平常的，是不是?看看他的头发，结的是个简单的髻。这是希腊古典发型。风格朴实，并非特别设计来俘获罗马将领的爱情。 我们从古代资料了解到她的头发是浅红色的，有波纹的。可瞧她的鼻子，是稍有点长的鹰钩鼻。嘴也算不上性感。她不饰带任何珠宝。没有耳环，没有项链。这并非一个性感尤物的相貌。 古代资料还告诉我们，她聪明、诙谐、迷人、精通多种语言，而且，她还具有惊人的毅力。正是集合了这种种才华而决非美貌，才使得埃及艳后成为历史上最负盛名的女性。 过去，埃及妇女的势力向来不弱，如：哈特谢普苏特女王、奈费尔提蒂女王，以及想在这位克莉奥帕卓女王。但在托勒密王朝时期，希腊妇女的角色改变了。她们取得独立于丈夫和家庭外的身份，参与到艺术和市民生活中，并以两个个人而不是两家人的名义缔结婚姻。这一时期的妇女形象表现除了强烈的个性与自信。那令人印象深刻。21世纪以前妇女们都没有再拥有过这种权力。埃及艳后便是受过良好 教育 、意志坚强、有自己思想的一位女性。 在埃及人与恺撒的罗马军队作战期间发生了古代一大惨剧——亚历山大图书馆的焚毁。作为一位知识人士，这一悲剧定曾让埃及艳后为之哀恸不已。要说亚历山大图书馆在那次火灾中的损失是令人伤心的。遗失的亚里土多德和伯拉图手稿估计就在其中。有一整个房间里放的是荷马的作品。如果《圣经旧约》的早期文稿没有在那时遗失的话，也许今日我们对《圣经》的许多疑惑已经解开了。 埃及艳后最后找回了二十万册文稿。书籍对她太重要了。讽刺的是她以美貌蜚声于今日世界，而其实智慧才是她最最可贵的资产。 关于经典英语美文摘抄篇二 犹太女孩谱写别样《神曲》Book on Divine Comedy does Dante differently What's a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey whose first language was Yiddish doing writing a book about history's greatest Catholic poet, Dante? Perhaps trying to convince the world that his epic poem, the Divine Comedy, is not just for Ivy League intellectuals but for the common man and woman on life's journey. Harriet Rubin's "Dante in Love," published by Simon and Schuster, may not become required reading in the hallowed halls of Oxbridge academia. But that's just fine with her. "This book is aimed at people in hell," said Rubin. "And how do you get out of hell if there is no exit sign anywhere? The book is aimed at people who are in some kind of quandary. People with passion." Quandary? Passion? Dante ate them for breakfast. Banned from returning to his beloved Florence in 1302, Dante roamed from city to city in Italy and France, from noble court to grubby back streets until he died in Ravenna in 1321. Through the exile, the wandering and the angst, he created The Divine Comedy -- divided into Hell, Purgatory and Paradise -- a poem many consider the greatest ever written. Rubin, the daughter of a window cleaner and housewife from New Jersey, already had experience in writing about an Italian luminary from centuries past. She is author of the highly provocative and acclaimed 1998 book "The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women," in which she discusses how to become powerful without becoming like a man. Now she is doing Dante differently from many previous works on the poet considered to be the father of the Italian language. It is by no means a "Divine Comedy for Idiots." But in its own way it does take Dante off the pedestal of poetic sanctity and explain as simply as possible the immense tapestry of religion, art, architecture, cosmology, theology and history that provided the backdrop for the work. 犹太女孩谱写别样《神曲》 一个来自新泽西、母语为依地语的犹太女孩创作了一本关于历史上最伟大的天主教诗人但丁的书，不觉得她很可爱吗? 这或许是为了向世人证明，但丁的史诗《神曲》并不仅仅是写给长青藤联盟的学者看的，同样也适合跋涉在生命旅程中的普通男女。 哈里特·鲁宾的《爱中的但丁》一书由西蒙和舒斯特出版集团发行，这本书可能并不会成为牛津和剑桥大学神圣厅堂里的必读书，但对她来说这样已经很好了。 鲁宾说：“这本书的受众对象是那些在苦难中挣扎的人们。如果在任何地方都找不到出口标志，你怎样才能脱离困境呢?这本书是专为那些陷入某种困境、却仍怀有激情的人们而写的。” 困境?激情?但丁拿它们当家常便饭。 1302年，但丁被禁止回到他深爱的佛罗伦萨，于是他周游意大利和法国，从一个城市游荡到另一个城市，从高雅的宫廷徘徊到肮脏的后街，直到1321年，他死于拉文纳(意大利东北部港市)。 在流放、游荡和痛苦中，他创作了《神曲》，这部被很多人视为有史以来最伟大的诗篇分为《地狱》、《炼狱》和《天堂》三部。 鲁宾，一个新泽西的擦窗工人兼家庭主妇的女儿，在写作方面已小有 经验 ，她曾写过一本关于几个世纪前的一位意大利大师的书。 1998年，她创作的《女君王论: 女人获取权力的战略、战术与武器》一书出版了，这本书非常富有煽动性、赢得了很高的评价。在书中她讨论了(女人)怎样才能变得强大，却不必像男人一样。 现在，她正在用一种和以往许多描写但丁的著作不同的方式来诠释这位被认为是意大利语言之父的诗人。 这决不是一本“为愚人而作的神曲”。 但是，她独有的写作手法确实使但丁的圣洁诗歌不再那么高高在上，她尽可能用最简单直白的方式来阐释这部作品深厚的背景，那是宗教、艺术、建筑、宇宙哲学、神学和史学共同 编织 出的巨大织锦。 关于经典英语美文摘抄篇三 Macho, insensitive bosses share certain characteristics. Their behavior is arrogant, quick-tempered and controlling. Their motives are typically selfish and manipulative. They show little concern for others and few signs of understanding why others don’t trust them. Most of all, they are quite unaware of their failings and the impact they have on their subordinates. No only do they see no need to change, they often make their high-handed behavior a source of pride. That’s why you can trust them to be some of your best teachers about productivity and success. Before you decide that I’ve lost my mind, I'll explain. Most human beings are amazingly consistent in the way they behave. That’s why we can say of some action, “That isn’t like you,” or “It’s so out of character.” Without that consistency, such a remark would be pointless. And amongst the most consistent groups of all are those who spend least time in any kind of introspection: the extreme extroverts, the loud, slap-you-on-the-back hearty types, the arrogant, the pompous, the selfish and the self-centered — the people who, if they become bosses, are most likely to prove to be bad ones. Powerful lessons from powerful people Bad bosses can become useful teachers precisely because their behavior tends to be so consistently bad. You can be fairly sure of their motives and intentions, which allows you to compare cause with effect . The pompous boss, convinced of her superiority and the rightness of whatever she does; the lazy boss, sure that status confers the right to live off other people’s efforts; the rigid, controlling boss, firm in his belief that all subordinates are incompetent without his oversight; all of these hold to their actions so tenaciously — and are so blind to what they are doing — that they will provide some of the best lessons in what not to do that you will ever be offered. Here are seven of the lessons you might come across, beginning with productivity: See how much effort bad bosses have to use to make things happen their way; effort that would be unnecessary if they behaved better — all that time spent micro-managing and checking; all the ranting and raving to reduce others to obedience; all the lies and stratagems needed to manipulate others instead of asking them openly. See how others react to them; how people become adept at sabotaging their efforts and undermining their success. Even when they dare not oppose the boss openly, subordinates will show great ingenuity in finding other ways to frustrate them. Look at the effect bad bosses have on trust — how this type of behavior ruins relationships with customers as well as employees. Once discovered, as it always is in the end, cynical manipulation renders future trust impossible too. What about the impact on motivation? Consider how you feel if you find yourself going along with the boss’s bad behavior. Do you feel motivated or depressed? Does it make you want to exert yourself or limit your output to no more than is needed to preserve your safety and career prospects? Rigidity next. Most macho bosses see changing a poor decision as an unacceptable sign of weakness. How many times have you seen a bad leader produce disaster from what could have been a triumph, simply because he or she refused to admit to — and change — a bad decision? Take some time to consider what survival in the lifestyle of a bad boss demands. Is that how you would be willing to live? Are the rewards they get worth what they have to do to get them? Most important, observe the way bad bosses are regarded by those above them. Are they genuinely fooling the top dogs about their weaknesses? Or are those executives simply playing the same game — but far better — manipulating middle and junior managers to enhance their own positions, then throwing them to the wolves when they become too much of an embarrassment? I’m sure you can think of many more situations where a bad boss has taught you a valuable lesson. Observing and learning from others’ mistakes is as important as learning from your own — and a good deal less painful. Besides, the macho tough guys can never admit to being wrong. They can’t learn from their own mistakes. Since you can, it’s an advantage you can use for all it’s worth.