"We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…”
“我们正在读一本书的第一章第一行,这本书的页数是无限的……”
I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.
We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.我们每个人都像是农夫。洒下良种将有丰收,播下劣种或生满野草便将毁去收成。没有耕耘则会一无所获。
I want the future to be better than the past. I don't want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.我希望未来比过去更加美好,希望未来不会沾染历史的错误与过失。我们都应举目向前,因我们的余生要用未来书写。
The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.
Even when the road gets rough, you can keep going.A disappointing result will stop you only if you assume that it is supposed to stop you. However, you can just assume that all your results are encouraging you to keep going. After all, when you’re getting results of any kind, you’re making a difference. If the results are not the ones you like, you can make small changes to your efforts and greatly improve the results.Many things are simply not going to happen with just one attempt, three or even a dozen attempts. Yet any thing becomes possible with enough persistence. Keep going, and allow your efforts to build on one another. Keep going, and turn your disappointments into achievements.You have what it takes to keep going, because all it ever takes is just one more step forward. Keep going, and work your way steadily to the richest rewards you can imagine.
Enjoy that uniquenesss1. You do not have to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. You do not have to lie to hide the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else.
You were meant to be different. Nowhere, in all of history, will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now.
If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap2 in history, and something missing from the plan for humankind. Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it!
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No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort others with your kind of comfort. No one can bring your kind of understanding to another person. No one can be cheerful and light-hearted3 and joyous4 in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being.
Share your uniqueness. Let it flow out freely among your family and friends, and the people you meet in the rush and clutter of living, wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given to you to enjoy and share. Give yourself away!
After winning several archery contests,the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer.
The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull’s eye on his first try,and then split that arrow with his second shot.
“There,”he said to the old man, “see if you can match that!”
Undisturbed ,the master did not draw his bow,but rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain.
Curious about the old fellow’s `intentions,the champion followed him high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log.
Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge ,the old maser picked a far away tree as a target,drew his bow,and fired a clean,direct hit.
“Now it is your turn,”he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground.Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss,the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log,no less shoot at a target. “You have much skill with your bow,” the master said ,sensing his challenger’s predicament, “but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot.”
英语励志文章二
Life doesn’t always give us the joy we want. We don’t always get our hopes and dreams, and we don’t always get our way1. But don’t give up hope, because you can make a difference one situation and one person at a time.
Look for the beauty around you, in nature, in others, in yourself, duanwenw.com and believe in the love of friends, family, and humankind2. You can find love in a smile or a helping hand, in a thoughtful gesture or a kind word. It is all around, if you just look for it.
Give love, foringiving it you will find the power in life along with joy, happiness, patience and understanding. Believe in the goodness4 of others and re-member that anger and depression can be countered by love and hope.
Even when you feel as though there isn’t a lot you can do to change unhappiness or problems, you can always do a little —and a little at a time eventually makes a big difference.
Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, duanwenw.com we only need to take a deep breath and say "Yes" and hope will reappear6.