And how will this be accomplished? I possess neither the knowledge nor the experience to achieve greatness, and I have already stumbled in ignorance, falling into pools of self-pity. The answer, however, is simple. I will commence my journey unencumbered by the weight of unnecessary knowledge or the handicap of meaningless experience. Nature has already endowed me with knowledge and instinct far superior to any beast in the forest, and the value of experience is often overrated—typically by old men who nod wisely while speaking foolishly.
In truth, experience teaches thoroughly, yet its course of instruction devours a man’s years, causing the value of its lessons to diminish in proportion to the time required to acquire such wisdom. In the end, it is often wasted on dead men. Furthermore, experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today may be unworkable and impractical tomorrow. Only principles endure, and I now possess them, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained within the words of these scrolls.
What they will teach me is more about preventing failure than gaining success, for what is success other than a state of mind? Among a thousand wise men, which two would define success in the same words? Yet failure is described in only one way. Failure is man’s inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be. In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits.
Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedes all others, is this: I will form good habits and become their slave. As a child, I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men. I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits, and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path that threatens to imprison my future.
My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, and habit. Of these tyrants, habit is the worst. Therefore, If I must be a slave to habit, let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed, and new furrows prepared for good seed. I will form good habits and become their slave.
原文中文
And how will this be accomplished? I possess neither the knowledge nor the experience to achieve greatness, and I have already stumbled in ignorance, falling into pools of self-pity. The answer, however, is simple. I will commence my journey unencumbered by the weight of unnecessary knowledge or the handicap of meaningless experience. Nature has already endowed me with knowledge and instinct far superior to any beast in the forest, and the value of experience is often overrated—typically by old men who nod wisely while speaking foolishly.
In truth, experience teaches thoroughly, yet its course of instruction devours a man’s years, causing the value of its lessons to diminish in proportion to the time required to acquire such wisdom. In the end, it is often wasted on dead men. Furthermore, experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today may be unworkable and impractical tomorrow. Only principles endure, and I now possess them, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained within the words of these scrolls.
What they will teach me is more about preventing failure than gaining success, for what is success other than a state of mind? Among a thousand wise men, which two would define success in the same words? Yet failure is described in only one way. Failure is man’s inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be. In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits.
Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedes all others, is this: I will form good habits and become their slave. As a child, I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men. I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits, and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path that threatens to imprison my future.
My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, and habit. Of these tyrants, habit is the worst. Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit, let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed, and new furrows prepared for good seed. I will form good habits and become their slave.
