雙語散文:燃燒成功的慾望
The motivation to succeed comes from the burning desire to achieve a purpose. Napoleon Hill wrote, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”
成功的行動來自於那燃燒着的想要達成目的的慾望。拿破崙•希爾寫道：“成功的意念能夠到達個人的構想與信念所能到達的任何地方。”
A young man asked Socrates the secret to success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man to walk with him toward the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked(vt. 將……猛按入水) him into the water. The boy struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started turning blue. Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp(vi.喘息) and take a deep breath of air. Socrates asked, “What did you want the most when you were there?” The boy replied, “Air.” Socrates said, “That is the secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get e is no other secret.”
一個年輕人向蘇格拉底詢問成功的祕訣，蘇格拉底讓年輕人第二天早晨到河邊見他。他們見面後，蘇格拉底叫年輕人和他一起走向河裏，當河水淹至他們的脖子時，蘇格拉底出其不意地抓住年輕人並把其壓入水中，那人想要掙出水面，而強壯有力的蘇格拉底將他摁在水中直到他變得無力抗爭，臉色發青。蘇格拉底將他的頭拖出水面，這個年輕人所做的第一件事就是大口喘息後，深吸一口氣。蘇格拉底問：“當你悶在水裏的時候你最想要的是什麼？”年輕人回答說：“空氣。”蘇格拉底說：“那就是成功的祕訣。當你像渴望空氣一樣渴望成功，你就能夠獲得它！沒有其他的祕密了。”
A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment. Just like a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results.
強烈的慾望是一切成功的起點，正如小火苗不能放出大量的熱一樣，一個微小的願望也不能促成偉大的成就。
