佚名/Anonymous
Confidence is a feeling—an inner fire and an outer radiance, a basic satisfaction with what one is plus a reaching out to become more. Confidence is not something a few people are born with and others are not, for it is an acquired characteristic.
Confidence is the personal possession of no one; the person who has it learns it—and goes on learning. The most gifted individual on earth has to construct confidence in his gifts from the basis of faith and experience, like anybody else. The tools will differ from one person to the next, but the essential task is the same. Confidence and pose are available to us all according to our abilities and needs—not somebody else's—provided we utilize our gifts and expand them.
One of the most rewarding aspects of confidence is that it sits gracefully on every age and level of life—on children, men, women, the famous, the obscure, rich, poor, artist, executive, teenager, the very old. And you can take it with you into old age. There is nothing more inspiring than an old person who maintains his good will, humor, and faith in himself, in others, in the future. Conversely, the root cause of old people's despair is a feeling of not being wanted, of nothing to contribute, no more to conquer and become.
Most people have more to work with than they realize. One noted physicist calls this unused excellencies and finding and releasing this potential in ourselves is one of the major challenges of modern life. The great danger is not that we shall overreach our capacities but that we shall undervalue and under-employ them, thus blighting our great possibilities.
The goal of life is not a problem less existence, which would be unbearably dull, but a way to handle problems creatively. That word "problem" may sound a little prickly, but it only means a question put forth for solution, and actually life consists of a series of problems-and-solutions, each different from the last.
Confidence is delight—delight in living, in being who you are, in what you do, in growing, in the endless and sometimes exasperating adventure of what it means to be human. The teacher who delights in teaching has no time for bogging down in a swamp of doubt that he or she is doing it "right" , and they are well aware that they can become a better teacher tomorrow, but only by doing their best today and enjoying today. So, too, the mother who delights in being a mother does not worry over-much about whether she fits the rules. She is not the mother, after all, of something material but of a living child.
Rules can often be a guide to successful living, but they are not a substitute for living. Rules never quite keep up with reality, because rules come from experience, not the other way around. Life happens, and it is infinitely inventive. It will always outrun and outmaneuver any attempt to bottle it up in a cut-and-dried system, for life is perpetual becoming. When life turns your wisest plans or best rules upside down, throw out the plans and bend with the circumstance. You will find powers you did not suspect, and possibilities undreamed of.
Confidence is not always winning, not always victory. Indeed, it is that very quality in humanity which refuses to stay defeated. A kind of stubborn cheerfulness. Remember there are two things you can do with mistakes, you can run away and you can grow.
自信是一種感覺——一種能使人們獲得基本滿足感的內在**和外在光芒。它不是某些人與生俱來，而其他人則沒有的品質，它是後天形成的。
自信可以通過學習獲得，同時又能促使你不斷學習，它不是某些人的私有財產。世界上再聰明的人也同其他人一樣，以信念和經曆為基礎來培養自信。雖然不同的人所使用的工具也不盡相同，但核心目的是相同的。倘若我們依靠自己的能力，根據自己的需求，運用自己的才智使之不斷增強，我們就可以做到自信且沉著冷靜。
自信最令人欣慰的一點是，它不受年齡和生活水平的限製，時刻伴隨著我們——無論是孩子、男人、女人、名人、平凡人，還是富人、窮人、藝術家、行政人員、青少年、老人都可以擁有自信。你甚至可以滿懷自信地步入老年。一個老人對自己、對他人、對未來懷有美好的願望，擁有樂觀的心境和堅定的信念，這比任何事都更能激勵人心。反之，無欲無求，不被人所需的感覺是老人絕望的根源。
多數人都比他們料想的更有作為。一位著名的物理學家把自信稱為尚待利用的優勢資源，認為開發並利用自信這種潛能，是當代生活的主要挑戰之一。高估自己的能力並非最大的危險，而低估且不充分利用這些能力，則阻礙了潛能的開發。
沒有問題存在的生活，並不是理想的生活。沒有問題會單調得令人無法忍受，創造性地解決問題才能令生活有意義。或許“問題”一詞聽起來令人有點不舒服，但它隻意味著一個被提出的需要解決的問題。實際上，生活就是由這一係列的提出問題和解決問題所構成的，每個問題都有別於前一個問題。
自信是令人愉悅的，它使生活充滿了喜悅，讓快樂包圍你，快樂地工作，快樂地成長，人生的種種坎坷曆程都會令你快樂。教師以教書育人為樂，無暇對他的所作所為是否正確表示懷疑。他們清楚地知道，隻要盡心盡力地工作，有朝一日定會成為一名優秀的教師。母親也如此，她們也不會過多地擔心自己是否適合母親這一角色。畢竟，她照料的是活生生的孩子，而不是無生命的物質。
規則通常是生活成功的向導，而非生活的附屬物。規則並不完全與現實相吻合，因為它源於經驗，而非其他。生活是一種無從定義的發明創造，總會超越那些束縛它的規章製度，因為生活始終處於變化之中。當生活把你精心製訂的計劃或準則打亂時，舍棄那些計劃，適應環境吧，你會發現意想不到的力量，而不可能的夢想也會得以實現。
自信並不能戰勝一切，但它的確是人類不甘於失敗，勇於進取的品質。謹記，麵對錯誤，你可以采取兩種態度：逃避或成長。
characteristic[?k?rikt??ristik]n.特性；特征；特色
Ambition is a characteristic of all successful businessmen.
雄心勃勃是所有成功生意人的共同特點。
utilize[ju:?tilaiz]v.利用
Dramas utilize action rather than description to tell a story.
戲劇是用行動而不是用敘述來講述故事。
perpetual[p??petju?l]adj.永恒的；永久的
That you exist is a perpetual surprise which is life.
你的存在，是一個永恒的奇跡，這就是人生。
stubborn[?st?b?n]adj.頑固的；倔強的
You might as well talk to a stone as try to argue with a stubborn woman.
你與其跟一個倔女人爭吵，還不如對一塊石頭說話。
自信是一種感覺——一種能使人們獲得基本滿足感的內在**和外在光芒。
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自信是令人愉悅的，它使生活充滿了喜悅，讓快樂包圍你，快樂地工作，快樂地成長，人生的種種坎坷曆程都會令你快樂。
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謹記，麵對錯誤，你可以采取兩種態度：逃避或成長。
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That word "problem" may sound a little prickly, but it only means a question put forth for solution, and actually life consists of a series of problems-and-solutions, each different from the last.
consist of：由……組成
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Rules never quite keep up with reality, because rules come from experience, not the other way around.
keep up with：跟上；不落在……後麵
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