奧裏森·馬登/Orison Marden
"I'll sign it after a while," a drunkard would reply, when repeatedly urged by his wife to sign the pledge; "but I don't like to break off at once, the best way is to get used to a thing." "Very well, old man," said his wife, "see if you don't fall into a hole one of these days, with no one to help you out."
Not long after, when intoxicated, he did fall into a shallow well, but his shouts for help were fortunately heard by his wife. "Didn't I tell you so?" she asked." It's lucky I was in hearing or you might have drowned." He took hold of the bucket and she tugged at the windlass; but when he was near the top her grasp slipped and down he went into the water again. This was repeated until he screamed:"Look here, you're doing that on purpose, I know you are." "Well, now, I am." admitted the wife." Don't you remember telling me it's best to get used to a thing by degrees? I'm afraid if I bring you up sudden, you would not find it wholesome." Finding that his case was becoming desperate, he promised to sign the pledge at once. His wife raised him out immediately, but warned him that if ever he became intoxicated and fell into the well again, she would leave him there.
A man captured a young tiger and resolved to make a pet of it. It grew up like a kitten, fond and gentle. There was no evidence of its savage, bloodthirsty nature, and it seemed perfectly harmless. But one day while the master was playing with his pet, the rough tongue upon his hand started the blood from a scratch. The moment the beast tasted blood, his ferocious tiger nature was roused, and he rushed upon his master to tear him to pieces.
Sometimes the appetite for drink, which was thought to be buried years ago, is roused by the taste or the smell of "the devil in solution," and the wretched victim finds himself a helpless slave to the passion which he thought dead.
The wife of Socrates, Xanthippe, was a woman of a most fantastical and furious spirit. At one time, having vented all the reproaches upon Socrates her fury could suggest, he went out and sat before the door. His calm and unconcerned behavior but irritated her so much the more; and, in the excess of her rage, she ran upstairs and emptied a vessel upon his head, at which he only laughed and said that "so much thunder must needs produce a shower." Alcibiades, his friend, talking with him about his wife, told him he wondered how he could bear such an everlasting scold in the same house with him. He replied," I have so accustomed myself to expect it, that it now offends me no more than the noise of carriages in the street."
The strong man is the one who ever keeps himself under strict discipline, who never once allows the lower to usurp the place of the higher in him; who makes his passions his servants and never allows them to be his master; who is ever led by his mind and not by his inclinations. He drills and disciplines his desires and keeps the roots of his life under ground, and never allows them to interfere with his character. He is never the slave of his inclinations, nor the sport of impulse. He is the commander of himself and heads his ship due north even in the wildest tempests of passion.
A noted teacher has said that the propensities and habits are as teachable as Latin and Greek, while they are infinitely more essential to happiness. We are very largely the creatures of our wills. By constantly looking on the bright side of things, by viewing everything hopefully, by setting the face as a flint every hour of every day toward all that is harmonious and beautiful in life, and refusing to listen to the discord or to look at the ugly side of life, by constantly directing the thought toward what is noble, grand and true, we can soon form habits which will develop into a beautiful character, a harmonious and well-rounded life. We are creatures of habit, and by knowing the laws of its formation we can, in a little while, build up a network of habit about us, which will protect us from most of the ugly, selfish and degrading things of life. In fact, the only real happiness and unalloyed satisfaction we get out of life, is the product of self-control. It is the great guardian of all the virtues, without which none of them is safe. It is the sentinel, which stands on guard at the door of life, to admit friends and exclude enemies.
當醉漢的妻子反複催促他保證戒酒時，醉漢回答說：“我過一會兒就保證，但我不想現在就戒，最好是慢慢來。”妻子說：“非常好，沒準兒你哪天會掉進坑裏，沒人會救你出來。”
不久之後，那個人喝醉了，真的掉進一口很深的井裏，不過幸運的是，他的呼救聲被他的妻子聽到了，妻子說：“我警告你的事情真的發生了吧？幸好我聽到了，要不然你就被淹死了。”他抓住水桶，妻子用力搖動轆轤，但是當他快要到達井口時，妻子卻鬆開手，他又掉進了水裏。這種情形反複了好多次，最終他忍不住大叫：“喂，我知道你是故意的。”他的妻子承認道：“是的，我就是故意的。你忘了你曾跟我說過，凡事要慢慢來嗎？我怕讓你突然上來，你會不適應。”他別無他法，於是馬上保證要戒酒。他的妻子立刻把他救了上來，不過警告他說，如果他再喝醉掉進井裏，她是不會再理睬他的。
有一個人抓住了一隻小老虎，決定把它當寵物養。小老虎長大了，像小貓似的可愛又溫和，沒有任何凶惡、殘忍天性的跡象，看起來完全沒有傷害性。但是有一天，這個人在與他的寵物玩耍時，老虎舔到了從他手上的傷口流出的血。就在舔到血的那一瞬間，老虎的凶殘天性被喚醒了，它撲向主人，把他撕爛了。
有時，已經戒掉多年的酒癮，會在品嚐或聞到“惡魔溶液”時被喚醒，可憐的受害者就會發現，對於他原以為已經戒掉的酒癮而言，自己就是一個無助的奴隸。
蘇格拉底的妻子是個多疑狂暴的女人。有一次，她向蘇格拉底發怒時，蘇格拉底走出去，坐在門外。蘇格拉底的平靜和漠然更加激怒了她，她更惱火，衝到樓上，把一桶水倒在他的頭上。蘇格拉底隻是笑笑，說：“如此大的雷鳴聲，一定會下暴雨的。”蘇格拉底在與朋友亞西比德談論自己的妻子時，朋友問他在家中是如何忍受這種長久的責罵的。蘇格拉底回答說：“我已經習慣讓自己認為這些責罵還不如街上馬車的噪音，它們根本不會讓我感到煩悶。”
堅強的人一向嚴格要求自己，他絕不允許低級的想法侵占他崇高的思想；他讓**成為自己的奴隸，絕不允許它們成為自己的主人；他遵從自己的理智行事，而不是自己的愛好。他訓練自己的品質，始終使自己的生命之根深紮在土壤裏，不允許它們影響自己的性格。他從不被偏好與衝動左右。他是自己的指揮官，即使在最強烈的欲望風暴中也不會偏航。
有一位著名的老師曾說過，當偏好與習慣對於幸福更加重要時，它們是可以訓教的，就像拉丁語與希臘語可以學習一樣。在很大程度上，我們是自己意誌的創造物。不斷地看到事物光明的一麵；滿懷希望地看待事物；堅信每天的每一個小時都是朝著和諧美滿的生活發展的，而不去聽那些不和諧的聲音，忽視生活的醜陋一麵；不斷地引導思想朝向高尚、重要和真實的事物，這樣我們就能很快養成好的習慣，創造美好的品格、和諧美滿的生活。我們是習慣的產物，通過了解它的形成規律，我們便能夠在很短的時間內，在我們的身邊建立起習慣網，使我們免受生活中醜陋、自私、可恥事物的影響。我們從生活中得到的真正的幸福與純粹的滿足感，實際上是自我控製的產物。它們是所有美德的偉大守護者，沒有它任何美德都是不安全的。它是站在生命之門的哨兵，接納朋友，排斥敵人。
intoxicated[in?t?ksikeitid]adj.喝醉的；極其興奮的
They became deeply intoxicated and totally disoriented.
他們酩酊大醉，東南西北全然不辨。
desperate[?desp?rit]adj.不顧一切的；拚命的；鋌而走險的
Not everybody can keep his head in the desperate moment.
不是每個人都能在危急時刻保持鎮定的。
ferocious[f??r?u??s]adj.凶猛的；殘忍的；凶暴的
Without love a person could go hayward and also become cruel and ferocious.
沒有愛的人生可能會誤入禁區，也會變得殘酷而凶惡。
harmonious[hɑ:?m??ni:?s]adj.和諧的；協調的；調和的
Sky and sea make up of a harmonious picture.
天空和大海構成了一幅和諧的畫麵。
堅強的人一向嚴格要求自己，他絕不允許低級的想法侵占他崇高的思想。
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當偏好與習慣對於幸福更加重要時，它們是可以訓教的，就像拉丁語與希臘語可以學習一樣。
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我們從生活中得到的真正的幸福與純粹的滿足感，實際上是自我控製的產物。
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I don't like to break off at once, the best way is to get used to a thing.
break off：中斷；突然停止
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Look here, you're doing that on purpose, I know you are.
on purpose：故意；有意
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