佚名/Anonymous
What is success?
I am not going to try to define success. I think a precise definition is impossible. Is it winning a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games or winning Wimbledon, or being awarded a Nobel Prize? What else? I believe personal success could be anything at all—it does not have to involve public recognition. Who is more successful? A millionaire who is unhappy, or an unnoticed person who has led a simple, happy life? The simplest definition of success I think is "to set out to do something and to succeed in doing it". It really doesn't matter what, or how humble the undertaking is.
Believe you can succeed and you will. Achieving success in whatever endeavor you choose may be the goal of life. Because it gives you freedom from worry. Could that be?
Success means different things to every one of us. Some people believe it is measured in financial terms, i. e. having wealth; others believe it is helping others rather than helping themselves. A bit of both perhaps! Or it could be simply achieving for achievement's sake. Success is such a personal thing. To many people it is the very root of their being—the reason for existing is to achieve something worthwhile in our lives. To the vast majority of the population it doesn't matter much whether they want to be successful or not; that's OK by me, as long as that is what you really want and you are happy with life. However, most people want and are motivated to a great extent by public recognition and a relentless pursuit of achievement. How many people too are really happy? How many people are really doing what they want to with their lives?(Incidentally, the ability to imagine makes us different from animals).
No matter what motivates you personally……whatever you choose to do with your life, don't expect instant success. The years of struggle, commitment and learning in excelling at whatever endeavor or trade you choose, is no easy task. I would wholeheartedly agree with that statement. It takes a lot of courage, character and discipline to achieve success in any field. Nearly all successful people have doubted themselves at some point and wanted to give up. Yet they carried on. So many people give up within an inch or two away from the gold in the seam down the mine—a whisker away from success. One thing is for sure: success breeds SUCCESS, as it gathers a momentum of its own and you get on an inning streak when everything seems to fit into place.
I like all of the following quotations. They all stand for what success means to me personally. So I'll share them with you……
"Success is the continuous journey towards the achievement of predetermined worthwhile goals." "To live your life in your own way. To reach the goals you've set for yourself. To be the person you want to be—that is success."
成功是什麽？
我並不打算詮釋成功，要精確地下一個定義是不可能的。成功是在奧運會上贏得金牌、贏得溫布爾登大獎賽，或被授予諾貝爾獎，又或是其他什麽嗎？我認為，一個人的成功其實可以是任何事情——它不必受到公眾的認可。不快樂的百萬富翁，和沒人理會卻生活得簡單、快樂的人，誰更成功呢？成功最簡單的定義，我認為是“開始做某件事，並在做的過程中獲得成就感”。至於具體做什麽，做的事情有多麽渺小，都不重要。
相信自己能成功，你就會獲得成功。也許，生活的目標就是，無論你做何嚐試，都向成功努力。因為它使你從煩惱中解脫出來，不是嗎？
對於我們每一個人來說，成功的意義都有所不同。一些人認為成功要用經濟形式來衡量，比如，擁有財富；另一些人認為成功是樂於助人，而不是幫助自己。也許有人認為兩者兼而有之，或者，成功隻是為了達到目的而已。成功是個人的事。對很多人來說，成功是他們生存的根本——我們存在的理由就是要去完成生命中一些有價值的事。對很大一部分人來說，成功與否無關緊要；而對我來說，也無所謂，隻要這是你真正想要的，並能快樂地生活。還是有很多人渴望並激勵自己追求公眾的認可，通過殘酷的競爭獲得成功。多少人會真正快樂呢？多少人是真正在做他們想做的事呢？（附帶一句，人之所以有別於動物，是因為我們有想象力。）
不論是什麽激發你個人的追求，不管你選擇一生做什麽，不要期待立刻成功——多年的奮鬥、努力和學習，以及如何選擇你奮鬥的領域或者職業，這並不是一件容易的事。我完全同意這個觀點，要想在任何一個領域獲得成功，都需要勇氣、品質和自律。所有成功的人幾乎都曾在某方麵懷疑過自己，並想過要放棄。但是，他們堅持了下去。在離礦井中的金礦層僅有一兩英尺的時候，很多人放棄了，與成功僅有一步之遙。可以肯定的是：成功孕育成功，因為它自身積累了動力，當一切順利時，你便獲得了迅速成功的機會。
我喜歡下麵這些語錄，它們都能代表我個人對成功的理解，因此，我願與你分享：
“成功是不斷向預先確定的有價值的目標前進的旅程。”“以自己的方式生活，達到自己定下的目標，做自己想做的人——這就是成功。”
心靈小語
當你為自己定下目標的那一天，你是怎樣定位的？這是高不可攀的珠穆朗瑪峰？還是一段愉快的旅程？成功也許真的不像我們想象得那麽難，起碼不要讓我們想象的障礙阻擋我們，勇敢前行吧！
W 詞匯筆記
define[di?fain]v.解釋；給……下定義；限定；使清楚
例 The mountain was clearly defined against the light of the eastern sky.
東方天空的光芒使那座山清晰地顯露出來。
measure[?me??]v.尺寸；方法；估量；權衡
例 The tailor measured me for a suit.
裁縫給我量尺寸做衣服。
motivate[?m?utiveit]v.作為……的機動；促動；激發；促成
例 He was motivated by love, and expected nothing in return.
他的行動是出於愛，不期望任何報酬。
incidentally[insi?dent?li]adv.附帶地；順便提及
例 I must go now. Incidentally, if you want that book, I'll bring it next time.
我該走了。順便提一句，如果你想要那本書，我下次把它帶來。
S 小試身手
相信自己能成功，你就會獲得成功。
譯___________________________________________
對於我們每一個人來說，成功的意義都有所不同。
譯___________________________________________
成功是不斷向預先確定的有價值的目標前進的旅程。
譯___________________________________________
P 短語家族
The simplest definition of success I think is "to set out to do something and to succeed in doing it".
set out to do：著手做；開始
造___________________________________________
……as it gathers a momentum of its own and you get on an inning streak when everything seems to fit into place.
fit into：（使）適合；（使）合乎……的時間（空間）；與……融為一體
造___________________________________________