奥里森·马登/Orison Marden

　　"How's the boy getting on, Davis?" Asked Farmer John Field.

　　"Well, John, you and I are old friends," replied Deacon Davis, as he took an apple from a barrel and handed it to Marshall's father as a peace offering." We are old friends, and I don't want to hurt your feelings: but I'm a blunt man, and I'm going to tell you the truth. Marshall is a good, steady boy, all right, but he wouldn't make a merchant if he stayed in my store a thousand years. He weren't cut out for a merchant. Take him back to the farm, John, and teach him how to milk cows!"

　　If Marshall Field had remained as clerk in Deacon Davis's store in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he got his first position, he could never have become one of the world' s merchant princes.

　　But when he went to Chicago and saw the marvelous examples around him of poor boys who had won success, it aroused his ambition and fired him with the determination to be a great merchant himself. "If others can do such wonderful things," he asked himself, "why cannot I?"

　　It had then only about eighty-five thousand inhabitants. A few years before it had been a mere Indian trading village. But the city grew by leaps and bounds, and always beat the predictions of its most sanguine inhabitants. Success was in the air. Everybody felt that there were great possibilities there.

　　Many people seem to think that ambition is a quality born within us; that it is not susceptible to improvement; that it is something thrust upon us which will take care of itself. But it is a passion that responds very quickly to cultivation, and it requires constant care and education, just as the faculty for music or art does, or it will atrophy.

　　"What I most need," as Emerson says, "is somebody to make me do what I can." To do what I can, that is my problem; not what a Napoleon or a Lincoln could do, but what I can do. It makes all the difference in the world to me whether I bring out the best thing in me or the worst—whether I utilize ten, fifteen, twenty-five, or ninety percent of my ability.

　　Everywhere we see people who have reached middle life or later without being aroused. They have developed only a small percentage of their success possibilities. They are still in a dormant state. The best thing in them lies so deep that it has never been awakened. Great possibilities of usefulness and of achievement are, all unconsciously, going to waste within them.

　　“这孩子有没有进步啊，戴维斯？”牧场主约翰·菲尔德焦急地问道。

　　“哦，约翰，你和我都是老朋友了，”戴维斯回答道，为了缓和气氛，他从桶里拿出一个苹果递给马歇尔的父亲，“我们是老朋友了。我本不想伤害你的感情，可我是个心直口快的人，我会告诉你真实的情况。马歇尔是个非常稳重的好孩子，然而，即使他在我的公司待上一千年，他也不会成为一个真正的商人。他不是做商人的材料，你还是把他领回农场，教教他如何挤牛奶吧！”

　　如果马歇尔当初一直待在马萨诸塞州皮斯费德镇戴维斯的公司——他的第一个工作所在地，他将永远不会成为当今世界鼎鼎有名的商界精英。

　　然而到了芝加哥后，马歇尔曾亲眼见证了许多不可思议的例子。自己身边的许多穷苦人家的孩子凭借自身努力最终走上了成功之路。这种经历让雄心勃勃的马歇尔立志做一个真正的商人。他对自己说：“既然别人能做到，我为什么不能？”

　　当时，芝加哥的本地居民只有八万五千人。就在几年前，芝加哥还是个只能与印第安通商的小村镇。如今芝加哥发生了翻天覆地的变化，这里的居民已经成为全世界最幸福的人了。甚至空气中都弥漫着成功的气息，每个人都坚信自己在未来会有所作为。

　　许多人认为雄心是我们与生俱来的信念。它有着极强的生命力，唯有我们悉心呵护，才能变得越来越强。如同学习音乐和艺术一样，只有通过长期的积累才能使其拥有旺盛的生命力，否则它就会渐渐枯萎。

　　就像爱默生所说：“我真正需要的，是找到一位能够助我走向成功之路的人。”我可以做些什么，这只是我的事情，与拿破仑或林肯无关。不管我能实现丰功伟业还是一无是处，不管我能否将自己的潜质发挥到极致，我的世界都将是独一无二的。

　　我们经常看到，许多人在不惑之年或是垂暮之年时还没有真正将内心的潜能激发出来。他们只是开发了一小部分潜质，一直庸庸碌碌。他们身上蕴藏的许多优点已经沉睡，永远不会醒来。在毫无意识的情况下，巨大的宝贵潜能被他们忽视，白白浪费了。

　　I have nothing to offer but blood, boil, tears and sweat.

　　—Winston Churchill

　　我能奉献的没有其它，只有热血、辛劳、眼泪与汗水。

　　——丘吉尔.W.

　　blunt[bl?nt]adj.率直的；直言不讳的

　　Let me ask a blunt question.

　　允许我问一个直率的问题。

　　marvelous[?mɑ:v?l?s]adj.引起惊异的；不可思议的；非凡的

　　He showed marvelous insight over the description of American characters in his new book.

　　在这本新书里，他对美国人性格的描写表现出惊人的洞察力。

　　sanguine[?s??gwin]adj.充满希望的；乐观的；面色红润的

　　He wears a small pair of glasses on ordinary days, which gives us an impression that he is vivacious, sanguine and clever.

　　平日里戴着一副小眼镜的他，留给人的总是一个活泼开朗、灵气十足的形象。

　　susceptible[s??sept?bl]adj.易受影响的；易动感情的

　　Children are more susceptible to cold than adults.

　　小孩比大人容易患感冒。

　　自己身边的许多穷苦人家的孩子凭借自身努力最终走上了成功之路。这种经历让雄心勃勃的马歇尔立志做一个真正的商人。

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　　我真正需要的，是找到一位能够助我走向成功之路的人。

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　　不管我能否将自己的潜质发挥到极致，我的世界都将是独一无二的。

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　　Many people seem to think that ambition is a quality born within us; that it is not susceptible to improvement; that it is something thrust upon us which will take care of itself.

　　take care of：照顾

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　　But it is a passion that responds very quickly to cultivation, and it requires constant care and education, just as the faculty for music or art does, or it will atrophy.

　　respond to：对……作出回应；对……有某种反应

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