经典英语美文 （67）坚持不懈
Napoleon declared, “Victory belongs to the most persevering.”Upon careful study we find perseverance depends upon three things – purpose,will, and enthusiasm. He who has a purpose is always concentrating his forces.By the will, the hope and the plan are prevented from evaporating into dreams.Enthusiasm keeps the interest up, and makes the obstacles seem small.
Life is in a sense a battle. The man who thinks to get on by mere smartness and by idling meets failure atlast.Perseverance is the master impulse of the firmest souls, and holds the key to those treasure-houses of knowledge from which the world has drawn its wealth both of wisdom and of moral worth.
Great men never wait for opportunities; they make them. They seize upon whatever is at hand, work out their problem, and master the situation. The greatest thing a man can do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given to him. This is success and there is no other.
One of the important lessons of life is to learn how to get victory out of defeat. It takes courage and stamina, when mortified by humiliating disaster, to seek in the ruins the elements of future conquest. Yet this measures the difference between those who succeed and those who fail. We cannot measure a man by his failures. We must know what use he makes of them. The man who has not fought his way upward and does not bear the scar of desperate conflict does not know the highest meaning of success.
拿破仑宣称，“胜利属于坚持不懈的人”。经过仔细研究，我们会发现，坚持不懈取决子于三个方面——目标，意志和热情。一个目标明确的人总是能够集中他的精力。有了坚定的决心，就能够避免希望和计划在梦想中化为泡影。而冲天的热情,能够让人永远兴致勃勃，藐视一切艰难险阻。
从某种意义上讲，生活是一场战役。那种妄想凭借小聪明闲混到出人头地的人最终只会落得失败的下场。坚持不懈是那些信念坚定的人主导性的精神动力，其把持着开启那些知识宝库的钥匙，全世界的人都可以从中获取智慧和道德的财富。
伟大的人们从不坐等机会；他们会自行创造。他们会抓住一切手边的机会，解决遇到的难题，并且自己掌控局面。在这个世界上，一个人所能做的最伟大的事情就是，从给予他的有限的机会之中进行最大可能的发掘。这便是成功，仅此而已。
人生最重要的一课，便是学会如何从失败之中迈向成功。身负失败的屈辱和不幸，我们需要勇气和毅力，在失败的废墟中寻找未来获胜的要素。而这恰能衡量出成功者与失败者的不同。我们不能用失败来衡量一个人。我们必须了解他如何利用这些失败。一个不思上进、没有绝望挣扎的伤痕烙在心头的人, 无法体会成功的最高意境。