“骐骥一跃,不能十步,驽马十驾,功在不舍。”“水滴石穿,绳锯木断。”Douglas MacArthur说,能够使身体起皱纹的是岁月,能够使灵魂起皱纹的是放弃(Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.)。Napoleon Hill说,坚持之于成功,如同碳之于钢铁(Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.)。
我们常被教育说,坚持到底就是胜利。拿破仑说的也是这个意思:Victory belongs to the most persevering. 美国诗人Robert Frost说的也差不多,“我人生所学就三个字,走下去(In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on.)。”
坚持不仅靠说,还要靠做;卓越不仅靠做,还要靠坚持。是否坚持,要靠时间证明;是否卓越,要靠结果证明。没有坚持,肯定没有卓越;没有卓越,坚持也就没有最原始的动力。坚持总是与时间相关,卓越总是与品质相关。记住:坚持和卓越就是一对孪生姐妹。Persistence is the twin sister of excellence.
坚持往往最后就是雨过天晴后的笑脸,就是冬去春来后的鲜花,就是风起云涌后的祥和,就是凤凰涅槃后的自信,就是放下给予后的幸福。坚持之花常开,坚持之树常绿,坚持之果常甜。我特别喜欢这句表述坚持的万能句:Money grows on the tree of persistence. 你也可以来一句啊,比如:Confidence grows on the tree of persistence.
遭受失败时,多点坚持,多点努力,就会柳暗花明,就会枯木逢春,就会峰回路转。Elbert Hubbard说,“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.”
别人评判你的往往是成功的次数,没有人会特别在意你的失败多少。作家Tom Hopkins 说,“I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed: and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying.”