August 30th
WHEN YOU FEEL LAZY
“Anything that must yet be done, virtue can do with courage and promptness. For anyone would call it a sign of foolishness for one to undertake a task with a lazy and begrudging spirit, or to push the body in one direction and the mind in another, to be torn apart by wildly divergent impulses.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 31.b–32
If you start something and right away feel yourself getting lazy and irritated, first ask yourself: Why am I doing this? If it really is a necessity, ask yourself: What’s behind my reluctance? Fear? Spite? Fatigue?
Don’t forge ahead hoping that someone will come along and relieve you of this task you don’t want to do. Or that someone else will suddenly explain why what you’re doing matters. Don’t be the person who says yes with their mouth but no with their actions. Steve Jobs told BusinessWeek in 2005, only midway through Apple’s stunning rise to becoming one of the world’s most valuable companies: “Quality is much better than quantity. . . . One home run is much better than two doubles.”
8月30日
当你感到懒惰时
“任何仍然必须完成的事情，美德都能够以勇气和迅速果断的态度去完成。因为任何人都会认为，如果一个人以懒散而不情愿的心态承担一项任务，或者让身体朝一个方向走、思想却朝另一个方向走，被截然不同的冲动撕扯着，那就是愚蠢的表现。”
——塞内卡，《道德书信》，31.b–32
如果你开始做一件事，却马上感觉自己变得懒散而烦躁，先问问自己：我为什么要做这件事？如果这确实是一件非做不可的事，那么再问自己：我为什么不情愿？是恐惧？怨气？还是疲劳？
不要一边硬着头皮继续往前做，一边盼着某个人出现，把你从这个你根本不想做的任务中解救出来。也不要指望另一个人会突然出现，向你解释为什么你正在做的事情有意义。不要成为那种嘴上说“是”，行动上却说“不”的人。2005年，苹果公司正处于令人惊叹的崛起过程之中，而且还只走到一半时，史蒂夫·乔布斯对《商业周刊》说：“质量远比数量重要……一次本垒打，比两次二垒安打好得多。”
读要读顺口，写要写顺手， 擒字如擒虎，解句如解题。 |