You alone can decide when the turning point will come. It is a matter of choice whether we allow our diviner self to control us or whether we will be controlled by the brute within us. No man has to do anything he does not want to do. He is therefore the director of his life if he wills to be. What we are to do， is the result of our training. We are like putty， and can be completely controlled by our will power.
Habit is a matter of acquirement. You hear people say， “He comes by this or that naturally， a chip off the old block， ” meaning that he is only doing what his parents did. This is quite often the case， but there is no reason for it， for a person can break a habit just the moment he masters the “I will.” A man may have been a “good-for-nothing” all his life up to this very minute， but from this time on he begins to amount to something. Even old men have suddenly changed and accomplished wonders.
“I lost my opportunity，” says one. That may be true， but by sheer force of will， we can find a way to bring us another opportunity. There is no truth in the saying that opportunity knocks at our door but once in a lifetime. The fact is， opportunity never seeks us； we must seek it. What usually turns out to be one man’s opportunity was another man’s loss. In this day one man’s brain is matched against another’s. It is often the quickness of brain action that determines the result. One man thinks “I will do it，” but while he procrastinates the other goes ahead and does the work. They both have the same opportunity. The one will complain of his lost chance. But it should teach him a lesson， and it will， if he is seeking the path that leads to success.
Many persons read good books， but say they do not get much good out of them. They do not realize that all any book or any lesson course can do is to awaken them to their possibilities； to stimulate them to use their will power. You may teach a person from now until doom’s day， but that person will only know what he learns himself. “You can lead him to the fountain， but you can’t make him drink.”
每個人的性格都有雙重性：一方麵督促我前進，而另一方麵則慫恿我們倒退。成為什麽樣的人在於哪種性格在起主導作用。每種精神因素都在試圖操縱我們的意誌，唯有意誌力才能做出選擇。如果一個人全身心地投入到工作中去，那麽極有可能改變自己的人生軌跡，甚至發生奇跡。 如果你願意，你就肯定能成功，因為意願能夠發現合適的方法或創造奇跡。
當麵臨人生抉擇時，你自己便可以做出抉擇。我們可以由先知來指引，也可以被內心的“怪獸”來操控，這是個令人困擾的問題。沒有人會違心地去做那些自己不願意做的事情。如果心有所想，那麽你便可以主宰命運。我們的行為方式完全是由自身強化訓練造就的，如同磨料一樣，我們可以完全利用意誌力來培養自己。
習慣是生活中的漸漸積累形成的。人們常說：“某人天生如此——很像他的父母。”這種特征不過是父母遺傳給我們的。這是普遍的現象。然而一旦你下定決心，你就可以通過意誌力來改變某些先天性的習慣。也許一個 “無所事事”的人在這一刻立下雄心壯誌，那麽從這時起，他的人生便會截然不同。即便是老年人，也可以做出改變，創造奇跡。
有人會說：“我已經喪失了機會。”這或許是事實，可是憑借頑強的精神我們完全可以尋覓新的機遇。有人說，機遇隻有一次，錯過便絕不會再回頭。根本沒有事實能證實這種說法。在實際生活裏，機會永遠不會主動光顧你，而是需要我們主動去尋覓。通常情況下，當一個人抓住眼前的機遇時，便意味著另一個人已經錯過了機會。假如兩個人同時麵對同一件事時，那麽反應敏捷的人通常能夠搶得先機。一個人正琢磨著“我可以做到”卻耽擱了時機，而另一個已提前行動了。他們擁有同樣的機會，但結果卻不盡相同。有人會抱怨自己錯失機會。不過失敗的人應該從中汲取經驗教訓，並探求成功之路。
有些人讀過的書不計其數，然而卻說從中獲益甚微。他們並沒有認識到書本的作用——任何知識或經驗都可以激發潛能，增加取得成功的幾率。你可以從早到晚、不分晝夜地教人學知識，然而他記住的也隻是隻言片語。有句古語很有道理：“你可以將他引到泉邊，但喝不喝就是他的事了。”
心靈小語
機遇來臨，我們可曾集中精力好好把握？做事情時，是否全神貫注？閱讀書籍時，注意力是否集中？當我們抱怨得到與付出不成正比時，問問自己是否做到了以上幾點。如果我們學習或做事時，注意力不集中，那就無法學到任何知識的精髓，也就無法做好任何事。而當心不在焉成為一種習慣，必然會影響未來的人生。
記憶填空
1. The__ alone decides the issue. A man by one supreme effort of the will may change his__ career and almost accomplish miracles. You may__ that man. You can be if you will to be， for will can find a way or__ one.
2. This is quite often the case， but there is no__ for it， for a person can break a__ just the moment he masters the“I__.” A man may have been a“good-for-nothing” all his life up to this very minute， but from this time__ he begins to amount to something.
3. The one will complain of his__ chance. But it should teach him a__， and it will， if he is seeking the path that__ to success.
佳句翻譯
1. 沒有人會違心地去做那些自己不願意做的事情。
譯______________
2. 在實際生活裏，機會永遠不會主動光顧你，而是需要我們主動去尋覓。
譯______________
3. 通常情況下，當一個人抓住眼前的機遇時，便意味著另一個人已經錯過了機會。
譯______________
短語應用
1. ...to stimulate them to use their will power.
stimulate sb. to do sth.：激勵某人做某事
造______________
2. ...you can’t make him drink.
make sb. do：讓某人做某事
造______________
向自己要時間
How to Find Time
戴爾·特納 / Dale Turner
A commercial flashing on our TV screens these days shows men and women trying to buy a bit of time. It catches the plight of most of us in our hurry-scurry world. “I don’t want a 40-hour week，” says Nicholas Murray Butler， former president of Columbia University. “I want a 40-hour day.”
I never cease to marvel at how some people， working with the same number of hours we all have， seem to get so much more done. How do they do it？
For one thing， they don’t squander the bits and pieces of time that punctuate our days. Rather than wasting energy getting irritated waiting for a phone call or a repair person， they capture those moments creatively. They keep tools handy—a pen， a book， a pair of scissors， a needle， whatever.
Clement C. Moore was a teacher of classical languages. In the course of his career， he published a Hebrew dictionary and was a major benefactor of the General Theological Seminary in New York City.
But it is not for the seminary or his dictionary that he is remembered. It is for a set of verses dashed off in 1822 in an hour of yuletide inspiration—verses that he stuffed away as if of no importance.
The magic lines begin： “It was the night before Christmas， when all through the house...” They never brought Moore a penny， but they did bring him immortality.
Such constructive use of time is available to us all. A Seattle businessman carries a briefcase in which he has paper and envelopes for penning letters. In odd moments he keeps countless friendships alive.
A woman I know memorized the sermon on the Mount while commuting. A bedspread in our home was quilted by my mother-in-law who， though extremely busy， found minutes to prepare a beautiful gift full of memories for her family.