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 at last. 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 what ever 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.
【助读词汇】
-persevere v. 坚持不懈，固执己见，不屈不挠
-evaporate v. 使蒸发，蒸发
-impulse n. 冲动，刺激，驱使
-stuff n. 原料，材料；特质；素质
-stamina n. 毅力，精力，持久力
-mortify v. 克服，使苦恼
-desperate adj. 孤注一掷的，铤而走险的；绝望的
-conflict n.（长期的）战斗；战争
【参考译文】
拿破仑说过：“胜利属于最坚持不懈的人。”仔细研究后，我们发现毅力由三个因素决定：目标、意志和热忱；拥有目标的人总是能集他全部的力量于一体；只要有意志，希望和计划才不会落空变成幻想。热忱让兴致永远高涨，让阻碍看起来微不足道。
在某种程度上，人生就是一场战斗。仅凭小聪明和游手好闲就想出人头地的人只能以失败告终。毅力是意志坚定的人的最大的动力，它掌握着通向知识宝库的钥匙，在这宝库里积聚了世间的财富——智慧与品德。
伟大的人绝不会等着机会上门，他们创造机会。他们利用身边的一切，解决难题，掌控时局。在这世界上一个人能做的最伟大的事就是充分利用被赋予的东西，这就是成功，而不是其他。
人生最重要的一课就是要学会如何化失败为成功。当蒙受了失败的耻辱后，还在失败的废墟中找寻出促成未来成功的点点滴滴需要勇气和耐力，这正是成功者与失败者的差异所在。我们不能以失败来评判某人，而是要知道他从中学到了什么。那种没有往上拼搏，也没因奋力一搏而挂彩的人，不懂成功最深层的含义。
【人生启迪】
世界上有很多人，说智力他们不乏智力，说体力他们不乏体力，可是成功对他们而言，就是遥不可及。何不加一味“毅力”的良剂再试试？