自信

When Henry Ward Beecher was a young boy in school， he learned a lesson in self- confidence which he never forgot.

He was called upon to recite in front of the class. He had hardly begun when the teacher interrupted with an emphatic， \"No!\" He started over and again the teacher thundered， \"No!\" Humiliated， Henry sat down.

The next boy rose to recite and had just begun when the teacher shouted， \"No!\" This student， however， kept on with the recitation until he completed it. As he sat down， the teacher replied，\" Very good!\" Henry was irritated.

\"I recited just as he did，\" he complained to the teacher. But the instructor replied， \"It is not enough to know your lesson; you must be sure. When you allowed me to stop you， it meant that you were uncertain.\"

\"If all the world says， ‘No !’ It is your business to say， ‘Yes !’ and prove it.\"

The world will say，\" No!\" in a thousand ways.

\"No ! You can't do that.\"

\"No ! You are wrong.\"

\"No! You are too old.\"

\"No! You are too young.\"

\"No! You are too weak.\"

\"No! It will never work.\"

\"No! You don't have the education.\"

\"No! You don' t have the background.\"

\"No! You don't have the money.\"

\"No! It can't be done.\"

And each \"No!\" you hear has the potential to erode your confidence bit by bit until you quit all together.

Though the world says， \"No!\" to you today， you should be determined to say， \"Yes!\" and prove it!

亨利·華德·比察永遠不會忘記，他小學生時上過的一節有關自信的課。

老師讓他到教室前面背誦，剛開始，老師就斷然打斷他：“不對！”接著他又重新開始，老師再一次怒吼道：“不對！”亨利覺得很羞愧，就灰溜溜地坐下了。

下一個孩子站起來背誦，他剛開始，老師也喊道：“不對！”但這個孩子堅持往下背，直到結束。他坐下的時候，老師對他說：“很好！”亨利覺得很惱火。

“我和他背的一樣?！彼蚶蠋熉裨沟?。但老師對他說：“只會背還不夠，你必須很有自信。我能讓你停下，就意味著你沒有把握。”

“即使全世界都說‘不’，你也應該用‘是’來證明它。”

這個世界會用1000種方式說“不”。

“不！那個你不能做。”

“不！你是錯的。”

“不！你已經老了?！?/p>

“不!你還太小。”

“不!你太瘦弱了?！?/p>

“不!這個不管用?！?/p>

“不!你沒受過那種教育?！?/p>

“不!你沒背景?！?/p>

“不！你沒錢。”

“不！這事你做不了。”

聽到的每個“不”都有可能腐蝕掉你的信心，直到你完全放棄。

即使今天全世界對你說“不”，你也應該堅決地說“是”，并用行動證明它。

注釋

confidence n. 信心

recite v. 背誦；敘述；朗誦，當眾吟誦；詳述；

irritated adj. 惱怒的，生氣的

erode v. 腐蝕，侵蝕；受腐蝕