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1Asayoungboy,Britain'sgreatPrimeMinister,SirWinstonChurchill,attendedapublicschoolcalledHarrow.Hewasnotagoodstudent,andhadhenotbeenfromafamousfamily,heprobablywouldhavebeenremovedfromtheschoolfordeviatingfromtherules.Thankfully,hedidfinishatHarrowandhiserrorstheredidnotprecludehimfromgoingontotheuniversity.Heeventuallyhadapremierarmycareerwherebyhewaslaterelectedprimeminister.Heachievedfameforhiswit,wisdom,civicduty,andabundantcourageinhisrefusaltosurrenderduringthemiserabledarkdaysofWorldWarII.Hisamazingdeterminationhelpedmotivatehisentirenationandwasaninspirationworldwide.英国的伟大首相温斯顿·丘吉尔爵士，小时候在哈罗公学上学。当时他可不是个好学生，要不是出身名门，他可能早就因为违反纪律被开除了。谢天谢地，他总算从哈罗毕业了，在那里犯下的错误并没影响到他上大学。后来，他凭着军旅生涯中的杰出表现当选为英国首相。他的才思、智慧、公民责任感以及在二战痛苦而黑暗的时期拒绝投降的无畏勇气，为他赢得了美名。他非凡的决心，不仅激励了整个民族，还鼓舞了全世界。2Towardtheendofhisperiodasprimeminister,hewasinvitedtoaddressthepatrioticyoungboysathisoldschool,Harrow.Theheadmastersaid,Younggentlemen,thegreatestspeakerofourtime,willbehereinafewdaystoaddressyou,andyoushouldobeywhateversoundadvicehemaygiveyou.Thegreatdayarrived.SirWinstonstoodup,allfivefeet,fiveinchesand107kilosofhim,andgavethisshort,clear-cutspeech:Youngmen,nevergiveup.Nevergiveup!Nevergiveup!Never,never,never,never!在他首相任期即将结束时，他应邀前往母校哈罗公学，为满怀报国之志的同学们作演讲。校长说：“年轻的先生们，当代最伟大的演说家过几天就会来为你们演讲，他提出的任何中肯的建议，你们都要听从。”那个激动人心的日子终于到了。温斯顿爵士站了起来——他只有5英尺5英寸高，体重却有107公斤。他作了言简意赅的讲话：“年轻人，要永不放弃。永不放弃！永不放弃！永不，永不，永不，永不！”3Personalhistory,educationalopportunity,individualdilemmas—noneofthesecaninhibitastrongspiritcommittedtosuccess.Notaskistoohard.Noamountofpreparationistoolongortoodifficult.Taketheexampleoftwoofthemostscholarlyscientistsofourage,AlbertEinsteinandThomasEdison.Bothfacedimmenseobstaclesandextremecriticism.Bothwerecalledslowtolearnandwrittenoffasidiotsbytheirteachers.ThomasEdisonranawayfromschoolbecausehisteacherwhippedhimrepeatedlyforaskingtoomanyquestions.Einsteindidn'tspeakfluentlyuntilhewasalmostnineyearsoldandwassuchapoorstudentthatsomethoughthewasunabletolearn.Yetbothboys'parentsbelievedinthem.Theyworkedintenselyeachdaywiththeirsons,andtheboyslearnedtoneverbypassthelonghoursofhardworkthattheyneededtosucceed.Intheend,bothEinsteinandEdisonovercametheirchildhoodpersecutionandwentontoachievemagnificentdiscoveriesthatbenefittheentireworldtoday.个人经历、教育机会、个人困境，这些都不能阻挡一个全力以赴追求成功的、有着坚强意志的人。任务再苦，准备再长，难度再大，都不能让他放弃自己的追求。就以本时代最有学问的两位科学家——阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦和托马斯·爱迪生为例，他们都曾面临巨大的障碍和极端的批评，都曾被说成“不开窍”，被老师当成笨蛋而放弃。托马斯·爱迪生还曾逃学，因为老师嫌他问的问题太多而经常鞭打他。爱因斯坦一直到将近9岁才能流利地说话，学习成绩太差，有些人认为他都已经学不好了。然而，这两个男孩的父母都相信他们。他们坚持不懈地每天和儿子一起努力，孩子们也了解到，要想成功，就绝不要怕付出长期而艰辛的努力。最终，爱因斯坦和爱迪生都摆脱了童年的困扰，进而作出了造福当今全世界的伟大发现。4ConsideralsotheheroicexampleofAbrahamLincoln,whofacedsubstantialhardships,failuresandrepeatedmisfortunesinhislifetime.Hisbackgroundwascertainlynotglamorous.Hewasraisedinaverypoorfamilywithonlyoneyearofformaleducation.Hefailedinbusinesstwice,sufferedanervousbreakdownwhenhisfirstlovediedsuddenlyandlosteightpoliticalelections.Laterinlife,hesufferedprofoundgriefoverthetragicdeathofthreeofhisfourchildren.Yethisstrongwillwasthespurthatpushedhimforward,strengtheninghisoptimism,dedicationanddetermination.Itintensifiedandfocusedhiseffortsandenabledhimtotriumphovertheoverwhelmingfailuresandprofounddifficultiesinhislife.Ahundredyearslater,peoplefromaroundtheworldcommendAbrahamLincolnasthegreatestAmericanpresidentofalltime.再如亚伯拉罕·林肯这个英雄的典范，他一生面临了无数艰辛、失败和接二连三的不幸。他的出身和经历真是一点也算不上光鲜。他在一个非常贫困的家庭长大，只受过一年正规教育。经商两度失败，初恋爱人的突然离世也使他精神崩溃，还在八次政治选举中落马。此后，他的四个孩子有三个不幸去世，令他悲痛欲绝。然而，坚强的意志鞭策着他，推动他前进，使他更加乐观、投入、坚毅。这让他得以全力以赴，一次次战胜生命中的巨大困难和挫折。一百年之后，世界各地的人们都赞颂亚伯拉罕·林肯，认为他是有史以来最伟大的美国总统。5JustlikeChurchillandLincoln,onlythosewhokeeptheireyesontheprize,thosewhoupholdacommittedandfocusedwillandspirit,willfindtheirendeavorssuccessful.Manyartists,statesmen,writersandinventorshavehadthesameexperience.Theyachievedprosperitybecausetheypossessedafiercewilltokeeppreparingandworkingandapassiontosucceed.Theyattainedsuccess,notbecauseitwaseasy,butbecausetheyhadthewilltoovercomeprofoundobstaclesandtoworkdiligentlyinthepursuitoftheirgoals.与丘吉尔和林肯一样，只有那些“执著地追求成功”的人，那些保持始终如一的精神意志的人，才会通过自身的努力，获得成功。许多艺术家、政治家、作家和发明家都有同样的经历。他们之所以能取得这样的成就，是因为他们拥有强烈的意愿，不懈地准备、奋斗，并保持对成功的激情。他们取得了成功，并不是因为成功很容易，而是因为他们拥有克服重重障碍的意志，为了追求目标而勤奋努力。6Aftergrowinguponacattleranchwithoutrunningwaterorelectricity,SandraDayO'Connorfoughttoachievethebesteducationpossible.Consistentlygraduatingatthetopofherclass,sheworkedherwayintoStanfordLawSchool,whereshegraduatedwithhonors.Butdespiteallofherhardwork,SandraDayO'Connorwasstillawomaninthe1950s.EvenwiththeprestigeofherdegreefromStanford,shewasrejectedfromtheentirelawcircuitasfirmspreferredtohirelessqualifiedmenratherthanriskhiringafemalelawyer,whichwasunprecedented.YetSandraDayO'Connorrefusedtogiveuponherdreams.ThroughsheerpersistenceshewaseventuallynominatedandthenappointedthefirstwomanSupremeCourtJusticeoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica.There,sheactedasacrucialvoteonissueslikeabortionandwomen'srights.桑德拉·戴·奥康纳成长于既没自来水也没电的养牛场，她努力学习以使自己接受到最好的教育。她的学习成绩在班上始终名列前茅，一路奋斗终于进入了斯坦福大学法学院，并以优异的成绩从法学院毕业。尽管奥康纳勤奋刻苦，但在20世纪50年代，她仍然受到女人身份的制约。即使斯坦福大学的学位有良好的声誉，她仍被整个法律界拒之门外，因为事务所宁