A man captured a young tiger and resolved to make a pet of it. It grew up like a kitten, fond and gentle. There was no evidence of its savage, bloodthirsty nature, and it seemed perfectly harmless. But one day while the master was playing with his pet, the rough tongue upon his hand started the blood from a scratch. The moment the beast tasted blood, his ferocious tiger nature was roused, and he rushed upon his master to tear him to pieces.
Sometimes the appetite for drink, which was thought to be buried years ago, is roused by the taste or the smell of "the devil in solution," and the wretched victim finds himself a helpless slave to the passion which he thought dead.
The wife of Socrates, Xanthippe, was a woman of a most fantastical and furious spirit. At one time, having vented all the reproaches upon Socrates her fury could suggest, he went out and sat before the door. His calm and unconcerned behavior but irritated her so much the more; and, in the excess of her rage, she ran upstairs and emptied a vessel upon his head, at which he only laughed and said that"so much thunder must needs produce a shower. " Alcibiades, his friend, talking with him about his wife, told him he wondered how he could bear such an everlasting scold in the same house with him. He replied, " I have so accustomed myself to expect it, that it now offends me no more than the noise of carriages in the street. "
The strong man is the one who ever keeps himself under strict discipline, who never once allows the lower to usurp the place of the higher in him; who makes his passions his servants and never allows them to be his master; who is ever led by his mind and not by his inclinations. He drills and disciplines his desires and keeps the roots of his life under ground, and never allows them to interfere with his character. He is never the slave of his inclinations, nor the sport of impulse. He is the commander of himself and heads his ship due north even in the wildest tempests of passion.
A noted teacher has said that the propensities and habits are as teachable as Latin and Greek, while they are infinitely more essential to happiness. We are very largely the creatures of our wills. By constantly looking on the bright side of things, by viewing everything hopefully, by setting the face as a flint every hour of every day toward all that is harmonious and beautiful in life, and refusing to listen to the discord or to look at the ugly side of life, by constantly directing the thought toward what is noble, grand and true, we can soon form habits which will develop into a beautiful character, a harmonious and well-rounded life. We are creatures of habit, and by knowing the laws of its formation we can, in a little while, build up a network of habit about us, which will protect us from most of the ugly, selfish and degrading things of life. In fact, the only real happiness and unalloyed satisfaction we get out of life, is the product of self-control. It is the great guardian of all the virtues, without which none of them is safe. It is the sentinel, which stands on guard at the door of life, to admit friends and exclude enemies.
当醉汉的妻子反复催促他保证戒酒时，醉汉回答说：“我过一会儿就保证，但我不想现在就戒，最好是慢慢来。”妻子说：“非常好，没准儿你哪天会掉进坑里，没人会救你出来。”
不久之后，那个人喝醉了，真的掉进一口很深的井里，不过幸运的是，他的呼救声被他的妻子听到了，妻子说：“我警告你的事情真的发生了吧？幸好我听到了，要不然你就被淹死了。”他抓住水桶，妻子用力摇动辘轳，但是当他快要到达井口时，妻子却松开手，他又掉进了水里。这种情形反复了好多次，最终他忍不住大叫：“喂，我知道你是故意的。”他的妻子承认道：“是的，我就是故意的。你忘了你曾跟我说过，凡事要慢慢来吗？我怕让你突然上来，你会不适应。”他别无他法，于是马上保证要戒酒。他的妻子立刻把他救了上来，不过警告他说，如果他再喝醉掉进井里，她是不会再理睬他的。
有一个人抓住了一只小老虎，决定把它当宠物养。小老虎长大了，像小猫似的可爱又温和，没有任何凶恶、残忍天性的迹象，看起来完全没有伤害性。但是有一天，这个人在与他的宠物玩耍时，老虎舔到了从他手上的伤口流出的血。就在舔到血的那一瞬间，老虎的凶残天性被唤醒了，它扑向主人，把他撕烂了。
有时，已经戒掉多年的酒瘾，会在品尝或闻到“恶魔溶液”时被唤醒，可怜的受害者就会发现，对于他原以为已经戒掉的酒瘾而言，自己就是一个无助的奴隶。
苏格拉底的妻子是个多疑狂暴的女人。有一次，她向苏格拉底发怒时，苏格拉底走出去，坐在门外。苏格拉底的平静和漠然更加激怒了她，她更恼火，冲到楼上，把一桶水倒在他的头上。苏格拉底只是笑笑，说：“如此大的雷鸣声，一定会下暴雨的。”苏格拉底在与朋友亚西比德谈论自己的妻子时，朋友问他在家中是如何忍受这种长久的责骂的。苏格拉底回答说：“我已经习惯让自己认为这些责骂还不如街上马车的噪音，它们根本不会让我感到烦闷。”
坚强的人一向严格要求自己，他绝不允许低级的想法侵占他崇高的思想；他让激情成为自己的奴隶，绝不允许它们成为自己的主人；他遵从自己的理智行事，而不是自己的爱好。他训练自己的品质，始终使自己的生命之根深扎在土壤里，不允许它们影响自己的性格。他从不被偏好与冲动左右。他是自己的指挥官，即使在最强烈的欲望风暴中也不会偏航。
有一位著名的老师曾说过，当偏好与习惯对于幸福更加重要时，它们是可以训教的，就像拉丁语与希腊语可以学习一样。在很大程度上，我们是自己意志的创造物。不断地看到事物光明的一面；满怀希望地看待事物；坚信每天的每一个小时都是朝着和谐美满的生活发展的，而不去听那些不和谐的声音，忽视生活的丑陋一面；不断地引导思想朝向高尚、重要和真实的事物，这样我们就能很快养成好的习惯，创造美好的品格、和谐美满的生活。我们是习惯的产物，通过了解它的形成规律，我们便能够在很短的时间内，在我们的身边建立起习惯网，使我们免受生活中丑陋、自私、可耻事物的影响。我们从生活中得到的真正的幸福与纯粹的满足感，实际上是自我控制的产物。它们是所有美德的伟大守护者，没有它任何美德都是不安全的。它是站在生命之门的哨兵，接纳朋友，排斥敌人。
intoxicated [in'tksikeitid] adj. 喝醉的；极其兴奋的
They became deeply intoxicated and totally disoriented.
他们酩酊大醉，东南西北全然不辨。
desperate ['desprit] adj. 不顾一切的；拼命的；铤而走险的
No everybody can keep his head in the desperate moment.
不是每个人都能在危急时刻保持镇定的。
ferocious [f'rus] adj.凶猛的；残忍的；凶暴的
Without love a person could go hayward and also become cruel
and ferocious.
没有爱的人生可能会误入禁区，也会变得残酷而凶恶。
harmonious [h:'mni:s] adj. 和谐的；协调的；调和的
Sky and sea make up of a harmonious picture.
天空和大海构成了一幅和谐的画面。
坚强的人一向严格要求自己，他绝不允许低级的想法侵占他崇高的思想。
当偏好与习惯对于幸福更加重要时，它们是可以训教的，就像拉丁语与希腊语可以学习一样。
我们从生活中得到的真正的幸福与纯粹的满足感，实际上是自我控制的产物。
I don' t like to break off at once, the best way is to get used to a thing．
break off：中断；突然停止
Look here, you' re doing that on purpose, I know you are．
on purpose：故意；有意
有关竞争的论调
Competition
亨利·福特 / Henry Ford
