卡耐基演讲·五、满怀希望等待收获

希望你能在每天清晨的餐桌上打开这本书，一直到你将威廉·詹姆斯教授的这番话牢记在心：How I wish I could get you to prop this book open on your breakfast table every morning until you had memorized these words from Professor William James:

“年轻人不要为自己是否受过高等教育而担忧，只要他在每天的生活和工作中，每分每秒忠实地忙碌着，就可将最终的结果留给自己去处理。他可以有充分的自信期待着某一个美好的早晨醒来，发现自己已经成为一名成功者，不论他所追求的是什么。”Let no youth have any anxiety about the upshot of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If he keeps faithfully busy each hour of the working day, he may safely leave the final result to itself. He can, with perfect certainty, count on waking up some fine morning to find himself one of the competent ones of his generation, in what ever pursuit he may have singled out.

现在，有了著名的心理学家詹姆斯教授的支持，我也想对大家说，只要你坚持不懈用心练习下去，你就可以满怀信心地希望在一个美好的早晨醒来时，发现自己是城里或社区里最出类拔萃的演讲家之一了。And now, with the renowned Professor James to fall back upon, I shall go so far as to say that if you keep right on practicing intelligently, you may confidently hope to wake up one fine morning and find yourself one of the competent speakers of your city or community.

不管这话听起来有多虚幻，但它却是一条真正颠扑不破的通则。当然也可能有一些例外，譬如那些心性不稳定、个性极度自卑、毫无人生经历可作为谈资的人，自然不能妄想有朝一日成为当地的丹尼尔·韦伯斯特。但就一般的情况而言，这一论断却是正确的。Regardless of how fantastic that may sound to you now, it is true as a general principle. Exceptions, of course, there are. A man with an inferior mentality and personality, and with nothing to talk about, is not going to develop into a local Daniel Webster; but, with reason, the assertion is correct.

我再举一例加以说明。前新泽西州长史多克曾参加过我们培训班举行的一次毕业晚宴。他评论说，当晚他所听到的演讲，如同自己在华盛顿的参、众两院所听到的讲演一样精彩。而这些将顿的“演讲家”，在数月前还舌头打结，在听众面前畏畏缩缩；他们是新泽西的商人——那些在美国任何城市随处可见的商人，而不是古代的西塞罗（公元前106—前43，罗马政治家、演讲家和作家）。但是在一个美好的早晨醒来，他们突然发现自己已经跻身于自己所在的城镇里大演讲家之列，甚至可能闻名全国呢！Let me illustrate: former Governor Stokes of New Jersey attended the closing banquet of one of our classes at Trenton. He remarked that the talks he had heard that evening were as good as the speeches that he had heard in the House of Representatives and Sebate at Washington. These Trenton" speeches" were made by businessmen who had been tongue-tied with audience-fear a few months previously. They were not incipient Ciceros, these New Jersey businessmen; they were typical of the businessmen one finds in any American city. Yet they woke up one fine morning to find themselves among the competent speakers of their city, and probably in the country.

我认识成百上千的人，他们竭心尽力，一心想要获得充分的自信心，使自己能够面对众人侃侃而谈。在许多成功者当中，只有极少数人是天赐英才，大部分不过是一些随处可见的平常商人，坚持不懈是他们取得成功的秘诀。相反，那些富有一些特殊才能的人，则常常会气馁，他们过分汲汲于赚钱，结果变得庸庸碌碌，乏善可陈。普通人只要有胆量、有目标，即使走到人生道路的尽头，也能爬到事业的顶端。I have known and carefully watched literally thousands of persons trying to gain self-confidence and the ability to talk in public. Those that succeeded were, in only a few instances, persons of unusual brilliancy. For the most part, they were the ordinary run of businessmen you will find in your own home town. But they kept on. More exceptional men sometimes got discouraged or too deeply immersed in money. making, and they did not get very far; but the ordinary individual with grit and singleness of purpose, at the end of the road, was at the top.

这一点是合乎人性与自然的。同样的事情在各行各业随处可见。美国石油大王老约翰·洛克菲勒曾说过，商业成功的第一要诀是耐心和知道最终必然成功的信心。这一要诀同样对提高说话技巧有效。That is only human and natural. Don't you see the same thing occurring all the time in commerce and the professions? John D. Rockefeller, Sr., said that the first essential for success in business was patience and the knowledge that reward is ultimately certain. It is likewise one of the first essentials for success in effective speaking.

几年前，我来到奥地利境内的阿尔卑斯山，试图攀登一处名叫韦尔德·凯瑟的山峰。《贝的克旅行指南》中说，攀登该峰极其困难，业余登山者应配有向导。而我和朋友两人既不是专业登山运动员，也未雇请向导。一位朋友问我们是否能取得成功？我们的回答是坚决果断的：“当然！”A few summers ago, I started out to scale a peak in the Austrian Alps called the Wilder Kaiser. Baedaker said that the ascent was difficult, and a guide was essential for amateur climbers. A friend and I had none, and we were certainly amateurs; so a third party asked us if we thought we were going to succeed. "Of course." we replied.

“为什么你们认为自己会成功呢？”朋友追根究底。what makes you think so? he inquired.

“也有其他人没有请向导也曾取得了成功。”我说，“而且我做任何事情都不会想到失败的。”Others have done it without guides," I said," so I know it is within reason, and I never undertake anything thinking defeat."

永远保持信心，这是做任何事都应该持有的正确心态，从演讲到征服珠穆朗玛峰无不如此。That is the proper psychology for anything from speaking to an assault on Mt. Everest.

你取得成功的程度往往取决于讲演前你所做的思考。不妨假想自己正以完全的控制力在面对他人讲话。这是你能力所及的事。相信自己会成功，并且是坚定不移地相信，只有这样，你才会愉快地去做你成功道路上必做的每一件事。How well you succeed is largely determined by thoughts you have prior to speaking. See yourself in your imagination talking to others with perfect self-control. It is easily in your power to do this. Believe that you succeed. Believe it firmly, and you will then do what is necessary to bring success about.

南北战争期间，海军上将都庞列举了一大堆振振有词的理由，来说明自己何以未能率领战舰开入查尔斯港。法拉格上将在专心致志地倾听完他的描述后，冷静地对他说：“可是还有一个理由你没有提到。”During the Civil War, Admiral Dupont gave half a dozen excellent reasons why he had not taken his gunboat into Chadeston harbor. Admiral Farragut listened intently to the recital. "But there was another reason that you have not mentioned." he replied.

“什么理由！”都庞上将满怀狐疑。What is that? questioned Admiral Dupont.

“你不相信自己办得到。”The answer came: "You did not believe you could do it."

在我的训练班里，大部分学员所获得的最宝贵的东西就是对自己的信心——对自己获得成功多了一份信任：在生命的种种心理状态中，没有什么比自信对一个人的成功更为重要了。The most valuable thing that most members acquire from training in our classes is an increased confidence in themselves, an additional faith in their ability to achieve. What is more important for one's success in almost any undertaking?

爱默生曾这样写道：“无热诚即无伟大。”这不仅仅是一句文学修辞，而且是通往成功的途径。Emerson wrote, "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." That is more than a well-turned literary phrase; it is the road map to success.

威廉·费尔坡也许是有史以来耶鲁大学最受爱戴和欢迎的教授之一。他在《教书热》一书中这样写道：“对我而言，对教书的热爱远甚于对其他职业。我热爱教书，就像画家爱画，歌手爱唱，诗人爱写一样。早晨起床之前，我总是热切地想着自己那一群青春活泼的学生。”William Lyon Phelps was probably the most beloved and the most popular professor ever to teach at Yale University. In his book The Excitement of Teaching, he states, "With me, teaching is more than an art or an occupation. It is a passion. I love to teach, as a painter loves to paint, as a singer loves to sing, as a poet loves to write. Before I get out of bed in the morning, I think with ardent delight of my group of students."

对自己的职业满怀热情，对面前的工作满腔兴奋，能获得成功又有什么可奇怪的呢。费尔坡教授之所以能对学生产生巨大的影响力，主要原因在于他在教学过程中加入了自己的关爱、炽诚与热情。Is there any wonder a teacher so filled with enthusiasm for his job, so excited about the work ahead of him achieved success? Billy Phelps exerted a tremendous influence on his students, largely by the love and excitement, by the enthusiasm he put into his teaching.

如果将这种热忱加入成功演讲的学习训练中，你同样会发现所有的障碍都会全然消失掉。将所有的心智和力量都集中在与他人的有效沟通上，这是一项挑战。想一想那种属于自己的自信和闲适的神态，想一想那种吸引人的注意力、震撼他人情感和打动听众的自豪感，你就会发现，自我表达的能力也能造成其他方面的能力。成功演讲的训练是一条康庄大道，能够培养事业和生活所必备的自信心。If you put enthusiasm into learning how to speak more effectively you will find that the obstacles in your path will disappear. This is a challenge to focus all your talent and power on the goal of effective communication with your fellow men. Think of the self-reliance, the assurance, the poise that will be yours, the sense of mastery that comes from being able to hold. the attention, stir the emotions, and convince a group to act. You will find that competence in self-expression will lead to competence in other ways as well, for training in effective speaking is the royal road to self-confidence in all the areas of working and living. In the manual for the guidance of instructors who teach the Dale Carnegie Course are these words:

在《戴尔·卡耐基课程教学手册》中写有这样一些话：“当学员们发现自己能够控制听众的注意力，受到老师的赞赏和赢得全班的掌声时，就会逐渐培养起一种内在的力量感，增强自身的勇气和内心的沉静，这种感觉是他们从未经历过的。有了这种感觉，他们开始尝试那些从未梦想可能实现的事情，并且发现自己渴望在众人面前讲话。这些人往往会成为商业领域和其他领域的活跃分子。”When class members discover that they can hold the attention of an audience and receive an instructor's praise, and the applause of the class-when they are able to do that, they develop a sense of inner power, courage, and calm that they have never before experienced. The result? They undertake and accomplish things that they never dreamed possible. They find themselves longing to talk before groups. They take active parts in business and professional and community activities, and become leaders.

前面提到过“领导能力”一词，而清晰、有力、强劲的思想表达，正是当今社会领导能力的标志之一。这种表达支配着领导人，从私人访问到公开演讲的一切言语。如果能善用本书中的各种技巧，一定能培养你在家庭、社会团体、民间组织、公司和政府机关中的这一能力。The word "leadership" has been used often in the chapters that have gone before this one. Clear, forceful and emphatic expressiveness is one of the the marks of leadership in our society. This expressiveness must govern all the utterances of the leader from private interview to public pronouncements. Properly applied the material in this book will help to develop leadership-in the family, the church group, the civic organization, the corporation, and the government.