The Scroll Marked One 羊皮卷之一

   Today I begin a new life.

    Today I shed my old skin, which has too long suffered the bruises of failure and the wounds of mediocrity.

    Today I am born anew and my birthplace is a vineyard where there is fruit for all.

    Today I will pluck grapes of wisdom from the tallest and fullest vines in the vineyard, for these were planted by the wisest of my profession who have come before me, generation upon generation.

    Today I will savor the taste of grapes from these vines and verily I will swallow the seed of success buried in each and new life will sprout within me.

    The career I have chosen is laden with opportunity yet it is fraught with heartbreak and despair and the bodies of those who have failed, were they piled one atop another, would cast a shadow down upon all the pyramids of the earth.

    Yet I will not fail, as the others, for in my hands I now hold the charts, which will guide through perilous waters to shores, which only yesterday seemed but a dream.

    Failure no longer will be my payment for struggle. Just as nature made no provision for my body to tolerate pain neither has it made any provision for my life to suffer failure. Failure, like pain, is alien to my life. In the past I accepted it as I accepted pain. Now I reject it and I am prepared for wisdom and principles which will guide me out of the shadows into the sunlight of wealth, position, and happiness far beyond my most extravagant dreams until even the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides will seem no more than my just reward.

    Time teaches all things to him who lives forever but I have not the luxury of eternity. Yet within my allotted time I must practice the art of patience for nature acts never in haste. To create the olive, king of all trees, a hundred years is required. An onion plant is old in nine weeks. I have lived as an onion plant. It has not pleased me. Now I wouldst become the GREatest of olive trees and, in truth, the greatest of salesman.

    And how will this be accomplished? For I have neither the knowledge nor the experience to achieve the GREatness and already I have stumbled in ignorance and fallen into pools of self-pity. The answer is simple. I will commence my journey unencumbered with either the weight of unnecessary knowledge or the handicap of meaningless experience. Nature already has supplied me with knowledge and instinct far greater than any beast in the forest and the value of experience is overrated, usually by old men who nod wisely and speak stupidly.

    In truth, experience teaches thoroughly yet her course of instruction devours men's years so the value of her lessons diminishes with the time necessary to acquire her special wisdom. The end finds it wasted on dead men. Furthermore, experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today will be unworkable and impractical tomorrow.

    Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to GREatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. What they will teach me is more to prevent failure than to gain success, for what is success other than a state of mind? Which two, among a thou　and wise men, will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described but one way. Failure is man's inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.

In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeed lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precede all the others is --I will form good habits and become their slave.

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    As a child I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men. I have surrendered my free will to the years of accumulated habits and the past deeds of my life have already marked out a path which threatens to imprison my future. My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, GREed, love, fear, environment, habit, and the worst of these tyrants is habit. Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.

    I will form good habits and become their slave.

    And how will I accomplish this difficult feat? Through these scrolls, it will be done, for each scroll contains  a principle which will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which will bring me closer to success. For it is another of nature's laws that only a habit can subdue another habit. So, in order for these written words to perform their chosen task, I must discipline myself with the first of my new habits which is as follows:

    I will read each scroll for thirty days in this prescribed manner, before I proceed to the next scroll.

    First, I will read the words in silence when I arise. Then, I will read the words in silence after I have partaken of my midday meal. Last, I will read the words again just before I retire at day's end, and most important, on this occasion I will read the words aloud.

    On the next day I will repeat this procedure, and I will continue in like manner for thirty days. Then, I will turn to the next scroll and repeat this procedure for another thirty days. I will continue in this manner until I have lived with each scroll for thirty days and my reading has become habit.

    And what will be accomplished with this habit? Herein lies the hidden secret of all man's accomplishments. As I repeat the words daily they will soon become a part of my active mind, but more important, they will also seep into my other mind, that mysterious source which never sleeps, which creates my dreams, and often makes me act in ways I do not comprehend.

    As the words of these scrolls are consumed by my mysterious mind I will begin to awake, each morning, with a vitality I have never known before. My vigor will increase, my enthusiasm will rise, my desire to meet the world will overcome every fear I once knew at sunrise, and I will be happier than I ever believed it possible to be in this world of strife and sorrow.

    Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react, and soon these actions and reactions will become easy to perform, for any act with practice becomes easy.

    Thus a new and good habit is born, for when an act becomes easy through constant repetition it becomes a pleasure to perform and if it is a pleasure to perform it is man's nature to perform it often. When I perform it often it becomes a habit and I become its slave and since it is a good habit this is my will.

Today I begin a new life.

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    And I make a solemn oath to myself that nothing will retard my new life's growth. I will lose not a day from these readings for that day cannot be retrieved nor can I substitute another for it. I must not, I will not, break this habit of daily reading from these scrolls and, in truth, the few moments spent each day on this new habit are but a small price to pay for the happiness and success that will be mine.

    As I read and re-read the words in the scrolls to follow, never will I allow the brevity of each scroll nor the simplicity of its words to cause me to treat the scroll's message lightly. Thousands of grapes are pressed to fill one jar with wine, and the grape skin and pulp are tossed to the birds. So it is with these grapes of wisdom from the ages. Much has been filtered and tossed to the wind. Only the pure truth lies distilled in the words to come. I will drink as instructed and spill not a drop. And the seed of success I will swallow.

    Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall among men and they will know me not , for today I am a new man, with a new life.

今天，我天始新的生活．

今天，我爬出满是失败创伤的老茧．

今天，我重新来到这个世上，我出生在葡萄园中，国内的葡萄任人享用。

今天，我要从最高最密的藤上摘下智慧的果实，这葡萄藤是好几代前的智者种下的。

今天，我要品尝葡萄的美味，还要吞下每一位成功的种子，让新生命在我心里萌牙。

我选择的道路充满机遇，也有辛酸与绝望．失败的同伴数不胜数，叠在一起，比金字塔还高。

然而，我不会像他们一样失败，因为我手中持有航海图，可以领我越过汹涌的大海，抵达梦中的彼岸．

失败不再是我奋斗的代价．它和痛苦都将从我的生命中消失。失败和我，就像水火一样，互不相容。我不再像过去一样接受它们。我要在智慧的指引下，走出失败的阴影，步入富足、健康、快乐的乐园，这些都超出了我以往的梦想．

我要是能长生不老，就可以学到一切，但我不能永生，所以，在有限的人生里，我必须学会忍耐的艺术，因为大自然的行为一向是从容不迫的．造物主创造树中之王橄摊树需要一百年的时间，而洋葱经过短短的九个星期就会枯老．我不留恋从前那种洋葱式的生活，我要成为万树之王——橄榄树，成为现实生活中最伟大的推销员．

怎么可能？我既没有渊博的知识，又没有丰富的经验，况且，我曾一度跌入愚昧与自怜的深渊．答案很简单。我不会让所谓的知识或者经验妨碍我的行程．造物生已经赐予我足够的知识和本能，这份天赋是其它生物望尘莫及的。经验的价值往往被高估了，人老的时候开口讲的多是糊涂话．说实在的，经验确实能教给我们很多东西，只是这需要花费太长的时间．等到人们获得智慧的时候，其价值已随着时间的消逝而减少了．结果往往是这样，经验丰富了，人也余生无多．经验和时尚有关，适合某一时代的行为,并不寻味着在今天仍然行得通。

只有原则是持久的，而我现在正拥有了这些原则．这些可以指引我走向成功的原则全写在这几张羊皮卷里．它教我如何避免失败，而不只是获得成功，因为成功更是一种精神状态．人们对于成功的定义，见仁见智，而失败却往往只有一种解释:失败就是一个人没能达到他的人生目标，不论这些目标是什么。

事实上，成功与失败的最大分野，来自不同的习惯。好习惯是开启成员的钥匙，坏习惯则是一扇向失败敞开的门。因此，我首先要做的便是养成良好的习惯，全心全意去实行。

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小时候．我常会感情用事，长大成人了，我要用良好的习惯代替一时的冲动。我的自由意志屈服于多年养成的恶习，它们威胁着我的前途。我的行为受到品味、情感、偏见、欲望、爱、恐惧、环境和习惯的影响，其中最厉害的就是习惯。因此．如果我必须受习惯支配的话，那就让我受好习惯的支配。那些坏习惯必须戒除，我要在新的田地里播种好的种子。

我要养成良好的习惯，全心全意去实行。

这不是轻而易举的事情，要怎样才能做到呢，靠这些羊皮卷就能做到。因为每～卷里都写着一个原则，可以摒除—项坏习惯，换取一个好习惯，使人进步，走向成功。这也是自然法则之一，只有一种习惯才能抑制另一种习惯。所以，为了走好我选择的道路，我必须养成的第一个习惯

每张羊皮卷用三十天的时间阅读，然后再进人下一卷。

清晨即起，默默诵读；午饭之后，再次默读；夜晚睡前，高声朗读。

第二天的情形完全一样。这样重复三十天后，就可以打开下一卷了。每一卷都依照同样的方法读上三十天，久而久之，它们就成为一种习惯了。

这些习惯有什么好处呢？这里隐含着人类成功的秘诀。当我每天重复这些话的时候，它何成了我精神活动的一部分，更重要的是，它们渗入我的心灵。拥是个神秘的世界，永不静止，创造梦境，在不知不觉中影响我的行为。

当这些羊皮卷上的文字，被我奇妙的心灵完全吸收之后，我每天都会充满活力地醒来。我从来没有这样精力充沛过。我更有活力，更有热情，要向世界挑战的欲望克服了一切恐惧与不安。在这个充满争斗和悲伤的世界里，我竟然比以前更快活。

最后，我会发现自己有了应付一切情况的办法。不久，这些办法就能运用自如．因为，任何方法，只要多练习，就会变得简单易行。

经过多次重复，一种看似复杂的行为就变得轻而易举，实行起来，就会有无限的乐趣，有了乐趣，出于人之天性，我就更乐意常去实行。于是，一种好的习惯便诞生了．习惯成为自然。既是一种好的习惯，也就是我的意原。

今天，我天始新的生活．

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我郑重地发誓，绝不让任何事情妨碍我新生命的成长。在阅读这些羊卷的时候，我绝不浪费一天的时间，因为时光一去不返，失去的日子是无法弥补的。我也绝不打破每天阅读的习惯。事实上，每天在这些新习惯上花费少许时间，相对于可能获得的愉乐与成功而言，只是微不足道的代价。

当我阅读羊皮卷中的字句时，绝不能出为文字的精炼而忽视内容的深沉。一瓶葡萄美酒需要千百颗果子酿制而成，果皮和渣子抛给小鸟。葡萄的智慧代代相传，有些被过滤，有些被淘汰，随风飘逝。只有纯正的真理才是永恒的。它们就精炼在我要阅读的文字中。我要依照指示，绝不浪费，饮下成功的种子。

今天，我的老茧化为尘埃。我在人群中昂首阔步，不会有人认出我来，因为我不再是过去的自己、我已拥有新的生命。