新世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語(yǔ)2課文翻譯5.WhyCharacterCounts

1、WhyCharacterCountsStephenR.CoveycloseRTSometimeagoIwasaskedtoconsultforabankthatwashavingaproblemwithemployeemorale.Idontknowwhatswrong,complainedtheiryoungpresidentsadly.Brightandattractivelycapable,hedrisenthroughtheranksonlytoseehisinstitutionfaltering.Productivityandprofitsweredown.Heblamedhisem

2、ployees.NomatterwhatincentivesIprovide,hesaid,theywontshakeoffthisgloomanddoom.品德為什么重要斯蒂芬R科維前一段時(shí)間，我應(yīng)邀去一家銀行做咨詢，因?yàn)槟抢飭T工士氣不振。“我不知道問題出在哪里，”年輕的總裁傷心地抱怨道。他聰明而且特別能干，一步一步爬到現(xiàn)在的位置，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)銀行步履維艱，效率和收益都很低。他覺得問題出在員工身上。他說：“不論我采用什么樣的激勵(lì)措施，他們總是死氣沉沉，提不起精神。closeRTHewasright.Theatmosphereseemedpoisonedwithsuspicionandlackoft

3、rust.FortwomonthsIranworkshops,butnothinghelped.Iwasstumped.他說得不假，空氣中似乎充滿了懷疑和不信任的毒氣。我花了兩個(gè)月的時(shí)間舉辦各種研討會(huì)，但全都無濟(jì)于事。我無計(jì)可施了。closeRTFinally,inmorecasualconversations,thetruthemerged.Theboss,whowasmarried,washavinganaffairwithanemployee.Andeveryoneknewit.最后，在閑談中真相浮現(xiàn)了。老板已經(jīng)結(jié)婚，卻與一名員工有染，這件事公司上下盡人皆知。closeRTItwasob

4、viousnowthatthecompanyspoorperformancewascausedbyhisconduct.Butthegreatestdamagethismanwasdoingwastohimself.Hewasthinkingonlyofhisownpleasureandsatisfactiondisregardinglong-termconsequences.Moreover,hehadviolatedasacredtrustwithhiswife.如此看來，公司業(yè)績(jī)欠佳，顯然是他的行為所造成的。但這個(gè)人所造成的最大損害，是對(duì)他自己。他只顧自己一時(shí)的享樂和滿足，不管長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的后果

5、，而且，他也褻瀆了與妻子之間神圣的信任。closeRTInaword,hisfailingwasoneofcharacter.簡(jiǎn)而言之，他錯(cuò)在品行不端。closeRTWhatReallyMattersCharacterismadeupofthoseprinciplesandvaluesthatgiveyourlifedirection,meaninganddepth.Theseconstituteyourinnersenseofwhatsrightandwrongbasednotonlawsorrulesofconductbutonwhoyouare.品德是由原則和價(jià)值觀組成，能夠?yàn)槟愕纳钪?/p>

6、引方向，賦予你的生活以意義和深度。這些構(gòu)成了你內(nèi)心判斷正誤的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，不是基于法律或行為準(zhǔn)則，而是基于你個(gè)人。closeRTTheyincludesuchtraitsasintegrity,honesty,courage,fairnessandgenerositywhicharisefromthehardchoiceswehavetomakeinlife.So,wrongissimplyindoingwrong,notingettingcaught.它們包括了正直、誠(chéng)實(shí)、勇氣、公平、慷慨等特點(diǎn)，來自于我們?cè)谏钪斜仨氉龀龅钠D難抉擇。所以做錯(cuò)了就是做錯(cuò)了，而不在于有沒有被人發(fā)現(xiàn)。closeRTYet

7、somepeoplewonderifourinnervaluesmatteranymore.Afterall,hasntournotedbankexecutivesucceededineveryvisibleway,despitehismoralfailing?然而，有些人會(huì)懷疑，我們的內(nèi)在價(jià)值還重要嗎？畢竟，我們這位有名的銀行主管盡管品行不端，還不是照樣在各方面很成功？closeRTThisquestiondemonstratesadilemmaofourmodernlife.Manyhavecometobelievethattheonlythingsweneedforsuccessaret

8、alent,energyandpersonality.Buthistoryhastaughtusthatwhoweareismoreimportantthanwhoweappeartobe.這個(gè)問題反映了現(xiàn)代生活的一個(gè)困境。很多人已經(jīng)開始相信：要成功，只要有天分、精力和個(gè)性就夠了然而，回顧歷史，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，內(nèi)在品質(zhì)比外在特征更加重要。close10RTDuringthenationsfirstcenturyandahalf,almosteverythingintheliteratureofsuccessandself-helpfocusedonwhatcouldbecalledthechara

9、cterethic.SucheminentfiguresasBenjaminFranklinandThomasJeffersonmadecleartheirbeliefthatwecanonlyexperiencetruesuccessandhappinessbymakingcharactertheguidelineofourlives.10在我國(guó)歷史最初的150多年中，幾乎所有關(guān)于成功與自勵(lì)的文獻(xiàn)都聚焦在可稱為品德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)方面。本杰明富蘭克林和托馬斯杰斐遜等杰出人物很清楚地表明了他們的看法：只有讓品德成為我們的指南，才能體驗(yàn)真正的成功與幸福。closeRTAfterwemovedintothei

10、ndustrialageandafterWorldWarI,thebasicviewofsuccessshiftedtowhatwecouldcallthepersonalityethic.Successbecamemoreafunctionofcharm,skillsandtechniquesthatlubricatetheprocessofhumaninteraction.Ratherthanstrugglewithdifficultissuesofrightandwrong,weturnedtomakingthingsrunsmoothly.closeRTSomeofthatphilos

11、ophyexpresseditselfwithharmlessbutsuperficialmottoes,suchassmilingwinsmorefriendsthanfrowning.Otherideaswereevendeceptive,fakinginterestinothershobbiessotheywilllikeyou,forinstance.這種哲學(xué)可以從一些無害然而淺薄的說法中看出端倪，比如，“微笑能比皺眉贏得更多朋友?！逼渌南敕ㄉ踔翈в衅垓_性質(zhì)，例如假裝對(duì)別人的愛好感興趣好讓他們喜歡你。close13RTWithavaluesystembasedsolelyonskil

12、landpersonality,wefindheroesinathletes,musiciansandinpowerfulbusinessexecutives.Butdespitetheadmirationwefeelfortheseachievers,weshouldntnecessarilylookuponthemasrolemodels.Whileskilliscertainlyneededforsuccess,itcanneverguaranteehappinessandfulfillment.Thesecomefromdevelopingcharacter.13在這種完全基于技能與個(gè)

13、性的價(jià)值體系指導(dǎo)下，我們視運(yùn)動(dòng)員、音樂家或有權(quán)有勢(shì)的商界主管為偶像。不過，盡管我們欽羨這些成功人士，我們倒也未必要奉他們?yōu)榭?。技巧固然是成功所必需的，但技能從來無法保證一個(gè)人的幸福和滿足感。這二者有賴于品德的塑造。close14RTStartatHome14Youcanbegintobuildcharacteratanyage.Thekeyislearninghowtolookwithintoworkinsideout.品德的塑造是可以從任何年齡段開始的，關(guān)鍵是要學(xué)會(huì)如何內(nèi)省，然后由內(nèi)而外，推己及人。close15RTWiththeinside-outapproach,privatevict

14、oriesprecedepublicvictories.Theseprivatevictoriesaresimplypromisesyoumaketoyourselfandothersandthenkeep.15由內(nèi)而外，個(gè)人生活中的成就便能引發(fā)公共生活的成就，而個(gè)人生活的成就無非是堅(jiān)守你對(duì)自己和他人的承諾而已。closeRTDaybyday,asyoumakeandkeepincreasinglychallengingpromises,youwillbemakingdepositsinyourcharacteraccount.Whatbeginsasgreateffortwilleventu

15、allybecomeahabit.Andasyougetintothehabitofbuildingcharacterinthesmallerareasofyourlife,yourabilitytodevelopcharacterstrengthinmoreimportantsphereswillgrow.日復(fù)一日，你許下并恪守越來越有挑戰(zhàn)性的諾言，你也同時(shí)在往你的“道德賬戶”上存“錢”。一開始需要很努力去做的事情，最終將成為習(xí)慣。逐步養(yǎng)成了在生活中一些較次要的方面塑造品德的習(xí)慣之后，你在更重要的領(lǐng)域培養(yǎng)品德力量的能力也會(huì)隨之增強(qiáng)。close17RTPrivatevictoriesthere

16、foreleadtoyourlargerpublicvictories.Forinstance,togainmorefreedomtothinkandactinyourjob,youmustfirstbeamoreresponsibleemployee.Tocreateahappymarriage,firstbethekindofpersonwhogenerateslove,generosity,dependabilityandtrust.個(gè)人生活的成功因此能造就更大的公眾生活的成功。比如說，要在工作中獲得更高的職位，你首先得是一個(gè)責(zé)任心更強(qiáng)的員工。要締造幸福的婚姻，自己首先就要做一個(gè)有愛心、

17、慷慨、可靠而又誠(chéng)實(shí)的人。close18RTTheresnomoreessentialingredientforcharactergrowththantrust.Whetheritistrustweearnfromcolleaguesoraspouse,itisbuiltslowlyovertimeinaninfinitevarietyofcircumstances.在品德成熟的過程中，沒有哪一種因素會(huì)比信任更加關(guān)鍵的了。不管是同事的信任還是配偶的信任，都是在無窮變化的環(huán)境中日積月累而沉淀下來的。close19RTAnotherwaytobuildcharacteristoadmityourmi

18、stakes.Characterisrevealedinhowwehandlethingsthatgowrong.另一個(gè)塑造品德的方法就是承認(rèn)自己的錯(cuò)誤。處理錯(cuò)誤的方式也能體現(xiàn)我們的品德。close20RTThebestopportunitiestobuildcharacter,however,arewithinourfamilies,whereweareconstantlytestedandmostvulnerabletolapses.Truecharacterbeginsathome.然而，塑造品德的最佳機(jī)會(huì)是在家庭內(nèi)部，在家里我們時(shí)時(shí)經(jīng)受考驗(yàn)，也最容易犯錯(cuò)。真正的品德始于家庭。close

19、21RTOftenwesensethatwecangetawaywiththingsaroundthosewhoknowusbest,whowillloveusregardlessofourconduct.Thiscanendupdestroyingourcharacterandourrelationships.Howoftenhaveweheardofsomeonewhoisanexcellentemployeebuttreatshisorherspouselikeapieceoffurniture?我們常常會(huì)覺得，跟最了解我們、不管我們做了什么都會(huì)依然愛我們的人在一起，總是能免受懲罰。結(jié)果

20、呢，我們的品德受損，關(guān)系也遭到了破壞。我們會(huì)不會(huì)經(jīng)常聽說這樣的人，比如一個(gè)很出色的員工，卻把自己的配偶當(dāng)作一件家具那樣對(duì)待？close22RTAllourrelationshipsfollowthepatternsoflife;theyhaveupsanddowns.Thisiswhyourfamiliesprovideacriticalmeasureofourcharacterandtheopportunity,againandagain,tonurtureit.我們所有的關(guān)系都遵循著生活的規(guī)律；都是有起有落的。這就是為什么我們的家庭能為我們的品德提供一個(gè)重要的量度，而且不斷提供機(jī)會(huì)滋養(yǎng)它。close23RTWhatbecameofthebankpresidentwhowasinvolvedsexuallywithanemployee?WhenIconfidedtohimwhatIknewofhisaffairandtheeffectitwashavingonhisstaff,heranhisfingersthroughhishair.Idontknowwheretobegin,hesaid.那個(gè)與員工有染的銀行總裁后來怎么樣了呢？我向他透露，我已經(jīng)知道他的外遇，以及這件事對(duì)員工的影響，他用手指撓