Our character, basically, is a composite of our habits. “Sow a thought,reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sowa character, reap a destiny,” the maxim goes.
人的品德基本上是又习惯组成的。 俗语说;思想决定行动，行动决定习惯，习惯决定品德，品德决定命运。
Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent,often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character andproduce our effectiveness or ineffectiveness.
习惯对我们的生活有绝大的影响，因为他是一贯的。 在不知不觉中， 经年累月影响着我们的品德，暴露出我们的本性，左右着我们的成败。
As Horace Mann, the great educator, once said, “Habits are like a cable. Weweave a strand of it everyday and soon it cannot be broken.” I personally do notagree with the last part of his expression. I know habits can be learned andunlearned. But I also know it isn't a quick fix. It involves a process and atremendous commitment.
美国着名教育家曼恩曾说：“习惯就仿佛是一条缆绳，我们每天为他缠上一股新索，不要多久就会变得牢不可破。”这句话的后半段我不敢苟同，我相信习惯可以养成，也可以打破，但绝不是一蹴而就，而是需要长期的努力和无比的毅力。
Those of us who watched the lunar voyage of Apollo 11 were transfixed as wesaw the first men walk on the moon and return to earth. But to get there, thoseastronauts literally had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of theearth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of lift-off, in the firstfew miles of travel, than was used over the next several days to travel half amillion miles.
宇航员搭乘阿波罗11号太空船，首次登陆月球的刹那，的确令人叹为观止。但宇航员得先摆脱地球强大的引力，才能飞往月球。由此在刚发射的几分钟，也就是整个任务一开始的几英里之内，是最艰难的时刻，所耗的力量往往超越往后的几十万英里。
Habits, too, have tremendous gravity pull- more than most people realize orwould admit. Breaking deeply imbedded habitual tendencies such asprocrastination, impatience, criticalness, or selfishness that violate basicprinciples of human effectiveness involves more than a little willpower and afew minor changes in our lives. “Lift off” takes a tremendous effort, but oncewe break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole newdimension.
习惯也是一样，它具有极大的引力，只是许多人不加注意或不肯承认了。想要革除因循苟且，缺乏耐心，吹毛求疵或自私自利等不良习性，若是缺乏意志力，不能大刀阔斧的改革，便难以实现目标。“起飞”需要极大的努力，然而一旦脱离重力的牵绊，我们便可享受前所未有的自由。
Like any natural force, gravity pull can work with us or against us. Thegravity pull of some of our habits may currently be keeping us from going wherewe want to go. But it is also gravity pull that keeps our world together, thatkeeps the planets in their orbits and our universe in order. It is a powerfulforce, and if we use it effectively, we can use the gravity pull of habit tocreate the cohesiveness and order necessary to establish effectiveness in ourlives.
习惯的引力就如同自然界所有的力量一般，可以为我们所用，也可能危害我们，关键看我们如何运用。不过，习惯或许一时有碍于达到目标，但也有积极的一面。宇宙万物各循轨道运行，彼此保持一定的秩序，毕竟也都有赖于引力的作用。所以只要我们善于运用习惯的庞大引力，就能使生活有重心，有秩序，有效率。
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