I want this new school year to be a good one for my students as they learn about everything from calculus to Shakespeare to failure.

我希望這個(gè)新學(xué)年成為對(duì)學(xué)生有益的一個(gè)學(xué)年。他們將在新學(xué)年里學(xué)習(xí)很多東西，包括微積分、莎士比亞和失敗。

That's right. Failure.

沒錯(cuò)，就是失敗。

We all need to fail a little. In fact, the secret of success might just be that. Consider the path of Henry David Thoreau.

我們都需要有點(diǎn)兒失敗的經(jīng)歷。事實(shí)上，成功的秘訣也許就在于此。以亨利·大衛(wèi)·梭羅的人生道路為例吧。

By many accounts, Thoreau was a failure. Folks thought he should have been a civic leader. He could have been a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher. He might even have made congressman or governor.

許多人都曾表示，梭羅的一生是失敗的。人們認(rèn)為他本該成為一名官員，他本來還可以成為醫(yī)生、律師或教師，他甚至還可能當(dāng)選眾議員或州長(zhǎng)。

Instead, the Harvard man seemed to spend most of his time 1)loafing in the woods near his hometown over near Walden Pond. Everyone just scratched their heads and wondered why such a promising young fellow wasn't a "success."

然而，這位哈佛畢業(yè)生似乎把自己的大部分時(shí)間都用來在家鄉(xiāng)附近瓦爾登湖畔的樹林里閑逛。所有人都百思不得其解，為什么這樣一個(gè)前途光明的年輕人卻沒能"成功。"

I'm not suggesting that my students drop classes for the woods, but it's important to remember that ideas on success vary, even in these 2)enlightened times.

我并不是建議我的學(xué)生逃課去樹林里，但重要的是要記住，即便是在現(xiàn)在這樣開明的時(shí)代，對(duì)成功的定義也是不同的。

The lessons of failure are an important part of the 3)curriculum of success. We learn from them. They push us to do better; they teach us humility.

失敗的教訓(xùn)是成功這門必修課的重要組成部分。我們從中學(xué)到了東西。它促使我們做得更好，讓我們學(xué)會(huì)謙遜。

As a teacher, I expect students to revise their work, to build on the "failure" of the first draft to achieve clarity and insight in the final draft. That's a good model for most things in life.

作為老師，我希望學(xué)生修改自己的作業(yè)，在初稿"失敗"的基礎(chǔ)上，讓終稿做到清晰透徹。對(duì)人生中的大多數(shù)事情而言，這都是一種好模式。

Part of the problem, though, is that we live in a country obsessed by results. In school, it is the A student who gets all the perks even though getting an A doesn't always measure how much a person really knows. A's are icons of honor. F's are badges of defeat.

然而一部分問題在于，我們生活在一個(gè)追求結(jié)果的國(guó)度里。在學(xué)校里，優(yōu)等生能夠得到一切特殊待遇，盡管學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)優(yōu)異并不總能說明一個(gè)人真正的學(xué)識(shí)?，F(xiàn)實(shí)是優(yōu)異的學(xué)業(yè)成績(jī)是榮譽(yù)的象征，而學(xué)業(yè)不及格則是失敗的標(biāo)志。

We idealize icons and look up to heroes such as George Washington or 4)John Glenn. Yet we shouldn't discount the heroes who labor outside the limelight. Those are the men and women who quietly go about the business of raising a family and taking care of their neighbors.

我們習(xí)慣于把偶像理想化，推崇像喬治·華盛頓或約翰·格倫這樣的英雄。但我們不應(yīng)該小看在聚光燈外苦干的眾多英雄，他們就是那些默默地承擔(dān)起贍養(yǎng)家庭和幫助鄰居重任的男男女女。

The most admirable are ones who invent their own success. They know how to seize the moment and let the chips fall where they may. They know that the best way to measure success is by living each day to the fullest.

最值得欽佩的人是那些開創(chuàng)自身成功模式的人。他們知道如何抓住時(shí)機(jī)，不計(jì)較結(jié)果。他們知道衡量成功的最佳方式是充分把握每一天。

True success is giving something back. And you don't have to have a lot in the wallet to attain it. There are many people, young and old, who give back by serving in literacy campaigns and soup kitchens.

真正的成功是予以回饋。你無須錢包厚實(shí)就能做到這一點(diǎn)。有很多人——有年輕的也有年長(zhǎng)的——通過參加掃盲和救濟(jì)活動(dòng)作出了回饋。

As my father used to say: "Make sure you leave the world a better place than it was when you entered it. At least clean up after yourself."

正如我父親曾經(jīng)說過的一句話："要確保你留下的世界比你來到時(shí)更美好。至少要把你自己留下的東西清理干凈。"

The beginning of the school year is a good time to start reorienting ourselves. It's a good time to see our failures in a new light.

開學(xué)是著手為自己重新確定方向的一個(gè)大好時(shí)機(jī)，也是從新的角度來看待失敗的一個(gè)大好時(shí)機(jī)。

After Thoreau died in 1862, his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, 5)lamented that Henry hadn't blossomed into a great leader of the nation. His books were little read, his ideas seemed 6)skewed. And yet, less than 100 years later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pointed to Thoreau's essay Civil Disobedience as one of the sparks that ignited the civil rights movement and profoundly shaped American society.

1862年梭羅去世后，他的導(dǎo)師拉爾夫·沃爾多·愛默生哀嘆亨利沒能成為我國(guó)的一位杰出領(lǐng)袖。他的書無人問津，他的思想似乎離經(jīng)叛道。然而過了不到一百年，馬丁·路德·金說，梭羅的文章《論公民的不服從》是點(diǎn)燃美國(guó)民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)的火種之一，并對(duì)美國(guó)社會(huì)產(chǎn)生了深刻影響。

Not a bad legacy for a failure.

對(duì)一個(gè)失敗者來說，這可是筆不錯(cuò)的精神財(cái)富。