摘錄：你可能并不覺得自己的“才華”有多了不起，但它或許比你想象中的要更好!而且只要你有堅持不懈的毅力，你的大部分能力將會得以提高。另外，如果你擱置自己所擁有的才華(而不去開發(fā))的話，你也許根本就不會再具備這份才能了!更有意義的問題并不是“我擁有何種實用有益的能力?”而是“我將如何發(fā)揮出自己所擁有的全部才能?”

　　生活哲理文章：被擱置的才華

　　There was a man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player. People came in just to hear him play. But one night, a patron[1] told him he didn’t want to hear him just play anymore. He wanted him to sing a song.

　　The man said, “I don’t sing.”

　　在一家酒吧里，有一名男子在彈鋼琴。他是位優(yōu)秀的鋼琴演奏者。人們來這里就是為了聽他演奏。然而，有一天晚上，一位老主顧卻告訴他再也不想聽他的演奏了。顧客想讓他唱首歌。

　　這名男子說：“我不唱歌。”

　　But the customer was persistent[2]. He told the bartender, “I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!”

　　但顧客卻很執(zhí)著。他對酒吧的酒保說：“我聽膩了鋼琴演奏。我想讓那個家伙唱歌!”

　　The bartender shouted across the room, “Hey buddy[3]! If you want to get paid, sing a song. Thepatrons are asking you to sing!”

　　酒保在屋子的另一邊大喊：“嘿，老兄!如果你想要拿到報酬，就唱首歌吧。老主顧們都要求你獻(xiàn)唱呢!”

　　So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever heard the song “Mona, Mona Lisa” sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King Cole[4]!

　　于是，他照做了。他唱了一首歌。一個在公眾面前從未唱過歌的鋼琴演奏者第一次獻(xiàn)唱。而且從未有人聽過像納特•金•科爾那樣在那天晚上用歌聲演繹的《蒙娜麗莎》!

　　He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar, but because he had to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.[5]

　　他擁有的才華被擱置了!他或許會在一個不知名的酒吧里做一個默默無聞的鋼琴演奏者，以此度過余生，但因為他(因機緣巧合)不得不去唱歌，于是他繼續(xù)發(fā)展，成為了美國最知名的藝人之一。

　　You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel as if your “talent” is particularly great, but it may be better than you think! And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess! The better question is not “What ability do I have that is useful?” It is rather “How will I use whatever ability I have?”

　　你同樣也擁有才能與天資。你可能并不覺得自己的“才華”有多了不起，但它或許比你想象中的要更好!而且只要你有堅持不懈的毅力，你的大部分能力將會得以提高。另外，如果你擱置自己所擁有的才華(而不去開發(fā))的話，你也許根本就不會再具備這份才能了!更有意義的問題并不是“我擁有何種實用有益的能力?”而是“我將如何發(fā)揮出自己所擁有的全部才能?”