异类之不一样的成功启示录 第12期:成功的真谛

 　　When he ran for governor of Florida,

　　在竞选佛罗里达州州长的时候，

　　he repeatedly referred to himself as a "self-made man,"

　　杰布布什一再声称自己是“白手起家者”。

　　and it is a measure of how deeply we associate success with the efforts of the individual

　　当我们考量成功时，总有一本尺子植根于我们内心，

　　that few batted an eyelid¹ at that description.

　　这把尺子一味强调成功人士的个人努力，但很少有人对这种观点提出质疑。

　　"Lift up your heads,"

　　“昂起你们的头！ ”

　　Robert Winthrop told the crowd many years ago

　　罗伯特温思罗普

　　at the unveiling of a statue of that great hero of American independence Benjamin Franklin,

　　在为美国独立的大英雄本杰明富兰克林的雕像掲幕的时候向听众们说：

　　"and look at the image of a man who rose from nothing,

　　“仔细看看一个人是怎样白手起家的：

　　who owed nothing to parentage or patronage²,

　　他没有显赫的身世，也没他人资助；

　　who enjoyed no advantages of early education which are not open- a hundred fold open- to yourselves,

　　在不向所有人开放的早期教育中，他没有任何的优势

　　who performed the most menial services in the business in which his early life was employed,

　　在他早期的雇员生活中，他几乎就是生活在商行中的仆人。

　　but who lived to stand before Kings,

　　但是，在世的时候，他能够在众王面前站立，

　　and died to leave a name which the world will never forget."

　　死后，他的名字被世人永远牢记。”

　　In outliers, I want to convince you,

　　我希望你读过《异类》之后能够明白，

　　that these kinds of personal explanations of success don't work.

　　这种解释个人成功的观点并不准确。

　　People don't rise from nothing.

　　人们并非真的一无所有，

　　We do owe something to parentage and patronage.

　　从出生开始，我们就拥有一定的禀赋和资助。

　　The people who stand before kings

　　能在众王面前站立的人，

　　may look like they did it all by themselves.

　　好像完全凭借他自己的能力，

　　But in fact they are invariably³ the beneficiaries of hidden advantages,

　　事实上，总有潜在的优势、

　　and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies⁴,

　　非凡的机遇和文化传统令他们获益，

　　that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in a way others cannot.

　　使得他们更努力地学习或者工作，

　　It makes a difference where and when we grew up,

　　使得他们的世界与众不同。

　　the culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears,

　　我们成长的年代和成长的地域各异，

　　shape the patterns of our achievements

　　我们生长的文化氛围和祖先们遗留下来的东西

　　in ways we cannot begin to imagine.

　　对我们取得成就的影响难以想象。

　　It's not enough to ask what successful people are like, in other words.

　　仅仅问那些成功人士都是怎样的一个人是不够的，换言之，

　　It is only by asking where they are from

　　我们只有知道他们来自何处，

　　that we can unravel⁵ the logic⁶ behind who succeeds and who doesn't.

　　才能真正揭示为什么有的人没有获得成功，而有的人却成功了。

　　Biologists often talk about the "ecology" of an organism:

　　生物学家经常讲“生物体的环境适应学”，

　　the tallest oak in the forest is not just the tallest because it grew from the hardest acorn;

　　森林里长得最高的一棵橡树，之所以能够长得最高，不仅仅因为长成这棵橡树的种子最坚硬；

1 eyelid   

n.眼睑，眼皮

参考例句：

• She lifted one eyelid to see what he was doing.她抬起一只眼皮看看他在做什么。
• My eyelid has been tumid since yesterday.从昨天起，我的眼皮就肿了。

2 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

3 invariably   

adv.不变地，始终如一地，总是

参考例句：

• A unity invariably tends to break up into different parts.统一体总要分解为不同部分的。
• We always invariably support him.我们一直始终不变地支持他。

4 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

5 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

6 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。