范文：谦虚之美

　　It Pays to be Modest

　　“Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.”Joseph Addison once said. Modesty can not only make someone look beautiful and well-mannered, but also serve as a guarantee to one’s excellent character. It is obvious that people tend to lose their fine qualities if they are not modest.

　　Simple as Addison’s remark may sound, it contains abundant life philosophy and informs us of the significance of modesty. why does modesty play an indispensable role in our life ? Modesty can inspire people to achieve greater success. Those who are modest will never be content with their current achievements, instead, they will work constantly to achieve a higher target. Quite a few examples can be given to prove the importance of modesty, however, I can think of no better illustration than the following one: how could Benjamin Franklin, who was once a printer of humble origins, attain tremendous achievements in so many fields such as science, politics, literature and navigation if he was simply content with small achievements?

　　We should always bear in mind that modesty will prompt us to go farther. Accordingly, at no time should we be satisfied with our small accomplishments, instead , we need to keep an open mind to accept new things, absorb new information, acquire new knowledge and seize new opportunities. “Success consists in industry and modesty.” A philosopher once said.(229words)参考译文：

　　“谦虚不仅仅是一个装饰物，而且是美德的守卫者。”约瑟夫.艾迪生曾经说过。谦虚不仅可以使人看起来美丽、彬彬有礼，同时还是优秀品质的保证。很明显，一个人如果不在谦虚，他也很可能会失去优秀品质。

　　艾迪生的话也许听起来简单，但她却包含了大量的生活哲理，并且让我们明白了谦虚的重要性。为什么谦虚在我们的生活中扮演如此重要的角色呢？谦虚可以使人获得更大的成功。那些谦虚的人永远都不会满足于当前的成就，取而代之的是，他们会一直努力地工作，来达成更高的目标。相当多的例子可以用来证明谦虚的重要性，但是除了下面这个例子，我想不到更好的了。曾只是个出身卑微的印刷工本杰明.富兰克林，如果他只是满足于小小的成就，他怎么可能后来在科学、政治、文学和航海学等那么多的领域取得巨大的成就呢？

　　我们应该牢记在心，谦虚会让我们走的更远。因此，任何时候我们都不能满足于小小的成就，取而代之的是，我们应该保持一个开放的心态，去接受新事物，吸收新信息，学习新知识并且抓住新机会。“成功在于勤奋和谦虚”一位哲人也曾经说过。