奥里森·马登/Orison Marden
Caesar's delay to read a message cost him his life when he reached the senate house.
“Delays have dangerous ends.”Colonel Rahl, the Hessian commander at Trenton, was playing cards when a messenger brought a letter stating that Washington was crossing the Delaware. He put the letter in his pocket without reading it until the game was fnished, when he rallied his men only to die just before his troops were taken prisoners. Only a few minutes'delay, but he lost honor, liberty, and life!
Success is the child of two very plain parents—punctuality and accuracy. There are critical moments in every successful life when if the mind hesitates or a nerve finches all will be lost.
Napoleon laid great stress upon that“supreme moment,”that“nick of time”which occurs in every battle, to take advantage ofwhich means victory, and to lose in hesitation means disaster. He said that he beat the Austrians because they did not know the value of fve minutes；and it has been said that among the trifles that conspired to defeat him at Waterloo, the loss of a few moments by himself and Grouchy on the fatal morning were the most significant. Blucher was on time, and Grouchy was late. It was enough to send Napoleon to St. Helena.
It is a well-known truism that has almost been elevated to the dignity of a maxim, that what may be done at any time will be done at no time.
“The fact is,”says the Rev. Sydney Smith,“that, in order to do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank, and thinking of the cold and the danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. It will not do to be perpetually calculating risks and adjusting nice chances. It did all very well before the food, but at present a man waits, and doubts, and hesitates, and consults his brother, and his uncle, and his cousin, and his particular friends, till, one fine day, he finds that he is sixty-five years of age，—that he has lost so much.”
The energy wasted in postponing until tomorrow a duty of today, would often do the work. How much harder and more disagreeable, too, it is to do work which has been put off. What would have been done at the time with pleasure or even enthusiasm becomes drudgery after it has been delayed for days and weeks. Letters can never be answered so easily as when frst received. Many large frms make it a rule never to allow a letter to lie unanswered overnight. Promptness takes the drudgery out of an occupation.
Putting off usually means leaving off, and going to do becomes going undone. Doing a deed is like sowing a seed；if not done at justthe right time it will be forever out of season. The summer of eternity will not be long enough to bring to maturity the fruit of a delayed action. If a star or planet were delayed one second, it might throw the whole universe out of harmony.
恺撒大帝没有及时阅读一份报告，便去参加一次会议，结果搭上了自己的性命。
“耽搁意味着后果不堪设想。”驻扎在特顿的雇佣军总指挥拉尔总督有一次正在玩牌时，有人给他送来一份报告，报告中说华盛顿的大军已经越过了特拉华。拉尔看都没看便把这份紧急报告随手放进兜里，直到一场牌局结束之后才想起来读。他紧急调遣部下出发应战，结果全军覆没，拉尔自己也战死沙场。仅仅因几分钟的延迟，拉尔便丢掉了荣誉、自由和性命。
准时与精确是成功之母。成功的生活中充满了危急时刻，切忌踌躇不前或畏首畏尾，否则你将一事无成。
拿破仑就是一个善于抢占先机的人。在他指挥的战争中，这种情况随处可见。先发制人，意味着胜利，而踌躇不前往往会造成灾难性的结局。拿破仑曾经说过，他能够战胜奥地利人的奥秘就在于奥地利人不知道利用五分钟的价值。据说，使拿破仑惨败滑铁卢的众多琐事中，最致命的就是在那个生死攸关的上午，他和格鲁希几分钟的损失。布鲁歇尔及时到达了，而格鲁希却迟到了。正是这导致了拿破仑被流放至圣赫勒拿岛。
这一事件证实了一句名言：“机不可失，时不再来。”
悉尼·史密斯曾经说过：“事实上，为了能在这个世界上有所作为，站在河边的我们，千万不要因惧怕河水冰冷或危险重重而踌躇，而是应该马上跳入河中，然后全力向对岸游去。反复地估量危险、等待机会是没有任何用处的。我们本可以在洪水来临之前就解决问题。可是，大多数人常常找来他的亲戚和朋友为自己出谋划策，等到他觉得时机成熟时，却发现自己已经65岁了，这样做付出的代价实在太沉重了。”
今天的工作推迟到明天去做，往往精力也随之耗尽。做一些延误的工作，是多么艰难与无奈的事情。原本在情绪高涨的时候可以轻松完成的事，若被耽误几天或几个星期之后，就会变成负担。收到信件立即回复，比其他任何时候回复都要容易。许多大公司都有这样一个不成文的规定：所有信件必须在当天回复。当机立断可以使乏味的工作变得不再乏味。
拖延时间往往意味着逃避，其结果大都是一事无成。做一件事情就像播种一样，如果没有在适当的季节采取行动，就绝不可能有好的收成。再漫长的夏天，也无法弥补已经耽搁的事情。如果宇宙中有一颗行星改变了运行轨道——哪怕仅仅比平时晚了一秒钟，也会使整个宇宙不再和谐。
W词汇笔记
accuracy['?kjur?si]n.精确度；准确性
例 The results demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the algorithm.
数值结果证明了该算法的有效性和精确性。
trifle['traifl]n.琐事；少量；蛋糕
例 Don't waste the time on this trifle.
不要为这种琐事浪费时间。
truism['tru:iz?m]n.自明之理；老生常谈；众所周知
例 Brooks's Law has been widely regarded as a truism.
布鲁克斯定律早已被广泛认可。
maxim['m?ksim]n.格言；座右铭；准则
例 Humility is the maxim in his life.
谦卑是他的人生座右铭。
S小试身手
准时与精确是成功之母。
译________________________________________
今天的工作推迟到明天去做，往往精力也随之耗尽。
译________________________________________
拖延时间往往意味着逃避，其结果大都是一事无成。
译________________________________________
P短语家族
It is to do work which has been put off.
put off：推迟；扔掉；阻止
造________________________________________
Putting off usually means leaving off, and going to do becomes going undone.
leave off：停止
造________________________________________