Composer, sculptor5, painter, poet, prophet, sage6, these are the makers7 of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, labouring humanity would perish.
He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered it; Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it; Buddha8 beheld9 the vision of a spiritual world of stainless10 beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it.
Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful11 conditions, all, heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.
To desire is to obtain; to aspire12 is to, achieve. Shall man's basest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations14 starve for lack of sustenance15? Such is not the Law: such a condition of things can never obtain: "ask and receive."
Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn16; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings17 of realities.
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labour; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement18. But he dreams of better things; he thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life; the vision of a wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes19 all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality20 that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and, with the growth of opportunities, which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever. Years later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind, which he wields21 with worldwide influence and almost unequalled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities; he speaks, and lo, lives are changed; men and women hang upon his words and remould their characters, and, sunlike, he becomes the fixed22 and luminous23 centre round which innumerable destinies revolve24. He has realized the Vision of his youth. He has become one with his Ideal.
And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant25 aspiration13: in the beautiful words of Stanton Kirkham Davis, "You may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door that for so long has seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall find yourself before an audience—the pen still behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers and then and there shall pour out the torrent26 of your inspiration. You may be driving sheep, and you shall wander to the city-bucolic and open-mouthed; shall wander under the intrepid27 guidance of the spirit into the studio of the master, and after a time he shall say, 'I have nothing more to teach you.' And now you have become the master, who did so recently dream of great things while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw and the plane to take upon yourself the regeneration of the world."
The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky he is!" Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, "How highly favoured he is!" And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark, "How chance aids him at every turn!" They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth28, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently29 insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it "luck". They do not see the long and arduous30 journey, but only behold31 the pleasant goal, and call it "good fortune," do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it chance.
In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished32, visions realized.
The Vision that you glorify33 in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart—this you will build your life by, this you will become.
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收听单词发音
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1
saviours
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| n.救助者( saviour的名词复数 )；救星；救世主；耶稣基督 | |
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sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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vocations
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| n.（认为特别适合自己的）职业( vocation的名词复数 )；使命；神召；（认为某种工作或生活方式特别适合自己的）信心 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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stainless
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| adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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aspiration
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| n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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acorn
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| n.橡实，橡子 | |
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seedlings
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| n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 ) | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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utilizes
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的第三人称单数 ) | |
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mentality
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| n.心理，思想，脑力 | |
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wields
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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revolve
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| vi.(使)旋转；循环出现 | |
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dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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glorify
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| vt.颂扬，赞美，使增光，美化 | |
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