Thoughts on Man's Purpose in Life
关于人生目标的思考
By Adm. Hyman G. Rickover
作者：海曼·G·里科弗上将
This speech was delivered by Adm. Rickover at a Luncheon Meeting of the San Diego Rotary Club, San Diego, California, on Thursday, February 10, 1977.
这次演讲是里科弗上将于 1977 年 2 月 10 日星期四在加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥市圣地亚哥扶轮社的午餐会上发表的。
Voltaire once said: "Not to be occupied and not to exist are one and the same thing for a man." With those few words he captured the essence of a purpose in life: to work, to create, to excel, and to be concerned about the world and its affairs.
伏尔泰曾经说过：“对一个人来说，无所事事和不存在是一回事。”他用这几个字概括了人生目标的本质：工作、创造、追求卓越、关心世界及其事务。
The question of what we can do to give purpose or meaning to our lives has been debated for thousands of years by philosophers and common men. Yet today we seem, if anything, further from the answer than before. Despite our great material wealth and high standard of living, people are groping for something that money cannot buy. As Walter Lippman said: "Our life, though it is full of things, is empty of the kind of purpose and effort that gives to life its flavor and meaning."
几千年来，哲学家和普通民众一直在争论，我们该如何赋予人生目标或意义。然而，今天，我们似乎比以往更加远离答案。尽管我们拥有巨大的物质财富和高水平的生活，人们仍在寻求金钱买不到的东西。正如沃尔特·李普曼所说：“我们的生活虽然丰富多彩，却缺乏那种赋予生活以滋味和意义的目标和努力。”
I do not claim to have a magic answer. But I believe there are some basic principles of existence, propounded by thinkers through the ages, which can guide us toward the goal of finding a purpose in life.
我并不声称自己拥有神奇的答案。但我相信，历代思想家们提出的一些生存基本原则，可以引导我们找到人生目标。
Among these principles of existence, responsibility is the one which forces man to become involved. Acceptance of responsibility means that the individual takes upon himself an obligation. Responsibility is broad and continuous. None of us are ever free of it, even if our work is unsuccessful.
在这些生存原则中，责任是迫使人类参与其中的原则。承担责任意味着个人承担起义务。责任广泛而持续。即使我们的工作不成功，我们也永远无法摆脱责任。
Responsibility implies a commitment to self which many are not willing to make; they are strongly attracted to accepting a course of action or direction for their lives imposed by an external source. Such a relationship absolves the individual from the personal decision-making process. He wraps himself in the security blanket of inevitability or dogma, and need not invest the enormous amounts of time, effort and, above all, the thought required to make creative decisions and meaningfully participate in the governance of his life.
责任意味着对自我的承诺，而许多人并不愿意做出这样的承诺；他们强烈地倾向于接受外部因素强加的行动方针或人生方向。这种关系将个人从个人决策中解放出来。他将自己包裹在必然性或教条的安全毯中，无需投入大量的时间、精力，尤其是，无需投入必要的思考来做出创造性的决定，并有意义地参与到自身生活的治理中。
Responsibility also implies a commitment to others, or as Confucius taught, each of us is meant to rescue the world. It is the business of little minds to shrink from this task or to go about it without enthusiasm. Neither art, nor science, nor any of the great works of humanity would ever come into being without enthusiasm.
责任也意味着对他人的奉献，或者正如孔子所教导的，我们每个人都应该拯救世界。畏惧这项任务，或对它缺乏热情，是心胸狭隘之人所为。如果没有热情，艺术、科学，以及任何伟大的人类作品都无法诞生。
The sense of responsibility for doing a job right seems to be declining. In fact, the phrase "I am not responsible" has become a standard response in our society to complaints on a job poorly done. This response is a semantic error. Generally what person means is: "I cannot be held legally liable." Yet, from a moral or ethical point of view, the person who disclaims responsibility is correct: by taking this way out he is truly not responsible; he is irresponsible.
做好工作的责任感似乎正在下降。事实上，“我不负责任”这句话已经成为我们社会对工作做得不好的抱怨的标准回应。这种回应是语义上的错误。通常，人们的意思是：“我不能承担法律责任。”然而，从道德或伦理的角度来看，推卸责任的人是正确的：通过这种方式，他真的不负责任；他是不负责任的。
The unwillingness to act and to accept responsibility is a symptom of America's growing self-satisfaction with the status quo. The result is a paralysis of the spirit, entirely uncharacteristic of Americans during the previous stages of our history. Even complaints about high taxes and high prices are illusory. Behind them is hidden the reality that the majority, in terms of sheer creature comfort, never had it so good. Those who are still on the outside looking in are not strong or numerous enough to make a political difference.
不愿采取行动、不愿承担责任，是美国对现状日益自满的体现。其结果就是精神的麻痹，这在我们历史上的各个阶段都完全不常见。就连对高税收和高物价的抱怨也只是空谈。这些抱怨背后隐藏着一个现实：就纯粹的物质享受而言，大多数人的生活从未如此优渥。那些仍然袖手旁观的人，既不够强大，也人数不够多，不足以在政治上有所作为。
The task of finding a purpose in life also calls for perseverance. I have seen many young men who rush out into the world with their messages, and when they find out how deaf the world is, they withdraw to wait and save their strength. They believe that after a while they will be able to get up on some little peak from which they can make themselves heard. Each thinks that in a few years he will have gained a standing, and then he can use his power for good. Finally the time comes, and with it a strange discovery: he has lost his horizon of thought. Without perseverance, ambition and a sense of responsibility have evaporated.
寻找人生目标也需要毅力。我见过许多年轻人带着他们的信息冲向世界，当他们发现这个世界对他们如此充耳不闻时，便退缩等待，积蓄力量。他们相信，过一段时间，他们就能登上一座小小的山峰，让自己的声音被听到。每个人都以为，几年后，自己就能站稳脚跟，然后就能用自己的力量行善。最终，时机到来，他却奇怪地发现：他失去了思考的视野。没有了毅力，雄心壮志和责任感就消失了。
Another important principle of existence which gives purpose and meaning to life is excellence. Because the conviction to strive for excellence is an intensely personal one, the attainment of excellence is personally satisfying. Happiness comes from the full use of one's power to achieve excellence. Life is potentially an empty hole, and there are few more satisfying ways of filling it than achieving and exercising excellence.
另一个赋予生命目的和意义的重要生存原则是追求卓越。追求卓越的信念源于强烈的个人情感，因此，获得卓越本身就是一种满足感。幸福源于充分运用自身的力量去追求卓越。人生如同一个空洞，很少有比追求和实践卓越更能令人满足的填补方式了。
This principle of excellence is on which Americans seem to be losing, and at a time when the Nation stands in need of it. A lack of excellence implies mediocrity. And in a society that is willing to accept a standard of mediocrity, the opportunities for personal failure are boundless. Mediocrity can destroy us as surely as perils far more famous.
美国人似乎正在丧失这种追求卓越的原则，而此时此刻，国家正急需它。缺乏卓越就意味着平庸。而在一个乐于接受平庸标准的社会里，个人失败的可能性无穷无尽。平庸如同那些远为人知的危险一样，必定会毁灭我们。
It is important that we distinguish between what it means to fail at a task and what it means to be mediocre. There is all the difference in the world between the life lived with dignity and style which ends in failure, and one which achieves power and glory, yet is dull, unoriginal, unreflective, and mediocre. In a real sense, what matters is not so much whether we make a lot of money or hold a prestigious job; what matter is that we seek out others with knowledge and enthusiasm—that we become people who can enjoy our own company.
我们必须区分任务失败和平庸的含义。活得有尊严、有格调却最终失败，与获得权力和荣耀却平庸乏味、缺乏创意、缺乏反思、一事无成，这两者之间存在着天壤之别。实际上，重要的并非我们是否赚得盆满钵满或拥有一份声望颇高的职位；而是我们能否以知识和热情去寻找他人——成为能够享受与自己相处的人。
In the end, avoiding mediocrity gives us the chance to discover that success comes in making ourselves into educated individuals, able to recognize that there is a difference between living with excellence and living with mediocrity. Sherlock Holmes once told Dr. Watson, "Watson, mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself. It takes talent to recognize genius." To which he could have added, it takes talent to know that what counts is condemning mediocrity not in others but in ourselves.
最终，避免平庸让我们有机会发现，成功在于让自己成为受过良好教育的人，能够认识到与卓越共处和平庸之间是有区别的。夏洛克·福尔摩斯曾对华生医生说：“华生，平庸之辈只知道自身。只有天赋才能发现天才。” 他本可以补充道，只有天赋才能知道，重要的不是谴责他人的平庸，而是谴责自身的平庸。
We should honor excellence, but not necessarily with material rewards alone. The Japanese have a custom which I believe it would be well for us to emulate. Instead of honoring their artists with peerages or knighthoods, they give them the respectful title, "National Human Treasure."
我们应该表彰杰出人才，但不一定只给予物质奖励。日本人有一个习俗，我认为我们值得效仿。他们不授予艺术家爵位或骑士称号，而是授予他们“国宝”这个尊贵的称号。
Creativity is another of the basic principles of existence which I believe help to give purpose in life. The deepest joy in life is to be creative. To find an undeveloped situation, to see the possibilities, to decide upon a course of action, and then devote the whole of one's resources to carry it out, even if it means battling against the stream of contemporary opinion, is a satisfaction in comparison with which superficial pleasures are trivial.
创造力是生存的另一个基本原则，我相信它有助于赋予人生目标。人生最深层的乐趣在于拥有创造力。发现一个尚未开发的局面，洞察其中的可能性，决定一个行动方案，然后倾尽所有资源去实现它，即使这意味着要与当代的主流观点抗争，这种满足感与肤浅的快乐相比显得微不足道。
To create you must care. You must have the courage to speak out. The world's advances always have depended on the courage of its leaders. A certain measure of courage in the private citizen also is necessary to the good conduct of the State. Otherwise men who have power through riches, intrigue, or office will administer the State at will, and ultimately to their private advantage. For the citizen, this courage means a frank exposition of a problem and a decrying of the excesses of power. It takes courage to do this because in our polite society frank speech is discouraged. But when this attitude relates to questions involving the welfare or survival of the Nation, it is singularly unfitting to remain evasive. It is not only possible, but in fact duty of everyone to state precisely what his knowledge and conscience compel him to say. Many of today's problems can be brought forward only by complete candor and frankness; deep respect for the facts, however unpleasant and uncomfortable; great efforts to know them where they are not readily available; and drawing conclusions guided only by rigorous logic.
要创造，你必须关心。你必须有勇气直言不讳。世界的进步始终依赖于其领导者的勇气。公民个人具备一定的勇气对于国家的良好治理也至关重要。否则，那些凭借财富、阴谋或官职获得权力的人将随心所欲地管理国家，最终谋取私利。对公民而言，这种勇气意味着坦率地阐述问题，并谴责权力的滥用。这需要勇气，因为在我们这个文明社会，坦率的言论是不被鼓励的。但当这种态度涉及到事关国家福祉或存亡的问题时，含糊其辞就显得格外不合时宜。准确地表达自己的知识和良知迫使自己说出的话，不仅是可能的，而且事实上也是每个人的责任。当今的许多问题只有通过完全坦诚和坦率才能提出来；深刻尊重事实，无论这些事实多么令人不快和不适；努力去了解那些不易获得的事实；并仅以严谨的逻辑为指导得出结论。
To have courage means to pursue your goals, or to satisfy your responsibilities, even though others stand in the way and success seems like a dream. It takes courage to stand and fight for what you believe is right. And the fight never ends. You have to start it over again each morning as the sun rises. Sir Thomas More wrote: "If evil persons cannot be quite rooted out, and if you cannot correct habitual attitudes as you wish, you must not therefore abandon the commonwealth. You must strive to guide policy indirectly, so that you make the best of things, and what you cannot turn to good, you can at least make less bad."
拥有勇气意味着即使他人阻拦，即使成功遥不可及，也要追求自己的目标，履行自己的责任。为自己认为正确的事情挺身而出、奋力拼搏需要勇气。这场斗争永无止境。每天清晨，太阳升起，你都必须重新开始。托马斯·莫尔爵士写道：“如果邪恶之人无法彻底根除，如果你无法如愿地纠正习以为常的态度，那么你绝不能因此而放弃国家。你必须努力以间接的方式引导政策，这样才能充分利用现有资源，即使无法转化为善，你至少可以减少恶果。”
These principles of existence—responsibility, perseverance, excellence, creativity, courage—must be wedded with intellectual growth and development if we are to find meaning and purpose in our lives. It is a device of the devil to let sloth into the world. By the age of twenty, some of us already have adopted a granite-like attitude which we maintain throughout life. Intellectually, we must never stop growing. Our conscience should never release us from concern for the problems of the day. Our minds must be forever skeptical, yet questioning. We must strive to be singularly free from that failing so common to man, deplored by Pascal in the "Pensees," of filling our leisure with meaningless distractions so as to preclude the necessity of thought. To be an intellectual in the fullest sense, one's mind must be in constant movement.
如果我们想要找到人生的意义和目标，这些生存原则——责任、毅力、卓越、创造力、勇气——必须与智力的成长和发展紧密结合。让懒惰进入这个世界是魔鬼的诡计。我们中的一些人到了二十岁，就已经养成了坚如磐石的心态，并将终生保持下去。在智力上，我们绝不能停止成长。我们的良知不应让我们摆脱对日常问题的担忧。我们的思想必须永远保持怀疑，同时又不断追问。我们必须努力摆脱帕斯卡在《思想录》中所谴责的人类普遍存在的缺陷，即用毫无意义的消遣来消磨闲暇时光，从而剥夺思考的必要性。要成为一个真正意义上的知识分子，一个人的思想必须不断活跃。
Aristotle believed that happiness was to be found in the use of the intellect. In other words, ignorance is not bliss; it is oblivion. The inspired prayer does not ask for health, wealth, prosperity, or anything material, but says, "God, illumine my intellect." Man cannot find purpose in his life without expanding and using his intellectual qualities and capacities. Liberal learning is a primary source of these qualities. By liberal learning, I refer to discerning taste; wise judgment, informed and critical perspectives that transcend specialized interest and partisan passions; the capacity to understand complexity and to grow in response to it.
亚里士多德认为，幸福在于运用智力。换句话说，无知并非福祉，而是遗忘。受启发的祈祷并非祈求健康、财富、繁荣或任何物质享受，而是说：“上帝，请照亮我的心智。” 人若不拓展和运用自身的智力品质和能力，就无法找到人生的意义。博雅教育是这些品质的主要源泉。我所说的博雅教育，指的是敏锐的品味；明智的判断；超越专业兴趣和党派偏见的明智而批判的视角；以及理解复杂性并随之成长的能力。
A cause of many of our mistakes and problems is ignorance—an overwhelming national ignorance of the facts about the rest of the world. A nation, or an individual, cannot function unless the truth is available and understood; no amount of good on the part of the leaders or the media will offset ignorance and apathy in the common citizen. Since the United States is a democracy, the broad answer is that all of us must become better informed. Reading is one method of accomplishing this purpose. By spending a few dollars for a book, the thoughts and life's work of a great man are available to us.
我们许多错误和问题的根源在于无知——普遍的、全国性的、对世界其他地区事实的无知。一个国家，或一个个人，除非真相唾手可得且被理解，否则无法正常运作；无论领导人或媒体如何行善，都无法弥补普通民众的无知和冷漠。鉴于美国是一个民主国家，普遍的答案是，我们所有人都必须更加了解情况。阅读是实现这一目标的方法之一。只需花几美元买一本书，我们就能接触到一位伟人的思想和毕生著作。
The proof of living, as Norman Cousins has said, "is in memory, and all of us, through reading, can live five or six lifetimes in one. Through reading, the sluices of the mind open up, making accessible a range of experiences otherwise beyond our personal reach." In reading books, we grow both emotionally and intellectually.
正如诺曼·卡曾斯所说，“活着的证据存在于记忆中，通过阅读，我们每个人都能活出五六辈子的经历。通过阅读，心灵的闸门打开，让我们能够体验一系列原本无法亲身体验的经历。” 通过阅读，我们的情感和智力都得到了成长。
As a reader, man is unique among living things. The ability to read—and more broadly, the ability to express complex ideas through language—distinguishes him from all other lifeforms. Without language, complex though is inconceivable and the mind is undeveloped. The inability to speak and write imprisons thought. In the same vein, sloppy, imprecise thinking begets sloppy, imprecise language. Language and thought are interconnected, and the written word is the vehicle which best advances both.
作为读者，人类在生物中是独一无二的。阅读的能力——更广泛地说，用语言表达复杂思想的能力——使人类区别于所有其他生命形式。没有语言，复杂的思维是不可想象的，心智也无法发展。无法说话和写作会禁锢思想。同样，散漫、不精确的思维会导致散漫、不精确的语言。语言和思想相互关联，而文字是推动两者发展的最佳载体。
Therefore, I count reading, and its associated skill, writing, among the most significant of all human efforts. Good writing, after all, is simply the result of enormous reading, detailed research, and careful thought. It means studying to gain a good vocabulary and practicing to learn how to use it. It seems to me that these kindred skills should be developed and nourished from the very first, if man is to grow intellectually. And unless he can express his thoughts well, he can exert little influence on his fellowmen.
因此，我认为阅读及其相关技能——写作，是人类所有努力中最重要的。毕竟，优秀的写作只是大量阅读、细致研究和缜密思考的结果。这意味着学习掌握丰富的词汇，并练习运用它们。在我看来，如果一个人想要智力成长，这些相关的技能应该从一开始就得到培养和滋养。除非他能很好地表达自己的思想，否则他就无法对同胞产生太大的影响。
I now will discuss on final principle of existence essential to man's purpose in life: the development of standards of ethical and moral conduct. God, it is generally conceded, has made a remarkable job of the physical universe but has, strangely, not done quite so well with the spiritual element. There is abundant evidence around us to conclude that morals and ethics are becoming less prevalent in people's lives. The standards of conduct which lay deeply buried in accepted thought for centuries no long are absolute. Many people seem unable to differentiate between physical relief and moral satisfaction; they confuse material success in life with virtue.
我现在要讨论的是人类人生目标中至关重要的终极生存原则：伦理道德行为准则的建立。人们普遍承认，上帝创造了物质世界，成就非凡，但奇怪的是，在精神层面，他却做得并不那么出色。我们身边有充足的证据表明，道德和伦理在人们的生活中正日渐式微。几个世纪以来，那些深藏于公认思想中的行为准则已不再是绝对的。许多人似乎无法区分物质上的满足和精神上的满足；他们混淆了生活中的物质成功和美德。
The decline in morals parallels the decline of traditional religion in all areas of our society. In our desire to separate church and state, we have gone to the opposite extreme and have exorcised religious training from our public schools and colleges, thus depriving our youth of the lasting standard of the morals and ethics enunciated by the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.
道德的衰落与社会各领域传统宗教的衰落同步。我们渴望政教分离，却走向了另一个极端，将宗教教育从公立学校和大学中驱逐出去，从而剥夺了我们年轻人学习十诫和登山宝训所宣扬的持久道德伦理标准的机会。
Morals are the quarrel we have with behavior. Any system of education which does not inculcate moral values simply furnishes the intellectual equipment whereby men and women can better satisfy their pride, greed, and lust.
道德是我们与行为的争论点。任何不灌输道德价值观的教育体系，都只是提供智力装备，让男人和女人更好地满足他们的骄傲、贪婪和欲望。
We are now living on the accumulated moral capital of traditional religion. It is running out, and we have no other consensus of values to take its place. This is partly because man can now obtain on earth what previously was promised him when he reached heaven.
我们现在依靠传统宗教积累的道德资本生活。它正在枯竭，而我们又没有其他价值观共识来取代它。部分原因是，人类现在可以在地上获得过去到达天堂时所承诺的一切。
In our system of society, no authority exists to tell us what is good and desirable. We are each free to seek what we think is good in our own way. The danger is that where men compromise truth and let decency slip, they eventually end up with neither. A free society can survive only through men and women of integrity. Fortunately, there still exist human beings who remain concerned about moral and ethical values and justice toward others. These are the individuals who provide hope of the ultimate realism that is marked by a society's capacity to survive rather than be eventually destroyed.
在我们的社会体系中，没有权威来告诉我们什么是善，什么是值得追求的。我们每个人都有自由，以自己的方式追求我们认为的善。危险在于，当人们妥协真理，放任正直，最终将两败俱伤。一个自由的社会只有依靠正直的男女才能生存。幸运的是，仍然有人关注道德和伦理价值观，以及对他人的正义。正是这些人，为最终的现实主义带来了希望，而这种现实主义的标志是社会能够生存下去，而不是最终被毁灭。
Ethics and morals are basically individual values. A society that does not possess an ethical dimension will find it almost impossible to draft a law to give it that dimension. Law merely deters some men from offending and punishes others from offending. It does not make men good.
伦理道德本质上是个人价值观。一个缺乏伦理维度的社会几乎不可能制定法律赋予其伦理维度。法律仅仅阻止一些人犯罪，惩罚另一些人犯罪，并不能使人变得善良。
It is important also to recognize that morals and ethics are not relative; they do not depend on the situation. This may be the hardest principle to follow in working to achieve goals. The ends, no matter how worthy they appear, cannot justify just any means. Louis Brandeis, who was deeply convinced of the importance of standards, said: "One can never be sure of ends—political, social, economic. There must always be doubt and difference of opinion." But Brandeis had no doubt about means. "Fundamentals do not change; centuries of thought have established standards. Lying and sneaking are always bad, no matter what the ends."
同样重要的是，要认识到道德和伦理并非相对的；它们不取决于具体情况。这或许是努力实现目标时最难遵循的原则。无论目的看起来多么有价值，都不能成为任何手段的正当理由。路易斯·布兰代斯深信标准的重要性，他曾说过：“人们永远无法确定目的——无论是政治的、社会的还是经济的。总是存在着怀疑和意见分歧。” 但布兰代斯对手段毫不怀疑。“基本原则不会改变；几个世纪的思想已经确立了标准。撒谎和偷偷摸摸永远是错误的，无论目的是什么。”
This is a very enabling statement. Life is not meaningless for the man who considers certain actions wrong simply because they are wrong, whether or not they violate the law. This kind of moral code gives a person a focus, a basis on which to conduct himself. Certainly there is a temptation to let go of morals in order to do the expedient thing. But there is also a tremendous power in standing by what is right. Principle and accomplishment need not be incompatible.
这句话非常有启发性。对于那些仅仅因为某些行为是错的就认定其为错的人来说，生活并非毫无意义，无论这些行为是否违法。这种道德准则赋予人们一个焦点，一个行为准则。当然，为了权宜之计而放弃道德确实存在诱惑。但坚持正义也蕴含着巨大的力量。原则和成就并非必然相悖。
A common thread moves through all the principles I have discussed: It is the desire to improve oneself and one's surroundings by actively participating in life. Too many succumb to the emotional preference of the comfortable solution instead of the difficult one. It is easy to do nothing. And to do nothing is also an act; an act of indifference or cowardice.
我所讨论的所有原则都有一个共同点：渴望通过积极参与生活来改善自身和周围环境。太多人屈服于情感偏好，选择舒适的解决方案，而不是困难的解决方案。无所事事很容易。而无所事事也是一种行为；一种冷漠或懦弱的行为。
A person must prepare himself intellectually and professionally and then use his powers to their fullest extent. This view is well expressed in two extracts from I Ching, the Confucian Book of Changes:
一个人必须在智力和专业上做好准备，然后才能最大限度地发挥自己的能力。儒家《易经》中的两段经文很好地表达了这一观点：
"The superior man learns and accumulates the results of his learning; puts questions, and discriminates among those results; dwells magnanimously and unambitiously in what he has attained to; and carries it into practice with benevolence.
“君子学习并积累所学成果；提出问题并辨别这些成果；坦荡荡地、无私地生活于所获得的一切；并以仁爱之心付诸实践。
The superior man nerves himself to ceaseless activity."
君子以自强不息，不懈怠。”
It is important to be both a thinker and a doer and to have sense of responsibility. A theoretician who has no responsibility is withdrawn from the real world. His recommendations are made in a vacuum. Because he is not required to carry them out, they may be irresponsible and do harm. Similarly, those in charge—the doers—are often devoid of any real thought.
既要思考，又要行动，并且有责任感，这一点很重要。一个没有责任感的理论家会脱离现实世界。他的建议是空洞的。由于他不需要去执行，这些建议可能不负责任，甚至造成危害。同样，那些掌权的人——那些行动者——往往缺乏真正的思考。
To find a purpose to life, on must be willing to act, to put excellence in one's work, and have concern for what is right ahead of personal safety. Life must be felt, not observed. But to do so means applying oneself to the task daily. Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please—you can never have both."
要找到人生的意义，一个人必须乐于行动，在工作中追求卓越，并将正义置于个人安全之上。生活需要被感受，而非被观察。而要做到这一点，就意味着要每天全身心投入其中。拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生曾说：“上帝让每个人在真理与安宁之间做出选择。选择你喜欢的那个——你永远无法兼得。”
No professional man has the right to prefer his own personal peace to the happiness of mankind; his place and his duty are in the front line of struggling men, not in the unperturbed ranks of those who keep themselves aloof from life. If a profession is to have its proper place in the further development of society, it must be increasingly dissatisfied with things as they are. If there is to be any exaltation in one's work, one must learn to reach out, not to struggle for that which is just beyond, but to grasp at results which seem almost infinite. As Robert Browning wrote, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for."
任何专业人士都无权将个人的安宁置于人类幸福之上；他的立场和职责是奋战在最前线的人们，而不是那些远离尘嚣、无忧无虑的人们。如果一个职业要在社会的进一步发展中占据应有的位置，就必须对现状越来越不满。如果一个人想在工作中获得任何升华，就必须学会去追求，不是去追求那些遥不可及的事物，而是去抓住那些看似无限的成果。正如罗伯特·勃朗宁所写：“啊，但一个人的境界应该超越他的掌控，否则天堂又有何用。”
Man's work begins with his job; his profession. Having a vocation is something of a miracle, like falling in love. I can understand why Luther said that a man is justified by his vocation, for it is a proof of God's favor. But having a vocation means more than punching a time clock. It means guarding against banality, ineptitude, incompetence, and mediocrity. A man should strive to become a locus of excellence.
人的工作始于他的工作；他的职业。拥有一份职业就像坠入爱河一样，堪称奇迹。我能理解路德为什么说，人因他的职业而称义，因为这是上帝恩惠的证明。但拥有一份职业的意义远不止打卡上班。它意味着要警惕平庸、无能、无能和平庸。一个人应该努力成为卓越的典范。
Most of the work in the world today is done by those who work too hard; they comprise a "nucleus of martyrs." The greater part of the remaining workers' energy goes into complaining. Employees today seldom become emotional about their organizations or its output; they are only interested in making money or getting ahead. And many organizations are killing their employees with kindness, undercutting their sense of responsibility with an ever-increasing permissiveness. This is a fatal error. For where responsibility ends, performance ends also.
当今世界上的大部分工作都是由那些工作过度的人完成的；他们构成了“烈士核心”。剩下的员工大部分精力都花在抱怨上。如今的员工很少对组织或其产出产生情感；他们只对赚钱或晋升感兴趣。许多组织用仁慈扼杀员工，用日益增长的纵容削弱他们的责任感。这是一个致命的错误。因为责任一旦消失，绩效也就随之消失。
"We measure ourselves by many standards," said William James. "Our strength and our intelligence, our wealth and even our good luck, are things which warm our hearts and make us feel ourselves a match for life. But deeper than all such things, and able to suffice unto itself without them, is the sense of the amount of effort which we can put forth." Man has a large capacity for effort. But it is so much greater than we think it is, that few ever reach this capacity.
“我们用许多标准来衡量自己，”威廉·詹姆斯说。“我们的力量、智慧、财富，甚至好运，这些都温暖着我们的心，让我们觉得自己足以胜任这份工作。但比所有这些标准更深层次、即使没有这些标准也能自足的，是我们能够付出多少努力的意识。” 人拥有巨大的努力潜力。但它远比我们想象的要大得多，以至于很少有人能够达到这种潜力。
We should value the faculty of knowing what we ought to do and having the will to do it. But understanding is easy. It is the doing that is difficult. The critical issue is not what we know but what we do with what we know. The great end of life is not knowledge but action. Theodore Roosevelt expressed this concept well in his "Man in the Arena" statement:
我们应该珍视知道自己应该做什么，并有意愿去做的能力。但理解很容易，真正去做才难。关键不在于我们知道什么，而在于我们如何运用我们所知道的。人生的终极目标并非知识，而是行动。西奥多·罗斯福在他的《竞技场上的人》一书中很好地表达了这一理念：
"It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
重要的不是批评家，不是指出强者如何跌倒或实干家如何做得更好的人。荣誉属于真正站在竞技场上的人，他们的脸上沾满了汗水、灰尘和鲜血；他们英勇奋斗；他们一次又一次地犯错和失败；他们懂得伟大的热情、伟大的奉献，并为一项有价值的事业奉献自己；他们如果赢了，就会体会到巨大成就的喜悦；他们如果失败了，至少是勇敢地失败了，所以他们的位置永远不会与那些既不知道胜利也不知道失败的冷漠胆怯的灵魂相提并论。
The man in the arena has found a purpose in life. He daily experiences Emerson's declaration that nothing is achieved without enthusiasm. He knows that men seldom come within shouting distance of their hopes for themselves. Yet he does not quite in resignation as have those who have taken trouble with nothing except to be born. In his work he is buffeted from two sides, challenged by his own ideas which revolt at the compromises of reality, and assaulted by reality which fights the ideas. He spends himself in that struggle, and he wins by a constant renewal of effort in which he refuses to sink either into placid acceptance of the situation or into self-satisfaction
竞技场上的人找到了人生目标。他每天都在体会爱默生的名言：没有热情，什么也做不成。他知道，人们很少能接近自己心中的希望。然而，他并不像那些除了出生之外一无所获的人那样，完全听天由命。在工作中，他受到来自两方面的冲击：一方面，他自己的理念反抗现实的妥协，另一方面，现实又与这些理念抗争。他全身心投入这场斗争，并通过不断的努力获得胜利，在这种努力中，他既不甘于现状，也不自满。
I believe it is the duty of each of us to act as if the fate of the world depended on him. Admittedly, one man by himself cannot do the job. However, one man can make a difference. Each of us is obligated to bring his individual and independent capacities to bear upon a wide range of human concerns. It is with this conviction that we squarely confront our duty to prosperity. We must live for the future of the human race, and not of our own comfort or success.
我认为，我们每个人都有责任采取行动，仿佛世界的命运取决于自己。诚然，一个人无法独自完成这项工作。然而，一个人可以带来改变。我们每个人都有义务发挥其个人和独立的能力，去解决人类的广泛关切。正是怀着这种信念，我们才能正视自己对繁荣的责任。我们必须为人类的未来而活，而不是为自身的舒适或成功而活。
For anyone seeking meaning for his life a figure from Greek mythology comes to mind. It is that of Atlas, bearing with endless perseverance the weight of the heavens on his back. —Atlas, resolutely bearing his burden and accepting his responsibility that gives us the example we seek. To seek out and accept responsibility; to persevere; to be committed to excellence; to be creative and courageous; to be unrelenting in the pursuit of intellectual development; to maintain high standards of ethics and morality; and to bring these basic principles of existence to bear through active participation in life—these are some of my ideas on the goals which must be met to achieve meaning and purpose in life.
任何追寻人生意义的人，都会想起一位希腊神话人物。那就是阿特拉斯，他以无尽的毅力，背负着苍穹的重担。阿特拉斯坚定地承担重担，承担起自己的责任，为我们树立了我们所寻求的榜样。寻求并承担责任；坚持不懈；追求卓越；富有创造力和勇气；不懈追求智力发展；保持高尚的道德标准；并通过积极参与生活，将这些基本的生存原则付诸实践——这些就是我对实现人生意义和目标必须实现的目标的一些想法。
Admiral Hyman Rickover (1900-1986), the “Father of the Nuclear Navy,” was one of the most successful—and controversial- public managers of the 20th Century. His accomplishments are the stuff of legend. For example, in three short years, Rickover’s team designed and built the first nuclear submarine—the Nautilus—an amazing feat of engineering given that it involved the development of the first use of a controlled nuclear reactor. The Nautilus not only transformed submarine warfare, but also laid the groundwork for a whole fleet of nuclear aircraft carriers and cruisers (which was also built by Rickover and his team).
海曼·里科弗上将（1900-1986），被誉为“核海军之父”，是20世纪最成功、也最富争议的公共管理者之一。他的成就堪称传奇。例如，里科弗的团队在短短三年内设计并建造了第一艘核潜艇——鹦鹉螺号——这堪称一项令人惊叹的工程壮举，因为它涉及首次使用可控核反应堆。鹦鹉螺号不仅改变了潜艇战，还为整个核动力航空母舰和巡洋舰舰队奠定了基础（这些舰队也是由里科弗及其团队建造的）。
The text below is an excerpt from a speech Rickover delivered at Columbia University in 1982, in which he succinctly outlined his management philosophy. His determination, clarity of purpose, emphasis on developing his people, high standards, and willingness to give his people ownership of their work had to have been very inspiring. He had exceptionally high standards and was known to take some of these same strengths to extremes, however, which no doubt led to his reputation in some circles as being difficult to work for. On that cautionary note, GovLeaders.org is pleased to present Rickover’s own description of his management style.
以下文字摘自里科弗 1982 年在哥伦比亚大学的一次演讲，他在演讲中简洁地阐述了自己的管理理念。他的决心、清晰的目标、对员工发展的重视、高标准以及让员工自主工作的意愿，这些都令人深受鼓舞。然而，他拥有极高的标准，并且以将某些优点发挥到极致而闻名，这无疑导致他在某些圈子里获得了难以共事的名声。为此，GovLeaders.org 荣幸地呈现了里科弗本人对其管理风格的描述。