15條永不過時的生活智慧
作者： yxflying 譯 (滬江英語) 2014/02
來源：Business Insider - 15 Great Pieces Of Life Advice That Never Get Old
Quora： What is the best advice you've received?
來源：Business Insider - 15 Great Pieces Of Life Advice That Never Get Old
Quora： What is the best advice you've received?
The great benefit of living with, working for, or being related to people who have experienced more of life than you have is picking their brain for advice.
和比你有生活經驗的人一起生活、或為之工作、或和他們有聯繫的最大的益處莫過於可以從他們那裡得到建議。
The most effective people learn from their own mistakes, and make a significant effort to learn from other people's errors as well.
效率高的人會從自己的錯誤中學習，並努力從別人的錯誤中學習。
A recent Quora thread asked users for the best advice they've ever gotten. Here are a few of the greatest excerpts, lightly edited for clarity:
最近Quora上有一個帖子，問用戶得到的最好的建議是什麼。其中最好的幾條摘錄如下，為了清楚起見稍微做了些編輯：
1. Never say "but."
不要說「但是」 。
"A very smart woman I worked with once told me that if I eliminated the word 'but' from my professional vocabulary, I'd find greater acceptance for my ideas, and greater cooperation from my team members... The word 'but' negates everything that precedes it, and you cast a negative spin on anything you say when you use it... 'But' is exclusive and isolating; 'and' is inclusive and welcoming." —Quora user Marsha Browne
「和我一起工作的一位非常聰明的女士曾經告訴我，如果我把』但是』這個詞從我的工作用語中去掉，那我的想法被別人接受的概率會更高，我的團隊成員間的合作程度也會更好……『但是』這個詞把它之前的內容都否定了，當你用它的時候，你說的話都蒙上了消極的色彩……「但是」是排外的和孤立的；「並且」是包容的、受歡迎的。」——Quora用戶布朗
2. You never get anything unless you ask.
除非你去爭取，否則你什麼也得不到。
"It was a professor in my university, but I believe its origin is from somebody famous: If you don't ask, the answer is always 'no'." —Quora user Joe Yasman
「這句話是從我大學的一個教授那兒聽到的，但我覺得這句話是源自一句名言：如果你不去問，那麼答案永遠是 『不』。」—Quora的用戶喬伊
3. Think before you complain.
抱怨之前先思考。
"Don't complain. I think it was phrased as something like, 'Do you ever listen to someone complaining and think, This is a great conversation!?' Being negative doesn't help others, and it doesn't help you." —Quora user Steve Carnagua
「不要抱怨。換句話說，「你有沒有聽別人抱怨，然後想，恩，這次的談話可真棒！？』消極並不會幫助他人，也不會對你有幫助。」——Quora的用戶史蒂夫
4. Time is the one thing you never get back.
時間這個東西，你永遠不會重新得到。
"A mentor I had some years ago told me that time is the one thing that you can never get back. If you look at it as an asset, you can donate it, spend it, or waste it. Whatever you do with it, it is gone once it passes." —Quora user Karen Meyer
「幾年之前我的導師告訴我，時間這個東西，你永遠也不會重新得到。如果你把它看成是資產，你可以捐出它、花掉它或浪費掉。無論你怎麼處理它，只要它過去了，它就再也不見了。」——Quara的用戶邁耶
5. Attitude is more important than talent.
態度比天賦要更加重要。
"I have been time and again repeatedly told that a strong positive attitude takes a man farther than his talent. There are many greats in sports, entertainment, politics, science, and art who had great talent but lost on huge counts only because of a faulty and shaky attitude.
「我被反覆告誡，和天賦相比，積極的態度能讓人走得更遠。體育、娛樂、政治、科學和藝術等方面有很多人都富有天賦，但最終卻輸的很慘，原因就在於他們的態度不夠端正。
Attitude helps you solve problems talent cannot. Attitude helps you navigate through problem talent hides." —Quora user Vamsi Uppala
態度能幫你解決很多天賦解決不了的問題。態度能幫你在天賦所隱藏的問題中探索。」——Quora的用戶烏帕拉
6. Quality is always greater than quantity.
質量永遠比數量要重要。
"If you're going to do something, do it well enough to avoid doing it the second time. Going back to do something the second time is a time-waster if you knew it can be done right the first time. Even writing this post, I'm putting in my best effort into editing it, explaining it, and making it easy and enjoyable to read — to avoid going back and fixing any grammatical errors." —Quora user Dennis Do
「如果你要做什麼事情，一定一次做好，不要再做第二遍。如果你知道第一次就能做好，那做兩遍純粹是浪費時間。即便是這個帖子，我也是盡力去編輯、去解釋，讓它易讀，且讀起來讓人心情愉悅——避免再弄一次，去修改其中的語法錯誤。」——Quora用戶丹尼斯
7. Be reliable.
做個可信之人。
"Do what you say you're going to do." —Quora user Blake Alexander
「言而有信，說到就要做到。」——Quora用戶佈雷克
8. Do the right thing.
做正確的事情。
"Advice from Charlie Munger (not proffered personally): The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want." —Quora user Josh Tarasoff
「從查理-芒格那裡得到的建議（不是親自得到的）：想得到東西的最安全的方式就是努力去讓自己理應得到想要的東西。」——Quora用戶喬希
9. Slow down.
慢下來
"When I was in my 20s I worked as a waiter at a very popular restaurant. I found it very difficult to keep up with the orders and, consequently, my tips were very low.
「當我20多歲時，我在一家非常受歡迎的餐廳當服務員。我發現很難跟得上那些訂單，因此，我的小費非常少。」
One of the very experienced servers took me aside and she said, 'Slow down and take longer steps. You'll feel more relaxed and your customers will see that and trust you.'
「一位非常有經驗的服務員把我拉到一邊，告訴我，『慢下來，多走幾步。你會更加放鬆，你的顧客也能夠感受到並因而信任你。』」
If you slow down, you have time to think and plan better. Taking longer steps means more than just how you move through a space. It's about looking ahead and covering more ground, encompassing more than just the task at hand." —Quora user Gordon Bennet
如果你慢下來，你就有時間思考，並能更好地計畫。多走幾步不僅僅是走路。它還包括往前看，多注意一些詳細的情況，而不僅僅是手頭的任務。」——Quora用戶貝內特
10. Everyone ends up in the same place.
每個人都會在同一地方結束。
"'At the end of the game, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.' —Italian Proverb
「在遊戲的最後，國王和小兵都會回到同一個盒子裡。」 ——意大利諺語
When you really think about this, in the end we all end up the same. You can't take your money and fame with you after you die." —Quora user Felix Wong
「你仔細想想，到最後其實我們都是一樣的。金錢和名譽都是生不帶來死不帶去的。」——Quora的用戶費力克斯
11. Time is not money. It's better.
時間不是金錢。它比金錢更重要。
"Always choose time over money. Contrary to what people say, time is not money. Time is much much more than money. At the end of your life, it's guaranteed you will be out of time and more than likely out of money as well, if you didn't value time." —Quora user Navin Uttam
「在時間和金錢前，要選擇金錢。和人們說的不同，時間不是金錢。時間比金錢要重要的多。在你生命的盡頭，你肯定會沒時間，如果你不珍惜時間的話， 很有可能也沒錢。」——Quora用戶烏塔姆
12. Don't worry what other people think.
不要擔心別人怎麼想。
"Stop being so self-conscious because absolutely nobody is paying any attention to you anyway — they are only paying attention to themselves." —Quora user Michael Wolfe
「不要那麼不自然，因為絕對沒人注意你。——他們只會注意自己。」——Quora的用戶沃爾夫
13. You can't truly control anything but how well you do things.
你無法真正地去控制任何事情，但你能控制自己如何去做事情。
"To find happiness in life's tasks, invest in the process (which you can control), not in the outcome (which is largely out of your control)." —Quora user Mark Hurley
「在生活的過程中去尋找幸福，在過程中投資（這樣你可以控制），不要在結果上投資（大部分都是無法控制的。）」—Quora的用戶赫爾利
14. Listen.
傾聽
"God gave you two ears and one mouth; use them proportionally." —Quora user Derrick Mayfield
「上天給了你兩隻耳朵和一張嘴；按比例使用它們。」——Quora用戶梅菲爾德
15. Take risks when you can.
能冒險時就冒險。
"On deciding whether to step off my career track in my mid-20s to live abroad for a year: 'You have the rest of your life to work. You'll be working for 40 years. I don't know why we were in such a hurry when we were young.' I took the year off." —Quora user Deborah Diamond
「在我20多歲的時候，我要做一個決定，是否放棄職業生涯去國外生活一年：『你的餘生都要工作。你要工作40年。我不知道為什麼年輕時我們要這麼著急。『我選擇了出去一年。」——Quora用戶德博拉
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
