thepowerofhabit論習(xí)慣

1、ThePowerofHabit論習(xí)慣ByWilliamJamesHabitasecondnature!Habitistentimesnature,theDukeofWellingtonissaidtohaveexclaimed;andthedegreetowhichthisistruenoonecanprobablyappreciateaswellasonewhoisaveteransoldierhimself.Thedailydrillandtheyearsofdisciplineendbyfashioningamancompletelyoveragain,astomostoftheposs

2、ibilitiesofhisconduct.“習(xí)慣是第二天性！習(xí)慣是十倍的天性！”威靈頓公爵曾這樣大聲疾呼；對(duì)于這句話(huà)的真實(shí)理解程度，可能沒(méi)有人能夠像一個(gè)退伍老兵理解那么深刻。每天的訓(xùn)練和常年累月的紀(jì)律，到頭來(lái)把一個(gè)人大部分行為的可能性完全再塑造了一遍。Thereisastory,whichiscredibleenough,thoughitmaynotbetrue,ofapracticaljoker,who,seeingadischargedveterancarryinghomehisdinner,suddenlycalledout,Attention!whereuponthemaninsta

3、ntlybroughthishandsdown,andlosthismuttonandpotatoesinthegutter.Thedrillhadbeenthorough,anditseffectshadbecomeembodiedinthemansnervousstructure.16“一個(gè)惡作劇者，講過(guò)這樣一個(gè)故事，盡管此故事可能不真實(shí)，但是頗具可信度。看到一個(gè)退伍老兵端著飯回家，他突然大喊了一聲“立正”因此，那個(gè)老兵立即放下雙手，搞得他的羊肉和土豆都掉在水溝里了。訓(xùn)練如此徹底，以至于使其效果具體化地體現(xiàn)在了老兵的神經(jīng)結(jié)構(gòu)之中?！盧iderlesscavalry-horses,atman

4、yabattle,havebeenseentocometogetherandgothroughtheircustomaryevolutionsatthesoundofthebugle-call.Mosttraineddomesticanimals,dogsandoxen,andomnibus-andcar-horses,seemtobemachinesalmostpureandsimple,undoubtingly,unhesitatinglydoingfromminutetominutethedutiestheyhavebeentaught,andgivingnosignthatthepos

5、sibilityofanalternativeeversuggestsitselftotheirmind.Mengrownoldinprisonhaveaskedtobereadmittedafterbeingoncesetfree.InarailroadaccidenttoatravellingmenagerieintheUnitedStatessometimein1884,atiger,whosecagehadbrokenopen,issaidtohaveemerged,butpresentlycreptbackagain,asiftoomuchbewilderedbyhisnewresp

6、onsibilities,sothathewaswithoutdifficultysecured.人們常在很多戰(zhàn)斗中看到，無(wú)人騎的騎兵馬，一聽(tīng)到軍號(hào)聲就會(huì)走到一起來(lái)，做出它們習(xí)慣性演練的動(dòng)作。大多數(shù)受訓(xùn)過(guò)的家畜，狗和牛，公共馬車(chē)和小馬車(chē)的馬，它們看起來(lái)似乎都是幾近純粹和簡(jiǎn)單的機(jī)器，每時(shí)每刻都在毫無(wú)懷疑，毫無(wú)猶豫地履行著教授給它們的責(zé)任，沒(méi)有任何跡象表明在它們的心中還曾出現(xiàn)過(guò)其它事情的可能性。一些在監(jiān)獄中變老的人，在釋放之后，曾要求重新入獄。據(jù)說(shuō)，1884年發(fā)生在旅行動(dòng)物園的一場(chǎng)事故之中，一個(gè)老虎籠子被撞開(kāi)，老虎已經(jīng)出來(lái)了，但是沒(méi)過(guò)多久就爬回去了，這就好像是它感到對(duì)自己新的責(zé)任，茫然不知所措，于

7、是人們毫不費(fèi)力就把它弄到了完全地帶。Habitisthustheenormousfly-wheelofsociety,itsmostpreciousconservativeagent.Italoneiswhatkeepsusallwithintheboundsofl1ordinance,andsavesthechildrenoffortunefromtheenviousuprisingsofthepoor.Italonepreventsthehardestandmostrepulsivel2walksoflifel3frombeingdesertedbythosebroughtuptotrea

8、dtherein.Itkeepsthefishermanandthedeck-handatseathroughthewinter;itholdstheminerinhisdarkness,andnailsthecountrymantohislog-cabinandhislonelyfarmthroughallthemonthsofsnow;itprotectsusfrominvasionbythenativesofthedesertandthefrozenzone.Itdoomsusalltofightoutthebattleofl4lifeuponthelinesofournurtureor

9、ourearlychoice,andtomakethebestofapursuitthatdisagrees,becausethereisnootherforwhichwearefitted,anditistoolatetobeginagain.Itkeepsdifferentsocialstratafrommixing.Alreadyattheageoftwenty-fiveyouseetheprofessionalmannerismsettlingdownontheyoungcommercialtraveller,ontheyoungdoctor,ontheyoungminister,on

10、theyoungcounsellor-at-law.Youseethelittlelinesofcleavagerunningthroughthecharacter,thetricksofthought,theprejudices,thewaysoftheshop,inaword,fromwhichthemancanby-and-byl5nomoreescapethanhiscoat-sleevecansuddenlyfallintoanewsetoffolds.Onthewhole,itisbestheshouldnotescape.Itiswellfortheworldthatinmost

11、ofus,bytheageofthirty,thecharacterhassetlikeplaster,andwillneversoftenagain.因此，習(xí)慣是社會(huì)的巨大飛輪，是社會(huì)最珍貴、最保守的代理人。僅憑一己之力，就把我們束縛在社會(huì)的條條框框之內(nèi)，把富家孩子從飽含嫉妒之心的窮人的暴動(dòng)之中拯救出來(lái)。僅憑一己之力，就阻擋了最艱難、最令人生厭的行當(dāng)，不至于被那些在那里成長(zhǎng)起來(lái)的人拋棄。習(xí)慣讓漁夫和水手，整個(gè)冬天都固守海上；它讓礦工呆在黑暗中,里，固守著自己的小木屋和他那孤寂的農(nóng)場(chǎng)；它使我們免受沙漠和嚴(yán)寒地帶土著居民的侵害。它注定讓我們所有的人為我們的教化或早期的選擇，展開(kāi)一場(chǎng)生活之戰(zhàn)，并且

12、充分利用與先前教化或選擇不同的追求，因?yàn)闆](méi)有其它的東西適合我們，而重頭再來(lái)又太晚了。它使各個(gè)不同的階層不至于混淆起來(lái)。你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，25歲之時(shí)，年輕的旅行推銷(xiāo)員、年輕的醫(yī)生、年輕的牧師、年輕的法律顧問(wèn)，都已經(jīng)沾上了職業(yè)習(xí)氣。你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，你在性格、思想技巧、偏見(jiàn)、“購(gòu)物”的方式上，看到小小的分歧，簡(jiǎn)而言之，人們對(duì)于此無(wú)法馬上回避，正如他的外衣袖子不能突然一下子適應(yīng)新的折痕一般?？傃灾詈檬撬辉摶乇?。在我們大多數(shù)人讓鄉(xiāng)下人在漫漫雪天中，到了30歲的時(shí)候，性格就已如石膏般固定，永遠(yuǎn)再也不會(huì)軟化了，這真的是一件好事情。Iftheperiodbetweentwentyandthirtyisthecriti

13、caloneintheformationofintellectualandprofessionalhabits,theperiodbelowtwentyismoreimportantstillforthefixingofpersonalhabits,properlysocalled,suchasvocalizationandpronunciation,gesture,motion,andaddress.Hardlyeverisalanguagelearnedaftertwentyspokenwithoutaforeignaccent;hardlyevercanayouthtransferred

14、tothesocietyofhisbettersunlearnthenasalityandothervicesofspeechbredinhimbytheassociationsofhisgrowingyears.Hardlyever,indeed,nomatterhowmuchmoneytherebeinhispocket,canheevenlearntodresslikeagentleman-born.Themerchantsoffertheirwaresaseagerlytohimastotheveriestswelll6,buthesimplycannotbuytherightthin

15、gs.Aninvisiblelaw,asstrongasgravitation,keepshimwithinhisorbit,arrayedl7thisyearashewasthelast;andhowhisbetter-bredacquaintancescontrivetogetthethingstheywearwillbeforhimamysterytillhisdyingday.如果說(shuō)20到30歲之間，在形成人的智力和職業(yè)習(xí)慣，是一個(gè)時(shí)期的話(huà)，那么說(shuō)，20歲之前的這段時(shí)期，對(duì)于一個(gè)人個(gè)性習(xí)慣（嚴(yán)格上講），就更為至關(guān)重要，這些個(gè)性習(xí)慣包括，語(yǔ)音、發(fā)聲、手勢(shì)、動(dòng)作、談吐等。20歲之后學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言

16、，幾乎很少不帶外國(guó)口音；一個(gè)升到其上司的社會(huì)圈子內(nèi)的年輕人，幾乎很難忘記在他成長(zhǎng)的歲月中，所形成的說(shuō)話(huà)帶鼻音和其它言語(yǔ)缺陷。誠(chéng)然，不管自己的口袋有多少錢(qián)，他也很難把自己打扮成一個(gè)士紳出身的模樣。商家向他和名副其實(shí)的“風(fēng)頭人物”一樣，熱心兜售商品，但他就是完全不能買(mǎi)對(duì)東西。一條看不見(jiàn)的法則，如引力般強(qiáng)大，將他留在他的軌道，在這一年打扮得好像他是最差的；他那些受過(guò)更良好教養(yǎng)的人，則是想方設(shè)法得到他們所穿戴的東西，而這對(duì)于他而言，到死的那一天也將是個(gè)謎。Thegreatthing,then,inalleducation,istomakeournervoussystemourallyinsteadof

17、ourenemy.Itistofundandcapitalizeouracquisitions,andliveateaseupontheinterestofthefund.Forthiswemustmakeautomaticandhabitual,asearlyaspossible,asmanyusefulactionsaswecan,andguardagainstthegrowingintowaysthatarelikelytobedisadvantageoustous,asweshouldguardagainsttheplague.Themoreofthedetailsofourdaily

18、lifewecanhandovertotheeffortlesscustodyofautomatism,themoreourhigherpowersofmindwillbesetfreefortheirownproperwork.Thereisnomoremiserablehumanbeingthanoneinwhomnothingishabitualbutindecision,andforwhomthelightingofeverycigar,thedrinkingofeverycup,thetimeofrisingandgoingtobedeveryday,andthebeginningofeverybitofwork,aresubjectsofexpressvolitionalde