on diligence
it is the duty of every man to work. the life of a lazy man is of no use to himself and to others. the man who is too lazy to work is the man who's generally most ready to beg or to steal. every boy when he is young should learn some useful work.
but it is not enough that a boy should learn some kind of work. he should put his heart and soul completely into his work, and not waste his spare time. "work while you work and play while you play" is as good a rule for young people as for the old.
there is no better help to diligence than the habit of early rising, which just like all other good habits is most easily formed in youth. there is an english saying, "lost time never returns." this means that everybody must be diligent, and make good use of his time. one must study hard when he is
young so that he may make great progress, succeed in life and become useful to his country. therefore, we say that diligence is the mother of success.
论勤奋
工作是每个人的义务。懒人的生活无论是对自己还是对他人都是毫无用处的。一个懒惰不愿工作的人，其结果通常只能是乞讨或偷盗。每个男孩从小就应学会一些有用的技能。
但是仅仅学会某些技能还是远远不够的。他需要全身心投入地工作，休息时也不浪费时间。“工作时工作，娱乐时娱乐”，这句话对年轻人和老年人都是不变的真理。
养成早起的习惯最有助于成为一个勤奋的人，和其他很多好习惯一样，早起的习惯在人年轻时最容易养成。英语里有一句谚语：“时光一去不复返”。就是说每个人都应该勤奋工作，充分利用时间。一个人年轻时必须要努力学习才能取得巨大的进步，在生活中获得成功，成为对国家有用的人。因此，我们说：勤奋是成功之母。
