雙語智慧書·做事要有始有終

242．做事要有始有終
　　做事要有始有終。有些人在起初就使出全部力氣，卻不能堅持到底。他們有想法，卻從不付諸實踐。這種人總是敷衍了事。他們不能將比賽進行到底，因此得不到任何榮譽。他們做事，一遇到挫折就停止。有些是因為沒有耐心，這是西班牙人的弱點；而富有耐心，卻是比利時人的特長。后者做事善始善終，前者做事半途而廢。他們奮力拼搏，克服了困難，卻就此滿足，不明白怎樣去堅持勝利。他們證明自己有能力做事，只是不愿意做而已。這說明他們要么不能勝任，要么不可靠。如果是好事，為什么不完成？如果是壞事，為什么要做呢？如果你聰明，就要捉住獵物，而非僅僅滿足于把它趕出藏身之地。


242．Push advantages
　Push advantages. Some put all their strength in the commencement and never carry a thing to a conclusion. They invent but never execute. These be paltering spirits. They obtain no fame, for they sustain no game to the end. Everything stops at a single stop. This arises in some from impatience, which is the failing of the Spaniard, as patience is the virtue of the Belgian. The latter bring things to an end, the former come to an end with things. They sweat away till the obstacle is surmounted, but content themselves with surmounting it: they do not know how to push the victory home. They prove that they can but will not. This proves always that they cannot, or have no stability. If the undertaking is good, why not finish it? If it is bad, why undertake it? Strike down your quarry, if you are wise; be not content to flush it.