Confidence is a feeling—an inner fire and an outer radiance1, a basic satisfaction with what one is plus a reading out to become more. Confidence is not something a few people are born with and others are not, for it is an acquired characteristic.
自信是一种感觉—一种来自内心的火焰和外在的灿烂，使人们可以获得更多基本的满足感。自信不是某些人天生就有而另一些人没有，它是后天培养起来的性格。
Confidence is the personal possession of no one; the person who has it learns it – and goes on learning. The most gifted individual on earth has to construct confidence in his gifts from the basis of faith and experience, like anybody else. The tools will differ from one person to the next, but the essential task is the same. Confidence and pose are available2 to us all according to our abilities and needs – not somebody else’s – provided we utilize our gifts and expand them.
自信不是任何人的私有财产；人们通过学习获得自信并且坚持继续学习。这个世界上最聪明的人也要像其他人一样，在信念和经历的基础上来培养自信。一个人和另一个人用的工具可能不同，但是核心的任务是一样的。倘若运用我们的才智并使之不断增长，依靠我们自己的而不是别人的能力和需求，我们就可以做到自信和沉着冷静。
One of the most rewarding3 aspects of confidence is that it sits gracefully on every age and level of life – on children, men, women, the famous, the obscure4, rich, poor, artist, executive, teen-ager, the very old. And you can take it with you into old age. There is nothing more inspiring than an old person who maintains his good will, humor, and faith in himself, in others, in the future. Conversely, the root cause of old people’s despair is feeling of not being wanted, of nothing to contribute, no more to conquer and become.
自信最令人满意的方面之一是它不分年龄和生活水准不懈地跟随我们每个人—小孩，男人，女人，名人，平凡人，富人，穷人，艺术家，行政人员，青少年，老人。你还可以把自信带入老年。再没有比一个老人能够保持对自己，对别人和未来怀有美好意愿、心情、信念更能鼓舞人心的了。相反，老人绝望的根本原因是不被需要，无所贡献，无所征服和无所成就的感觉。
Most people have more to work with than they realize. One noted physicist calls this unused excellencies and finding and releasing this potential in ourselves is one of the major challenges of modern life. The great danger is not that we shall overreach our capacities but that we shall undervalue and under-employ them, thus blighting5 our great possibilities.
大多数人都比他们意识到的更大有可为。一位著名的物理学家把它称之为未被利用的优点，找到并且释放我们身上的这些潜能是当代生活中重要的挑战之一。最多的危险不是我们高估我们的能力，而是我们会低估并且不能充分利用这些能力，这会破坏我们的潜能。
The goal of life is not a problemless existence, which would be unbearably6 dull, but a way to handle problems creatively. That word “problem” may sound a little prickly, but it only means a question put forth for solution, and actually life consists of a series of problems-and-solutions, each different from the last.
生活的目标不是无忧无虑，那样会无聊得无法忍受，而应该是创造性的解决问题—解决问题构成的，每一个问题都与上一个不同。
Confidence is delight — delight6 in living, in being who you are, in what you do, in growing, in the endless and sometimes exasperating7 adventure of what it means to be human. The teacher who delights in teaching has no time for bogging down8 in a swamp of doubt that he or she is doing it “right,” and they are well aware that they can become a better teacher tomorrow, but only by doing their best today and enjoying today. So, too, the mother who delights in being a mother does not worry overmuch about whether she fits the rules. She is not the mother, after all, of something material but of a living child.
自信是喜悦，生活的喜悦，是自我的快乐，做事的快乐，成长的快乐，体验人类种种坎坷历程的快乐。以教学为快乐的老师，没有时间怀疑他做得是否对，通过今天的努力工作并感到满意，他们很清楚明天会做得更好。母亲也如此，她们也不会过多地担心她是否适合这个角色。她照顾的毕竟不是无生命的物质，而是一个活生生的孩子。
Rules can often be a guide to successful living, but they are not a substitute for living. Rules never quite keep up with reality, because rules come from experience, not the other way around. Life happens, and it is infinitely inventive. It will always outrun and outmaneuver9 any attempt to bottle it up10 in a cut-and-dried system, for life is perpetual becoming. When life turns your wisest plans or best rules upside down, throw out the plans and bend with the circumstance. You will find powers you did not suspect, and possibilities undreamed of.
规则是通往成功生活的向导，但不是生活的替代品。规则不是十分符合现实，因为规则来自于经验，而不是经验来自规则。生活的真谛远胜于发明创造。生活总会超越那些束缚它的一板一眼的制度，因为生活总在变化。当生活把你最聪明的计划或最好的准则推翻时，扔掉那些计划，适应环境，你会找到你意想不到的力量，以及你做梦也没想到的可能性。
Confidence is not always winning, not always victory. Indeed, it is that very quality in humanity which refuses to stay defeated. A kind of stubborn11 cheerfulness. Remember there are two things you can do with mistakes: you can run away and you can grow.
自信并不总能胜利，总能打赢。实际上，它是人类不甘于失败的品质，一种绝不退让的快活。记住对于错误你可以采取两种态度：你可以逃避，也可以从中成长。