Our character, basically, is a composite of our habits. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny,” the maxim goes.
人的品德基本上是由习惯组成的。 俗语说：“思想决定行动，行动决定习惯，习惯决定品德，品德决定命。”
Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness or ineffectiveness.
习惯对大家的生活有绝大的影响，由于他是一贯的。 在无声无息中， 经年累月影响着大家的品德，暴露出大家的本性，左右着大家的成败。
As Horace Mann, the great educator, once said, “Habits are like a cable. We weave a strand of it everyday and soon it cannot be broken.” I personally do not agree with the last part of his expression. I know habits can be learned and unlearned. But I also know it isnt a quick fix. It involves a process and a tremendous commitment.
美国著名教育家曼恩曾说：“习惯就仿佛是一条缆绳，大家天天为他缠上一股新索，不要多长时间就会变得牢不可破。”这句话的后半段我不敢苟同，我相信习惯可以培养，也可以打破，但绝不是一蹴而就，而是需要长期的努力和无比的毅力。
Those of us who watched the lunar voyage of Apollo 1 were transfixed as we saw the first men walk on the moon and return to earth. But to get there, those astronauts literally had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of the earth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of lift-off, in the first few miles of travel, than was used over the next several days to travel half a million miles.
宇航员搭乘阿波罗1号太空船，初次登陆月球的刹那，的确让人叹为观止。但宇航员得先摆脱地球强大的引力，才能飞往月球。由此在刚发射的几分钟，也就是整个任务刚开始的几英里之内，是最艰难的时刻，所耗的力量总是超越往后的几十万英里。
Habits, too, have tremendous gravity pull more than most people realize or would admit. Breaking deeply imbedded habitual tendencies such as procrastination, impatience, criticalness, or selfishness that violate basic principles of human effectiveness involves more than a little willpower and a few minor changes in our lives. “Lift off” takes a tremendous effort, but once we break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole new dimension.
习惯也是一样，它具备很大的引力，只不过很多人不加注意或不愿承认了。想要革除因循苟且，缺少耐心，吹毛求疵或自私自利等会妨碍人类成功的、并且埋藏在内心已久的不好的习性，需要非常强大的意志力，并会让大家的生活发生非常大的改变。“起飞”需要很大的努力，然而一旦脱离重力的牵绊，大家便可享受前所未有些自由。
Like any natural force, gravity pull can work with us or against us. The gravity pull of some of our habits maybe currently be keeping us from going where we want to go. But it is also gravity pull that keeps our world together, that keeps the planets in their orbits and our universe in order. It is a powerful force, and if we use it effectively, we can use the gravity pull of habit to create the cohesiveness and order necessary to establish effectiveness in our lives.
习惯的引力就好似自然界所有些力量通常，可以为大家所用，也会风险大家，重要看大家怎么样运用。不过，习惯可能一时有碍于达到目的，但也有积极的一面。 宇宙万物各循轨道运行，彼此维持肯定的秩序，毕竟也都有赖于引力有哪些用途。所以只须大家擅长运用习惯的庞大引力，就能使生活有重心，有秩序，有效率。
