戴尔·卡耐基
DaleCarnegie
ThelateBoothTarkingtonalwayssaid:
"Icouldtakeanythingthatlifecouldforceuonmeexcetonething:blindness.Icouldneverendurethat.
"
Thenoneday，whenhewasalonginhissixties，Tarkingtonglanceddownatthecaretonthefloor.Thecolorswereblurred.Hecouldntseetheattern.Hewenttoasecialist.Helearnedthetragictruth:hewaslosinghissight.Oneeyewasnearlyblind;theotherwouldfollow.Thatwhichhefearedmosthadcomeuonhi
AndhowdidTarkingtonreacttothis
"worstofalldisasters?
"Didhefeel:
"Thisisit!Thisistheendofmylife?
"No，tohisamazement，hefeltquitegay.Heevencalleduonhishumor.Floating
"secks
"annoyedhim;theywouldswimacrosshiseyesandcutoffhisvision.Yetwhenthelargestoftheseseckswouldswimacrosshissight，hewouldsay:
"Hello!TheresGrandfatheragain!Wonderwherehesgoingonthisfinemorning!
"
Howcouldfateeverconquerasiritlikethat?Theanswerisitcouldnt.Whentotalblindnessclosedin，Tarkingtonsaid:
"IfoundIcouldtakethelossofmyeyesight，justasamancantakeanythingelse.IfIlostallfiveofmysenses，IknowIcouldliveoninsidemymind.Foritisinthemindwesee，andinthemindwelive，whetherweknowitornot.
"
Inthehoeofrestoringhiseyesight，Tarkingtonhadtogothroughmorethantwelveoerationswithinoneyear.Withlocalanaesthetic!Didherailagainstthis?Heknewithadtobedone.Heknewhecouldntescaeit，sotheonlywaytolessenhissufferingwastotakeitwithgrace.Herefusedarivateroomatthehositalandwentintoaward，wherehecouldbewithothereolewhohadtroubles，too.Hetriedtocheerthemu.Andwhenhehadtosubmittoreeatedoerations—fullyconsciousofwhatwasbeingdonetohiseyes—hetriedtorememberhowfortunatehewas.
"Howwonderful!
"hesaid.
"Howwonderful，thatsciencenowhastheskilltooerateonanythingsodelicateasthehumaneye!
"
Theaveragemanwouldhavebeenanervouswreckifhehadhadtoenduremorethantwelveoerationsandblindness.YetTarkingtonsaid，
"Iwouldnotexchangethisexerienceforahaierone.
"Ittaughthimaccetance.Ittaughthimthatnothinglifecouldbringhimwasbeyondhisstrengthtoendure.Ittaughthim，asJohnMiltondiscovered，that
"Itisnotmiserabletobeblind，itisonlymiserablenottobeabletoendureblindness.
"
Ifwerailandkickagainstitandgrowbitter，wewontchangetheinevitable;butwewillchangeourselves.
IoncerefusedtoaccetaninevitablesituationwithwhichIwasconfronted.Ilayedthefoolandrailedagainstit，andrebelled.Iturnedmynightsintohellsofinsomnia.IbroughtuonmyselfeverythingIdidntwant.Finally，afterayearofself-torture，IhadtoaccetwhatIknewfromtheoutsetIcouldntossiblyalter.
IshouldhavecriedoutyearsagowitholdWaltWhitman.
Oh，toconfrontnight，storms，hunger，ridicule，accident，rebuffs，asthetreesandanimalsdo.