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.
論勤奮
工作是每個人的義務。懶人的生活無論是對自己還是對他人都是毫無用處的。一個懶惰不願工作的人，其結果通常只能是乞討或偷盜。每個男孩從小就應學會一些有用的技能。
但是僅僅學會某些技能還是遠遠不夠的。他需要全身心投入地工作，休息時也不浪費時間。“工作時工作，娛樂時娛樂”，這句話對年輕人和老年人都是不變的真理。
養成早起的習慣最有助於成為一個勤奮的人，和其他很多好習慣一樣，早起的習慣在人年輕時最容易養成。英語裡有一句諺語：“時光一去不復返”。就是說每個人都應該勤奮工作，充分利用時間。一個人年輕時必須要努力學習才能取得巨大的進步，在生活中獲得成功，成為對國家有用的人。因此，我們說：勤奮是成功之母。