第一章 活在“只有今天的密封艙里”
　　1 Live in “Day-tight Compartments”
　　In the spring of 1871， a young man picked up a book and read twenty-one words that had a profound effect on his future. A medical student at the Montreal General Hospital， he was worried about passing the final examination， worried about what to do， where to go， how to build up a practice， how to make a living.
　　The twenty-one words that this young medical student read in 1871 helped him to become the most famous physician of his generation. He organised the world-famous Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He became Regius Professor① of Medicine at Oxford—the highest honour that can be bestowed upon any medical man in the British Empire. He was knighted② by the King of England. When he died， two huge volumes containing 1，466 pages were required to tell the story of his life.
　　His name was Sir William Osier③. Here are the twenty-one words that he read in the spring of 1871—twenty-one words from Thomas Carlyle that helped him lead a life free from worry： “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance， but to do what lies clearly at hand. ”
　　Forty-two years later， on a soft spring night when the tulips were blooming on the campus， this man， Sir William Osier， addressed the students of Yale University. He told those Yale students that a man like himself who had been a professor in four universities and had written a popular book was supposed to have “brains of a special quality”. He declared that that was untrue. He said that his intimate friends knew that his brains were “of the most mediocre④ character”.
　　What， then， was the secret of his success？ He stated that it was owing to what he called living in “daytight compartments.” What did he mean by that？
　　A few months before he spoke at Yale， Sir William Osier had crossed the Atlantic on a great ocean liner where the captain standing on the bridge⑤， could press a button and—presto⑥！—there was a clanging of machinery and various parts of the ship were immediately shut off from one another—shut off into watertight compartments. “Now each one of you，” Dr. Osier said to those Yale students， “is a much more marvelous organisation than the great liner， and bound on a longer voyage. What I urge is that you so learn to control the machinery as to live with ‘day-tight compartments’ as the most certain way to ensure safety on the voyage. Get on the bridge， and see that at least the great bulkheads⑦ are in working order. Touch a button and hear， at every level of your life， the iron doors shutting out the Past—the dead yesterdays. Touch another and shut off， with a metal curtain， the Future—the unborn tomorrows. Then you are safe—safe for today！ Shut off the past！ Let the dead past bury its dead... Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death... The load of tomorrow， added to that of yesterday， carried today， makes the strongest falter①. Shut off the future as tightly as the past... The future is today... There is no tomorrow. The day of man’s salvation is now. Waste of energy， mental distress， nervous worries dog the steps of a man who is anxious about the future... Shut close， then the great fore and aft② bulkheads， and prepare to cultivate the habit of life of ‘day-tight compartments’. ”
　　1871年春天，一個(gè)年輕人拿起一本書，讀了21個(gè)單詞，就是這21個(gè)單詞對(duì)他的未來(lái)產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)的影響。他是蒙特利爾綜合醫(yī)院的醫(yī)科學(xué)生，正在為自己通不過(guò)期終考試發(fā)愁，也為自己該何去何從、如何創(chuàng)業(yè)、如何謀生感到擔(dān)心。
　　1871年，這個(gè)年輕的醫(yī)科學(xué)生讀到的21個(gè)單詞，幫助他成為同輩人中最著名的醫(yī)師。他創(chuàng)辦了聞名世界的約翰斯？霍普金斯醫(yī)學(xué)院。他成為牛津大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院的欽定講座教授——這是大英帝國(guó)能夠授予任何一個(gè)學(xué)醫(yī)者的最高榮譽(yù)。他還被英國(guó)國(guó)王冊(cè)封為爵士。
　　他去世時(shí)，人們用厚達(dá)1466頁(yè)的兩大卷書來(lái)講述他的生平故事。
　　他的名字就是威廉？奧斯勒爵士。1871年春天，他讀到的21個(gè)單詞是托馬斯？卡萊爾所寫的21個(gè)字，幫助他過(guò)著遠(yuǎn)離憂慮的生活：“我們的主要任務(wù)不是好高騖遠(yuǎn)，而是要著眼于眼前。”
　　42年后的一個(gè)春天，夜色溫柔，郁金香在校園里怒放，這位威廉？奧斯勒爵士在耶魯大學(xué)發(fā)表了一次演講。他告訴耶魯?shù)膶W(xué)子們，他曾在四所大學(xué)當(dāng)過(guò)教授，寫過(guò)一本受歡迎的書，應(yīng)該擁有“特殊的頭腦”。但他卻說(shuō)事實(shí)并非如此，自己的好朋友們都知道，他的大腦是“最普通不過(guò)了”。
　　那么，他成功的秘密是什么呢？他說(shuō)，這都?xì)w功于他所說(shuō)的“生活在今天的密封艙里”。他這話是什么意思呢？
　　就在來(lái)耶魯演講的幾個(gè)月前，威廉？奧斯勒爵士乘坐一艘巨輪橫渡大西洋。船長(zhǎng)站在駕駛臺(tái)上，只要按下按鈕，眨眼間就會(huì)傳來(lái)一陣機(jī)器的叮當(dāng)聲，輪船的各個(gè)部分會(huì)立即隔開(kāi)，形成一個(gè)個(gè)的防水艙。奧斯勒博士對(duì)那些耶魯?shù)膶W(xué)生說(shuō)道：“你們每個(gè)人都是比巨輪要奇妙得多的有機(jī)體，前程更加漫長(zhǎng)。我強(qiáng)烈要求大家學(xué)會(huì)控制這些機(jī)器，生活在‘今天的密封艙里’，這才是確保航程萬(wàn)無(wú)一失的最佳方法。站在駕駛臺(tái)上，你要保證，至少那些龐大的防水壁都能正常運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。按下一個(gè)按鈕，你會(huì)聽(tīng)到，在你生活的每一個(gè)層面，鐵門將過(guò)去——已經(jīng)逝去的昨天——擋在門外。按下另一個(gè)按鈕，用鐵門將未來(lái)——還未到來(lái)的 明天——擋在門外。之后你就安全了——今天安全了！將過(guò)去關(guān)在外面！讓逝去的過(guò)去自我埋葬……將給傻子照亮了死亡之路的昨天關(guān)在門外……明天的重?fù)?dān)加上昨天的負(fù)荷，今天來(lái)承擔(dān)，讓最強(qiáng)壯的人也步履蹣跚。正如把過(guò)去緊緊關(guān)在門外一樣，把未來(lái)也關(guān)在門外……未來(lái)就是今天……沒(méi)有明天。人類的救贖日就是今天。精力的浪費(fèi)、精神的痛苦、緊張的憂慮，都會(huì)纏上一個(gè)為未來(lái)焦慮的人……那么就把從船頭到船尾的隔艙關(guān)緊，準(zhǔn)備養(yǎng)成一種‘生活在今天的密封艙里’的生活習(xí)慣吧。”
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