Wherever you are,and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are just alike, at this moment, and in all the moments of our existence. We are not at rest; we are on a journey. Our life is not a mere¹ fact; it is a movement, a tendency, a steady, ceaseless progress towards an unseen goal. We are gaining something, or losing something, every day. Even when our position and our character seem to remain precisely² the same, they are changing. For the mere advance of time is a change. It is not the same thing to have a bare field in January and in July. The season makes the difference. The limitations that are childlike in the child are childish³ in the man.

无论你现在身处何方,也无论你是何等人物，此时此刻，以及我们生命中的任一瞬间，你我之间都有一点相同之处。那就是，我们并未停歇，而仍在旅途。我们的人生并不仅仅是一种存在的事实,而是一种运动，一种趋势，一种坚定不移而没有停息地朝向某个看不见的目标前行的过程。每一天，我们都有所得,也有所失。即使我们的地位和品性看似与原来无异，但实际上它们正在改变，因为时间的推移本身就是一种改变。同一片荒野，在一月和七月是不同的，季节造成了这种差异。智能上的不足，在孩子身上被视为天真无邪，而对于成人来说则是一种幼稚的表现。

Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action of the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pole. To decline⁴ is to accept the other alternative.

我们所做的每件事都是朝着某一个方向迈出的一步。甚至无为，其本身也是一种作为，它使我们前进或后退。一根磁针的磁极作用，无论正负都是一样的真实。拒绝也是一种接受，只不过是另外一种选择罢了。

Are you richer today than you were yesterday? No? Then you are a little poorer. Are you better today than you were yesterday? No? Then you are a little worse. Are you nearer to your port today than you were yesterday? Yes, you must be a little nearer to some port or other; for since your ship was first launched upon the sea of life you have never been still for a single moment; the sea is too deep, you could not find an anchorage if you would; there can be no pause until you come into port.

你今天比昨天富有吗？没有，那说明你变穷了点。你今天比昨天过得好吗？没有，那么你的情况变糟了一点。你今天比昨天更接近你的港口了吗？是的，那么你一定距某个港口更近了。因为，自从你驶入人生之海，你的航船至今尚未停歇片刻。这片海洋太深了，纵使你想找到一个抛锚停泊之处也难以求得。因此，在驶入港口之前，你无法稍作歇息。