If we were fully aware of the closely linked meanings and implications of the ideas we encounter, we could easily sort out the sound ones from the unsound, the wise from the foolish, and the helpful from the harmful. But we are seldom fully aware. In many cases, we take ideas at face value and embrace them with little or no thought of their associated meanings and implications. In the course of time, our actions are shaped by those meanings and implications, whether we are aware of them or not.
如果我们充分认识到我们所接触的想法的相关内涵,我们就能轻易识别出什么是正确的,什么是荒谬的,什么是聪明的,什么是愚蠢的,什么是有帮助的,什么是没益处的想法。但我们很少有完全清醒的认识,很多时候我们只认识到那些想法的表层意思却没有认识到它们的内涵。一段时间下来,我们的行动,被这些想法的内涵所塑造,不管我们有没有意识到
our experiences can work a kind of self-hypnotism on us, suggesting a conclusion about ourselves and then urging us to make it come true.
我们的经验能够使我们自我催眠,它暗示了一个关于我们的结论,然后促使我们真的变成那样
Individuality begins in the realization that it is impossible to escape being influenced by other people and by circumstance. The essence of individuality is vigilance.
个性始于意识到无法逃脱他人和环境的影响,个性的关键是警觉。