Everybody wants to preach to the young, and tell them to be good and they will be happy. I shall not enter far upon that field, but confine myself to presenting from a business man's standpoint of view, a few rules, which, I believe, lie at the root of business success.

First--Never enter a bar-room. Do not drink liquor as a beverage. I will not paint the evil of drunkenness, or the moral crime; but I suggest to you that it is low and common to enter a bar-room, unworthy of any self-respecting man, and sure to fasten upon you a taint which will operate to your disadvantage in life, whether you ever become a drunkard or not.

Second--I wish young men would not use tobacco--not that it is morally wrong, except in so far as it is used in excess and injures health, which the medical faculty declares it does. But the use of tobacco requires young men to withdraw themselves from the society of women to indulge the habit. I think the absence of women from any assembly tends to lower the tone of that assembly. The habit of smoking tends to carry young men into the society of men whom it is not desirable that they should choose as their intimate associates. The practice of chewing tobacco was once common. Now it is considered offensive. I believe the race is soon to take another step forward, and that the coming man is to consider smoking as offensive as chewing was formally considered. As it is practically abandoned now, so I believe smoking will be.

Third--Having entered upon work, continue in that line of work. Fight it out on that line (except in extreme cases), for it matters little what avenue a young man finds first. Success can be attained in any branch of human labor. There is always room at the top in every pursuit. Concentrate all your thought and energy upon the performance of your duties. Put all your eggs into one basket and then watch that basket, do not scatter your shot. The man who is director in a half dozen railroads and three or four manufacturing companies, or who tries at one and the same time to work a farm, a factory, a line of street cars, a political party and a store, rarely amounts to much. He may be concerned in the management of more than one business enterprise, but they should all be of the one kind, which he understands. The great successes of life are made by concentration.

Fourth--Do not think a man has done his full duty when he has performed the work assigned him. A man will never rise if he does only this. Promotion comes from exceptional work. A man must discover where his employer's interests can be served beyond the range of the special work allotted to him; and whenever he sees his employer's interests suffer, or wherever the latter's interests can be promoted, tell him so. Differ from your employers upon what you think his mistakes. You will never make much of a success if you do not learn the needs and opportunities of your own branch much better than your employer can possibly do. You have been told to "obey orders if you break owners." Do no such foolish thing. If your employer starts upon a course which you think will prove injurious, tell him so, protest, give your reasons, and stand to them unless convinced you are wrong. It is the young man who does this, that capital wants for a partner or for a son-in-law.

Fifth--Whatever your wages are, save a little. Live within your means. The heads of stores, farms, banks, lawyers' offices, physicians' offices, insurance companies, mills and factories are not seeking capital; they are seeking brains and business habits. The man who saves a little from his income has given the surest indication of the qualities which every employer is seeking for.

Sixth--Never speculate. Never buy or sell grain or stocks upon a margin. If you have savings, invest them in solid securities, lands or property. The man who gambles upon the exchanges is in the condition of the man who gambles at the gaming table. He rarely, if ever, makes a permanent success. His judgment goes; his faculties are snapped; and his end, as a rule, is nervous prostration after an unworthy and useless life.

Seventh--If you ever enter business for yourself, never indorse for others. It is dishonest. All your resources and all your credit are the sacred property of the men who have trusted you; and until you have surplus cash and owe no man, it is dishonest to give your name as an indorser to others. Give the cash you can spare, if you wish, to help a friend. Your name is too sacred to give.

Do not make riches, but usefulness, your first aim; and let your chief pride be that your daily occupation is in the line of progress and development; that your work, in whatever capacity it may be, is useful work, honestly conducted, and as such ennobling to your life.

To sum up, do not drink, do not smoke, do not indorse, do not speculate. Concentrate, perform more than your prescribed duties; be strictly honest in word and deed. And may all who read these words be just as happy and prosperous and long lived as I wish them all to be. And let this great fact always cheer them: It is impossible for any one to be cheated out of an honorable career unless he cheats himself.

每個人都想告誡年輕人,告訴他們?yōu)樯?他們將會過的很快樂。我相信，如果我僅僅限于從一個根源于商業(yè)成功的商人的觀點來看待這一領域，我將無法在這個領域走的更遠。

第一，永遠不要進入一個酒吧。永遠不要把白酒當做飲料。我不擅于描繪醉酒之惡或者酒后失德，但是我給你提個建議，只有那些不配有任何自尊的人才會低賤的隨大流進酒吧。進入酒吧后，你鐵定被弄臟，那將使你的處于不利的地位在生活中，不管你是否成為一個酒鬼。

第二，我希望年輕人不要吸煙。不是因為它在道德上是不對的,而是因為醫(yī)學機構宣布過度吸煙會損害健康。同時因為吸煙迫使年輕人遠離社交女性來遷就自己的不良習慣。我以為女性缺席的任何聚會都降低了聚會的品味。抽煙的習慣,往往把年輕人帶入不可取的男人的社會,他本應該選擇這些人作為自己的親密伙伴。嚼煙曾經(jīng)非常普遍?，F(xiàn)在被看做無禮的行為。我相信,人類很快會再向前邁進一步,未來的人將會認為吸煙會象嚼煙一樣正式被看著無禮的行為。因為它實際上是被遺棄的，所以我認為吸煙也會被遺棄。

第三，進入一行工作后，就繼續(xù)在這一行工作。在該行奮斗到底（除非在極端的情況下），對于一個年輕人來說一開始從事什么并不重要。任何形式的勞動都可以成功。每一個成功的頂點都是還有發(fā)展的空間。竭盡你所有的思想和能量去完成你的職責。把你所有的雞蛋放到一個籃子里，然后小心的看好你的籃子，不要分散你的注意力。一個人可能主持修筑6段鐵路和3、4個制造公司，或者或者誰在同一個時間經(jīng)營一個農(nóng)場，一間工廠，一個政黨和一個商店，幾乎很多東西。但是他應該只管理一類他懂的那行。偉大的成就都是由專心造就的。

第四，不要認為一個人完成了分配給他的工作時，他就完成了他全部職責。一個人永遠不會有提高，如果他只完成分配給他的工作。晉升來自額外的工作。一個人必須去發(fā)現(xiàn)和滿足雇主的利益除了分配給他的特殊任務，同時要觀察雇主的利益什么時候遭受損害或者怎么能使雇主的利益得到發(fā)展，即使告訴他。發(fā)現(xiàn)他沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)的錯誤，你不會有太大的成功如果你了解你的本職工作沒有的雇主了解的多。你被教做“服從命令的給雇主提意見”，不要做那樣的傻事。如果你的老板開始做一件你認為將會是是錯誤的決策，直接告訴他，你反對這個決策，擺出你的理由并堅持你的理由，除非證明你是錯誤的。這樣做的年輕人，資本家都希望他成為合伙人或者女婿。

第五，不管你的薪水是多少，攢一點錢。量入為出。商店的老板，農(nóng)場的主人，銀行的經(jīng)理，律師的辦公室，外科醫(yī)生的辦公室，磨坊主，工廠老板不缺少資本，他們?nèi)鄙俚氖侵悄液蜕虡I(yè)習慣。那個每天從自己的收入中節(jié)省一點錢的人正是提供了每一個老板所尋求的最可靠的素質。

第六，永遠不要投機。永遠不要購買或者出售糧食或者股票在非常時刻。如果你又存款，投資于固體證券，土地或者固定資產(chǎn)。在交易所碰運氣的人就如在游戲桌上賭博的人一樣。他幾乎不可能永遠的成功，即使成功，一般來說經(jīng)過這樣的一段無價值和無用的生活以后也是失去判斷力，他的才能被揮霍一空，最后以致神經(jīng)虛脫。

第七，如果你曾經(jīng)只是為自己進入商界，永遠不要幫助別人。這是不誠實的。你所有的資源和所有的信用是所有信任你的人給與你的神圣財產(chǎn)。直到你不欠別人的錢有了剩余的現(xiàn)金，把自己作為一個給與者是不對的。如果你愿意用你可以支配的錢，去幫助一個朋友。你的名字將會因為你的給與變的神圣。

不要讓賺錢變富成為你無用的第一目標，讓你的首要自豪來自你日常的職業(yè)的進步和發(fā)展。,確保你的工作是一項有用的工作，不論它有多大的容量，誠實的管理。只有這樣才能使你的生活變得熠熠生輝。

總之，不要喝酒，不要抽煙，不要沉迷，不要投機；專心，多做你份外的事，嚴格誠實對待的言行。也許所有人只當高興或者一時興起來讀這些文字但是我希望它們都長久的留在讀過它們的人的心中。讓這個偉大的事實總是鼓勵這些讀過這些文字的人：沒有人會被可敬的職業(yè)欺騙除非他欺騙他自己。

更多信息請查看英語美文寫作