"He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read， `See me after class."
"The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked， `Why did I receive an F？" "
"The teacher said， `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you"ll have to pay large stud fees. There"s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added， `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal， I will reconsider your grade.’ "
"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said， `Look， son， you have to make up your own mind on this. However， I think it is a very important decision for you."
"Finally， after sitting with it for a week， the boy turned in the same paper， making no changes at all. He stated， You can keep the F and I"ll keep my dream.""
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said， "I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4，000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace." He added， "The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week." When the teacher was leaving， he said， `Look， Monty， I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher， I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.’"
Don"t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart， no matter what.
我有个朋友叫蒙提·罗伯兹，他在圣思多罗（San Ysidro）有座牧马场。我常借用他宽敞的住宅举办募款活动，以便为帮助青少年的计划筹备基金。
上次活动时，他在致辞中提到：“我让杰克借用住宅是有原因的。这故事跟一个小男孩有关，他的父亲是位马术师，他从小就必须跟着父亲东奔西波，男孩的求学过程并不顺利。初中时，有次老师叫全班同学写报告，题目是长大后的志愿。”
“那晚他洋洋洒洒写了7张纸，描述他的伟大志愿，那就是想拥有一座属于自己的牧马农场，并且仔细画了一张200亩农场的设计图，上面标有马厩、跑道等的位置，然后在这一大片农场中央，还要建造一栋占地4000平方英尺的巨宅。”
“他花了好大心血把报告完成，第二天交给了老师。两天后他拿回了报告，第一页上打了一个又红又大的F，旁边还写了一行字：下课后来见我。”
“脑中充满幻想的他下课后带着报告去找老师：‘为什么给我不及格？" ”
“老师回答道：‘你年纪轻轻，不要老做白日梦。你没钱，没家庭背景，什么都没有。盖座农场可是个花钱的大工程；你要花钱买地、花钱买纯种马匹、花钱照顾它们。你别太好高骛远了。"他接着又说：‘如果你肯重写一个比较不离谱的志愿，我会重打你的分数。"”
“这男孩回家后反复思量了好几次，然后征询父亲的意见。父亲只是告诉他：‘儿子，这是非常重要的决定，你必须自己拿定主意。" ”
“再三考虑好几天后，他决定原稿交回，一个字都不改。他告诉老师：‘即使拿个大红字，我也不愿放弃梦想。"”
蒙提此时向众人表示：“我提起这故事，是因为各位现在就坐在200亩农场内，占地4000平方英尺的豪华住宅。那份初中时写的报告我至今还留着。”他顿了一下又说：“有意思的是，两年前的夏天，那位老师带了30个学生来我的农场露营一星期。离开之前，他对我说：‘蒙提，说来有些惭愧。你读初中时，我曾泼过你冷水。这些年来，我也对不少学生说过相同的话。幸亏你有这个毅力坚持自己的梦想。"”
不论做什么事，相信你自己，别让别人的一句话将你击倒。
You Are Who Speaks Louder than Anything You Can Say
你是生命最强音
I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday， at the beginning of class， I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful.
His question reminded me of something I"d read somewhere before： "Every morning when you get up， you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day，" I said. "I choose to be cheerful."
"Let me give you an example，" I continued， addressing all sixty students in the class. "In addition to teaching here at UNLV， I also teach out at the community college in Henderson， 17 miles down the freeway from where I live. One day a few weeks ago I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again， but the engine wouldn"t turn over. So I put my flashers on， grabbed my books， and marched down the road to the college."
"As soon as I got there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the Provost"s office asked me what has happened. "This is my lucky day，" I replied， smiling."
" ‘Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day？" She was puzzled. "What do you mean？""
" "I live 17 miles from here." I replied. ‘My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn"t. Instead， it broke down in the perfect place： off the freeway， within walking distance of here. I"m still able to teach my class， and I"ve been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today， it couldn"t have been arranged in a more convenient fashion.""
"The secretary"s eyes opened wide， and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class." So ended my story.
I scanned the sixty faces in my economics class at UNLV. Despite the early hour， no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow， my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn"t the story at all. In fact， it had all started with a student"s observation that I was cheerful.
我在内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校教经济学，每周上三次课。上周一，在刚开始上课的时候，我兴致勃勃地问学生们周末过得怎么样。一个男生说，他的周末不太愉快，因为他的智齿被拔掉了，结果让他痛了一整天。然后，他又问我为何我总能保持那么快乐的心情。
他的问题使我想起了一句不知出处的话：“每天早上，当你起床的时候，你可以选择如何面对一天的生活”，我说：“我选择快乐。”
“我给你们举个例子吧，”我对着全班六十个学生继续说道，“除了在这儿上课，我还在一所社区大学任教，那儿离我家17英里。几周前的一天，我驾车前往那所学校，驶离高速公路后，我转入了校园区。在只差400多米就到学校的时候，我的汽车抛锚了。我努力重新发动引擎，但就是不行。我只好把指示灯打亮，然后抓起课本直奔学校。”
“我一到学校就马上打电话给汽车协会，让他们在我下课后开辆拖车过来。院长办公室的秘书问我发生了什么事。‘今天我真走运，’我笑着答道。”
“‘你的车坏了，你还说今天走运？’她一脸的困惑。‘你什么意思啊？’”
“我回答道：‘我住在离这儿17英里的地方。其实我的车有可能在高速公路上的什么地方就坏掉了的，但庆幸的是，没有。相反，汽车是在离开了高速公路后才抛锚，刚好处于步行区内。我还赶得及上课，还能够安排拖车在课后来处理。如果我的汽车是注定了要在今天抛锚的，那我觉得自己已经很走运了。’”
“那个秘书听得目瞪口呆地，然后她笑了。我也冲她笑了一下，便上课去了。”这就是我的故事。
我扫视了一下全班六十张脸。虽然是在大清早，但没有一个学生在打盹儿。不知道为什么，他们好像被我的故事触动了。也许触动他们的并不是故事本身。其实，从一开始有学生发现我兴致高昂的时候，他们便已经被我的快乐感染了。