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，一個年輕人拿起一本書，讀了21個單詞，就是這21個單詞對他的未來產(chǎn)生了深遠的影響。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，這個年輕的醫(yī)科學(xué)生讀到的21個單詞，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——這是大英帝國能夠授予任何一個學(xué)醫(yī)者的最高榮譽。他還被英國國王冊封為爵士。
　　他去世時，人們用厚達1466頁的兩大卷書來講述他的生平故事。
　　他的名字就是威廉？奧斯勒爵士。1871年春天，他讀到的21個單詞是托馬斯？卡萊爾所寫的21個字，幫助他過著遠離憂慮的生活：“我們的主要任務(wù)不是好高騖遠，而是要著眼于眼前。”
　　42年后的一個春天，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)過教授，寫過一本受歡迎的書，應(yīng)該擁有“特殊的頭腦”。但他卻說事實并非如此，自己的好朋友們都知道，他的大腦是“最普通不過了”。
　　那么，他成功的秘密是什么呢？他說，這都歸功于他所說的“生活在今天的密封艙里”。他這話是什么意思呢？
　　就在來耶魯演講的幾個月前，威廉？奧斯勒爵士乘坐一艘巨輪橫渡大西洋。船長站在駕駛臺上，只要按下按鈕，眨眼間就會傳來一陣機器的叮當(dāng)聲，輪船的各個部分會立即隔開，形成一個個的防水艙。奧斯勒博士對那些耶魯?shù)膶W(xué)生說道：“你們每個人都是比巨輪要奇妙得多的有機體，前程更加漫長。我強烈要求大家學(xué)會控制這些機器，生活在‘今天的密封艙里’，這才是確保航程萬無一失的最佳方法。站在駕駛臺上，你要保證，至少那些龐大的防水壁都能正常運轉(zhuǎn)。按下一個按鈕，你會聽到，在你生活的每一個層面，鐵門將過去——已經(jīng)逝去的昨天——擋在門外。按下另一個按鈕，用鐵門將未來——還未到來的 明天——擋在門外。之后你就安全了——今天安全了！將過去關(guān)在外面！讓逝去的過去自我埋葬……將給傻子照亮了死亡之路的昨天關(guān)在門外……明天的重擔(dān)加上昨天的負荷，今天來承擔(dān)，讓最強壯的人也步履蹣跚。正如把過去緊緊關(guān)在門外一樣，把未來也關(guān)在門外……未來就是今天……沒有明天。人類的救贖日就是今天。精力的浪費、精神的痛苦、緊張的憂慮，都會纏上一個為未來焦慮的人……那么就把從船頭到船尾的隔艙關(guān)緊，準備養(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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