[翻译] Kevin Kelly 在 69 岁生日时给出的 99 条建议
Kevin Kelly 在 69 岁生日时给出的 99 条建议
凯文凯利，常被称为“KK”。背景：老爷子在 68 岁生日的时候，在网上给年轻人提出了 68 条人生建议。原文叫 《68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice》，后面在他过69岁生日的时候，又在自己的网站上公布了另外99条额外的人生建议，原文叫做《 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice》。
看完之后，笔者很尝试翻译，可能有很多翻译不对的地方，希望大家指正。
99 条额外的建议
I have another birthday, and another bunch of unsolicited advice. 我又过了一个生日，又有一些不请自来的建议。
- That thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult — if you don’t lose it.
如果不失去儿时的初心，年轻时的另类怪异可能将造就长大后的出类拔萃。
Weird comes from the Old English "wyrd" which means something like Fate. Everybody has their own "wyrd" or weird, everyone has their own Fate. And sometimes you make your own. 怕的很多小孩子的一些奇怪举动被大人的一些“正确”的教育方式所抹杀。
- If you have any doubt at all about being able to carry a load in one trip, do yourself a huge favor and make two trips.
如果一次旅途负重太多，那么请对自己好一点，分两次吧。
- What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. At your funeral people will not recall what you did; they will only remember how you made them feel.
实现目标得到什么并没有通过实现目标成为什么那样重要。在你的葬礼上，人们不会记得你曾做了什么事，他们只会记得你曾给他们带来什么样的感受。
- Recipe for success: under-promise and over-deliver.
成功之道：做事情之前少承诺，交付结果时多给一些惊喜。
- It’s not an apology if it comes with an excuse. It is not a compliment if it comes with a request.
真诚的道歉不会再找借口，诚挚的赞美不会夹带要求。
- Jesus, Superman, and Mother Teresa never made art. Only imperfect beings can make art because art begins in what is broken.
耶稣、超人和特蕾莎修女从来没有创造过艺术。只有不完美的人才能创造艺术，因为艺术始于残缺。
- If someone is trying to convince you it’s not a pyramid scheme, it’s a pyramid scheme.
如果有人试图说服你这不是金字塔计划，那就是金字塔计划。
注：“金字塔销售计划”，国内叫“传销”。
- Learn how to tie a bowline knot. Practice in the dark. With one hand. For the rest of your life you’ll use this knot more times than you would ever believe.
学习如何打保龄球结。在黑暗中练习，用一只手练习。在你的余生中，你会使用这个结的次数比你想象的要多。
注：保龄球结是一种简单的绳结，在绳子的末端形成一个固定的环。
- If something fails where you thought it would fail, that is not a failure.
如果某件事在你认为会失败的地方失败了，那就不是失败。
- Be governed not by the tyranny of the urgent but by the elevation of the important.
分清事情的轻重缓急，做一件能提升自己的事情往往更重要。
- Leave a gate behind you the way you first found it.
给你最先发现的路留一扇门。
- The greatest rewards come from working on something that nobody has a name for. If you possibly can, work where there are no words for what you do.
最大的回报来自于从事无人知晓的事情。如果可能的话，在默默无闻的地方工作。
- A balcony or porch needs to be at least 6 feet (2m) deep or it won’t be used.
阳台或门廊需要至少 6 英尺 (2m) 深，否则将无法使用。
- Don’t create things to make money; make money so you can create things. The reward for good work is more work.
不要为了赚钱而创造事物；赚钱，所以你可以创造东西。好的工作可以带来更多的工作。
- In all things — except love — start with the exit strategy. Prepare for the ending. Almost anything is easier to get into than out of.
除了爱情，从一开始就别想着逃避退出。其它所有事情都要以退出原则开始准备。为最终的结局做好准备。几乎任何事情都是入局容易出来难。
- Train employees well enough they could get another job, but treat them well enough so they never want to.
对员工进行足够的培训，他们可以找到另一份工作，但要对他们足够好，防止他们真的想要找另外一份工作。
- Don’t aim to have others like you; aim to have them respect you.
不要期望让其他人都喜欢你；而应让他们都尊重你。
- The foundation of maturity: Just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not your responsibility.
成熟的基础：即使不是你的错，也不意味着这不是你的责任。
- A multitude of bad ideas is necessary for one good idea.
万千糟糕的主意中才能出一个好的妙计。
- Being wise means having more questions than answers.
智者的提问远远多过回答。
- Compliment people behind their back. It’ll come back to you.
在背后赞美他人，赞美之词可能也会回赠于你。
- Most overnight successes — in fact any significant successes — take at least 5 years. Budget your life accordingly.
所有看似一夜突如其来的成功 - 实际上所有的重要成就 - 至少需要 5 年时间。所以，合理安排好你的人生。
- You are only as young as the last time you changed your mind.
当你停止改变自己想法的时候，你就不再年轻。
- Assume anyone asking for your account information for any reason is guilty of scamming you, unless proven innocent. The way to prove innocence is to call them back, or login to your account using numbers or a website that you provide, not them. Don’t release any identifying information while they are contacting you via phone, message or email. You must control the channel.
不管是谁想知道你的账户信息，首先假设这是诈骗，除非证明他们是清白的。可以通过给他们回电话，或者在官方网站登录你的账户来验证，但不要实用他们提供的网站登录(防止钓鱼诈骗)。当他们用电话、短信或电子邮件联系你时，不要泄露任何身份信息。你得掌控对话。
- Sustained outrage makes you stupid.
持续发怒会变蠢。
- Be strict with yourself and forgiving of others. The reverse is hell for everyone.
严于律己，宽以待人。反过来对每个人来说都是地狱。
- Your best response to an insult is “You’re probably right.” Often they are.
回应冒犯的最好方式是“您可能是对的。”因为通常确实如此。
- The worst evils in history have always been committed by those who truly believed they were combating evil. Beware of combating evil.
历史上最严重的罪恶总是由那些坚信自己在替天行道的人所犯。警惕这些打着替天行道的名号。
- If you can avoid seeking approval of others, your power is limitless.
如果你能减少寻求他人的认可，你的力量是无限的。
- When a child asks an endless string of “why?” questions, the smartest reply is, “I don’t know, what do you think?”
面对孩子无穷尽的“十万个为什么”时，最明智的回答是：“我不知道，你认为呢？”
- To be wealthy, accumulate all those things that money can’t buy.
真正的富有都是金钱买不到的东西。
- Be the change you wish to see.
因为喜欢，所以改变。
- When brainstorming, improvising, jamming with others, you’ll go much further and deeper if you build upon each contribution with a playful “yes — and” example instead of a deflating “no — but” reply.
在集思广益、即兴创作、与他人合作时，如果你每次用一个有趣的“是的...而且...”的例子，而不是一个令人沮丧的“不是——但是”的回答，你就会走得更远、更深入。
- Work to become, not to acquire.
努力是为了成就什么，而不是为了获得什么。
- Don’t loan money to a friend unless you are ready to make it a gift.
不要把钱借给朋友，除非你准备好把它当作礼物。
- On the way to a grand goal, celebrate the smallest victories as if each one were the final goal. No matter where it ends you are victorious.
在通往宏伟目标的路上，庆祝微小的胜利，就好像每一场胜利都是最终目标一样。这样做的好处是，不管终点在哪里你都是胜利者。
- Calm is contagious.
平静待人，他人也会受到感染。
- Even a foolish person can still be right about most things. Most conventional wisdom is true.
愚者千虑必有一得。传承下来的智慧是正确的。
- Always cut away from yourself.
总是换位思考，抽离自我。
- Show me your calendar and I will tell you your priorities. Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you where you’re going.
给我看你的日历行程：我会告诉你做事的优先级。告诉我你的朋友是谁，我将会告诉你：你要去向何方。
- When hitchhiking, look like the person you want to pick you up.
搭顺风车时，想想你自己愿意载什么样的人，那你就该成为什么样子。
- Contemplating the weaknesses of others is easy; contemplating the weaknesses in yourself is hard, but it pays a much higher reward.
发现别人的弱点很容易；反思自己的弱点很难，但它会带来更高的回报。
- Worth repeating: measure twice, cut once.
三思而后行
- Your passion in life should fit you exactly; but your purpose in life should exceed you. Work for something much larger than yourself.
在生活中找到适合自己的热情，但人生目标应该高于自我。为比个人更宏远的目标而努力。
- If you can’t tell what you desperately need, it’s probably sleep.
如果你还不能确切的说出自己的想要什么，你很可能在睡觉。
- When playing Monopoly, spend all you have to buy, barter, or trade for the Orange properties. Don’t bother with Utilities.
玩大富翁的时候，倾注所有去购置、换取和交易橙色地产，别操心公共事业。
- If you borrow something, try to return it in better shape than you received it. Clean it, sharpen it, fill it up.
归还借用物品时，让它比借来的时候状态更好。清洁，磨利，修缮。
- Even in the tropics it gets colder at night than you think. Pack warmly.
即使在热带地区，夜晚也比你预期更冷。带上暖和衣服。
- To quiet a crowd or a drunk, just whisper.
要让噪杂的人群或醉汉安静下来，只需轻声耳语。
- Writing down one thing you are grateful for each day is the cheapest possible therapy ever.
每天记录一件感恩的事，是最廉价的疗愈方法。
- When someone tells you something is wrong, they’re usually right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re usually wrong.
当有人指出错误时，他通常是对的。当有人试图纠正你时，他通常是错的。
- If you think you saw a mouse, you did. And, if there is one, there are more.
如果你猜测你见到了一只老鼠，那就确实有。而且真的出现一只，那就会有更多只。
- Money is overrated. Truly new things rarely need an abundance of money. If that was so, billionaires would have a monopoly on inventing new things, and they don’t. Instead almost all breakthroughs are made by those who lack money, because they are forced to rely on their passion, persistence and ingenuity to figure out new ways. Being poor is an advantage in innovation.
财富的重要性一直被高估。真正的新事物几乎不会花费大量金钱。否则的话，亿万富翁会垄断新事物的发明，实际上并没有。与之相反的是，突破往往来自于财富有限的人，他们被迫依赖热情、坚韧和智慧去开拓新路。贫乏是创新的优势。
- Ignore what others may be thinking of you, because they aren’t.
忽略他人对你的看法，因为他们可能不那么看。（双关语：甚至没对你有评价）
- Avoid hitting the snooze button. That’s just training you to oversleep.
不要去点闹钟的"多睡一会"，那样只会培养你睡过头。
snooze button：指闹钟的跳过按钮，a button on an alarm clock (= a clock for waking you up) that you press after it has woken you up, so that you can sleep for a few minutes more before being woken up again by the clock
- Always say less than necessary.
言多必失。
- You are given the gift of life in order to discover what your gift in life is. You will complete your mission when you figure out what your mission is. This is not a paradox. This is the way.
上天赐予你的天赋就是能让你找到你人生中的天赋，当你弄清你的使命时就是完成了你的使命。这不是悖论，这是必由之路。
- Don’t treat people as bad as they are. Treat them as good as you are.
不要冤冤相报，要以德抱怨。
- It is much easier to change how you think by changing your behavior, than it is to change your behavior by changing how you think. Act out the change you seek.
通过改变你的行为，你能轻易的改变你的想法。但是通过改变想法来改变行为就相对更难，所以，付出行动，做出改变。
- You can eat any dessert you want if you take only 3 bites.
见到任何你想吃的甜点，你可能只需要3口。
- Each time you reach out to people, bring them a blessing; then they’ll be happy to see you when you bring them a problem.
每次你与人接触，给他们带来祝福；那么当你给他们带来问题时，他们同样会很乐于见到你。
- Bad things can happen fast, but almost all good things happen slowly.
好事不出门，坏事传千里。
- Don’t worry how or where you begin. As long as you keep moving, your success will be far from where you start.
不要担心你的起点在哪，亦不要担心开始的方式好坏，只要你坚持，一旦开始，成功就离你不远了。
- When you confront a stuck bolt or screw: righty tighty, lefty loosey.
当您遇到卡住的螺栓或螺钉时：右旋紧，左旋松。
- If you meet a jerk, overlook them. If you meet jerks everywhere everyday, look deeper into yourself.
如果你遇到一个混蛋，忽略他们。如果你每天到处都遇到混蛋，请反思一下自己。
- Dance with your hips.
舞动自信。
- We are not bodies that temporarily have souls. We are souls that temporarily have bodies.
我们不是暂时拥有灵魂的身体。我们是暂时拥有身体的灵魂。
- You can reduce the annoyance of someone’s stupid belief by increasing your understanding of why they believe it.
尝试多理解他人执拗的原因，可以减少因为一些人的愚蠢导致的愤怒。
- If your goal does not have a schedule, it is a dream.
当你没有为目标设置计划，那就只是一个梦。
- All the greatest gains in life — in wealth, relationships, or knowledge —come from the magic of compounding interest — amplifying small steady gains. All you need for abundance is to keep adding 1% more than you subtract on a regular basis.
生活中所有大的收获，无论财富、关系或是知识，都来自复利的魔力，众多微小稳定收益的放大。为了保持富足，你所要做的仅仅是保持定投比支出多 1%。
- The greatest breakthroughs are missed because they look like hard work.
伟大的成就难以达成因为它们都需要付出巨大的努力。
古之立大事者，不惟有超世之才，亦必有堅忍不拔之志。
- People can’t remember more than 3 points from a speech.
人们难以记住一场演讲中的 3 个以上的观点。
- I have never met a person I admired who did not read more books than I did.
我敬佩的人里读书都比我多。
- The greatest teacher is called “doing”.
实践是最伟大的老师。
纸上得来终觉浅 绝知此事要躬行
- Finite games are played to win or lose. Infinite games are played to keep the game going. Seek out infinite games because they yield infinite rewards.
有限游戏目的在于输赢。无限游戏为了让游戏继续。选择寻求无限游戏，才会带来无限奖赏。
- Everything is hard before it is easy. The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a stupid idea.
凡事先难后易。事情在取得成果之前都是蠢主意。
- A problem that can be solved with money is not really a problem.
能用钱解决的问题都不叫问题。
- When you are stuck, sleep on it. Let your subconscious work for you.
你陷入卡顿，就去睡觉。让潜意识继续工作。
译注：高中化学里凯库勒在梦中发现苯环结构的故事。
- Your work will be endless, but your time is finite. You cannot limit the work so you must limit your time. Hours are the only thing you can manage.
工作永远无穷无尽，但你的时间是有限的。你不能限制工作量，所以必须限制时间。时间是你唯一可以掌控的东西。
- To succeed, get other people to pay you; to become wealthy, help other people to succeed.
想成功，让别人付钱给你；想致富，帮助他人成功。
- Children totally accept — and crave — family rules. “In our family we have a rule for X” is the only excuse a parent needs for setting a family policy. In fact, “I have a rule for X” is the only excuse you need for your own personal policies.
孩子们完全乐于接受甚至渴望家庭规则。“我们家有个X原则”是父母制定家庭准则来制约孩子的唯一借口。事实上，对个人来说，“我有个X样的原则”是你设定自我原则的唯一方式。
- All guns are loaded.
弹已上膛，箭已在弦。
万事具备，只欠东风。
- Many backward steps are made by standing still.
逆水行舟，不进则退。
- This is the best time ever to make something. None of the greatest, coolest creations 20 years from now have been invented yet. You are not late.
种一棵树最好的时间是十年前，其次是现在。从现在到 20 年后的最伟大、最酷的创意作品还没有被发明出来。所以，你永远都不晚。
- No rain, no rainbow.
不经历风雨，哪能见彩虹。
- Every person you meet knows an amazing lot about something you know virtually nothing about. Your job is to discover what it is, and it won’t be obvious.
你遇到的每个人，都对你几乎一无所知的事情了如指掌。你的工作是找到这些事，这通常也不会很明显。
- You don’t marry a person, you marry a family.
你不是娶（嫁）一个人，你娶（嫁）给的是一个家庭。
- Always give credit, take blame.
总是给予信任，承担责任。
- Be frugal in all things, except in your passions splurge.
凡事节俭，除了挥洒激情。
- When making something, always get a few extras — extra material, extra parts, extra space, extra finishes. The extras serve as backups for mistakes, reduce stress, and fill your inventory for the future. They are the cheapest insurance.
做事之时，务必留有余力——留材料、留部件、留空间、留饰面。这些额外的东西可以作为犯错的备份，减轻负担，还在未来填满你的库存。这些是最便宜的保险。
- Something does not need to be perfect to be wonderful. Especially weddings.
有些事大可不必完美无瑕才算作精彩。尤其是婚礼。
行事哪能尽如人意，但求不愧于心。
- Don’t let your email inbox become your to-do list.
别把邮件收件箱当成待办清单来用。
邮件请尽快处理
- The best way to untangle a knotty tangle is not to “untie” the knots, but to keep pulling the loops apart wider and wider. Just make the mess as big, loose and open as possible. As you open up the knots they will unravel themselves. Works on cords, strings, hoses, yarns, or electronic cables.
解开缠在一起的结的最好方式不是把结都“解开”，而是把绳圈拉得越来越宽。尽可能地让绳团变大，变松、变开即可。当你解开疙瘩时，它们会自行松脱。对软线，细绳，软管，纱线或电缆都有效。
- Be a good ancestor. Do something a future generation will thank you for. A simple thing is to plant a tree.
做个好长辈。做一些后代会感谢你的事情。一个简单的事情就是种一棵树。
- To combat an adversary, become their friend.
打击敌人的方式，成为他们的朋友。
不战而屈人之兵
- Take one simple thing — almost anything — but take it extremely seriously, as if it was the only thing in the world, or maybe the entire world is in it — and by taking it seriously you’ll light up the sky.
选择一件简单的事情 -- 任何事情--但要极其认真地对待它，就好像它是世界上唯一的一件事，或者也许整个世界都在其中 -- 认真对待它，你就会照亮天空。
- History teaches us that in 100 years from now some of the assumptions you believed will turn out to be wrong. A good question to ask yourself today is “What might I be wrong about?”
历史告诉我们，从现在起到 100 年后的这段时间里，您认为的一些假设将被证明是错误的。今天问自己一个很好的问题是“我可能做错了什么？”
- Be nice to your children because they are going to choose your nursing home.
善待你的孩子，因为他们会选择你的疗养院。
- Advice like these are not laws. They are like hats. If one doesn’t fit, try another.
像以上的建议不是法则。它们更像是帽子。如果一个不合适，请尝试另一个。
如人饮水，冷暖自知。
