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人类的智慧是无限的，只要用心去发掘，就会发现简单的日常生活中就蕴藏着许多发人深省的智慧。
We built an addition on our house. Contractors did the bulk of the work, but to save money, I did a lot of work on my own. I did the siding1, including the original part of the house. I put down the parquet2 flooring in the new section ----- 1 000 square feet of it. In front of the fireplace, I glued tiles that matched the color of the blue stone. The old part of the house was done in paneling3. I replaced it with sheetrock4 and did the crack filling too. I sanded wood, painted walls, and cut and nailed moldings5 and baseboards6. In the new master bathroom, I cut and glued Formica.
It took more than a year to get the house the way we wanted. I wasn’t a carpenter or a builder. I didn’t have a clue how to do any of it; however, there were how-to books to study and friends to ask.
I made many mistakes during our year of construction. Above the kitchen cabinets, was a portion of sheetrock I couldn’t reach with my drill. A section of it dipped down from a piece beside it. I cracked-filled the gap as best as I could, but it was visible to anyone with a keen7 eye.
To cut the moldings for the windows and doors, I used a wooden miter box. It isn’t as accurate8as the modern miter saws the builders use now. I made mistakes and cut some pieces too short. One corner of a window or door would have a gap between the moldings.
There were areas around the baseboards, where gaps could be seen, because I failed to cut the parquet flooring correctly.
“Michael!” Georgia would yell, “You made a mess of that!”
“Honey, it’s in the corner! Who’s going to notice? If someone sees that, then they’re too nosey. No one is going to notice!”
Five years later, I was living in a different city. Georgia was back home, trying to sell the house, so she could move to be with me. Potential buyers would come, see our house and notice the mistakes. They walked away. My mistakes were small. I thought no one would notice. They saw every one of them.
We lead good lives and do good jobs, but we make mistakes. Will anyone notice? I thought no one would notice mine, but they did. One day we are going to be judged. We’ll have to admit we didn’t do our best.
Are you settling for less than your best?
我们在房子外面扩建了一间房。大部分工作都包给建筑商做了，但为了省钱，我自己也做了一些。我自己处理墙板，包括旧房子的那一部分。新扩建部分的镶木地板是我自己铺的——有1 000平方英尺。我在壁炉前面的地面上贴了与蓝色建筑用石相配的瓷砖。老房子用的是镶板。我把它拆了，换上了石膏板，并将板缝填满了。我在木板上铺沙子，粉刷墙壁，用刀切割、用钉子钉上装饰线条和护壁板。在新建的主浴室中，我用刀切割并贴上了福米卡家具塑料贴面。
我们花了一年多的时间让房子变成我们想要的样子。我既非木匠也非建筑者。我对此一窍不通；但可以从相关图书学习，也可向朋友请教。
在扩建房子的那一年中，我犯了许多错误。厨房的橱柜上方，有一部分石膏板是我的钻孔机钻不到的。它的一部分从旁边的一块石膏板那儿掉了下来。我竭尽所能填补了缝隙，但任何一双犀利的眼睛都能看到它。
我用木头辅锯箱（译者注 ：引导手锯切割斜面接合或者用做横切的固定或调整的工具，尤指有狭槽面的可调整箱子） 切割门窗的装饰线条。它不像建筑者们现在使用的现代斜切锯那么精确。我出了许多差错，切割出许多过短的木线条。装饰门窗一角的两根木条之间会有一个缺口。
护壁板周围有许多地方也能看到缺口，因为我没能正确地切割镶木地板。
“迈克尔！”乔治娅大喊，“你做得太糟了！”
“亲爱的，这里是角落！谁会注意呢？即使有人看见了，那也只能说明他们太爱管闲事了。没有人会注意的！”
五年后，我搬到了另一座城市。乔治娅回家，想卖掉那所房子，然后搬来跟我一起住。有购买意向的买主们纷纷前来，看了我们的房子，注意到了那些不足之处。他们都走了。我的错误并不起眼。我以为没有人会注意到。但事实上，每一个错误都没能逃过别人的眼睛。
我们过着美好的生活，从事着美好的职业，但我们出了很多差错。会有人注意吗？我以为没有人会注意我的，但他们注意到了。总有一天，我们要接受审判。我们将不得不承认，我们没有尽力。
你满足于“差不多就行了”吗？
檀木柳 摘译自 Wisdom
We built an addition on our house. Contractors did the bulk of the work, but to save money, I did a lot of work on my own. I did the siding1, including the original part of the house. I put down the parquet2 flooring in the new section ----- 1 000 square feet of it. In front of the fireplace, I glued tiles that matched the color of the blue stone. The old part of the house was done in paneling3. I replaced it with sheetrock4 and did the crack filling too. I sanded wood, painted walls, and cut and nailed moldings5 and baseboards6. In the new master bathroom, I cut and glued Formica.
It took more than a year to get the house the way we wanted. I wasn’t a carpenter or a builder. I didn’t have a clue how to do any of it; however, there were how-to books to study and friends to ask.
I made many mistakes during our year of construction. Above the kitchen cabinets, was a portion of sheetrock I couldn’t reach with my drill. A section of it dipped down from a piece beside it. I cracked-filled the gap as best as I could, but it was visible to anyone with a keen7 eye.
To cut the moldings for the windows and doors, I used a wooden miter box. It isn’t as accurate8as the modern miter saws the builders use now. I made mistakes and cut some pieces too short. One corner of a window or door would have a gap between the moldings.
There were areas around the baseboards, where gaps could be seen, because I failed to cut the parquet flooring correctly.
“Michael!” Georgia would yell, “You made a mess of that!”
“Honey, it’s in the corner! Who’s going to notice? If someone sees that, then they’re too nosey. No one is going to notice!”
Five years later, I was living in a different city. Georgia was back home, trying to sell the house, so she could move to be with me. Potential buyers would come, see our house and notice the mistakes. They walked away. My mistakes were small. I thought no one would notice. They saw every one of them.
We lead good lives and do good jobs, but we make mistakes. Will anyone notice? I thought no one would notice mine, but they did. One day we are going to be judged. We’ll have to admit we didn’t do our best.
Are you settling for less than your best?
我们在房子外面扩建了一间房。大部分工作都包给建筑商做了，但为了省钱，我自己也做了一些。我自己处理墙板，包括旧房子的那一部分。新扩建部分的镶木地板是我自己铺的——有1 000平方英尺。我在壁炉前面的地面上贴了与蓝色建筑用石相配的瓷砖。老房子用的是镶板。我把它拆了，换上了石膏板，并将板缝填满了。我在木板上铺沙子，粉刷墙壁，用刀切割、用钉子钉上装饰线条和护壁板。在新建的主浴室中，我用刀切割并贴上了福米卡家具塑料贴面。
我们花了一年多的时间让房子变成我们想要的样子。我既非木匠也非建筑者。我对此一窍不通；但可以从相关图书学习，也可向朋友请教。
在扩建房子的那一年中，我犯了许多错误。厨房的橱柜上方，有一部分石膏板是我的钻孔机钻不到的。它的一部分从旁边的一块石膏板那儿掉了下来。我竭尽所能填补了缝隙，但任何一双犀利的眼睛都能看到它。
我用木头辅锯箱（译者注 ：引导手锯切割斜面接合或者用做横切的固定或调整的工具，尤指有狭槽面的可调整箱子） 切割门窗的装饰线条。它不像建筑者们现在使用的现代斜切锯那么精确。我出了许多差错，切割出许多过短的木线条。装饰门窗一角的两根木条之间会有一个缺口。
护壁板周围有许多地方也能看到缺口，因为我没能正确地切割镶木地板。
“迈克尔！”乔治娅大喊，“你做得太糟了！”
“亲爱的，这里是角落！谁会注意呢？即使有人看见了，那也只能说明他们太爱管闲事了。没有人会注意的！”
五年后，我搬到了另一座城市。乔治娅回家，想卖掉那所房子，然后搬来跟我一起住。有购买意向的买主们纷纷前来，看了我们的房子，注意到了那些不足之处。他们都走了。我的错误并不起眼。我以为没有人会注意到。但事实上，每一个错误都没能逃过别人的眼睛。
我们过着美好的生活，从事着美好的职业，但我们出了很多差错。会有人注意吗？我以为没有人会注意我的，但他们注意到了。总有一天，我们要接受审判。我们将不得不承认，我们没有尽力。
你满足于“差不多就行了”吗？
檀木柳 摘译自 Wisdom