The world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.

At that age， I'd take any excuse to make estimates and do minor arithmetic. I'd calculate our gas mileage -- figure out useless statistics on things like grocery spending. I'd been hearing an ad campaign about smoking. I can't remember the details， but basically the ad said， every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off of your life: I think it might have been two minutes per puff. At any rate， I decided to do the math for my grandmother. I estimated the number of cigarettes per days， estimated the number of puffs per cigarette and so on. When I was satisfied that I'd come up with a reasonable number， I poked my head into the front of the car， tapped my grandmother on the shoulder， and proudly proclaimed， "At two minutes per puff， you've taken nine years off your life！"

You have to be willing to put in the time, the effort, and the energy to be great.

没有欲念称为圣人，欲念少称为贤人，欲念多是凡人，而纵欲则是狂人。

现代世界是一个充满无尽干扰的地方，但真正的满足来自内心。

想要平息海上的倭寇之患，先要消除人们心中的积弊。