雙語智慧書·知道如何完善自己的品性

276．知道如何完善自己的品性
　　知道如何完善自己的品性。常言道：人之性情七年一變。讓這一變化朝著更好的方向發(fā)展，讓你的品味也變得更高雅。過了第一個七年，你開始懂事。在之后的每一發(fā)展階段，都要用新的優(yōu)點為自己增光。觀察這個變化以促進它，也希望有所長進于別的方面。因此，當很多人改變自身地位或職業(yè)之時，他們的行為也跟著改變了。有時，這種改變不被察覺，直至其完成之時。一個人，二十如孔雀，三十如獅子，四十如駱駝，五十如蛇精，六十如狗，七十如猴，到八十歲，便什么都不像了。


276．Know how to renew your character
　Know how to renew your character, with the help both of Nature and of Art. Every seven years the disposition changes, they say. Let it be a change for the better and for the nobler in your taste. After the first seven comes reason, with each succeeding lustre let a new excellence be added. Observe this change so as to aid it, and hope also for betterment in others. Hence it arises that many change their behaviour when they change their position or their occupation. At times the change is not noticed till it reaches the height of maturity. At twenty Man is a Peacock, at thirty a Lion, at forty a Camel, at fifty a Serpent, at sixty a Dog, at seventy an Ape, at eighty nothing at all.