The Author’s Account of Himself By Washington Irving

I was always fond of visiting new scenes, and observing strange characters and manners. Even when a mere child I began my travels, and made many tours of discovery into foreign parts and unknown regions of my native city, to the frequent alarm of my parents, and the emolument of the town-crier. As I grew into boyhood, I extended the range of my observations. My holiday afternoons were spent in rambles about the surrounding country. I made myself familiar with all its places famous in history or fable. I knew every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed, or a ghost seen. I visited the neighboring villages, and added greatly to my stock of knowledge, by noting their habits and customs, and conversing with their sages and great men. I even journeyed one long summer's day to the summit of the most distant hill, whence I stretched my eye over many a mile of terra incognita, and was astonished to find how vast a globe I inhabited.

This rambling propensity strengthened with my years This rambling propensity strengthened with my years. Books of voyages and travels became my passion; and, in devouring their contents, I neglected the regular exercises of the school. How wistfully would I wander about the pierheads in fine weather, and watch the parting ships, bound to distant climes! With what longing eyes would I gaze after their lessening sails, and waft myself in imagination to the ends of the earth!

You Are What You Do by Mayling Soong If the past has taught us anything, it is that every cause brings effect — every action has a consequence). This thought, in my opinion, is the moral foundation of the universe; it applies equally in this world and the next. We Chinese have a saying: “If a man plants melons, he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans.” And this is true of every man’s life: good begets good, and evil leads to evil.

True enough, the sun shines on the saint and sinner alike, and too often it seems that the wicked wax and prosper. But we can say with certitude that, with the individual as with the nation, the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion, for, unceasingly, life keeps books on us all.

In the end, we are all the sum total of our actions In the end, we are all the sum total of our actions. Character cannot be counterfeited, nor can it be put on and cast off as if it were a garment to meet the whim of the moment. Like the markings on wood which are ingrained in the very heart of the tree, character requires time and nurture for growth and development. Thus also, day by day, we write our own destiny, for inexorably we become what we do. This, I believe, is the supreme logic and law of life.

你即你所为 文：宋美龄 如果过去的日子曾经教过我们一些什么的话，那便是有因必有果──每一个行为都有一种结果。依我之见，这种观念是宇宙的道德基础；它也同样适用于今生和来世。 我们中国人有句谚语说：“种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。”这也适用于每个人的生活：善有善报，恶有恶报。 的确，圣人与罪人皆会受到阳光的披泽，而且常常似乎是恶者大行其道。但是我们可以确信地说，不管是对个人或是对国家而言，恶人猖獗只是一种幻象，因为生命无时无刻不将我们的所作所为一笔一笔记录下来。 最终，我们就是我们行为的总和。品德是无法伪造的，也无法像衣服一样随兴地穿上或脱下来丢在一旁。就像木头纹路源自树木的中心，品德的成长与发育也需要时间和滋养。 也因此，我们日复一日地写下自身的命运，因为我们的所为毫不留情地决定我们的命运。我相信这就是人生的最高逻辑和法则。