精通发言四大招数
一位心理学家认为，要在别人心目中留下印象，我们的面部表情最为重要。事实上，他相信别人对你的印象有一半会受到你面部神情的影响。蕴含笑容的眼神自然显得极为亲切健谈。愁眉苦脸的人往往也被别人冷眼相待。人们倾向于表达与你同样的表情，因此尽量用你的面部表情来表现你对某个题目、某种意见或某些听众的感受。
将要公开发言之时感到紧张不安是很正常的。解决的方法是让这种情绪为你所用，投入到行动中，就如莎士比亚所言：行动治疗恐惧。只有几种抑制恐惧的方法为人所知。首先是承认恐惧，做你所惧怕的事，恐惧就会自我消亡。另一种简单的辅助方法可以在你发言前最后一分钟使用，那就是做几次深呼吸。深呼吸有助于舒缓紧张引起的恶心感，同时也能使你更好地控制自己的声音。事实上，如果你准备充分，在别人邀请你出场前，只要做几下深呼吸你便会信心倍增，镇定自如。我觉得镇定自如就是能够好好地控制自己的情绪。我听说过另一种有趣的定义：镇定自如就是提高声音与提起眉毛之间的区别。还有一些抑制焦虑、恐惧的办法就是给自己来一段鼓舞人心的话或者进行一些体育活动——简单的健美操可以在你身上产生意想不到的效果。最后一招对付恐惧的杀手锏就是：准备，然后充满自信，表现出决不会失败的样子。
我们的声音是我们与人交流的主要工具，我们都对声音敏感。所以，买部录音机对着麦克风说话，练习自己的发言，然后再听听自己的话。你甚至可以让别人也来评价一下你的优点、不足或者是缺点。记得德摩斯梯尼和温斯顿·丘吉尔两人练习演讲时都是嘴里含着几颗小石块的。我也曾这样做过，而我可以保证就算你用软心豆粒糖而不是石块，你也可以迅速练就一流的发音。单纯大声朗读有助于改善你的声音并且能够发展你的个人风格。大声读报、读杂志或者读故事给你的孩子听——各种各样的练习都有助你改善语言中的强调、停顿、语速、语调，甚至增加你说话的响亮度。
心理学家告诉我们，绝大多数人实际记忆的能力不足其固有能力的十分之一，那就无异于只用一个汽缸来驱动一辆小汽车。为何多数人只用了那么点记忆能力呢？那是因为他们没有锻炼好用于识记的基本素质。首先，并且最重要的是必须有记忆的强烈欲望。毫无记忆热忱却要将东西记住谈何容易。第二步就是专心致志。我们的成功很大程度上取决于我们的专注能力。亨利·沃德·比彻曾说过，一小时忘我的专注投入所得到的收获胜过多年的空想。另一个关键是重复。我们在学校里通过死记硬背和重复就记住了好些东西。首次听说一个名字时，就复述一下，拼一下，写一下，复习一下，这样你便可以很快记上心。大脑需要的是引子。对于记忆，比方说记名字，押韵联想的作用非凡。我曾遇到过一个叫托尼·戈尔的人，他供职于一家电话公司。我一下子就想到了一个押韵句：托尼的目标是电话线杆。每次见到他，我便立即会记起他的名字并且记得他供职于电话公司。联想得越多，记起来就越容易。联想力求简短，联想的事物越滑稽怪诞，回想起来就越容易。

The Dexterity of Poetry
With the young of both sexes, Poetry is, like love, a passion; but, for much the greater part of those who have been proud of its power over their minds, a necessity soon arises of breaking the pleasing bondage; or it relaxes of itself; —the thoughts being occupied in domestic cares, or the time engrossed by business. Poetry then becomes only an occasional recreation; while to those whose existence passes away in a course of fashionable pleasure, it is a species of luxurious amusement. In middle and declining age, a scattered number of serious persons resort to poetry, as to religion, for a protection against the pressure of trivial employments, and as a consolation for the afflictions of life. And, lastly, there are many, who, having been enamoured of this art in their youth, have found leisure, after youth was spent, to cultivate general literature; in which poetry has continued to be comprehended as a study.

诗歌之灵性
对青年男女来说，诗歌如同爱情一样，是一种激情。不过，即使是为诗歌动人心弦的力量萦绕心灵而骄傲的人，也很快就必需挣脱诗歌那令人愉悦的束缚；或者这种束缚会自然而然地松懈，因为家务占据了头脑，事业耗尽了时间。如此一来, 诗歌就只是偶尔的消遣了。对那些一生都在追求时髦的人来说，诗歌是一种奢侈的娱乐。而少数中老年人则借助于诗歌——就像求助于宗教一样——来缓解琐事带来的压力和抚平生活中的创伤。最后，还有许多自年轻时就迷上了诗歌艺术的爱好者，尽管已不再年轻，他们有了追求文学的闲暇，这时，诗歌被当成了一门学问。

In life we are happiest when...
A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration.
All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony and to partake of the festivities and celebrations. All had a wonderful time.
The bride was gorgeous in her white wedding gown and the groom was very dashing in his black tuxedo. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a proposal, "I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage," she offered. "Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together."
The husband agreed. So each of them went to a separate room in the house and thought of the things that annoyed them about the other. They thought about this question for the rest of the day and wrote down what they came up with.
The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
"I'll start," offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages in fact. As she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband's eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Nothing," the husband replied, "keep reading your list."
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. She neatly placed her list on the table and folded her hands over the top of it.
"Now, you read your list and then we'll talk about the things on both of our lists," she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated, "I don't have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect the way that you are. I don't want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn't want to try and change anything about you."
The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don't really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us, and see the wondrous things before us?

生活中最幸福的时刻
一个男人和他的女朋友结婚，举行了一场盛大的结婚庆典。
所有的朋友和家人都来到结婚典礼上参加欢宴和庆祝活动。大家都过得很开心。
穿着白色婚纱的新娘漂亮迷人，穿着黑色礼服的新郎英俊潇洒。每个人都能看出他们彼此的爱是真诚的。
几个月后，妻子走近丈夫提议说：“我刚才在杂志上看到一篇文章，说的是怎样巩固婚姻。”她说：“我们两个人都各自把对方的小毛病列在一张纸上，然后我们商量一下怎样解决，以便使我们的生活更幸福。”
丈夫同意了。于是他们各自走向不同的房间去想对方的缺点。那一天余下的时间里，他们都在思考这个问题，并且把他们想到的都写下来。
第二天早上，吃早饭的时候，他们决定谈谈彼此的缺点。
“我先开始吧。”妻子说。她拿出她的单子，上面列举了很多条，事实上，足足写满了三页。当她开始念的时候，她注意到丈夫眼里含着泪花。
“怎么啦?”她问。“没什么，”丈夫答道，“继续念吧。”
妻子又接着念。整整三页都念完之后她把单子整齐地放在桌上，两手交叉放在上面。
“现在该你念了，然后我们谈谈所列举的缺点。”她高兴地说。
丈夫平静地说：“我什么也没写，我觉得像你这样就很完美了，我不想让你为我改变什么。你很可爱迷人，我不想让你改变。”
妻子被丈夫的诚实和对她深深的爱和接纳感动了，她转过头去哭起来。
生命中我们有很多的失望、沮丧和烦恼，我们根本不需要寻找。我们美妙的世界充满了美丽、光明、希望。但是，当我们放眼四周时，为什么浪费时间寻找不快、失望和烦恼，而看不到我们面前的美好事物呢？

不做有才华的穷人
世界上满坑满谷都是精明能干、才华横溢、学富五车以及极具天赋之人，我们每天都会见到他们。几天前，我的汽车运转不灵了。我把它开进维修厂，一位年轻的机械工只消几分钟就把它修好了。他仅凭倾听发动机的声音就能确定哪儿有毛病，这让我惊奇不已。然而遗憾的是，光有非凡才华是不够的。
我常常吃惊，为什么有才华的人却只有微薄的收入。前几天我听人说，只有不到5％的美国人年收入在10万美元以上。一位精通药品贸易的商务顾问曾经告诉我，有许多医生、牙医和按摩师生活拮据。以前我总以为他们一毕业，财源便会滚滚而来。这位商务顾问告诉了我一句话：“离发大财，他们还差一项技能。”这句话的意思是说，大部分人还需多学习并掌握一项技能，他们的收入才能呈指数倍增长。以前我提到过，财商是会计、投资、市场营销和法律方面的能力综合。将上述四种专业技能结合起来，以钱生钱就会更容易。说到钱，大部分人所知的唯一技能就是拼命工作。
1969年，我从美国海运学院毕业了。我那有学识的爸爸十分高兴，因为加州标准石油公司录用我为它的油轮队工作。尽管我的未来前程远大，但我还是在6个月后辞职离开了这家公司，加入海军陆战队去学习飞行。对此我那有学识的爸爸非常伤心，而富爸爸则祝贺我做出的决定。
对于有学识的爸爸来说，稳定的工作就是一切。而对于富爸爸来说，学习才是一切。有学识的爸爸以为我上学是为了做一名船长，而富爸爸明白我上学是为了学习国际贸易。因此，在做学生时，我跑过货运，为前往远东及南太平洋的大型货轮、油轮和客轮导航。当我的大部分同班同学，包括迈克，在他们的联谊会会堂举办晚会的时候，我正在日本、泰国、新加坡、中国香港、越南、韩国和菲律宾学习贸易、人际关系和文化。我也参加晚会，但不去任何联谊会，我迅速地成熟起来了。
常言道，“工作（job）就是‘比破产强一点（Just Over Broke）’的缩写”。然而不幸的是，这句话确实适用于千百万人，因为学校没有把财商看作是一种才智，大部分工人都“量入为出”：干活挣钱，支付账单。相反，我劝告年轻人在寻找工作时要看看能从中学到什么，而不是只看能挣到多少。在选择某种特定职业之前或是陷入 “老鼠赛跑（激烈的竞争）”之前，要好好掂量自己到底需要获得什么技能。一旦人们为支付账单而整天疲于奔命，就和那些在小铁轮里不停奔跑转圈的小老鼠一样了。老鼠的小毛腿跑得飞快，小铁轮也转得飞快，可到了第二天早上，他们发现自己依然困在同一个老鼠笼里，那就是：重要的工作。
当我在自己教授的班级上问到“你们当中有多少人做的汉堡包能比麦当劳更好”时，几乎所有的学生都举起了手。我接着问，“如果你们当中大部分人都能做出比麦当劳更好的汉堡包，那为什么麦当劳比你们更能赚钱？” 答案是显而易见的：麦当劳拥有一套出色的运营体系。许多才华横溢的人之所以贫穷的原因，就是因为他们只是专心于做更好的汉堡包，而对运营体系几乎一无所知。世界上到处都是有才华的穷人。在很多情况下，他们之所以贫穷、生活拮据或者收入与其能力不相符，不是因为他们已知的东西，而是因为他们未知的东西。他们只将注意力集中在提高和完善做汉堡包的技术上，却不注意提高有关汉堡包的销售和送货技能。

What will matter?
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no days, no hours or minutes. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will all expire.The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Your gender, skin color, ethnicity will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage and sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

什么才重要？
无论是否准备好，总有一天我们都会走到尽头。那里没有日出，没有白天，没有小时和分钟。你收集的所有东西，不管你珍惜或忘记与否，它们都将流入他人手中。
不管是你得到的或是你欠别人的，你的财产、名誉和权势也都会变成和你毫不相干的东西。
你的怨恨、愤慨、挫折和妒忌最终也将消失。
因此，你的希望、抱负、计划以及行动日程表也将全部结束。当初看得如此重的成功得失也会消失。
你来自何方，住在穷人区还是富人区也都不重要了。
你昔日的漂亮与辉煌也都不重要了，你的性别、肤色、种族地位也将消失。
因此，什么重要呢？怎么衡量你有生之年的价值呢？
重要的不是你买了什么，而是你创造了什么；不是你得到了什么，而是你给予了什么。
重要的不是你成功了，而是你生命的意义。
重要的不是你学到了什么，而是你传授了什么。
重要的是每个行动之中都有正直、同情、勇气和牺牲精神，并且鼓励他人遵从榜样。
重要的不是你的能力，而是你的性格。
重要的不是你认识多少人，而是在你离开后，多少人会认为这是个永远的损失。
重要的是别人会记你多长时间，谁记着你，为什么记着你。
过一种有意义的生活不是一件偶然的事情。
那不是环境的问题，而是选择的问题。
选择有意义的人生吧！

生命中的五个球
几年前，在一所大学的毕业典礼中,可口可乐的首席执行官布赖恩•戴森讲到工作与其他义务的关系：
想象生命是一场不停丢掷五个球于空中的游戏。这五个球分别为工作、家庭、健康、朋友和心灵，而且你很努力地掷着这五个球，不让它们落地。很快地你会了解到工作是一个橡皮球。如果你不幸失手落下它，它还是会弹回来。
但是家庭、健康、朋友和心灵这四个球是用玻璃做成的。一旦你失手落下，它们可能会少了一角，留下无法挽回的记号、刻痕、损坏甚至碎落一地。它们将永远不会跟以前一样。你必须了解这个道理，并且为平衡你的生命而努力。但要怎么才做得到呢？
别拿自己和他人比较，这只会降低了你原有的价值。因为我们都是独一无二的，因为我们每一个人都很特别。
别人认为重要的事不一定是你的目标。只有你才知道什么最适合你。
不要将贴近你的心的人、事物视为理所当然的存在。你必须将他们视为你的生命一般好好地抓牢他们。没有他们，生命将失去意义。
别让你的生命总在依恋过去种种或是寄望未来中逝去。如果你活在每个当下，你就活出了生命中的每一天。
当你还能给予的时候别轻言放弃。只要你不放弃，就有无限延伸的可能。
别害怕承认你并非完美。正因如此，我们才得以藉由这脆弱的细丝紧密地联系在一起。
别害怕遇到危险。正因如此，我们才得以藉由这些机会学习勇敢。
别以爱太难找到作为借口而紧闭你的心扉。最迅速找到爱的方法就是给予你的爱；最快速失去爱的方法就是紧紧地守着你的爱不放；维持爱的最好方式就是给爱一双翅膀。
莫要匆忙地度过你的一生，那匆忙让你忘了曾经到过哪里，也让你忘了你要去哪里。
莫忘记，人类情感上最大的需要是感恩。
莫害怕学习。知识没有重量，它是可以随意携带的珍宝。
莫漫不经心地蹉跎光阴或口无遮拦。时间与言词两者都是一放便收不回来。
生命不是一场赛跑, 而是一步一个脚印的旅程。
过去已成历史，未来充满未知。今天是份礼物：那就是我们称之为“现在”的原因。

To Autumn
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

雾霭迷蒙、硕果芳醇的秋！
使万物成熟的太阳与你结为挚友；
密谋以累累的珠球，
缀满茅屋檐下的葡萄藤；
村舍前青苔遍布的老树，苹果压弯了枝桠，
让所有的果实都熟透；
吹胀了葫芦，鼓起了榛子壳
好塞进甜甜的果仁；又为了蜜蜂
让越来越多过季的花儿结上蓓蕾，
直到它们以为温暖的时光永无止休，
因为夏日早已填满它们的粘巢。
谁不常见你藏身于谷仓？
有时，任谁外出寻找都能发现
你无忧无虑地坐在打麦场上，
发丝随着簸谷的风轻扬；
或者，沉迷于罂粟花香，
你酣睡在收割一半的田野上，
让镰刀歇在下一畦庄稼和田垄的花丛旁；
有时，如拾穗者
你稳稳地顶着满载的收获越过溪流；
或者，耐心地守候在榨果架旁，
你长久地凝视徐徐渗下的酒浆。
春之歌飘落何方？唉，何处觅其踪影？
别想这些了，你也有你的乐音，——
当片片浮云把缓缓将逝的一天照映，
玫瑰色的夕阳晕染了茬梗遍布的田野；
这时，河边垂柳下秋虫的唱吟
交织成悲哀的和声，它们时而飞起
忽而下落，随着微风的轻拂或止息；
长成的群羊在山涧咩咩叫唤；
蟋蟀们在篱下歌唱；而知更鸟
用高音在园中婉转啼鸣；
丛飞的燕子在天空呢喃嘤咛。

If the Dream is Big Enough
I used to watch her from my kitchen window, she seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during recess. A sea of children, and yet to me, she stood out from them all. I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could. I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone. She would practice dribbling and shooting over and over again, sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked directly in my eyes and without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball. I decided that if I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don't count.” Then she smiled and ran towards the court to recap the routine I had seen over and over again. Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her varsity team to victory.
One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft reply. “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at 5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team— much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college. She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She lifted her head from her hands and told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, that nothing could stop her except one thing — her own attitude. He told her again, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don't count.” The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter. She was indeed offered a scholarship, a full ride, to a Division 1, NCAA women's basketball team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.
It's true: If the dream is big enough, the facts don't count.I

为了心中的梦想
我以前常常从厨房的窗户看到她穿梭于操场上的一群男孩子中间，她显得那么矮小。学校在我家的街对面，我可以经常看到孩子们在下课时间打球。尽管有一大群的孩子，但我觉得她跟其他的孩子截然不同。我记得第一天看到她打篮球的情景。看着她在其他孩子旁边兜来转去，我感到十分惊奇。她总是尽力地跳起投篮，球恰好越过那些孩子的头顶飞入篮筐。那些男孩总是拼命地阻止她，但没有人可以做得到。我开始注意到她有时候一个人打球。她一遍遍地练习运球和投篮，有时直到天黑。有一天我问她为什么这么刻苦地练习。她直视着我的眼睛，不加思索地说:“我想上大学。只有获得奖学金我才能上大学。我喜欢打篮球，我想只要我打得好，我就能获得奖学金。我要到大学去打篮球。我想成为最棒的球员。我爸爸告诉我说，心中有目标，风雨不折腰。”说完她笑了笑，跑向篮球场，又开始我之前见过的一遍又一遍的练习。 嘿，我服了她了——她是下定了决心了。我看着她这些年从初中升到高中。每个星期，她带领的学校篮球代表队都能够获胜。
高中那会儿的某一天，我看见她坐在草地上，头埋在臂弯里。我穿过街道，坐到她旁边的清凉的草地上。我轻轻地问出什么事了。“哦，没什么，”她轻声回答，“只是我太矮了。”原来篮球教练告诉她，以五英尺五英寸的身材，她几乎是没有机会到一流的球队去打球的——更不用说会获得奖学金了——所以她应该放弃想上大学的梦想。她很伤心，我也觉得自己的喉咙发紧，因为我感觉到了她的失望。我问她是否与她的爸爸谈过这件事。她从臂弯里抬起头，告诉我，她爸爸说那些教练错了。他们根本不懂得梦想的力量。他告诉她，如果真的想到一个好的大学去打篮球，如果她真的想获得奖学金，任何东西也不能阻止她，除非她自己不愿意。他又一次跟她说：“心中有目标，风雨不折腰。”第二年，当她和她的球队去参加北加利福尼亚州冠军赛时，她被一位大学的招生人员看中了。她真的获得了奖学金，一项全额奖学金，并且能进入美国全国大学体育协会的一队女子甲组篮球队。她将接受她曾梦想并为之奋斗多年的大学教育。
是的，心中有目标，风雨不折腰。I

钢琴诗人肖邦
弗雷德里克•肖邦没有写过交响曲,没有创作过歌剧，连一首弦乐四重奏曲作品也没有，他只写过钢琴曲，那么，他算不算得上是有史以来最伟大的古典作曲家之一？
人声是世界上所有乐器中最富情感的，一直以来，乐器制造者和作曲家们都毕生致力于创作出一种能体现人声的音域和精髓的声音。而从一开始，肖邦便将歌唱或者说歌唱般的流畅风格融入到他几乎所有的钢琴作品之中。对那些聆听过肖邦演奏的人来说，钢琴仿佛就是为他而发明的，而他也似乎是为钢琴而生。直到今天，人们仍在不断地演奏他的作品，演奏次数超过其他人创作的任何一首钢琴曲。肖邦已经向人们证明，一支交响乐队所能发挥的神韵及所有音域范围都能从一首钢琴独奏曲中得到体现。
弗雷德里克·肖邦在1810年生于邻近华沙的一个波兰小镇里。他的母亲是波兰人，父亲是法国人。肖邦的惊人才华在他很小的时候便展露无遗，他七岁时就已经写了几首曲子。到了九岁“高龄”时，他已经在华沙进行公开演奏。像其他在钢琴方面显露出非凡才华的欧洲神童一样，他被称为莫扎特再世。肖邦曾在著名的华沙音乐学院学习音乐。1830年毕业后，为了在欧洲寻求声名和财富，他只身踏上了旅途。在维也纳演出的时候，他得知了俄国入侵波兰的消息。因为有家不能回，他便来到了巴黎，在那里他发现有数千名流亡国外的波兰人。肖邦决定生活在他们这个圈子里，并继续他的演奏和教学的生涯。体质羸弱、面色苍白、轻言轻语而又举止文雅的肖邦得到了巴黎上流社会的垂青。
肖邦创作的钢琴曲摒弃了在钢琴演奏中传统的左右手分工，让与他同时代的人震惊不已。“降D大调前奏曲”就是一个很好的例证。一开始，左手以雨滴般的伴奏切入，同时旋律从右手流淌而出。注意: 在几个小节后，两手进行互换弹奏。
肖邦是小型曲式大师：他使祖国的波罗乃兹舞曲和玛祖卡舞曲得以广泛流传，并以他的练习曲和前奏曲所表现出的卓越才华闻名于世。然而肖邦的夜曲才是他永远的代名词。曲如其名，在这些梦幻般的夜曲中流淌的旋律被许多人誉为最美妙的传世佳作。I

The Gift
It was Christmas 1961. I was teaching in a small town in Ohio where my twenty seven third graders eagerly anticipated the great day of gift giving.
Each day the children produced some new wonder—strings of popcorn, hand made trinkets, and German bells made from wallpaper samples, which we hung from the ceiling. Through it all she remained aloof, watching from afar, seemingly miles away. I wondered what would happen to this quiet child, once so happy, now so suddenly withdrawn. I hoped the festivities would appeal to her. But nothing did.
The day of gift giving finally came. We oohed and aahed over our handiwork as the presents were exchanged. Through it all, she sat quietly watching. I had made a special pouch for her, red and green with white lace. I wanted very much to see her smile. She opened the package so slowly and carefully. I waited but she turned away.
After school the children left in little groups, but she lingered, watching them go out the door. I sat down to catch my breath, hardly aware of what was happening when she came to me with outstretched hands, bearing a small white box, unwrapped and slightly soiled, as though it had been held many times by unwashed, childish hands. "For me?" I asked with a weak smile. She said not a word, but nodded her head. I took the box and gingerly opened it. There inside, glistening green, lay a golden chain. In a flash I knew—she had made it for her mother, a mother she would never see again, a mother who would never hold her or brush her hair or share a funny story, a mother who would never again hear her childish joys or sorrows. A mother who had taken her own life just three weeks before.
I held out the chain. She took it in both her hands, reached forward, and secured the simple clasp at the back of my neck. She stepped back then as if to see that all was well. I looked down at the golden chain, then back at the giver, "Maria, it is so beautiful. She would have loved it." Neither of us could stop the tears. She stumbled into my arms and we wept together. And for that brief moment I became her mother, for she had given me the greatest gift of all: herself.I