英语美文背诵经典——On Punctuality论守时

明德尚行教育陳

A punctual person is in the habit of doing everything at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.

一个守时的人养成了按时做亊的习惯，这样的人言必信，行必果。

The unpunctual man, on the other hand, never does what he has to do with the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. There is a proverb that says,"Time flies never to be recalled". This is very true. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained. Time is more valuable than material things. In fact time is life itself, and the unpunctual man is forever wasting and mismanaging his own valuable asset as well as others'. The unpunctual man is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or to return calls, or to keep appointments promptly. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time and seldom complains of want of it. He knows that he can not get through his immenseamount of work unless he faithfully keeps every appointment promptly and deal with every piece of work when it has to be attended to...

另一方面，不守时的人却从不按时完成他应该做的事情。他 总是匆匆忙忙的，到头来却既浪费了时间、又败坏了自己的名誉。 有句谚语说道：“光阴一去不复返。”此话千真万确。一件东西丢 了可能找回来，而弄丢了时间可就永远找不回来了。时间较之财 富更加珍贵，实际上，时间本身就是生命!因此，那些不守时的人 既在浪费自己的宝贵财富，同时也是在浪费他人的珍贵财产!那 些不守时的人总是在抱怨，说自己没有时间去写回信、没有时间 回电话、或者没有时间按时赴约。然而那些真正有大量亊情要处 理的人则会小心翼翼地利用时间，很少抱怨说时间不够用。他们 知道，除非自己按时赴约和按时处理好应处理的每一件事情，否 则他们是不可能做完这一大堆事情的……

Failure to be punctual is a sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to a dinner and arrives later than expected, he keeps all the other guests and the host waiting for him alone. This is great impoliteness.

不守时是对他人极大的不尊重。如果一个人应邀去参加晚 宴，却没有按时出席，结果让所有的客人和主人等他一个人—— 这就是非常的无礼。

Unpunctuality is very harmful when it comes to doing one's duty, whether private or public. Imagine how it would be if those who are entrusted with important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men. And the unpunctual man is a source of annoyance both to others and to himself.

履行义务的时候——无论是公事还是私事——不守时是非 常有害的。设想一下，如果把一件重大使命委托给一个不守时 的人，结果他没有在恰当的时间和地点完成这项任务，那么结果 会怎么样呢?如果一个人以不守时而“闻名”，他怎么可能得到 朋友和同亊的信任!不守时的人既惹别人生气，又弄得自己不快活。