The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in mysellf. That was basic. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would have collapsed and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

It took my years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the most elementary things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was mocking me and I was hurt. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take it with you, “he urged me, “ and roll it around.” The words stuck in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook school for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.

All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.



我必须学会的最艰难的一课就是相信自己，这是基本条件。如做不到这一点，我就会精神崩溃，只能坐在前门廊的摇椅中过一辈子。相信自己并不仅仅指独自走下不熟悉楼梯的那种自信，那只是一部分。我指的范围更大：它是一种信念，相信自己虽然生理有缺陷，却是一个真正的人，一个有进取心的人；相信在形形色色的世人中间，经过努力，我可以找到适合自己的特殊位置。

我花了很长时间才树立并不断加强这一信念。这要从最简单的事做起。有一次，一个人给我一个室内玩的棒球，我以为他在嘲笑我，心里很难受。“我不能玩，”我说。“你拿着，”他竭力劝我，“在地上滚。”他的话在我脑子里生了根。“在地上滚！”滚球使我听见它朝哪滚动。我于是知道了如何去实现这个我曾认为不可能达到的目标：大棒球。在费城奥富布鲁斯克盲人学校，我发明了一种很受人欢迎的棒球游戏，我们称它为地面球。

这一辈子我设立了一系列目标，然后努力达到，一次一个。当然我必须了解自己的能力所及。若开始就知道某个目标达不到却硬要去实现，那不会有任何好处，只会自讨苦吃。虽然有时我也失败过，但总体来说我还在进步。