He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings.
devote oneself to：致力于；献身于
...they are disintegrating elements, which break up the straight line of effort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless.
break up：打碎；破碎；结束
懒惰者的几个级别
There Are Many Grades of Idleness
亨利·沃德·比彻 / Henry Ward Beecher
The bread which we solicit of God, he gives us through our own industry. Prayer sows it, and industry reaps it.
As industry is habitual activity in some useful pursuit, so, not only inactivity, but also all efforts without the design of usefulness, are of the nature of idleness. The supine sluggard is no more indolent than the bustling do nothing.
Men may walk much, and read much, and talk much, and pass the day without an unoccupied moment, and yet be substantially idle; because industry requires, at least the intention of usefulness. But gadding, gazing, lounging, mere pleasure-mongering, reading for the relief of ennui—these are as useless as sleeping, or dozing, or the stupidity of a surfeit.
There are many grades of idleness; and veins of it run through the most industrious life. We shall indulge in some descriptions of the various classes of idlers. and leave the reader to judge, if he be an indolent man, to which class he belongs.
Long ago the birds have finished their matins, the sun has advanced full high, the dew has gone from the grass, and labors of industry are far in progress, when our sluggard, awakened by his very efforts to maintain sleep, slowly merges to perform life's great duty of feeding—with him, second only in importance to sleep.
It is yet early spring; there is ice in the north; and the winds are hearty: his tender skin shrinks from exposure, and he waits for milder days. He sleeps long and late, he wakes to stupidity, with indolent eyes sleepily rolling over neglected work; neglected because it is too cold in spring, and too hot in summer, and too laborious at all times,—a great coward in danger, and therefore very blustering in safety. His hands run to waste, his fences are dilapidated, a shattered house—this is the very castle of indolence.
Another idler as useless, but vastly more active than the last, attends closely to every one' s business, except his own. His wife earns the children' s bread, and his; He knows all the stories of all the families that live in the town. If he can catch a stranger at the tavern in a rainy day, he pours out a strain of information, a pattering of words, as thick as the rain-drops out of doors. He has good advice to everybody, how to save, how to make money, how to do everything; but alas!But what useful thing do these busy buzzing idlers perform?
We introduce another idler. He follows no vocation; he only follows those who do. Sometimes he sweeps along the streets, with consequential gait; sometimes perfumes it with wasted odors of tobacco. He also haunts sunny benches, or breezy piazzas. His business is to see; his desire to be seen; he gambles and swears, and fights but still he is a man of honor.
...
It would be endless to describe the wiles of idleness—how it creeps upon men, how much time it purloins from the scholar, from the professional man, and from the artisan. It steals minutes, it clips off the edges of hours, and at length takes possession of days. Where it has its will, it sinks and drowns employment; indolence makes labor heavy; scatters the attention; puts us to our tasks with wandering thoughts, with irresolute purpose, and with dreamy visions. Thus when it may, it plucks out hours and rules over them; and where this may not be, it lurks around them to impede the sway of industry, and turn her seeming toils to subtle idleness. Against so mischievous an enchantress, we should be duly armed. I shall, therefore, describe the advantages of industry, and the evils of indolence.
我们恳求上帝赐予我们面包，可他让我们通过自己的劳动获得。我们遵循上帝的安排，将种子播种，并收获果实。
勤奋是一种习惯，只要我们坚持追求一些有益的东西。因此，停滞不前与设置无用计划的人都是懒惰者。整日忙乱之人并不比游手好闲之人勤奋。
一个人行万里路、读万卷书、谈天下事，整日不得闲，却还是一个懒惰者。因为勤奋要求我们将注意力集中在一些有益之事上，而不是漫无目的地做事。终日里闲逛，目光呆滞，懒洋洋地躺在某处、纯粹的玩乐，以及为了打发时间的阅读——这些与睡觉、打瞌睡或暴饮暴食一样，都是愚蠢的做法。
可以通过懒惰者的生活将他们分为几个等级。读者可以随意评议各个等级的懒惰者，他们自己也可以通过本文来“对号入座”。
当鸟儿早已鸣叫多时，太阳高高升起，小草上的露水也已经滑落时，勤劳的人们早已工作去了，懒惰者却还在床上，不愿从睡梦中醒来。然而醒来后要做的最伟大的事就是吃饭，对他们来说，睡觉是排第二位的事。
早春时节，北方还有冰雪未融，风吹得还是很猛烈，懒惰者那柔嫩的皮肤经不起风吹，于是他们等待温暖日子的到来。他们只是睡觉，再迷迷糊糊地醒来，懒惰的睡眼看不到未做的工作，理由是春天太冷、夏天太热，所有时节都不适宜工作——大量工作堆积，致使生活受到严重威胁。双手失去力量，栅栏也荒废了，房子也成了残垣断壁——这就是懒惰者的“非常城堡”。
另一类懒惰者也属无用之辈，尽管他比上一类人忙得多，关心每个人的每件事，除了他自己。甚至要他的妻子掌管他与孩子的生计，他知道镇上所有家庭的事。如果他雨天在酒馆见到了一个陌生人，他会将这件事以迅雷不及掩耳之势传播开来，密度之大就像打在门上的雨点。他热衷于向每个人提意见，如，怎样挣钱，怎样做事。但是，唉！整日为别人操劳的懒惰者又为自己做了什么有益的事呢？
我们再介绍一类懒惰者。他没有工作，只会跟着别人做。有时，他迈着轻盈的步伐穿梭在大街小巷，有时抽着烟。他也会躺在长椅上沐浴阳光，或是在有微风拂过的广场上散步。他的工作就是“看”，他的愿望就是“被关注”；他会去赌博，打架，但他仍自视为有尊严之人。
……
再这样列举下去，可能就没有尽头了——他怎样接近他人，又是怎样从学者、专家、技工那里窃取时间的。他让时间慢慢流逝，失去了宝贵的岁月。哪里有这种恶习，哪里就有失业人员；懒惰会使工作更繁重，会分散注意力，使我们关注一些无用之事，并且犹豫不决，整日幻想不断。因此，我们要抽出一些时间来摒弃这些恶习。他或许正在阻止你勤奋的蔓延，用一张无形的网罩住你。因此，我们要抗击有害的“妖怪”，适时防卫。我们要进一步认识勤奋的益处与懒惰的危害。
勤奋近乎成功。
solicit [s'lisit] v. 恳求；征求；请求
Through prayer, we solicit aid from divine power.
通过祈祷，我们恳求来自神圣力量的帮助。
indolent ['indlnt] adj. 无痛的；懒惰的
Those who revel in the Internet tend to lead an indolent life.
沉迷于网络的人往往过着懒散的生活。
surfeit ['s:fit] n. 过度；饮食过度；恶心
A surfeit of rich food is bad for you.
多吃油腻食物对身体有害。
idler ['aidl] n. 懒汉；游手好闲的人
A young idler, and old beggar.
少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。
我们恳求上帝赐予我们面包，可他让我们通过自己的劳动获得。
勤奋是一种习惯，只要我们坚持追求一些有益的东西。
他也会躺在长椅上沐浴阳光，或是在有微风拂过的广场上散步。
