We like to imagine that successful people are truly self-made, rising to prominence based solely on their own hard work and genius. But the truth is that everyone, even the great figures of history, needs a little help along the way.
我们乐于认为成功者完全是凭借自己的努力和天赋而声名远播。但其实每个人，甚至是历史上的诸多伟人，在成功的道路上也需要他人的援助。我们常说，"每个成功男人的背后都有一位成功的女人"，那么这篇文章前十君要说的就是"每个成功的伟人背后，都有一位绝世好‘基友'"。
10.Genghis Khan's Adviser
10.成吉思汗的辅臣
Yelu Chucai is the unknown figure behind the great success of Genghis Khan's Mongolian empire. Not a Mongol himself, he had nomadic Khitan ancestry, but grew up in China. Captured by the Mongols, he met the Khan at 28 and quickly impressed him with his vast knowledge and administrative talent. Nicknamed "Urtu Saqal" for his long beard, he soon became one of Genghis's most important advisers.
在成吉思汗统治下的蒙古帝国，有一位不知名的人物，名叫耶律楚材。他并非蒙古人，祖先是游牧契丹人，后在中原长大。耶律楚材年轻时被蒙古人抓获，并在28岁那一年见到了成吉思汗，可汗很快为他的博学和治国才学所折服，而他也迅速成为成吉思汗的重要辅臣之一。耶律楚材"身长八尺，美髯宏声"，因其长长的胡须而获"长髯人"之称。
Chucai was most notable for convincing the Mongols to tax conquered cities instead of destroying them, arguing that the money and manpower gained from the cities could fund future conquests. With this line of reasoning, he almost single-handedly averted a Mongol plan to wipe out the northern Chinese peasantry in order to return the land to pasture.When Genghis's son and successor Ogodei mocked him for always pleading on the people's behalf, Chucai famously responded that empires could be conquered on horseback, but never ruled from it. Ogodei apparently came to agree, since he retained Chucai as his chief adviser after the death of his father. However, his fellow advisers conspired against him and he fell out of favor until his death, when he was buried in great splendor by the Mongols who had once been his captors.
耶律楚材最重要的贡献是成功劝谏统治者建立赋税制度，放弃屠城、残害百姓。他主张税收所得的财政以及人力培养可以为国家社稷养精蓄锐。蒙古人当时为了退耕还牧，计划铲除所有中原北方的农民，而耶律楚材正是靠着这一主张，几乎是单凭一人之力阻止了这一计划。成吉思汗去世后，他的儿子窝阔台继承皇位，这位新皇帝曾因为耶律楚材一心为百姓辩护而嘲笑他。耶律楚材则以一句治世名言回答皇帝："天下虽得之马上，不可以马上治。"窝阔台听闻此言，无不赞同，于是他也将耶律楚材视为他的首要辅臣，保留了成吉思汗在世时楚材的地位。然而他的同僚们则密谋陷害他，于是他不再得到皇上的支持，直至离世。耶律楚材死后得到了高级别待遇，蒙古人将这位曾经的俘虏、后来的治世能臣风光大葬。
9.迪斯尼的老伙计
Great minds think alike and Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks were no exception. The pair became firm friends while working at the Pesman-Rubin commercial art agency in Kansas City. They soon teamed up to form Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists, which didn't last long. The flamboyant Disney eventually set off for Hollywood and formed his own production company, while the timid Iwerks remained in Kansas City doing animation for ad agencies. But Disney knew his friend had real talent and encouraged him to take a chance and join him out in California. In 1924, Iwerks agreed and Disney gave him a 20 percent ownership stake in the company.
都说英雄所见略同，志同道合者方为朋友，沃特·迪斯尼和乌布·伊沃克斯就是这样的朋友。这两位在堪萨斯城的普斯曼-鲁宾商业艺术工作室工作时成为了挚友。很快，二人便成立了伊沃克斯-迪斯尼商业艺术团队，但这一团队于不久后解散。当时风光无限的迪斯尼最终选择前往好莱坞，并成立了自己的制作公司，而不愿出去的伊沃克斯则继续呆在堪萨斯城，为广告公司制作动画。然而，迪斯尼知道他的这位朋友有真才实学，于是鼓励伊沃克斯抓住机会来加州加入他的公司。1924年，伊沃克斯答应了，迪斯尼将公司20%的股权赠与伊沃克斯。
Not long after they began working together, a rift occurred between Disney and Charlie Mintz, the distributor of Disney's popular "Oswald The Lucky Rabbit" shorts. Since Mintz owned the rights to the character, he fired Disney and then hired most of his animators out from under him. But Iwerks refused to leave his friend and the pair quickly created a replacement character: Mickey Mouse. Iwerks animated the early Mickey shorts almost by himself, which required him to turn out an incredible 600 drawings per day. Luckily, the shorts were a massive success and saved the company. Sadly, Disney and Iwerks had a falling-out a few years later and Iwerks left the company to strike out on his own. But together they had already changed animation history. While Disney was the brain behind Mickey, Iwerks was the animator that brought him to life.
然而好景不长，两人合作没多久，迪斯尼与查理·名茨之间发生隔阂，名茨是迪斯尼热门动画短片《幸运兔子奥斯华》的经销商。因为名茨拥有这一动画形象的版权，所以他解雇了迪斯尼，进而又从迪斯尼手下挖来了一大部分动画师。然而伊沃克斯则选择留在迪斯尼的身边，这对"好基友"很快创作出一个新的动画人物：米老鼠。早期的米老鼠动画短片几乎是由伊沃克斯一人创作完成，这使得伊沃克斯每天得画600张图纸，实在令人赞叹。令人欣慰的是，这一短片收效显著，获得巨大成功，也因此挽救了迪斯尼的公司。不过令人遗憾的是，迪斯尼和伊沃克斯在几年之后便遭遇滑铁卢，再后来伊沃克斯离开了公司，自己出去打拼。但是那时他们二人已经改变了动画史。尽管迪斯尼为米老鼠创作了故事情节，但却是伊沃克斯赋予了米老鼠生命和活力。
8.The Wright Brothers' Mentor
8.莱特兄弟的导师
It is said that while the Wright brothers taught the world to fly, Octave Chanute taught the Wright brothers how to fly. A self-taught engineer, Octave Chanute became famous and successful for his unusual and creative designs. Among other things, he was the first person to realize that wood could be preserved by treating it with creosote. But Chanute's real passion was flight. At the age of 54, he decided to focus his energies on developing the budding field of aviation.
人们常说，虽然莱特兄弟让世人看到了人类的飞翔，然而却是奥克塔夫·沙尼特教会了他俩如何飞翔。奥克塔夫·沙尼特，一位自学成才的工程师，以其创造性，不寻常的设计而闻名遐迩。除此之外，他是第一位发现木材可以经过木榴油处理而得到妥善保存的人。但是沙尼特真正的兴趣在于飞行。54岁那一年，他决定全身心投入飞机制造业。
Before Chanute, the study of flight was carried out haphazardly by independent researchers around the world. Almost single-handedly, Chanute turned it into a cohesive field of study. He started lengthy correspondences with anyone he could find working on the topic, collecting and collating their findings. He organized the first scientific aeronautical conferences and financially supported pioneers like Louis Mouillard and Otto Lilienthal. He debunked false breakthroughs and gathered the real ones in his classic handbook Progress In Flying Machines. He carried out numerous experiments of his own, happily sharing his data with anyone who was interested. The Chanute Glider was the most advanced aircraft of its time.Chanute took a particular interest in the Wright brothers, who frequently wrote to him for advice. Their 1900 glider was based on his research, and Chanute often sent his assistants to help the brothers out. He was the one who suggested that they should conduct their experiments in a sandy location with strong winds, which prompted their move to Kitty Hawk. He believed more than anyone that the Wrights would succeed in achieving powered flight, which they did in 1903.Sadly, Chanute fell out with the brothers in 1905, when they became involved in patent disputes with other early aviators. Chanute had never patented his own work, believing that technical knowledge should be distributed freely. He had always dreamed that the ability to fly would bring about a new age of enlightenment and saw the Wrights' desire to control the new technology as selfish. Happily, they later reconciled enough that Wilbur Wright delivered Chanute's eulogy.
此前，有关飞机的研究都分散于世界各地，并不系统。几乎是凭沙尼特一人之力将飞机相关领域的研究串联起来。凡是能与飞机挂钩的人，他都与之联系，收集并校勘他们的研究成果。沙尼特举办了首届科学航空会议，并出资支持路易·莫拉德和奥托·李林塔尔研究飞机。沙尼特还在自己的《飞行器的进展》一书中揭露了那些不实的飞行研究，并收录了很多真实的研究进展。他也曾进行过无数次实验，并乐于与同道之人分享结果。而"沙尼特滑翔机"也是当时最先进的飞机。沙尼特非常看好莱特兄弟，兄弟二人常常给他写信，请求指教。莱特1900滑翔机就是在沙尼特研究的基础上制成的，沙尼特也经常派助手前去帮助兄弟俩。正是沙尼特向莱特兄弟建议在有强风扫过的沙丘上进行飞行试验，他们这才选择了基蒂霍克沙丘。没有谁比沙尼特还要坚信莱特兄弟一定会在动力飞行方面有所建树，1903年，莱特兄弟真的成功了。然而遗憾的是，1905年，莱特兄弟与其他飞行研究前辈们发生专利纠纷，沙尼特也因此与兄弟二人发生争吵，关系进入冰点。沙尼特从来没有为自己的研究申请专利，他认为技术知识应该大家自由分享，相互学习。他总是期盼飞行可以开启一个新的启蒙时代，所以他认为莱特兄弟垄断新技术是一种自私的表现。不过还好，他们后来和解了，沙尼特去世后，维尔伯·莱特还在沙尼特的葬礼上致悼词了呢。
7.苹果公司的第三个创始人
Of course, most people have heard of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, but there was actually a third Apple co-founder: Ronald Wayne. The engineer's involvement with Apple started when he met Steve Jobs while working at Atari in the '70s. Jobs asked for Wayne's help drafting the original partnership agreement that established Apple. After Wayne mediated a dispute between Jobs and Wozniak, they asked him to come on board as a partner. Wayne was given 10 percent of the company, allowing him to act as a sort of tiebreaker between Jobs and Wozniak, who each got 45 percent of the shares. Wayne also designed Apple's first logo, wrote the company's first operating manual, and drew up most of the documents. As Wozniak explained in his autobiography, Wayne "seemed to know all the things we didn't."
说到苹果公司创始人，无人不知史蒂夫·乔布斯，无人不晓史蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克。但实际上，苹果公司还有第三位创始人，那就是罗纳德·韦恩。70年代时，这位工程师在雅达利工作时，遇到了乔布斯，而正是那个时候，他开始了与苹果公司的情缘。乔布斯请韦恩帮忙起草一份原始合伙契约，这份契约的内容与成立苹果公司有关。韦恩做了乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克的和事佬后，他俩邀请韦恩成为公司董事会的一员。他拥有公司10%的股份，乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克各拥有45%。而在乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克发生分歧时，韦恩的角色就是仲裁者。韦恩还设计了苹果公司的第一个商标，制作了公司第一份用户手册，并且起草了很多文件。正如沃兹尼亚克在自传中说道，"我们不了解的，韦恩好像都知道。"
But Wayne was a veteran of several failed business ventures and he feared Apple would also go under, putting him into debt. Additionally, he was significantly older than Jobs or Wozniak and felt unwilling to put in the relentless work required to make Apple a success. Less than a month after the company was formed, he sold his shares to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. He was later paid an additional $1,500 to forfeit any claims on the company. Wayne's stock would be worth as much as $35 billion today. However, Wayne insists that he doesn't regret leaving Apple, since he lacked any passion for computing. In fact, he's never even owned an Apple machine, feeling too familiar with Microsoft Windows to bother switching. As he told CNN, "What can I say? You make a decision based on your understanding of the circumstances, and you live with it."
但是韦恩曾多次投资企业失败，他担心新兴的苹果公司会让他再次陷入债务危机。不仅如此，最重要一点，他比乔布斯或沃兹尼亚克的年纪大，不愿意为了苹果的成功而进入癫狂的工作状态。所以公司成立不到一个月，他就以800美金交易额把自己的股份卖给了乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克。后来因丧失公司债权，又获得了1500美金的补偿。韦恩的股份若放在今天，可值350亿美元。然而，韦恩坚持称自己并不后悔离开苹果，因为他当时对从事电脑工作没有任何兴趣。其实，他自己也从来不曾拥有苹果的产品，他觉得已经习惯使用微软系统了，不愿意再麻烦换系统。他在接受CNN采访时说："我还能说什么呢？人都是情势所迫做出了决定，而无论这个决定的结果如何，你都要去承受。"
6.Martin Luther King's Twin
6.马丁·路德·金的好兄弟
Today, Ralph Abernathy is not as well-known as he should be. In part, that's due to the scandal caused by his book, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, which very briefly mentioned that Martin Luther King Jr. had engaged in extramarital affairs, including on the night before his death. The book made Abernathy a pariah among many of his former comrades, with Jesse Jackson writing that it "appeals to the most prurient tendencies in current public life and gives comfort to the civil rights movement's enemies." But during King's life, there was no one closer to him than Ralph Abernathy.
如今，很多人都不知道拉尔夫·拉伯内亚是谁，而他本应该很受欢迎。那么为什么事实却是如此呢？从某种程度上来说，原因要归咎于一本书引发的丑闻，在他这本《众墙坍塌》一书中，简要提到了马丁·路德·金的婚外情秘事，甚至还说到了马丁·路德·金被杀害前一晚的情事。 正是这些内容让拉尔夫直接遭到了之前很多"战友"的蔑视和吐槽，杰西·杰克逊甚至写道，这本书"不仅吸引了社会上很多好色之徒的注意力，而且还让抵制民权运动的人们看笑话了。"但是，马丁·路德·金生前最亲近的人，就是拉尔夫·拉伯内亚。
In fact, King even described Abernathy as his best friend in his last sermon before he was assassinated. Abernathy was King's closest ally and confidant at the height of the civil rights struggle, and King consulted him before all key decisions. They were basically inseparable, sharing everything from meals to prison cells, to the point that it's hard to find a public photo of King without Abernathy visible in the background. Even the famous picture of King meeting Malcolm X has Abernathy standing right between them. They were soon referred to as the movement's twins, while Abernathy was dubbed King's alter ego. Abernathy stayed with King right up until his assassination in 1968. They were standing on their hotel balcony when Abernathy stepped inside to put on some cologne. It probably saved his life. King was shot by a sniper mere seconds later.
事实上，金在被刺杀前的最后一次宣讲中，还提到拉尔夫是他的挚友。在民权运动斗争高潮期间，他是金最亲密的盟友和知己，在做出重大决策前，金也总会听听拉尔夫的意见。他们两人形影不离，一起吃饭，一起坐牢，而且从媒体上的照片里，你几乎找不到一张是没有拉尔夫陪伴在金身旁的。甚至那张著名的金与黑人领袖马尔科姆·埃克斯会面的照片中都有拉尔夫陪伴的身影。很快他们被称为"民权运动双雄"，而拉尔夫也被称为金的"黄金挚友"。
评论
打印
