Chapter 261 - 255: The Matthew Effect at Midnight
Mr. Deng leaned on his crutches and looked down at the densely packed students with a smile, "Life requires grand goals and diligent pursuit of them."
"And it’s unrealistic to expect life to be smooth sailing. The grander the goal, the bigger the setbacks one will encounter in the process of achieving it. At such times, we need to use tenacious will to overcome difficulties and never give up. The spirit of perseverance is an important guarantee of success. Those who lack determination often abandon their endeavors halfway or fail just as they are about to succeed."
"Opportunities always flash by occasionally, they don’t come knocking every day. When the timing isn’t right, you need to actively prepare for your plan and goals. Only then, when the opportunity arises, might you seize it with greater certainty and not let it slip away."
"Goals should be kept in your heart, not hung on your lips. It’s only through action that we achieve results; mere talk without action leads to nothing."
He laughed and continued, "This is from the speech I’ve been giving. I’ve said it so many times I’ve memorized it."
Everyone laughed at this, then he waved his hand for silence and his expression turned serious again: "You are the university students of the post-1977 generation, you should appreciate more than anyone the difficulty of obtaining this chance to learn."
He went on, "You should feel that our country needs talents! Kids, our nation needs talents!"
For a moment, the vast auditorium was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the only sounds were the thumping of everyone’s hearts and the heartfelt cries of an old man.
After taking a breath, he continued, "The state will provide you with as many learning opportunities as possible. We are all children of the motherland, and we study not to become officials, but to serve the country!"
Below, there was a round of applause. Mr. Deng moved his legs a little, then smiled and added, "Finally, I will quote a saying of our great leader as the closing statement for today’s speech."