You are what you do   --- Mayling Soong

     If the past has taught us anything, it is that every cause brings effect --- every action has a consequence. This thought, in my opinion, is the moral foundation of the universe, it applies equally in the world and the next.

     We Chinese have a saying: "If a man plants melons, he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans. "And this is true of every man's life: good begets good, and evil leads to evil.

     True enough, the sun shines on the saint and sinner alike, and too often it seems that the wicked wax and prosper. But we can say with certitude that, with the individual as with the nation, the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion, for, unceasingly, life keeps books on us all.

     In the end, we are all the sum total of our actions. Character cannot be counterfeited, nor can it be put on and cast off as if it were a garment to meet the whim of the moment. Like the markings on wood which are ingrained in the very heart of the tree, character requires time and nurture for growth and development.

     Thus also, day by day, we write our own destiny, for inexorably we become what we do. This, I believe, is the supreme logic and the law of life.

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引起，招致Tyranny begets rebellion. 暴政引發叛亂。

壞的；缺德的；邪惡的[R][（+of）][+to-v]He denied that he had done anything wicked. 他否認做過任何邪惡的勾當。

The judge inexorably ruled that the defendant be sentenced to life imprisonment. 法官不為所動地作出了終身監禁的裁決。

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