原文翻译：
当我写这本书的时候，我正坐在巴黎的咖啡厅俯瞰卢森堡公园，看着圣米歇尔大道。圣米歇尔大道在巴黎可能是历史最悠久的，而且它还拥有丰富的文学历史。维克多·雨果住过这边好几个街区。曾今喝咖啡的格特鲁德·斯泰因和参与社交的弗朗西斯·斯科特·基·菲茨杰拉德仅一箭之隔。海明威曾在这里的人行道上徘徊，他的书渗透到他的脑海中,葡萄酒也无疑渗透进了他的血液中。
我来到法国就是想摆脱一切杂念。在这里，没有搞笑的新闻，没有邮件，没有社会责任，没有设定的计划…只有这一件事。在我的《The Tim Ferriss Show》节目中，我已经整理了近200位我采访过的世界顶级表演家的经验，而且目前这些的下载量已经突破了1亿。这其中包括：国际象棋天才，电影明星，四星上将，职业运动员和对冲基金经理。这真是个“百科全书”。
他们中的很多人，已然成为了商业中的合作者和创业者，并且从投资领域到独立制片人都有他们的身影。所以，我从他们身上学到了很多的大智慧，除了我们的谈话记录，还有在一起锻炼,参加葡萄酒爵士演奏会，测试信息的交流，一起用餐，甚至是深夜的电话采访。在每一次的情景采访中，我都会比那些所谓头条新闻还要了解他们。
由于我将这些经验牢记在心，所以我生活的各个方面都有了进步。但这只是冰山一角，大部分的精华还是在这几千页的转录本和手抄本中。更重要的是我渴望有机会将这一切提炼成一个剧本。
译者笔录：
作者之所以去法国，除了想排除一切杂念，他其实也是在效仿那些大文豪。所以作者去了巴黎，去了圣米歇尔大道上的咖啡厅，去俯瞰美丽的卢森堡公园，去体会那些大文豪所能体会到的感受，为自己的文章注入灵感。虽然看起来有效仿的意思在里面，但那么多大文豪去到这里肯定是有原因的，但我相信每个人的感受有相同的地方也有不同的地方。相同的大概就是巴黎的人文环境和圣米歇尔大道的文学历史，那些不同的就是在相同的基础上所产生的自己独有的感受，作者就是想站在巨人的肩膀上去思考然后去践行。
原文：
As Write this, I’m sitting in cafe in Paris overlooking the Luxembourg Garden, just off of Rue Saint-Jacques. Rue Saint-Jacques is likely the oldest road in Paris , and it has a rich literary history. Victor Hugo lived a few blocks from where I’m sitting. Gertrude Stein drank coffee and F.Scott Fitzgerald socialized within a stone’s throw. Hemingway wandered up and down the sidewalks, his books percolating in his mind , wine no doubt percolating in his blood.
I came to France to take a break from everything. No comical media, no email, no social commitments, no set plans… except one project.The month had been set aside to review all of the lessons I’d learned from nearly 200 world-class performers I’d interviewed on The Tim Ferriss Show, which recently passed 100,000,000 downloads. The guests included chess prodigies, movie stars, four-star generals, pro athletes, and hedge fund managers. It was a motley crew.
More than a handful of them had since become collaborators in business and creative projects, spanning from investments to indie film. As a result, I’d absorbed a lot of their wisdom outside of our recordings, whether over workouts, wine-infused jam sessions, test message exchanges, dinners, or late-night phone calls. In every case , I’d gotten to know them well beyond the superficial headlines in the media.
My life had already improved in every area as a result of the lessons I could remember. But that was the tip of the iceberg. The majority of the gems were still lodged in thousands of pages of transcripts and hand-scribbled notes. More than anything, I longed for the chance to distill everything into a playbook.
未完待续
推荐阅读：
《巨人的工具》
—— 蒂莫西.费里斯 著
