李白(701- 762), 是中国唐朝时期著名的诗人，他小时候对学习很不感兴趣，经常跑到外边玩儿。一天，李白在河边发现一位老婆婆竟然在磨一根铁棒子。李白觉得很好奇，就走过去问老婆婆在干什么，原来老婆婆的孙女要学绣花，她要给孙女做一根绣花针。 李白听完以后，像大部分孩子一样哈哈大笑，因为他认为把铁棒子磨成绣花针太浪费时间了，等老婆婆磨好了，她孙女可能也变成老婆婆了。可是，老婆婆自信地告诉他：“只要功夫深，铁杆磨成针。” 听完老婆婆的回答，李白突然明白了一个道理：无论做什么事情，只要坚持就可能成功。从此，李白就开始努力学习、积累知识，最终成为一名伟大的诗人。 看完这个谚语故事，你知道努力和坚持对成功有多么重要了吧？ 功夫 [gōng fu] workmanship; skill 铁杵磨成针[tiě chǔ mó chénɡ zhēn] an iron pestle can be ground down to a needle — perseverance will prevail 老婆婆[lǎo po pó] granny(used by children in addressing an old woman) 绣花[xiù huā]embroider; do embroidery Li Bai (701- 762) was a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty of China. When he was young, Li Bai was not interested in learning at all, and he often went out playing. One day, Li Bai saw an old woman grinding an iron pestle by the river. He felt so curious that he went over and asked the old woman what she was doing . It turned out that she was making a needle for her granddaughter to learn embroidery. Having heard this, Li Bai laughed as most kids would do, because he thought it was a waste of time to grind an iron pestle into a needle and that by the day the needle was made, her granddaughter would have turned into an old woman herself. However, the old woman told him with confidence: "As long as you work hard enough, an iron pestle can be ground down to a needle." Suddenly Li Bai realized that perseverance would help one succeed in everything. From then on, Li Bai began to study hard and accumulate knowledge. He finally became a great poet! After reading this story, you must have learned how important hard work and perseverance are to success.