Samuel Smiles：Thrift, Excerpt 142

Notwithstanding, however, the discouraging circumstances to which we have referred, we must believe that in course of time, as men's nature becomes improved by education--secular, moral, and religious--they may be induced to make a better use of their means, by considerations of prudence, forethought, and parental responsibility. A German writer speaks of the education given to a child as _a capital_--equivalent to a store of money--placed at its disposal by the parent. The child, when grown to manhood, may employ the education, as he might employ the money, badly; but that is no argument against the possession of either. Of course, the value of education, as of money, chiefly consists in its proper use. And one of the advantages of knowledge is, that the very acquisition of it tends to increase the capability of using it aright; which is certainly not the case with the accumulation of money.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
Locator：Excerpt 142 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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