Samuel Smiles：Thrift, Excerpt 145

We must therefore believe that as intelligence extends amongst the working class, and as a better moral tone pervades them, there will be a rapid improvement in their sober, thrifty and provident habits; for these form the firmest and surest foundations for social advancement. There is a growing desire, on the part of the more advanced minds in society, to see the working men take up their right position. They who do society's work,--who produce, under the direction of the most intelligent of their number, the wealth of the nation,--are entitled to a much higher place than they have yet assumed. We believe in this "good time coming," for working men and women,--when an atmosphere of intelligence shall pervade them--when they will prove themselves as enlightened, polite, and independent as the other classes of society; and, as the first and surest step towards this consummation, we counsel them to PROVIDE--to provide for the future as well as for the present--to provide, in times of youth and plenty, against the times of adversity, misfortune, and old age.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
Locator：Excerpt 145 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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