Samuel Smiles：Thrift, Excerpt 55

Economy with this object is an important duty. Without economy, no man can be just--no man can be honest. Improvidence is cruelty to women and children; though the cruelty is born of ignorance. A father spends his surplus means in drink, providing little, and saving nothing; and then he dies, leaving his destitute family his lifelong victims. Can any form of cruelty surpass this? Yet this reckless course is pursued to a large extent among every class. The middle and upper classes are equally guilty with the lower class. They live beyond their means. They live extravagantly. They are ambitious of glare and glitter--frivolity and pleasure. They struggle to be rich, that they may have the means of spending,--of drinking rich wines, and giving good dinners.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
Locator：Excerpt 55 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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