事业 · 创业者自述
本杰明·富兰克林:本杰明·富兰克林自传·补录 175
本杰明·富兰克林《本杰明·富兰克林自传》· The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · 领导
Before we had the news of this defeat, the two Doctors Bond came to me with a subscription paper for raising money to defray the expense of a grand firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on receipt of the news of our taking Fort Duquesne. I looked grave, and said it would, I thought, be time enough to prepare for the rejoicing when we knew we should have occasion to rejoice. They seem'd surpris'd that I did not immediately comply with their proposal. "Why the d--l!" says one of them, "you surely don't suppose that the fort will not be taken?" "I don't know that it will not be taken, but I know that the events of war are subject to great uncertainty." I gave them the reasons of my doubting; the subscription was dropt, and the projectors thereby missed the mortification they would have undergone if the firework had been prepared. Dr. Bond, on some other occasion afterward, said that he did not like Franklin's forebodings.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/148
定位:Additional excerpt 175 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
还没收到战败消息时,邦德兄弟拿募捐单找富兰克林,要为庆祝攻下杜肯堡放盛大烟花筹钱。富兰克林板着脸说:等确定有喜可庆再准备也不迟。对方惊讶他不马上答应,反问难道你怀疑攻不下?他答:我不知道攻不攻得下,但我知道战事变数极大。他讲完理由,募捐作罢,发起人也就免了烟花备好却落空的难堪。核心是:别为还没发生的好事提前花钱庆祝。做法是:把庆祝和投入推迟到结果确定之后,先问一句“万一不成,这钱和时间怎么办”。
上下文
富兰克林自传,记1750年代宾夕法尼亚边境战事,当时人们正期待攻下法军据点杜肯堡。
今日一问
你手头有没有为“还没确定的好消息”提前安排的花销或计划?
公版传记;原文逐字取自 Project Gutenberg,仅摘录段落并附全书链接。
你的邮箱
只用于发送原典。不发广告,不卖名单。
本文本为公版;底本与原文链接见上。 版权