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 86
本杰明·富兰克林《本杰明·富兰克林自传》· The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · 领导
We have an English proverb that says, "He that would thrive, must ask his wife." It was lucky for me that I had one as much dispos'd to industry and frugality as myself. She assisted me cheerfully in my business, folding and stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen rags for the papermakers, etc., etc. We kept no idle servants, our table was plain and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was a long time bread and milk (no tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny earthen porringer, with a pewter spoon. But mark how luxury will enter families, and make a progress, in spite of principle: being call'd one morning to breakfast, I found it in a China bowl, with a spoon of silver! They had been bought for me without my knowledge by my wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of three-and-twenty shillings, for which she had no other excuse or apology to make, but that she thought her husband deserv'd a silver spoon and China bowl as well as any of his neighbors. This was the first appearance of plate and China in our house, which afterward, in a course of years, as our wealth increas'd, augmented gradually to several hundred pounds in value.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/148
定位:Additional excerpt 86 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
英国谚语说“想兴旺,问妻子”,富兰克林庆幸妻子和他一样勤劳节俭。她愉快地帮忙装订小册子、看店、收购旧亚麻布给造纸商。他们不雇闲人,餐桌简单,家具最便宜。很长一段时间,他早餐只吃面包牛奶,用两便士的陶碗和锡勺。但奢侈还是悄悄进了家:一天早餐,他发现食物盛在中国碗里,配了银勺!妻子没告诉他就买了,花了二十三先令,理由只是觉得丈夫也该像邻居一样用银勺和瓷碗。这是家里第一次出现银器和瓷器,后来随着财富增加,逐渐值几百英镑。可见习惯和攀比会慢慢侵蚀节俭原则。
上下文
富兰克林在《自传》中回忆与妻子黛博拉共同创业、勤俭持家的早期生活。
今日一问
你家里有没有一件“别人都有,所以我也买”的东西,其实并不需要?
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