事业 · 创业者自述
P.T. 巴纳姆：奋斗与胜利·补录 492
P.T. 巴纳姆《奋斗与胜利》· Struggles and Triumphs · 领导
My friend, you need not take that trouble, you can easily prove that you are “as good as he is”; you have only to behave as well as he does, but you cannot make anybody believe that you are as rich as he is. Besides, if you put on these “airs,” and waste your time and spend your money, your poor wife will be obliged to scrub her fingers off at home, and buy her tea two ounces at a time, and everything else in proportion, in order that you may keep up “appearances,” and after all, deceive nobody. On the other hand, Mrs. Smith may say that her next-door neighbor married Johnson for his money, and “everybody says so.” She has a nice one thousand dollar camel’s hair shawl, and she will make Smith get her an imitation one and she will sit in a pew right next to her neighbor in church, in order to prove that she is her equal.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50115
定位：Additional excerpt 492 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
巴纳姆劝人别为了“不比别人差”而硬撑面子。你不需要费劲证明自己“和他一样好”，只要行为一样好就行；但你没法让人相信你和他一样有钱。如果为了面子浪费时间和金钱，妻子就得在家拼命擦洗、每次只买二两茶叶，一切缩着用，好让你维持“体面”，结果还是骗不了人。反过来，史密斯太太听说邻居嫁了有钱人、有千元驼毛披肩，就逼丈夫买仿制品，坐在教堂同一排，只为证明自己也不差。核心是：攀比消费是贫穷的陷阱。做法是：按收入定支出，不为了邻居的眼光买仿品或撑场面，把省下的钱存起来。
上下文
巴纳姆在《奋斗与胜利》中讨论“赚钱的艺术”，批评当时美国社会模仿英国贵族、攀比消费的风气。
今日一问
你最近有没有为了“不输给邻居”而买下其实不需要的东西？
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