投资 · 创业者自述
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯：节俭·摘录 130
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《节俭》· Thrift · 投资
Skilled workmen might--and, if they had the will, they would--occupy a social position as high as the educated classes we refer to. What prevents them rising? Merely because they will not use their leisure to cultivate their minds. They have sufficient money; it is culture that they want. They ought to know that the position of men in society does not depend so much upon their earnings, as upon their character and intelligence. And it is because they neglect their abundant opportunities,--because they are thriftless and spend their earnings in animal enjoyments,--because they refuse to cultivate the highest parts of their nature,--that they are excluded, or rather self-excluded, from those social and other privileges in which they are entitled to take part.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
定位：Excerpt 130 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
熟练工人本来可以、只要愿意也就能，站到和受教育阶层一样高的社会位置。拦住他们的是什么？只是他们不肯用闲暇去充实头脑。钱他们够花，缺的是教养。他们该明白：一个人的社会地位，更多取决于品格和见识，而不是挣多少。正因为他们浪费大把机会、花钱图一时快活、不肯培养自己更高的一面，才被挡在——不如说是自己把自己挡在——本该参与的社会圈子之外。
上下文
斯迈尔斯在《节俭》中反驳“工人天生低人一等”，把上升通道指向闲暇时间的自我教育。
今日一问
我下班后的时间，是在喂养哪一部分的自己？
公版作品；原文逐字取自 Project Gutenberg，仅摘录段落并附全书链接。
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