投资 · 创业者自述
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯：节俭·摘录 476
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《节俭》· Thrift · 投资
But bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and other ferocious amusements, have now departed. Even the village stocks have rotted out. Drunkenness has become disreputable. The "good old times" have departed, we hope never to return. The labourer has now other resources beside the public-house. There are exhibitions and people's parks, steamboats and railways, reading-rooms and coffee-rooms, museums, gardens, and cheap concerts. In place of the disgusting old amusements, there has come a healthier, sounder life, greater enlightenment, more general sobriety, and a humaner spirit. We have in a hundred years outgrown many of our savage tendencies. We are not less brave as a people, though less brutal. We are quite as manly, though much less gross. Manners are more refined, yet as a people we have not lost our pluck, energy, and endurance. We respect ourselves more, and as a nation we have become more respected. We now think with shame of the manners of a hundred years ago.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
定位：Excerpt 476 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
斗牛、斗鸡这些残忍的娱乐如今已经消失，连村里的枷锁也烂掉了。酗酒变得不光彩。所谓“美好旧时光”已经过去，我们希望它别再回来。劳工现在除了酒馆还有别的去处：展览、公园、汽船、铁路、阅览室、咖啡馆、博物馆、花园和廉价音乐会。取代恶心旧娱乐的，是更健康、更清醒、更开明、更人道的生活。一百年里我们改掉了许多野蛮习性。我们并不因此变得不勇敢，只是不那么残暴；同样有男子气概，只是不那么粗俗。礼仪更文雅，但勇气、活力和耐力没丢。我们更尊重自己，国家也更受尊重。想到一百年前的做派，我们现在会觉得羞耻。
上下文
斯迈尔斯《节俭》中对比19世纪英国与18世纪风俗，强调社会进步。
今日一问
你身边有没有“一直如此”的娱乐或习惯，其实可以变得更健康、更人道？
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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