投资 · 创业者自述
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯：节俭·摘录 496
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《节俭》· Thrift · 投资
Everybody can call to mind hundreds of cases of men--"respectable men"--who, from one extravagance have gone on to another--wantonly squandering wealth which was not theirs--in order to keep up a worldly reputation, and cut a figure before their admiring fellows;--all ending in a sudden smash, a frightful downfall, an utter bankruptcy--to the ruin, perhaps, of thousands. They have finished up with paying a respectable dividend of sixpence in the pound! Indeed it is not too much to say, that five-sixths of the fraud and swindling that disgrace commercial transactions, have had their origin in the diseased morality of "keeping up appearances."
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
定位：Excerpt 496 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
每个人都能想起成百上千的例子：那些“体面人”从一次挥霍滑向另一次，肆意糟蹋不属于自己的钱财，只为维持 worldly 名声、在羡慕者面前摆谱，最后突然崩盘、惨烈垮台、彻底破产，也许还连累成千上万人。他们最后只付出每英镑六便士的“体面”清偿。可以说，商业交易中五分之六的欺诈和诈骗，都源于“维持门面”这种病态道德。要防，就得诚实面对自己的财力，别为面子借钱摆阔。
上下文
斯迈尔斯在《节俭》中揭露19世纪英国商业社会里为维持体面而挪用资金、最终破产的现象，批评“维持门面”的虚伪道德。
今日一问
我有没有为了维持形象而花过不该花的钱或做过不诚实的承诺？
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