投资 · 创业者自述
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯:节俭·摘录 75
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《节俭》· Thrift · 投资
"Prosperous times" are very often the least prosperous of all times. In prosperous times, mills are working full time; men, women, and children are paid high wages; warehouses are emptied and filled; goods are manufactured and exported; wherries full of produce pass along the streets; immense luggage trains run along the railways, and heavily-laden ships leave our shores daily for foreign ports, full of the products of our industry. Everybody seems to be becoming richer and more prosperous. But we do not think of whether men and women are becoming wiser, better trained, less self-indulgent, more religiously disposed, or living for any higher purpose than the satisfaction of the animal appetite.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
定位:Excerpt 75 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
核心是:“繁荣时期”往往最不繁荣,因为人们只盯着赚钱花钱,忘了提升自己。斯迈尔斯描绘好年景:工厂全开、工资高涨、货物进出、铁路繁忙、船只满载出口,人人似乎更富。但他提醒,我们没问:人们是否变得更明智、更有教养、更少放纵、更有信仰,或是否只为满足口腹之欲而活。真正的繁荣不只是物质增长,还包括品格和精神的提升。做法是:在收入增加时,同时投资于学习和自我约束,而不只是消费。
上下文
工业革命高峰期,英国经济繁荣,但斯迈尔斯担忧物质增长掩盖了道德和精神的停滞。此段出自《节俭》,反思“繁荣”的真正含义。
今日一问
当你的收入增加时,除了消费升级,你为自身成长投入了什么?
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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