事业 · 创业者自述
奥里森·斯威特·马登：向前进·摘录 122
奥里森·斯威特·马登《向前进》· Pushing to the Front · 领导
The new Testament and the speller were Cornelius Vanderbilt's only books at school, but he learned to read, write, and cipher a little. He wished to buy a boat, but had no money. To discourage him from following the sea, his mother told him if he would plow, harrow, and plant with corn, before the twenty-seventh day of the month, ten acres of rough, hard, stony land, the worst on his father's farm, she would lend him the amount he wished. Before the appointed time the work was done, and well done. On his seventeenth birthday he bought the boat, but on his way home it struck a sunken wreck and sank just as he reached shallow water.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21291
定位：Excerpt 122 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
范德比尔特上学时只有《新约》和拼写课本，只学会了读、写和一点算术。他想买船却没钱，母亲为了让他打消出海的念头，说只要他在本月27日前把农场里最差的一块十英亩乱石地犁好、耙平、种上玉米，就借给他钱。结果他提前干完，而且干得很好。十七岁生日他买下船，可回家路上船撞上沉船残骸，刚到浅水就沉了。核心是：用超预期的行动证明自己，别人才肯给你机会；但起步受挫是常事，不等于失败。
上下文
马登《奋力向前》中关于美国航运和铁路大王科尼利厄斯·范德比尔特少年时买第一艘船的故事。
今日一问
为了争取一个机会，你愿意先做一件超出对方预期的苦活来证明自己吗？
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