投资 · 西方古典
托马斯·马尔萨斯：人口论·摘录 140
托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资
Were it of consequence to improve pinks and carnations, though we could have no hope of raising them as large as cabbages, we might undoubtedly expect, by successive efforts, to obtain more beautiful specimens than we at present possess. No person can deny the importance of improving the happiness of the human species. Every the least advance in this respect is highly valuable. But an experiment with the human race is not like an experiment upon inanimate objects. The bursting of a flower may be a trifle. Another will soon succeed it. But the bursting of the bonds of society is such a separation of parts as cannot take place without giving the most acute pain to thousands: and a long time may elapse, and much misery may be endured, before the wound grows up again.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位：Excerpt 140 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
马尔萨斯承认改善人类幸福很有价值，哪怕微小进步也珍贵。但他强调，社会实验不同于植物实验：花谢了可以再开，损失很小；而社会纽带一旦断裂，千万人会承受剧痛，要经过漫长岁月和苦难才能修复。因此，不能像改良花卉那样轻率地在人类社会上做激进实验，因为代价可能是巨大的、不可逆的。
上下文
马尔萨斯警告社会改革不能像园艺实验那样随意，因为社会崩溃代价惨重。
今日一问
在推动一项社会改变前，你是否充分评估了可能的代价？
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