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P.T. 巴纳姆:赚钱的艺术·摘录 8

P.T. 巴纳姆《赚钱的艺术》· The Art of Money Getting · 投资

Young lads regret that they are not men; they would like to go to bed boys and wake up men; and to accomplish this they copy the bad habits of their seniors. Little Tommy and Johnny see their fathers or uncles smoke a pipe, and they say, "If I could only do that, I would be a man too; uncle John has gone out and left his pipe of tobacco, let us try it." They take a match and light it, and then puff away. "We will learn to smoke; do you like it Johnny?" That lad dolefully replies: "Not very much; it tastes bitter;" by and by he grows pale, but he persists and he soon offers up a sacrifice on the altar of fashion; but the boys stick to it and persevere until at last they conquer their natural appetites and become the victims of acquired tastes.

出处: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8581
定位:Excerpt 8 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录

白话

年轻人总盼着快点变成大人,甚至想一觉醒来就从男孩变成男人。为了显得成熟,他们常模仿长辈的坏习惯,比如看到父亲或叔叔抽烟,就偷偷拿烟斗试,觉得会抽烟就是大人了。刚开始觉得味道苦,但为了装酷硬撑,哪怕脸色发白也不停,最后把天生的反感磨掉,养成了坏习惯。巴纳姆提醒:别为了显得成熟而学坏,真正的成熟是能判断什么该学、什么不该学。想快点长大,不如学大人怎么负责、怎么做事,而不是学他们抽烟喝酒。

上下文

巴纳姆是美国19世纪著名马戏团老板,他在《赚钱的艺术》中总结人生经验,劝年轻人别因模仿而染上恶习。

今日一问

你曾为了显得成熟而模仿过什么坏习惯?现在会怎么选?

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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