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塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯:自助论·摘录 101

塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《自助论》· Self-Help · 领导

Labourers for the public good especially, have to work long and patiently, often uncheered by the prospect of immediate recompense or result. The seeds they sow sometimes lie hidden under the winter’s snow, and before the spring comes the husbandman may have gone to his rest. It is not every public worker who, like Rowland Hill, sees his great idea bring forth fruit in his life-time. Adam Smith sowed the seeds of a great social amelioration in that dingy old University of Glasgow where he so long laboured, and laid the foundations of his ‘Wealth of Nations;’ but seventy years passed before his work bore substantial fruits, nor indeed are they all gathered in yet.

出处: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/935
定位:Excerpt 101 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录

白话

为公共利益工作的人尤其要长期耐心地干,常常得不到立即回报或成果的鼓舞。他们播下的种子有时埋在冬雪下,春天到来前农夫可能已经安息。不是每个公共工作者都能像罗兰·希尔那样,在有生之年看到伟大理想结出果实。亚当·斯密在格拉斯哥那所阴暗古老的大学里长期耕耘,播下社会改良的种子,奠定《国富论》的基础;但七十年过去,他的著作才结出实质果实,而且至今也未全部收获。这提醒我们,有些贡献需要代际耐心,不能只用眼前成败衡量。

上下文

《自助》中讨论公共事业家的长期贡献,以罗兰·希尔和亚当·斯密为例。

今日一问

你是否愿意做一件可能看不到最终成果、却对后人有益的事?

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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