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塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯:自助论·摘录 110
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《自助论》· Self-Help · 领导
It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life. Human knowledge is but an accumulation of small facts, made by successive generations of men, the little bits of knowledge and experience carefully treasured up by them growing at length into a mighty pyramid. Though many of these facts and observations seemed in the first instance to have but slight significance, they are all found to have their eventual uses, and to fit into their proper places. Even many speculations seemingly remote, turn out to be the basis of results the most obviously practical. In the case of the conic sections discovered by Apollonius Pergæus, twenty centuries elapsed before they were made the basis of astronomy—a science which enables the modern navigator to steer his way through unknown seas and traces for him in the heavens an unerring path to his appointed haven. And had not mathematicians toiled for so long, and, to uninstructed observers, apparently so fruitlessly, over the abstract relations of lines and surfaces, it is probable that but few of our mechanical inventions would have seen the light.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/935
定位:Excerpt 110 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
对细小事物的密切观察,是商业、艺术、科学以及生活中一切追求成功的秘诀。人类的知识不过是历代人积累起来的小事实,那些被小心珍藏的点滴知识和经验,最终长成一座巨大的金字塔。尽管许多事实和观察起初似乎意义不大,但最终都发现有其用途,并各归其位。甚至许多看似遥远的推测,后来也成为最明显实用的成果的基础。以阿波罗尼奥斯发现的圆锥曲线为例,过了二十个世纪,它们才成为天文学的基础——这门科学使现代航海者能在未知海域中导航,并在天空中为他 trace 出一条通往目的港的准确路径。如果不是数学家们长期辛劳,在外行人看来似乎毫无成果地研究线与面的抽象关系,我们的机械发明恐怕很少能问世。
上下文
斯迈尔斯强调知识积累的长期价值,以圆锥曲线和天文学为例说明抽象研究的实际意义。
今日一问
你能否耐心对待那些暂时看不到直接用途的学习或探索,相信它们未来可能派上用场?
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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