事业 · 创业者自述
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯：自助论·摘录 63
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯《自助论》· Self-Help · 领导
Vaucanson was a man of the highest order of constructive genius. The inventive faculty was so strong in him that it may almost be said to have amounted to a passion, and could not be restrained. The saying that the poet is born, not made, applies with equal force to the inventor, who, though indebted, like the other, to culture and improved opportunities, nevertheless contrives and constructs new combinations of machinery mainly to gratify his own instinct. This was peculiarly the case with Vaucanson; for his most elaborate works were not so much distinguished for their utility as for the curious ingenuity which they displayed. While a mere boy attending Sunday conversations with his mother, he amused himself by watching, through the chinks of a partition wall, part of the movements of a clock in the adjoining apartment. He endeavoured to understand them, and by brooding over the subject, after several months he discovered the principle of the escapement.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/935
定位：Excerpt 63 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
沃康松是顶尖的机械天才。发明冲动强得像一种激情，压都压不住。诗人是天生的，不是造出来的，这话对发明家同样适用：他也靠学习和机会，但主要凭本能去构思和造出新机械组合。沃康松尤其如此，他最精巧的作品与其说实用，不如说显示奇巧。他还是孩子时，陪母亲参加周日闲谈，透过隔墙缝隙看隔壁钟表的部分运转，想弄懂它，琢磨几个月，竟发现了擒纵机构的原理。
上下文
斯迈尔斯《自助》讲法国机械天才沃康松，强调发明家天生的创造冲动。
今日一问
你小时候有没有对某样东西着迷到非弄懂不可？那份劲头现在还在吗？
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