第11章 比金钱更珍贵的东西

Something Better than Money

佚名 / Anonymous

It is physically impossible for a well-educated， intellectual， or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts； as physically impossible as it is for him to make his dinner the principal object of them. All healthy people like their dinner， but their dinner is not the main object of their lives. So all healthy-minded people like making money — ought to like it and to enjoy the sensation of winning； but the main object of their lives is not money； it is something better than money.

A good soldier， for instance， mainly wishes to do his fighting well. He is glad of his pay — very properly so — and justly grumbles when you keep him ten months without it； still， his main notion of life is to win battles， not to be paid for winning them.

So of doctors. They like fee no doubt — ought to like them； yet the entire object of their lives is not fee. They， on the whole desire to cure the sick， and would rather cure their patients and lose their fee than kill them and get it. And so with all other brave and rightly trained men： their work is first， their fee second， very important always， but still second.

But in every nation， there is a vast class of people who are cowardly， and more or less stupid. And with these people， just as certainly the fee is first and the work second， as with brave people the work is first and the fee second.

And this is no small distinction. It is the whole distinction. It is the major distinction in a man. You cannot serve two masters； you must serve one or the other. If your work is first with you， and your fee second， work is your master.

Observe， then， all wise work is mainly threefold in character. It is honest， useful， and cheerful. I hardly know anything more strange than that you recognize honesty in play， and do not in work. In your lightest games you have always someone to see what you call “fair play”. In boxing you must his fair； in racing， start fair. Your watchword is fait play； your hatred， foul play. Did it ever strike you that you wanted another watchword also， fair work， and another hatred also， foul work？

对于一个受过良好教育、拥有智慧或勇气的人来说，把金钱当做他主要的思考目标是完全不可能的，就像他不可能完全把晚餐当做最主要的目标一样。所有健康的人都喜欢自己的晚餐，但他们主要的人生目标并非晚餐。同理，所有思想健康的人都会喜欢挣钱——理所当然会喜欢钱，并满足于挣钱的成就感，但是，他们生活的主要目的却不在钱，而是比钱更有价值的东西。

比如说，对于一个优秀的士兵来说，打好战争是他最主要的希望。他会为薪酬欢欣不已——这是非常合理的——假如他十个月的军饷被你扣发了，他肯定只会发发牢骚，而赢得战役仍然是他的主要人生目标，他并非为了军饷而去打败敌人。

医生同样如此，他们喜欢收诊费，这是毋庸置疑，也是理所当然的，但诊费却并非他们的全部人生目标。他们都渴望能治好病人，甚至愿意治好病人而不收诊费，而不会为了诊费而谋杀病人。所有其他有胆识、受过正规教育的人都是如此。他们把工作放于首位，报酬其次，报酬尽管非常重要，但它始终居于第二位。

可是，大量胆怯、或多或少有些愚昧的人，每个国家都存在。对于这些人来说，居于首位的无疑是报酬，而工作次之；正如勇敢的人工作居首，报酬其次一样。

这并非细小的差异，而是全局性的差异，是人与人之间的根本差别。你不可能为两个主人服务，你必须从中选择其一。假如你的工作第一，报酬次之，那工作将是你的主人。

由此，我们可以看出，所有明智的工作在其性质上主要有三重：诚实、有益和愉快。我几乎不知道有比这更奇怪的事——你在游戏中讲究诚实，在工作中却不讲究。你在最无足轻重的游戏中，总是让他人见证你所谓的“公平竞争”。在拳击中你必须公正，在赛跑时也必须公平开始。你的口号就是公平竞争，你憎恨不正当竞争。可你是否曾想过，你还需要另一个口号——诚实地工作，憎恨敷衍塞责地工作？

记忆填空

1. All healthy like their dinner， but their dinner is not the object of their lives. So all healthy-minded people like making — ought to like it and to enjoy the sensation of winning； but the main object of their lives is not money； it is something than money.

2. They， on the desire to cure the sick， and would rather cure their and lose their fee than kill them and get it. And so all other brave and rightly trained men： their work is first， their fee ， very important always， but still second.

佳句翻译

1. 比如说，对于一个优秀的士兵来说，打好战争是他最主要的希望。

2. 可是，大量胆怯、或多或少有些愚昧的人，每个国家都存在。

3. 假如你的工作第一，报酬次之，那工作将是你的主人。

短语应用

1. A good soldier， for instance， mainly wishes to do his fighting well.

for instance：例如，比如，举例说

2. They， on the whole desire to cure the sick， and would rather cure their patients and lose their fee than kill them and get it.

would rather than：宁愿