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第24章 致富之道 1（第1页）

eWaytoWealth

本杰明·富兰克林

BenjaminFranklin

CourteousReader，

Ihaveheardthatnothinggivesanauthorsogreatleasure，astofindhisworksresectfullyquotedbyotherlearnedauthors。ThisleasureIhaveseldomenjoyed；forthoughIhavebeen，ifImaysayitwithoutvanity，aneminentauthorofalmanacsannuallynowafullquarterofacentury，mybrotherauthorsinthesameway，forwhatreasonIknownot，haveeverbeenverysaringintheiralause，andnootherauthorhastakentheleastnoticeofme，sothatdidnotmywritingsroducemesomesolidudding，thegreatdeficiencyofraisewouldhavequitediscouragedme。

Iconcludedatlength，thattheeolewerethebestjudgesofmymerit；fortheybuymyworks；andbesides，inmyrambles，whereIamnotersonallyknown，Ihavefrequentlyheardoneorotherofmyadagesreeatedwith“asPoorRichardsays”attheendonit；thisgavemesomesatisfaction，asitshowednotonlythatmyinstructionswereregarded，butdiscoveredlikewisesomeresectformyauthority；andIown，thattoencouragetheracticeofrememberingandreeatingthosewisesentences，Ihavesometimesquotedmyselfwithgreatgravity。

Judge，then，howmuchImusthavebeengratifiedbyanincidentIamgoingtorelatetoyou。Istoedmyhorselatelywhereagreatnumberofeolewerecollectedatavendueofmerchantgoods。Thehourofsalenotbeingcome，theywereconversingonthebadnessofthetimesandoneofthecomanycalledtoalaincleanoldman，withwhitelocks，“Pray，FatherAbraham，whatthinkyouofthetimes？Won’ttheseheavytaxesquiteruinthecountry？Howshallwebeeverabletoaythem？Whatwouldyouadviseusto？”FatherAbrahamstoodu，andrelied，“Ifyou’dhavemyadvice，I’llgiveittoyouinshort，forawordto‘thewiseisenough，andmanywordswon’tfillabushel’，asPoorRichardsays。”Theyjoinedindesiringhimtoseakhismind，andgatheringroundhim，heroceededasfollows：

“Friends，”sayshe，“andneighbors，thetaxesareindeedveryheavy，andifthoselaidonbythegovernmentweretheonlyoneswehadtoay，wemightmoreeasilydischargethem；butwehavemanyothers，andmuchmoregrievoustosomeofus。Wearetaxedtwiceasmuchbyouridleness，threetimesasmuchbyourride，andfourtimesasmuchbyourfolly；andfromthesetaxesthecommissionerscannoteaseordeliverusbyallowinganabatement。However，letushearkentogoodadvice，andsomethingmaybedoneforus；‘Godhelsthemthathelthemselves’，asPoorRichardsays，inhisAlmanackof1733。”

“Itwouldbethoughtahardgovernmentthatshouldtaxitseoleone-tenthartoftheirtime，tobeemloyedinitsservice。Butidlenesstaxesmanyofusmuchmore，ifwereckonallthatissentinabsolutesloth，ordoingofnothing，withthatwhichissentinidleemloyments，oramusements，thatamounttonothing。Sloth，bybringingondiseases，absolutelyshortenslife。‘Sloth，likerust，consumesfasterthanlaborwears’；while‘theusedkeyisalwaysbright’，asPoorRichardsays。But‘dostthoulovelife，thendonotsquandertime，forthat’sthestufflifeismadeof’，asPoorRichardsays。Howmuchmorethanisnecessarydowesendinslee，forgettingthat‘thesleeingfoxcatchesnooultry’andthat‘therewillbesleeingenoughinthegrave’，asPoorRichardsays。”

“‘Iftimebeofallthingsthemostrecious，wastingtimemustbe’，asPoorRichardsays，thegreatestrodigality；since，asheelsewheretellsus，‘losttimeisneverfoundagain；andwhatwecalltimeenough，alwaysroveslittleenough’。Letusthenuandbedoing，anddoingtotheurose；sobydiligenceshallwedomorewithlesserlexity。‘Slothmakesallthingsdifficult，butindustryalleasy’，asPoorRichardsays；‘andhethatrisethlatemusttrotallday，andshallscarceovertakehisbusinessatnight’；‘whilelazinesstravelssoslowly，thatovertysoonovertakeshim’，aswereadinPoorRichard，whoadds，‘drivethybusiness，letnotthatdrivethee’，and‘earlytobed，andearlytorise，makesamanhealthy，wealthy，andwise’。”