雙語短文 · 開辟幸福人生

Methods of Economy　開辟幸福人生

◎ Samuel Smiles


The methods of practicing economy are very simple. Spend less than you earn. That is the first rule. A portion should always be set apart for the future. The person who spends more than he earns, is a fool.
The next rule is to pay ready money, and never, on any account, to run into debt.
The person who runs into debt is apt to get cheated; and if he runs into debt to any extent, he will himself be apt to get dishonest. “Who pays what he owes, enriches himself.”
The next is, never to anticipate uncertain profits by expending them before they are secured. The profit may never come, and in that case you will have taken upon yourself a load of debt which you may never get rid of.
Another method of economy is, to keep a regular account of all that you earn, and of all that you expend. An orderly man will know beforehand what he requires, and will be provided with the necessary means for obtaining it. Thus his domestic budget will be balanced; and his expenditure kept within his income.
It is difficult to fix the precise limits of economy. Bacon says that if a man would live well within his income, he ought not to expend more than one-half, and save the rest. This is perhaps too exacting; and Bacon himself did not follow his own advice. What proportion of one’s income should be expended on rent? That depends upon circumstances.
Wherever there is a large family, the more money that is put to one side and saved, the better. Economy is necessary to the moderately rich, as well as to the comparatively poor man. Without economy, a man cannot be generous. He cannot take part in the charitable work of the world.
If he spends all that he earns, he can help nobody. He cannot properly educate his children, nor put them in the way of starting fairly in the business of life. Thousands of witnesses daily testify, that men even of the most moderate intelligence, can practice the virtue with success.
Men of all classes are, as yet, too little influenced by these considerations. They are apt to live beyond their incomes. To save money for avaricious purposes is altogether different from saving it for economical purposes. The saving may be accomplished in the same manner by wasting nothing, and saving everything. But here the comparison ends. The miser’s only pleasure is in saving, the prudent economist spends what he can afford for comfort and enjoyment, and saves a surplus for some future time. The avaricious person makes gold his idol, whereas the thrifty person regards it as a useful instrument, and as a means of promoting his own happiness and the happiness of those who are dependent upon him. The miser is never satisfied. He amasses wealth that he can never consume, but leaves it to be squandered by others, probably by spendthrifts; whereas the economist aims at securing a fair share of the world’s wealth and comfort, without any thought of amassing a fortune.
There is a dignity in the very effort to save with a worthy purpose, even though the attempt should not be crowned with eventual success. It produces a well regulated mind it gives prudence a triumph over extravagance; it gives virtue the mastery over vice; it puts the passions under control; it drives away care; it secures comfort. Saved money, however little, will serve to dry up many a tear; will ward off many sorrows and heart burnings, which otherwise might prey upon us. Possessed of a little store of capital, a man walks with a lighter step his heart beats more cheerily.
When interruption of work or adversity happens, he can meet them; he can recline on his capital, which will either break his fall, or prevent it altogether.
By prudential economy, we can realize the dignity of man; life will be a blessing.


想要生活節(jié)儉是一件十分容易的事。首要原則是：收入大于支出。為了將來，我們應(yīng)該儲存一部分錢。那些支出大于收入的人，是十足的笨蛋。
第二條原則就是不要四處借錢。抵制任何讓自己負(fù)債累累的行為。
負(fù)債的人大都習(xí)慣編造謊言。某人一旦債務(wù)纏身，他就很容易變得不誠實。“將花銷控制在收入的范圍內(nèi)，就會使自己變得富有。”
第三條原則就是在不確定的利潤到手之前，永遠(yuǎn)不要動用自己的存款。一旦沒有得到利潤，你便會深陷債務(wù)危機(jī)，甚至永遠(yuǎn)不能翻身。
第四條原則就是定期將你所有的收入與花銷記錄下來。無論做什么事，一個生活有規(guī)劃的人事先總會知道要做什么，并提供此事所需的資金。更重要的是，他們往往能夠達(dá)到收支平衡。
人們很難精準(zhǔn)地確定節(jié)儉的范圍和程度。培根曾說過，如果一個人要達(dá)到收支平衡，他花銷的數(shù)額一定不能超出收入額的一半，并能將其余的錢都存起來?；蛟S這種定位太過苛刻，連培根也沒有遵循自己的言論。一個人應(yīng)該將收入的多少用在房租上？這恐怕得由個人的情況而定。
無論家庭成員有多少，積累的錢越多，人們的生活就越好。節(jié)儉，無論對中等收入家庭還是貧窮人群，都是至關(guān)重要的。不知道節(jié)儉的人，就無法成為一個慷慨大方的人。囊中羞澀的他，只能遠(yuǎn)離所有的社會慈善活動。
一個人假如身無分文，那就根本談不上幫助別人。他既不能給予孩子良好的教育，也不能指導(dǎo)孩子在社會上找到發(fā)展方向。日常生活中，成千上萬的事實已充分證明，即使智商不高的人，也可以成功地養(yǎng)成節(jié)儉的習(xí)慣。
然而，節(jié)儉對于各階層人士的影響仍顯得微不足道。他們更習(xí)慣過著負(fù)債的生活。出于貪欲與吝嗇而存錢與節(jié)儉是截然不同的概念。兩者都主張杜絕浪費(fèi)，竭盡全力節(jié)省每一樣?xùn)|西，不過兩者的出發(fā)點則各不相同。守財奴唯一的樂趣在于積累；而謹(jǐn)慎的節(jié)儉之人是在力所能及的范圍內(nèi)，盡情享受生活的同時，積攢錢財以備不時之需。在貪婪的人心中，金子就是他的偶像；而在節(jié)儉之人看來，金子只是一種有用的工具，一種提高自身以及家人生活質(zhì)量的物質(zhì)。守財奴永遠(yuǎn)不會有滿足感。他們從不享用自己積累起來的財富，而他們留下的遺產(chǎn)，最大的可能就是被他的家人揮霍一空。而節(jié)儉的人根本沒有聚斂多少財富的想法，他們在乎的是眼前的生活，確保優(yōu)質(zhì)生活的同時積累金錢。
在極具價值目標(biāo)的激勵下，一個人努力地節(jié)省金錢，即便最終沒有成功，也能夠體現(xiàn)個人的尊嚴(yán)。這一過程能夠促使人更好地組織思想，徹底改掉肆意浪費(fèi)的陋習(xí)，促使美德戰(zhàn)勝邪惡，并且能控制住沖動，解除憂慮，確保人們過上舒適的生活。即便你的儲蓄少得可憐，也可以使你抹去許多淚水，擺脫痛苦與不安的困擾。有部分存款在手，我們的步履就會變得輕盈，心情也會更加愉悅。
當(dāng)失業(yè)或不幸降臨時，我們可以坦然地接受一切，可以利用現(xiàn)有的資本戰(zhàn)勝困難或阻止情況惡化。
通過一個人的節(jié)儉，我們可以看到他的尊嚴(yán)，生活也將變成一種福音。