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？

對于一個受過良好教育、擁有智慧或勇氣的人來說，把金錢當做他主要的思考目標是完全不可能的，就像他不可能完全把晚餐當做最主要的目標一樣。所有健康的人都喜歡自己的晚餐，但他們主要的人生目標并非晚餐。同理，所有思想健康的人都會喜歡掙錢——理所當然會喜歡錢，并滿足于掙錢的成就感，但是，他們生活的主要目的卻不在錢，而是比錢更有價值的東西。

比如說，對于一個優秀的士兵來說，打好戰爭是他最主要的希望。他會為薪酬歡欣不已——這是非常合理的——假如他十個月的軍餉被你扣發了，他肯定只會發發牢騷，而贏得戰役仍然是他的主要人生目標，他并非為了軍餉而去打敗敵人。

醫生同樣如此，他們喜歡收診費，這是毋庸置疑，也是理所當然的，但診費卻并非他們的全部人生目標。他們都渴望能治好病人，甚至愿意治好病人而不收診費，而不會為了診費而謀殺病人。所有其他有膽識、受過正規教育的人都是如此。他們把工作放于首位，報酬其次，報酬盡管非常重要，但它始終居于第二位。

可是，大量膽怯、或多或少有些愚昧的人，每個國家都存在。對于這些人來說，居于首位的無疑是報酬，而工作次之；正如勇敢的人工作居首，報酬其次一樣。

這并非細小的差異，而是全局性的差異，是人與人之間的根本差別。你不可能為兩個主人服務，你必須從中選擇其一。假如你的工作第一，報酬次之，那工作將是你的主人。

由此，我們可以看出，所有明智的工作在其性質上主要有三重：誠實、有益和愉快。我幾乎不知道有比這更奇怪的事——你在游戲中講究誠實，在工作中卻不講究。你在最無足輕重的游戲中，總是讓他人見證你所謂的“公平競爭”。在拳擊中你必須公正，在賽跑時也必須公平開始。你的口號就是公平競爭，你憎恨不正當競爭。可你是否曾想過，你還需要另一個口號——誠實地工作，憎恨敷衍塞責地工作？

記憶填空

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.

佳句翻譯

1. 比如說，對于一個優秀的士兵來說，打好戰爭是他最主要的希望。

2. 可是，大量膽怯、或多或少有些愚昧的人，每個國家都存在。

3. 假如你的工作第一，報酬次之，那工作將是你的主人。

短語應用

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

for instance：例如，比如，舉例說

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：寧愿