英语名篇诵读 比金钱更珍贵的（在线收听）

Something Better than Money

比金钱更珍贵的

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 fees 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 whole 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 play fair; in racing, start fair. Your watchword is fair play; your hatred, foul

注 play. Did it ever strike you that you wanted another watchword also, fair work, and another

hatred also, foul work?

接受过良好教育的人、知识分子和勇敢的人，完全不可能把金钱看成自己思想的主要

目标，正如他完全不可能把吃饭看成主要目标那样。一切健康的人都喜欢美食，但这不是

他们人生的主要目标。因此，所有思想健全的人都喜欢挣钱——也该喜欢，该享受赢的感

觉；但是他们人生的主要目标不是钱，而是比钱更珍贵的东西。

比如说，一名优秀的战士，主要希望把仗打好。薪饷使他高兴——这很正常——如果

克扣他十个月的薪饷不发，他发牢骚也是正当的；虽然如此，他人生的主要意图还是打胜

仗，不是为了报酬才去赢。

医生的情况也一样。他们无疑喜欢诊金——也该喜欢，但是他们生活的整体目标不是

诊金。总体上，他们希望治好病人，宁愿治愈病人而失去诊金，也不愿谋杀他们而获取费

用。所有其他勇敢和训练有素的人也是如此：他们工作第一，报酬第二；报酬很重要，但

还是排第二位。

然而在每个国家，总有一大群胆小鬼，多少有点愚蠢。对这些人来说，可以肯定的是

报酬第一，工作第二；正像对于勇敢的人来说，工作第一，报酬第二。

这绝非细微差异，这是根本性的差异，区分一个人的根本性差异。你不能同时为两个

主子效劳，不是为此就是为彼。如果你把工作看成第一，报酬第二，工作就是你的主子。

请注意，所有明智的工作本质上都具有三重性，即：诚实、效用和快乐。人们在娱乐

中讲究诚实而在工作中却不讲诚实，据我所知，没有比这更奇怪的事了。在最轻松的游戏

中，也总有人看你是否“公平游戏”。拳击中，必须公平竞争；赛跑时，起跑要守规则。你

的口号是公平游戏，你憎恶违反规则。你可曾想过你也需要另外一条口号——老老实实工

作，深恶痛绝投机取巧？