Russell. H. Conwell 拉塞爾·H·康維爾
The best thing can do is to illustrate by actual facts well-known to you all. A. T. Stewart,a poor boy in New York,had $l.50 to begin life on.
我所能做的、證明這個(gè)道理的最佳方式,就是給你們講一個(gè)眾所周知的實(shí)例。斯圖亞特是紐約的一個(gè)窮孩子,他最開始謀生的時(shí)候,只有1.5美元。
He lost 87.5 cents of that on the very first venture. How fortunate that young man who loses the first time he gambles. That boy said,“I will never gamble again in business,”and he never did.
做第一筆生意時(shí),他就賠了87.5美分。第一次冒險(xiǎn)就失敗的年輕人是多么幸運(yùn)啊!他說(shuō):“我再也不會(huì)在生意上冒險(xiǎn)了。”他確實(shí)也做到了。
How came he to lose 87.5 cents? You probably all know the story how he lost it—because he bought some needles,threads,and buttons to sell which people did not want,and had them left on his hands,a dead loss.
他是怎么損失這87.5美分的呢?你們可能都知道這個(gè)故事——因?yàn)樗I了一些針、線和紐扣,賣給那些不需要的人,結(jié)果都?jí)涸谑掷铮闪藦U物。
Said the boy,“I will not lose any more money in that way.”Then he went around first to the doors and asked the people what they did want. Then when he had found out what they wanted he invested his 62.5 cents to supply a known demand.
他說(shuō):“我再也不會(huì)像這樣糟蹋錢了。”然后他就挨家挨戶地問人們需要什么。當(dāng)他弄清楚之后,就用剩下的62.5美分來(lái)滿足人們的需求。
Study it wherever you choose—in business,in your profession,in your housekeeping,whatever your life,that one thing is the secret of success.
無(wú)論你選擇做什么——做生意、上班、做家務(wù),生活中的任何事,都要認(rèn)真地研究,這就是成功的秘訣。
You must first know the demand. You must first know what people need,and then invest yourself where you are most needed. A. T. Stewart went on that principle until he was worth what amounted afterward to forty millions of dollars,owning the very store in which Mr. Wanamaker carries on his great work in NewYork.
你必須首先了解需求,知道人們需要什么,然后投身到最需要你的領(lǐng)域中去。斯圖亞特先生一直都遵循這個(gè)原則,后來(lái)他賺了4,000萬(wàn)美元;現(xiàn)在,在紐約他所開的商店里,沃納梅克先生正在繼續(xù)著他那偉大的事業(yè)。
His fortune was made hy his losing something,which taught him the great lesson that he must only invest himself or his money in something that people need.
他的財(cái)富是從損失中得來(lái)的,他也從中吸取到了一個(gè)重要的教訓(xùn):必須要把資金和精力投入到人們的需要之中去。
When will you salesmen learn it? When will you manufacturers learn that you must know the changing needs of humanity if you would succeed in life?
推銷員們,你們什么時(shí)候才能領(lǐng)會(huì)到這一點(diǎn)呢?制造商們,你們什么時(shí)候才能明白,如果想成功,就一定要了解人們不斷變化的需求?
Apply yourselves,all you Christian people,as manufacturers or merchants or workmen to supply that human need.
所有的人,所有的基督徒,無(wú)論是制造商、商人,還是工人,都應(yīng)滿足人們的需要。
It is a great principle as broad as humanity and as deep as the Scripture itself. The best illustration I ever heard was of John Jacoh Astor.
這個(gè)偉大的原則就像《圣經(jīng)》的經(jīng)文一樣意義深遠(yuǎn),它適用于全人類。我所知道的最好的例子,是關(guān)于約翰·雅各布·阿斯特的。
You know that he made the money of the Astor family when he lived in New York. He came across the sea in debt for his fare.But that poor hoy with nothing in his pocket made the fortune of the Astor family on one principle.
你們知道,他在紐約時(shí),為阿斯特家族創(chuàng)造了巨額財(cái)富。他當(dāng)初是借錢買船票漂洋過海而來(lái)的,但這個(gè)身無(wú)分文的窮孩子,憑著一個(gè)原則,創(chuàng)造了阿斯特家族的奇跡。
Some young man here tonight will say,“Well they could make those fortunes over in New York but they could not do it in Philadelphia!”My friends,did you ever read that wonderful book of Riis,wherein is given his statistical account of the records taken in 1889 of 107 millionaires of New York.
今晚在場(chǎng)的某個(gè)年輕人會(huì)說(shuō):“他們?cè)诩~約能創(chuàng)造財(cái)富,但在費(fèi)城就做不到!”朋友們,你們讀過里斯寫的那本精彩的書嗎?書中記載了1889年紐約的107個(gè)百萬(wàn)富翁的數(shù)據(jù)資料。
If you read the account you will see that out of the 107 millionaires only seven made their money in New York.
如果你們看過這些記錄就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn),在這107個(gè)富翁中,只有7位是在紐約發(fā)家的。
Out of the l07 millionaires worth ten million dollars in real estate then,67 of them made their money in towns of less than 3,500 inhabitants.
這107個(gè)百萬(wàn)富翁都擁有超過1,000萬(wàn)美元的不動(dòng)產(chǎn),其中有67人是在不足3,500人的小鎮(zhèn)上發(fā)家的。
The richest man in this country today,if you read the real estate values,has never moved away from a town of 3,500 inhabitants.
如果你讀一讀這些不動(dòng)產(chǎn)的數(shù)據(jù)的話,就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn),這個(gè)國(guó)家現(xiàn)在最富有的人,畢生都沒有離開過只有3,500戶居民的小鎮(zhèn)。
It makes not so much difference where you are as who you are. But if you cannot get rich in Philadelphia you certainly cannot do it in New York.
這就說(shuō)明,你是誰(shuí),或者你在哪里,并不是那么重要;如果你在費(fèi)城賺不到錢的話,在紐約你也同樣賺不到。
【人物簡(jiǎn)介】
拉塞爾·H·康維爾,美國(guó)著名律師、作家、演講大師?!躲@石寶地》是根據(jù)他在家鄉(xiāng)費(fèi)城的一次著名演講整理而成。自問世以來(lái),一直暢銷不衰。其中所倡導(dǎo)的關(guān)于自我與夢(mèng)想的觀點(diǎn)影響了無(wú)數(shù)的讀者,幫助許多尋夢(mèng)的美國(guó)人實(shí)現(xiàn)了自己的愿望。