I think everyone is familiar with the story of an old farmer: before he died, an old farmer called his 3 lazy sons to his side and told them an important secret. The old man said with a dying breath, "Children, in the plantation I left for you, I have buried many treasures. "Where are they hidden?" Several sons couldn't wait to ask. "I will tell you now," said the old man, "that you should start digging from the land of the plantation..." Just as the old farmer was about to reveal that vital secret, his breathing suddenly stopped and he died. The lazy son begged for gold and immediately came to the plantation to dig wildly. With their heads and shovels, they sweated and turned the plantation upside down, even the long-uninhabited, overgrown wasteland. They broke every lump of earth so as not to miss the treasure hidden in it. In the end, however, they found nothing. Only then did they suddenly grasp the last words left by their father. Since then, they have learned to labor and sow seeds on the land of plantations that have been turned over. In the autumn, everyone had harvested the fruits of the harvest, and the barn was piled high with grain. At this point, they have truly discovered the treasure "buried" in the plantation – the wealth-creating hands left to them by their wise father!
Labor is both hard and laborious, but also happy and glorious. Labor often seems to accompany poverty, but it also has a commendable side. Not only that, but labor also proves and enriches our physiological needs and many other needs. Without labor, how can we be human beings, how can we enjoy life, and how can we create civilization? All the great things in human life come from labor—great achievements in literature, art, science. There is no doubt that knowledge, as our "wings to heaven," can only be obtained from labor. The so-called genius is nothing more than a manifestation of hard work: the creation of greatness and the exertion of perseverance. Labor may be a toil and a burden, but it is more of an honor; it is a source and a responsibility, pious and immortal—the highest praise for those who have the noblest ideals of life and work for this most persistent goal.
Many people complain about the principle of living with this kind of hard work, but they never reflect on it: the observance of this code is not only obedience to God's will, but also the requirement to develop human intelligence and develop the common nature of mankind. Of all those with an unfortunate fate, the lazy are the most miserable—their lives are a desert, and they achieve nothing but seek to satisfy their sensual pleasures. In human society, are there any more resentful, miserable, selfish and greedy people than this group of people? They are often in a situation of extreme boredom, seemingly useless to themselves and to others – just consuming land resources. When they quietly passed away, no one missed them. Who would miss them? There is no saddest and most shameful fate than this.
In the process of promoting world civilization, who exerts more power than the simple working people? All the things that humanity calls progress—civilization, health, prosperity—all stem from diligence and practice. From growing crops to making steamships; from sewing collars to "the art of carving that enchants the whole world.", and so on.
At the same time, all those great ideas of progressive significance are summed up through study, labor, observation, research and diligent thinking. Without long and arduous thinking, those noble and elegant poems that have been passed down through the ages cannot be created. No great work is done "in the heart", and success can only be achieved after continuous effort and countless failures. Great causes often experience the perseverance of generations, the dedication of successive servants - the continuous inheritance of reality on the past, and selfless cooperation between each other. The magnificent Parthenon was built from a small mud house, and the famous painting "The Last Judgment" was originally just graffiti painted on the beach. For individuals, this is also the truth: people's success often begins with failure, but as long as people can persevere in their efforts and persevere in their firm belief, they will eventually lead to success.
The history of thrift and diligence is inscribed in the process of character formation. Even the poorest can feel the glory of thriftiness if they don't achieve outstanding results. In literature, art, and technology, the greatest names belong to the most diligent workers. An instrument worker shows us the steam power machine; a barber invents the spinning machine; a textile worker invents the spindle worsted machine; a small vendor can improve the function of the train locomotive... Generations of workers from all walks of life have made a great contribution to the continuous development of mechanical technology.
For laborers, we don't just mean those who rely on muscles and sweat to work. Even a horse can do this kind of work. Man is the most brilliant laborer because he can use his brain to think, and all the physiological functions of man are governed by this higher ability. A person who writes, who paints, who makes laws, who creates poetry, is engaged in more advanced labor. In terms of the ability to sustain the survival of society, these jobs may seem unimportant compared to the work of the farmer or shepherd, but the contribution of the mental worker is no smaller than that of the manual labourer in advancing the development of society to a higher intellectual spirit.
We have spoken a lot earlier about the importance and necessity of industriousness, and we know that human beings benefit greatly from labor. There is no doubt that without the inheritance of the civilizations created by our ancestors—the accumulation of civilizations in the fields of skills, art, technology, knowledge and culture—we may still be in the world of barbarians.
It is the accumulation of wealth created by labor that has created the civilization of human society. The accumulation of wealth is the fruit of labor; only when the laborer begins to accumulate wealth will the fruits of civilization complete the leap from quantitative change to qualitative change. At the beginning of the article, we say that frugality is born with civilization: we can even say that frugality produces civilization. Frugality produces capital, which in turn is the fruit of the accumulation of labor. A capitalist is a man who will not spend all the value he creates.
But frugality is not in human nature. It is a code of conduct formed through acquired culture. It requires self-control—restraining the pleasures of the present and planning for the future—subordinating instinctive desires to reason, foresight, and prudence. It works both for the present and for the future. It invests the accumulated capital in the future in order to prepare for future development.
Edward Tennyson once said: "The prescient gained by man's obedience to reason is intimately linked to the obligation to plan for the future; whenever we speak of the virtue of frugality, it means that everything is predetermined and not predetermined." We should clearly see that the future is cruel and that preparing for the future is the wisest choice for humanity. ”
Let's take a look at the situation in Spain. There, the richest lands have the lowest output. Along the Guadakivir River, there were nearly 12,000 villages. But now, there are less than 800 left, and the village is full of beggars. There is a Spanish proverb that says it best: "The sky and the earth are good, but the man who lies between the sky and the earth is the only one who is bad." "Persistent hard work or hard work is the most intolerable act of the Spaniards. This is half due to people's laziness, while the other half is out of their pride, they are not willing to give hard work. A Spaniard would not be able to lift his head because of his work, but he would not be ashamed to beg.
So in this sense, society consists mainly of two major parts – the frugal class and the wasteful class; the man who cares only for the immediate interests and the man who knows how to plan for his future life; the extravagant man and the frugal man; the proletarian and the possessor.
Those who eventually become capitalists through hard work, thrift and thrift will create other jobs. They are able to accumulate the capital in their hands and then hire others to work for themselves. From this, commerce and trade emerged. Thrifty laborers were able to build houses, warehouses, and factories. They used machinery in production to start manufacturing; they built ships to travel the world; they pooled idle funds for the construction of railways, ports, and docks; they started coal, iron, and copper mines; and they installed pumps to keep the water clean. They employ a large number of workers to open mines and pave roads, which effectively increases the number of employed people in society.
All this is thanks to thriftiness. It is the result of saving money and using it to create wealth for society. People who only squander and waste have not contributed to the progress of society. He spent all his earnings and couldn't help anyone. No matter how much money he can earn, his social status cannot be improved. He never realized that he was using his resources wisely with the idea of frugality. He always asked for help. In fact, he was reduced to a natural slave to the frugal. Almost everyone can live a rich, leisurely life, as long as they use their brains and try to win them. Those with good incomes may be able to become capitalists and enjoy the happiness they deserve in an atmosphere of social progress and happiness. But only by putting in their labor, energy, integrity, and thrift can they improve their situation or elevate their status.
The current social situation is not so much suffering from the lack of wealth as it is suffering from the wanton squandering of wealth. It's much easier to make money than to spend effectively. A man's wealth is not made up of the proceeds of his labor, but by the way he consumes and saves. When a man's income through labor exceeds that of his personal consumption and the expenditure of his family,he can slowly accumulate some money, and it is clear that he has since attained relatively free living conditions in society. This little savings may not be much, but it gives him independent capital.
It is puzzling why the high-income working class is now unable to accumulate its wealth. It's really a matter of self-restraint and personal frugal habits. It is undeniable that the leaders of today's business are made up of people from all walks of life. It is the accumulation of different work experiences and skills that distinguish workers from non-workers, and it also depends on whether the workers themselves are willing to save money or waste energy. If he consciously saves money, he will find that he will have enough opportunities to use those funds for a profitable and appreciative career.
"When I arrived in Nankai the day before yesterday," said Mr. Cobden to his fellow Midhast, "I visited a textile factory with some gentlemen, whose real name I do not want to give, but for the sake of my account below, I shall call him Mr. Smith for the time being." When the factory is running, there are at least 3,000 or 4,000 workers working in the factory, and there are a total of 700 electric looms in operation throughout the factory. As we were leaving the factory, a friend who accompanied me patted the factory owner on the shoulder with a frankness and casualness that was clearly different from that of the people of Nankai and said, 'Mr. Smith was a worker 25 years ago, and he achieved what he has achieved today through diligence and frugality. To this, Mr. Smith immediately replied with the same frankness and humor: 'No, it is not entirely because of me; it is also due to the fact that I am married to a wife with a fortune, and at the time she married me, she earned 9 shillings and 6 pence a week as a weaver in this textile factory.' ’”
Saving time is also the same as saving money. Franklin once said, "Time is money." "If people want to make money, they have to learn to use their time correctly. Time can be spent on many wonderful and noble things, which can be used to study, research, engage in literary and artistic creation and scientific exploration activities. We can save time in a planned way. A plan is an arrangement made to achieve a certain goal in order to achieve it quickly and efficiently without wasting any precious time. Any businessman must have the ability to plan the process and put it into practice in an orderly manner. Again, every housewife should be able to do just that. Every thing has its own place, and there should be something corresponding to it in each position. Everything takes time to complete, so everything should be done in a timely and efficient manner.
There is no need for us to repeat to everyone that wealth comes from frugality. No one can deny that frugality can be cultivated and put into practice. We have seen many examples of this with our own eyes. As long as it is something that has been proven in practice, then others can follow suit. Not only that, but frugality is not a painful virtue. On the contrary, it allows us to avoid being slighted and insulted. This requires us to restrain ourselves, but it does not mean giving up our legitimate rights. It brings us many real pleasures that are not obtained by extravagant and wasteful behavior. Anyone can be budget-conscious. Anyone can save a few shillings a week. If you save 3 shillings a week, you can save up to £240 in 20 years; if you continue to save for 10 years, plus interest, you can reach £420. Some people may think that it is impossible to do this at all. If you don't believe it, start now and save 2, 1 or 6 pence per week. No matter where you are or what happens, get started right away. Depositing 6p a week in the bank will reach £40 in 20 years and £70 in 30 years, and the only habits that need to be made to do this are: frugality and self-restraint.
Being frugal doesn't require a lot of courage, or a high IQ or extraordinary virtue to do it. Frugality only requires some common sense and resisting the temptation to enjoy the pleasures in front of you. In fact, frugality is just a common idea in daily life work, which does not require much determination to achieve, you only need to achieve a little perseverance and self-restraint. Put it into practice right away and get immediate results! If you can persevere in frugality, then it will be easy to develop this habit, and you will find that this habit will bring unexpected compensation and generous rewards for temporary self-restraint.
We can ask the question: For a man with a meager income, when he uses every penny he earns to support his family, can he still squeeze out money to open a bank account and save it? In fact, the answer is yes, and this kind of thing happens to many people around us who know how to be thrifty and self-restrained. They are indeed able to exercise self-control by depositing their income from outside their business in banks, and other forms of deposits can provide a way for the poor to save. If some people have already done this, then in similar circumstances others should be able to do it, and all this will not affect the happy and peaceful life they should have enjoyed.
On the other hand, for those high-income groups, how narrow is the act of spending all the income on themselves! Even if he still needs to support his family, if he spends all his weekly salary on the family's consumption without leaving a penny, then this is a move that makes people feel unconcerned for the future. When we hear that a high-income man dies without leaving behind any possessions—except for his poor wife and a poor family, leaving him to the mercy of fate—life and death are left to fate, and we are likely to subconsciously conclude that this is the most selfish and inhumane act in the world. Although relatively speaking, such cases are relatively rare. Such an unfortunate family may eventually fall into abject poverty.
On a larger scale, however, the habit of frugality could have prevented this unfortunate event. Reducing the extravagant expenses and the momentary pleasures, such as eating one less meal or smoking one less cigar, may save others the necessities of life in your own life, and these things will not be wasted on yourself. In fact, it is precisely the "preoccupiedness" of the day-to-day relative to those at the bottom of society, no matter how unworthy this behavior may be in the eyes of some people, and the timely preparations have been made for the illness or despair that he and his family may encounter in the future. After all, those unfortunate things often come at the most unexpected moments.
Relatively speaking, those who can become rich are after all a minority; the vast majority of us only have the potential ability to become rich, that is, to be diligent, frugal, and able to meet personal needs. We can reserve sufficient wealth to cope with the loneliness and poverty that we may face in old age. However, in this process of frugality, what people lack is not opportunity, but a strong will. One may be able to work tirelessly and diligently, but still cannot avoid the possibility of living a life of profligacy and high consumption.
Most people would rather enjoy the vanity of the moment than endure temporary poverty, and they tend to spend all their income and leave nothing behind. This is not limited to the high-income working class, we have also heard of instances of people squandering the wealth accumulated over years of hard work in a very short period of time. When they finally went to sleep, they did not leave a penny for their families. Even the dwellings of the living may have belonged to others, for the simple reason that the living had to sell their houses to pay for the high funeral expenses and to pay the debts of Yama that he had owed for his profligacy. Almost everyone can tell a similar story.
Money is sometimes spent on many meaningless and impossible acts that create new value; but it also sometimes symbolizes some extremely valuable qualities, such as self-reliance. In this sense, money also has positive moral attributes.
Frugality, one of the most popular and valuable qualities of self-reliance, can leap into one of the most commendable noble virtues. "Please don't take money lightly, because money reflects character." Bawell said. The ability to use money in the right way often reflects some of the best qualities in human beings – such as generosity, kindness, justice, integrity, and consideration for the big picture. Of course, many bad behaviors also stem from the blind worship of money by human beings – such as greed, miserliness, selfishness, profligacy, and short-sighted behavior that only cares about the immediate interests rather than the long-term interests.
A stratum that does not understand the importance of thrift and thrift and the accumulation of wealth cannot do much great. Those whose income and expenditure are always equal are tantamount to pushing themselves to the brink of extreme poverty. Such a person must be vulnerable—subject to the service of time and space. They always unconsciously drag themselves into a state of poverty, thus losing respect for others and losing their personality. Such people have no freedom or self-reliance to speak of. Thus profligate and wasteful, frugality will deprive a person of all his strong character and virtue.
If a person perseveres in saving a little every day, then no matter how small the things saved, his status may also be changed. The small amount of assets he has accumulated will be the source of motivation for his hard work and life. He is no longer the object of history and fate' trickery. In this regard, he can face the whole world with great enthusiasm. In a sense, he has learned to control his own destiny and has begun to have his own opinions. He will neither be fooled nor lose himself. When he enters his twilight years, he can live a leisurely and comfortable life without any worries.
When people behave wisely and their minds become more thoughtful, foresight and prudence and frugality will become their characteristics. A man without the concept of "tomorrow" will be like a barbarian who will eat up all his income. He didn't think about the time ahead, didn't think about the hard times or about those who needed to rely on him. And a person's wise choice should be to be prepared for the rainy day and to be prepared for the dangers that one's career is in full swing; one should think of preparing for the difficulties that one and one's family may face in the future, and also seriously consider making some plans for one's neighbors and close people.