曾经有个专家讲过这样一个问题，是古人聪明还是现在的人聪明？他做了深刻的剖析，他的观念非常值得我们深思！他说，现在人的聪明在技术，远比古代发达的技术让人们拥有了物质极大丰富的生活；古人的聪明在思想，他们思想的境界是我们现在的人远远无法企及的。古人的智慧几千年来还一直在时时刻刻地影响着我们的日常生活。我们常说，不忘初心，方得始终。然而，一则小故事就可以看出，我们在追求丰富的物质生活的时候，逐渐变得贪得无厌，继而渐渐地忘记了我们内心深处最需要的那点东西······

One day, a very wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country for the sole purpose of showing his son how it was to be poor. They spent a few days and nights on the farm of what would be considered very poor family.

一天，一个富有的父亲带着他的儿子去乡下旅行，单单就是为了让他见识一下乡下的贫穷。他们在一个很穷苦的家的农场里住了一段日子。

After their return from the trip, the father asked his son how he liked the rip.

在他们回到自己的家后，这个父亲问儿子觉得这趟旅行感受如何？

“It was great, dad,” the son replied.

“好极了，爸爸，”儿子回答说。

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“你看到了穷人的光景了吧？”父亲问。

“Oh, yeah,” said the son.

“哦，是的，”儿子说。

“So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

“那么通过这趟旅行，你有什么收获呢？”父亲接着问。

The son answered,” I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front of yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, and they have friends to protect them…”

儿子回答说：“我看到我们家有一只狗，而他们有四只；我们有一个到花园中央那么大的游泳池，但是他们有一条没有终点的河流；我们的花园里有进口的灯饰，而他们拥有满天的繁星; 我们的露台伸到院子的前边，可是他们拥有整个地平线；我们只能住在一小片土地，可他们拥有一望无际的土地；我们有为我们服务的仆人，而他们给别人服务；我们的食物是买来的，而他们的食物是自己种的；我们修了围墙保护我们，而他们有很多朋友保护他们·······”

The boy’s father was speechless.

这个父亲无言以对。

Then his son added, ”It showed my just how poor we really are.”

他的儿子补充道：“这一切说明真正贫穷的是我们”。

Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have. What is one person’s worthless object is another’s prize possession.

很多时候我们忘记了自己拥有的，却专注于我们缺少的；一个人的毫无价值的东西，却恰恰是另一个人非常珍贵的拥有。

It is based on one’s perspective. Sometimes it takes the perspective of a child to remind us what’s important.

这取决于一个人看待问题的角度，有时候，人们需要一个孩子的视角来提醒我们什么是重要的。

小故事，大道理。不忘初心，方得始终。很多时候，我们走着走着就迷失了自己。我们常常会被物质财富所迷惑，以为更多的物质财富就是人生的终极目标。然而，古人的教诲犹言在耳，随着时间的推移，我们才发现，我们对生活发自内心的感受才是真正的幸福和富有之所在。

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