(价值管理)美国人的价值观(中英文)
中国解放军理工大学-上海大专院校
摘自：英语泛读教程
The following is part of
an essay taken from Bradford Smith's book, Why We
Behave Like
Americans. Success as a goal and
materialism, according to Smith, are among the
underlying
factors that make up the American
character.
以下节选自布拉德福德所著《为什么我们的举止象美国人》里的一篇文章。据
布拉德福德所
说，目标 为成功和物质享乐主义，构成美国人性格的内在因素。
When visitors from abroad undertake to
describe the American Character, the results are
frequently puzzling to Americans.
says
one. always thinking about enjoying
themselves,says another. spend too
much time
at work,
don't know what work is, retorts
machines do it are
shameless sirens.－ en here
are wonderful － outgoing and
natural.－
要是让
国外来客描述美国人的性格，结果常常令美国人感到奇怪。一个人说：“所有的美国
人都是清教徒；所以
他们与众不同。”另一个人说：“他们总是想方设法让自己开心。”一位
尊贵的客人告诉我们：“他们花
在工作上的时间太多。他们不懂如何玩乐。”另一个人反驳说：
“他们不懂什么是工作。因为机器替他们
做了一切。”“美国女人是不知廉耻的，妖艳而危险
的女人。”--“不，她们假正经。”“这里的孩子
真好－－外向，自然。”----“象小小的野兽一样
自然。他们没礼貌，不尊敬长辈。”
There is, of course, no single pattern of
American character any more than there is a single
English
or Turkish or Chinese character.
Personality in America is further complicated by
our diverse
racial and cultural origins, by
successive waves of immigration from all parts of
the world, by our
regional diversities. It is
complicated by several hundred varieties of
religious belief with their
varying impact on
the believers. It is further diversified by the
generation to which the person
belongs － first
generation immigrant, second generation child of
immigrants, and on down the
line.
当然，世上既没
有单一模式的美国人性格，也没有单一的英国人性格或土耳其人性格或是中
国人性格。个性的定义在美国
变得更为复杂，因为我们有不同的种族和文化背景，因为来自
世界各地连续不断的移民浪潮，因为我们区
域的多样性。个性的定义变得复杂，因为几百种
不同的宗教信仰及其对各自的信奉者的影响不同。个性的
定义也由于每个人所处的年代不同
而趋多样化
－－第一代是移民，第二代是移民的孩子，一直照此延续下去。
The
temptation is strong to lump all Americans
together. Yet those who look a little deeper are
puzzled by the seeming contradictions in
American life. It is true that Americans as a
whole work
hard. But they also play hard. They
spend more time and money in traveling, camping,
hunting,
watching sports, drinking, smoking,
going to movies, watching television and reading
newspapers
and magazines than any other people
in the world. Yet they also spend more money on
churches,
social services, hospitals and all
kinds of charities. They are always in a hurry,
yet they spend
more time relaxing. They are at
the same time sensitive to the rights of the
individual and habitual
conformist. They
worship bigness yet idealize the little man,
whether he be the small business
man as
opposed to the big one or the plain citizen as
opposed to the big wheel.
强大的吸引力把众多的美国
人聚集在了一起。然而那些想再了解深入一点的人弄不懂美国人
生活中各种似乎自相矛盾的东西。的确，
美国人总体上工作努力。但他们也拼命地玩。他们
去旅游、露营、打猎、看体育比赛、喝酒、抽烟、看电
影电视、读报纸杂志，花的时间和金
钱比世界任何地方的人都多。而他们还把更多的时间花在教会、社会
服务、医院和各种各样
的慈善活动上。他们总是忙来忙去，又总是花更多的时间休闲。他们十分在乎个人
的权利，
又习惯于墨守陈规。他们崇拜大人物，也把小人物理想化
，不论他是和大商人形成对照的
小商人，还是和大权在握的人形成对照的平民百姓。
Success as a Goal 成功作为目标
One thing
almost everyone is agreed on, including Americans,
is that they place a very high
valuation upon
success. Success does not necessarily mean
material rewards, but recognition of
some sort
－ preferably measurable. If the boy turns out to
be a preacher instead of a business
man,
that's all right. But the bigger his church and
congregation, the more successful he is judged
to be.
包括美国人在内几乎每一个人都会赞同的一点是，美国人极为看重成功。成功不
一定是物质
上的回报，而是得到某种认可， 最好是可以衡量的那种。如果一个男孩后来没有从商，而<
br>是做了布道的教士，那也没什么。但是他的教堂规模越大，教堂会众越多，别人就认为他越
成功。
A good many things contributed to this
accent on success. There was the Puritan belief in
the
virtue of work, both for its own sake and
because the rewards it brought were regarded as
signs of
God's love. There was the richness of
opportunity in a land waiting to be settled. There
was the
lack of a settled society with fixed
ranks and classes, so that a man was certain to
rise through
achievement.
好多事情都说明，成功是美国人生
活的重点。清教徒相信工作带来的好处，既有工作本身的
乐趣，还因为工作的回报是上帝之爱的体现。一
片富饶的土地到处都是机遇，等待着人们到
来。在一个不固守陈规的社会，没有严格的等级和阶级，这样
人就一定能通过成功提升自己
的社会地位。
There was the
determination of the immigrant to gain in the new
world what had been denied to
him in the old,
and the part of his children an urge to throw off
the immigrant onus by still more
success and
still more rise in a fluid, classless society.
Brothers did not compete within the family
for
the favor of the parents as in Europe, but strove
for success in the outer world, along paths of
their own choosing.
凡是旧的世界拒绝给的，移民决心都要在新的世
界得到。对于他的后代而言，要摆脱作为移
民的负担，只有在一个灵活自由的无阶级社会里取得更多的成
功，升至更高的地位。他们的
兄弟之间不象欧洲人那样为获得父母的欢心而相互
倾轧，他们都在外面的世界 沿着各自选
择的道路为成功而奋力拚搏。
The
English anthropologist, Geoffrey Gorer, sees the
whole situation in Freudian terms. Europe is
the father rejected by every immigrant who
turned his back on his own culture in order to
make a
new life in America. The immigrant's
struggle for success never ends, because there is
no limit to
the possible goal. The second
generation child, in turn, rejects the alien
parents because they
cannot measure up
to American standards. The only way he can soften
the blow is to achieve a
still greater
success. All over America the lawyers, doctors,
professors and politicians with Italian,
Irish, German or Polish names testify to the
urgency of this drive.
英国的人类学家杰弗里·戈罗尔用弗罗伊德的说法
来解释这一切。欧洲是被所有的移民抛弃
的父亲，移民为了在美国过上新生活，背离了自己的文化。移民
为了要成功从未停止过奋斗，
因为目标 的内容没有限制。同样，第二代移民拒绝接受移民过来的父母，
因为后者无法适
应美国标准。他能减轻压力的唯一方式 ，就是取得更大的成功。在整个美国，有意大利
人、
爱尔兰人、德国人或波兰人名字的律师、医生、教授和政治家，都能证明这种成功欲望的强
烈。
Not to strive, not to take advantage
of the opportunities in such a world, not to
succeed where
success was so available － these
things naturally became a sort of crime against
the state. To
develop the resources of a new
country required energetic people, bent upon using
their energies
－ not only for the rewards that
would result to themselves, but even more
important, to the
community. So material
success in the United States is not looked upon as
selfish. Its results are
seen to have communal
value.
要是不奋斗，不利用这个世界的各种机会去成功而不能成功---这些无疑都是对国家
的一种犯
罪。开发一个新国家的各种资源，需要精力充沛的人不遗余力地发挥他们的充沛精力---不仅
仅是为了他们会得到的回报，更重要的是给社会带来的回报。所以在美国，没有人把物质上
的成
功看成是自私的。成功的果实被看作具有全民共享的价值 。
Ford,
Carnegie, Rockefeller built great fortunes for
themselves. But they also built an economy
which has brought a great deal of material
well-being, higher health standards and better
educational opportunities to millions of
Americans. This is how it looks to us, anyway,
from inside.
福特、卡耐基、洛克菲勒，都为自己创造了极大的财富。但他们也建立起
一种经济，既可以
带来许多物质上的幸福，更高的健康水平，也可以给上千万的美国人创造更好地受教育
的机
会。无论怎样，这就是成功的内涵。
A society which
values competition so highly is inevitably an
aggressive one, even though the
laws carefully
limit the forms aggression may take. It has a
toughness about it which is good for
the
muscle tone of the economy but hard on some
individuals. In our pioneering days this
aggressiveness was essential to survival. Now
it can be a menace to society. The factory worker
who reaches a dead end and sees himself stuck
in the same job year after year may take out his
aggressive feelings in race hatred or fighting
management, or he may even turn it against himself
by way of alcoholism, proneness to accident,
or neurotic behavior.
一个如此注重竞争的社会必定是攻击性的社会，尽管
法律严格限制各种攻击形式。这种对攻
击的严格限制对 完善经济的肌体有益，但对某些个人却过于严格
。在拓荒时代，这种攻击
性是生存所必需的，但现在可能是一种对社会的威胁。走投无路、常年被同一工
作所困的工
人可能会将这样的攻击性用于种族仇恨或反对管理，或
开始酗酒、滋事、神经质、和自己
过不去。
Since a high
regard is felt for success, the rewards are high.
Money is rarely cherished for itself in
America; it is rather a symbol and a tool. As
a man's status rises, the demands upon him also
increase. He is expected to give liberally to
the hundreds of voluntary associations which
nourish
and minister to the community.
Look at the Who's Who entry for any prominent
business man, and
you are likely to find him
involved in an amazing number of committees and
associations
organized for the public good. 既然高度注重成功，回报也就很高。在美国，人们很少看重金钱本身，它更多的是一种标志，
一种工
具。当一个人的地位提高，人们对他的要求也相应提高。成百上千各种各样的志愿者
协会有益于社会并服
务于社会，人们期望他能慷慨捐钱给这些协会。你去看看《名人录》，
随便找一个知名商人的条目，就会
发现他参加的公益性委员会和协会多得令人吃惊。
This striving for
success and prestige, according to psychologists,
is a way of overcoming fears
and a sense of
inner emptiness. In a mobile society an energetic
person can hardly help matching
himself
against others and seeing how far he can go.
这种为成功和名望而奋斗的心理，按心理学家的说法，是一种克服恐惧和内心空虚感的方式。
在一个时刻
变化着的社会，一个有进取精神的人难免会拿自己与别人相比，知道自己能达到
的目标是什么。
Such a system is fine for those who have
it in them to succeed. It is not so good for the
mediocre.
The fear of failure, the fear of
competitors, the loss of self esteem － these
arouse tensions that
some people cannot
handle. In their turn they produce an excessive
craving for love. So love and
success are
linked. Gorer believes that most Americans by the
time they are adolescents have
confused two
ideas: to be successful is to be loved, and to be
loved is to be successful. Mothers
help to
impose the pattern by showing affection and
admiration when their children do well at
school and by withholding affection when they
fail.
这种思维方式对于那些本来就这样想的人是有利的。但对不求上进的人却没什么好处。害
怕
失败，害怕竞争对手，丧失自尊---都导致了一些人无力应付的紧张情绪。然后，这种紧张情
绪就产生了对爱的极度渴望。因此爱和成功是密不可分的。戈罗尔认为 ，许多美国人在少
年时期就被
两个问题困扰：成功就是要得到爱，要得到爱就要成功。母亲们把这个模式成功
地灌输给孩子：孩子们在
学校里表现好，她们就对他们显示出无限的疼爱和喜爱；孩子们要
是做得不好，她们就拒绝给予关爱。
Since there are no limits of class,
inherited occupation or education to hold a child
back, there are,
in theory, no limits to what
he can achieve. Consequently there is no point at
which he can say:
There, I've done it. From
now on all I have to do is to hold on.
become
President, striving is a moral obligation.
Achievement, not class, is the standard by which
men are judged. There is little or no glory
attached to being born wealthy or privileged; the
real
test is how far you climb from where you
started.
既然没有阶级限制、世袭职业或教育来阻碍孩子的发展，所以从理论上说，他所能
取得的成
就也没有限制。如果他说：“哦，我已经做到了。从现在起我要做的就是继续保持，”这样的<
br>话毫无意义。因为，理论上，任何孩子都可以做总统，奋斗是一种道德上的义务。评价人的
标准是
成功而不是阶级。不论出身豪门还是出身显赫，都没有什么可炫耀的；真正的考验就
是：从你的起点你能
爬多高。
Americans love work. It is meat and
drink to them. In recent years they have learned
how to play,
but they make work of that too.
If it's skiing, they throw themselves at it with
an effort that would
kill a horse. If it's a
vacation, they travel five or six hundred miles a
day, take in the sights at sixty
miles
an hour, pause only long enough to snap pictures,
and then discover what it was they went to
see
when they get home and look at the photographs. <
br>美国人热爱工作。工作就是他们的命根子。近年来他们已经学会玩，但是将玩也当成了工作。
要是
去滑雪， 他们就在雪地上猛冲，那样子连马都会累死。如果去度假，他们就每天开车
五六百公里，以每
小时60英里的速度观光，沿途只停下来拍些快照。然后
，发现了自己要
看的东西是怎么一回事，就打道回府，回去看照片。
Until
very recently there has always been a great deal
of work to do in this country, a great deal
that needed doing. At the beginning men of all
sorts and conditions had to pitch in. The preacher
had to fell trees and plough fields. The
teacher, the doctor and the magistrate had to
shoulder guns
for the common defense. The
farmer made his own tools, harness, household
equipment. He was
blacksmith, carpenter,
tinsmith, brewer and veterinary all rolled into
one, as his wife was spinster,
weaver and
doctor.
直到最近，这个国家还总是有许多事要做，还有许多事情必须要做。以前不管什么人都
工作
得很辛苦。传教士要伐树、犁田。教师、医生 ，还有地方法官得扛着枪当民兵。农场主自
己动手做工具、马鞍和家用器具。他集铁匠、木匠、白铁匠、啤酒酿造者和兽医于一身。他
的妻子既是纺
纱工、织布工，又是医生。
Americans still like to be
handy at all things. College professors go in for
making furniture or
remodeling an old house in
the country. Bankers don aprons and become expert
barbecue chefs.
Nearly everyone knows how to
use tools, make simple repairs to plumbing or
electrical fixtures,
refinish furniture or
paint a wall. Far from being thought a disgrace if
he performs these
tasks, a man is thought
ridiculous if he does not know how to perform
them.
美国人仍然喜欢什么都学着做。大学教授喜欢做家具或是改造乡下的老房子。 银行家穿
上
围裙，就成了专业的烧烤厨师。几乎每一个人都懂得使用工具，懂得简单的下水道或电力装
置
的修理，还会修家具，刷墙。做这些“粗活”绝不会让人认为不体面，不会做才是让人觉得
不可思议呢。
Along with this urge to be jack-of-all-
trades goes a willingness to change from one
occupation to
another. It surprises no one in
America when the banker's son becomes a farmer or
vice versa. Or
when a college professor shifts
into industry, or a young man who starts out with
a truck
purchased on credit ends up running an
enterprise with fleets of trucks spanning several
states.
President Truman was a farmer, an
operator of a haberdashery and an army officer
before he
turned to law and politics. James
Bryant Conant, first a chemist, then President of
Harvard
University, resigned this highest post
in the academic world to become High Commissioner
and
then Ambassador to Germany.
与这种成为万事通愿望
并存的是变换职业的愿望。在美国，不管是银行家的儿子当了农场主
还是农场主的儿子做了银行家，都不
会让人吃惊。更不用说大学教授转行干上了实业。 一
个年轻人靠一辆贷款买来的卡车起家，后来当上了
公司的老板，拥有卡车车队，行驶在好几
个州。杜鲁门总统经营过农场，开过男装店，当过陆军军官，后
来才转学法律和政治。詹姆
斯·布莱恩特·克兰特原先是化学家，后来担任哈佛大学的校长，辞去了这个
学术界的最高职
位后担任了高级公共事务官员，后被任命为驻德大使。
hazards.
安德鲁·莫里斯写道“对于欧洲人来说，生活是生命的历程，而对于美国 人，生活就是一个接
一个的危险。”
A single individual can be at once an intellectual, a Boy Scout leader, a business man, a sportsman,
a dabbler in music or painting, a nature-lover, and one who does many of his own household
chores. An employer, he may go hunting with his own or someone else's employees. A shopkeeper,
he may run for local office and be on familiar terms with professional men and government
officials. He will live on several levels which in other countries might be separated by class
distinctions.
一个人可以同时是知识分子，童子军首领，商人，运动健将，音 乐绘画的爱好者，热爱大自
然的人，做大部分家务的人。当老板的也许会和自己的或别人的雇员一起打猎 。经营商店的
可能会竞选当地的政府职位， 熟悉专业人士和政府官员。他可以同时位于别的国家也许会
用等级的概念来划分的不同社会阶层。
The emphasis on success and achievement, coupled as it is with a desire to be loved and admired,
leads to a critical dilemma of personality. To succeed one must be aggressive; to be liked, one
must be easy-going and friendly.
强调成功和成就，再加上要得到爱和赞赏的强烈愿望，会导致个性发展的两难境地：要成功，
人 就必须好斗；要别人喜欢自己，人就得宽容、友好。
One way out of the difficulty is to acquire groups of friends － lodge brothers, members of the
same church, a veteran's organization － towards whom you are pledged in friendship. Having
thus acquired assured friends, you can practice your aggression on those who don't belong. This
pattern explains to some extent the suspicion or hostility towards those of other races or religions.
走出困境的一个办法就是有成群的朋友---会社支部的会员，同一教堂的成员，退伍军人组织
---他们一定会给你友谊。有了这些可以信赖的朋友，你就可以对那些不在朋友之列的人表现
出你的攻 击力。这种模式也或多或少地解释了 ，为什么会对其他的种族或教会的人持怀疑
敌视的态度。
Materialism 物质享乐主义
The men and women who staked everything on America were for the most part poor. They
struggled hard, went without, and saved in order to build up a business or buy a farm of their own.
The freedom to own rather than the freedom to vote was the magnet that drew the majority of
them across oceans. Naturally enough they put a high value upon the land or the business they
acquired through their own efforts.
把赌注都押在美国的男男女女绝大多数是穷人。他们努力挣扎 ，忍气吞声，努力存钱，目的
就是做点买卖，买个属于自己的农场。像磁铁一般吸引着他们大多数人远涉 重洋的，是拥有
财产的自由而不是投票的自由。所以他们很看重靠自己的努力得来的土地和做的买卖。
In contrast with this natural acquisitiveness of the new arrivals, the American attitude toward
money is quite different. As the German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg observed, the American
false to stigmatize
the American as a materialist, and to deny his
idealism.... The American
merchant works for
money in exactly the sense that a great painter
works for money －as a
mark of appreciation for
his work.
和初来者自然的获取思想相比，美国人对钱的态度是很不一样的。就象德国心理学
家休格·爱
斯特伯格所指出的，美国人“很看重他挖到的金子 ，主要是因为金子是他的能力的体现……
因此把美国人定义为物质享乐主义者而否认他的理想主义，从根本上就是错误的……美国的
商人
为钱工作，伟大的画家为钱绘画， 意义是完全一样的——”，都是是对自己的工作欣赏
的标志。
The acquisition of money is important as
the clearest proof of success, though there are
other
acceptable proofs － prominence, public
notice, good works, fame. But the retention of
money is
not important at all. Indeed, it may
be frowned upon if it keeps the owner from living
well,
subscribing generously to a long list of
charities, and providing for members of the family
who
may have been less fortunate.
获得金钱是重要的，因为钱最能证明成功。当然还有人们可以接受的其他的证明---
卓越，公
众瞩目， 工作优秀，名声，等等。 但是存钱并不重要。事实上，钱的主人留着钱，不过好<
br>日子，不慷慨地捐款给大串的慈善机构，不接济家里没钱的人，人们也会不喜欢。
So the materialism that strikes a visitor to
America is not that of loving and hoarding wealth;
it is a
love of making and consuming wealth.
It is probably a middle-class rather than a
distinctively
American phenomenon, for most
Americans are middle-class.
所以，到美国的人感到震惊的不是物质
享乐主义的爱财和守财，而是美国人的既喜欢赚钱又
喜欢花钱。这可能不是美国人特有的性格，而是中产
阶级才有的现象，因为大多数美国人都
是中产阶级。
America has
been blessed with a rich supply of raw materials.
It learned during the depression that
even a
rich country can become impoverished if it fails
to use its wealth to benefit the majority.
And
it does not propose to make that error again. A
sizable portion of what it produces goes
overseas, including agricultural and
industrial machinery sent with the hope that
standards of
production and consumption can be
raised in other parts of the world too.
上天赋予美
国丰富的自然资源。但在大萧条时期美国人懂得了，如果一个国家不把财富造福
社会，再富有也会遭受贫
困。它再也不会重蹈覆辙。美国生产的产品相当一部分到了国外，
其中有工农业用的机械设备，就是希望
世界其他地方的生产水平和消费水平能得到提高。
There is no
denying the fact that the high level of production
does lead to a high level of material
comfort,
and that Americans are mighty fond of having
things that are new, shine, softly padded,
conveniently arranged, efficient, and so far
as may be, effortless. The bread comes already
sliced
so that the housewife need not exert
herself to slice it. It used to be that when she
put the bread in
the toaster, she had to turn
it once to toast both sides. Then came the toaster
which did both sides
at once, then the toaster
which popped the toast out when it was done, so
that she did not have to
turn a handle to
raise it. Soon, no doubt, there will be a toaster
which butters the toast, cuts it in
quarters,
and puts it on a plate. Perhaps there is one even
now.
无法否认这样一个事实：高水平的生产一定会带来高水平的物质享受，所以美国人非常喜欢
把东西做得新颖、光亮，有柔软的衬垫，使用
起来方便，这样就可以不费气力。买回来的
面包已经切好片，主妇就省得再切。 以前她
把面包放进烤面包机，还要翻转一次面包，才
能烤另一面。于是就有了可以同时烤两面的烤面包机，烤完
了还会把烤的面包送出来。所以
她不必转手柄就能拿到烤面包。过不久，肯定会有更新的烤面包机，可以
把烤面包涂上黄油，
切成四分之一块，然后放到盘子上。说不定现在就已经有这样的烤面包机了。
Food comes ready-cooked and frozen,
vegetables already washed. Floor wax must be
self-polishing, pens write for years without
having to be filled. Storm windows change to
summer
screens at a touch. Heat is thoroughly
automatic, and air conditioning keeps the house
equally
comfortable in summer. Automation now
promises to put a final end to all drudgery, even
to
building in the controls which will keep
the machines from making mistakes.
食物买的时候是煮熟的
、冰冻的，蔬菜是已经洗干净的。地板蜡肯定是自动上光的，钢笔写
上几年都不用上墨水。轻轻一按，防
暴风雪的窗子就变成了夏天的屏幕。暖气是自动的，冷
气使房子即使在夏天也一样舒适。自动化现在可以
让人再也不用做单调乏味的工作，自动装
置用在控制器中，机器再也不会出错。
Why is it that, having created a world in
which he could live without raising a hand or
taking a
step, the American habitually seeks
ways of letting off steam? His towns are full of
bowling alleys,
golf clubs, tennis courts,
clubs, lodges, churches and associations into
which he pours energy both
physical and
mental. The labor-saving gadgets, the love of
comfort turn out to be ways of saving
his time
and energy for something else.
美国人创造了一个不用举手投足
就能过得舒舒服服的世界，为什么还是习惯于用各种方式放
松自己呢？他们住的地方到处都是保龄球馆，
高尔夫俱乐部，网球场，俱乐部，房子，教堂，
以及各种可以让他们全身心投入的协会。他们制造省时省
力的小器具，喜欢舒适，就是为了
节约时间和精力做其他的事情。