A man had a little daughter—an only and much-loved child. He lived for her—she was his life. So when she became ill， he became like a man possessed， moving heaven and earth to bring about her restoration to health.

　　一個(gè)男人有一個(gè)小女兒，那是唯一的孩子，他深深地愛(ài)著她，為她而活，她就是他的生命。所以，當(dāng)女兒生病時(shí)，他像瘋了一般竭盡全力想讓她恢復(fù)健康。

　　His best efforts， however， proved unavailing and the child died. The father became a bitter recluse， shutting himself away from his many friends and refusing every activity that might restore his poise and bring him back to his normal self. But one night he had a dream.

　　然而，他所有的努力都無(wú)濟(jì)于事，女兒還是死了。父親變得痛苦遁世，避開(kāi)了許多朋友，拒絕參加一切能使他恢復(fù)平靜，回到自我的活動(dòng)。但有一天夜里，他做了一個(gè)夢(mèng)。

　　He was in heaven， witnessing a grand pageant of all the little child angels. They were marching in a line passing by the Great White Throne. Every white-robed angelic child carried a candle. He noticed that one child‘s candle was not lighted. Then he saw that the child with the dark candle was his own little girl. Rushing to her， he seized her in his arms， caressed her tenderly， and then asked， “How is it， darling， that your candle alone is unlighted?” “Daddy， they often relight it， but your tears always put it out.”

　　他到了天堂，看到所有的小天使都身穿白色天使衣，手里拿著一根蠟燭。他注意到有一個(gè)小天使的蠟燭沒(méi)有點(diǎn)亮。隨后，他看到那個(gè)拿著沒(méi)有點(diǎn)亮的蠟燭的小天使是自己的女兒。他奔過(guò)去，一把將女兒抱在懷里，親切地愛(ài)撫著她，然后問(wèn)道：“寶貝兒，為什么只有你的蠟燭沒(méi)有點(diǎn)亮呢?”“爸爸，他們經(jīng)常重新點(diǎn)亮蠟燭，可是你的眼淚總是把它熄滅。”

　　Just then he awoke from his dream. The lesson was crystal clear， and its effects were immediate. From that hour on he was not a recluse， but mingled freely and cheerfully with his former friends and associates. No longer would his darling‘s candle be extinguished by his useless tears.

　　就在這時(shí)，他從夢(mèng)中醒來(lái)。夢(mèng)給他上的一課像水晶般透明，而且立竿見(jiàn)影。從那個(gè)時(shí)刻起，他不再消極遁世，而是自由自在，興高采烈的回到從前的朋友和同事們中間。寶貝女兒的蠟燭再也沒(méi)有被他無(wú)用的眼淚熄滅過(guò)。

　　不做有才華的窮人

　　The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage, and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.

　　世界上滿(mǎn)坑滿(mǎn)谷都是精明能干、才華橫溢、學(xué)富五車(chē)以及極具天賦之人，我們每天都會(huì)見(jiàn)到他們。幾天前，我的汽車(chē)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)不靈了。我把它開(kāi)進(jìn)維修廠，一位年輕的機(jī)械工只消幾分鐘就把它修好了。他僅憑傾聽(tīng)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的聲音就能確定哪兒有毛病，這讓我驚奇不已。然而遺憾的是，光有非凡才華是不夠的。

　　I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in1 the medical trade was telling me how many doctors, dentists and chiropractors2 struggle financially. All this time, I thought that when they graduated, the dollars would pour in. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.” What this phrase means is that most people need only to learn and master one more skill and their income would jump exponentially3. I have mentioned before that financial intelligence is a synergy4 of accounting, investing, marketing and law. Combine those four technical skills and making money with money is easier. When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard.

　　我常常吃驚，為什么有才華的人卻只有微薄的收入。前幾天我聽(tīng)人說(shuō)，只有不到5%的美國(guó)人年收入在10萬(wàn)美元以上。一位精通藥品貿(mào)易的商務(wù)顧問(wèn)曾經(jīng)告訴我，有許多醫(yī)生、牙醫(yī)和按摩師生活拮據(jù)。以前我總以為他們一畢業(yè)，財(cái)源便會(huì)滾滾而來(lái)。這位商務(wù)顧問(wèn)告訴了我一句話：“離發(fā)大財(cái)，他們還差一項(xiàng)技能。”這句話的意思是說(shuō)，大部分人還需多學(xué)習(xí)并掌握一項(xiàng)技能，他們的收入才能呈指數(shù)倍增長(zhǎng)。以前我提到過(guò)，財(cái)商是會(huì)計(jì)、投資、市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)和法律方面的能力綜合。將上述四種專(zhuān)業(yè)技能結(jié)合起來(lái)，以錢(qián)生錢(qián)就會(huì)更容易。說(shuō)到錢(qián)，大部分人所知的唯一技能就是拼命工作。

　　When I graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1969, my educated dad was happy. Standard Oil of California had hired me for its oil-tanker fleet. I had a great career ahead of me, yet I resigned5 after six months with the company and joined the Marine Corps to learn how to fly. My educated dad was devastated. Rich dad congratulated me.

　　1969年，我從美國(guó)海運(yùn)學(xué)院畢業(yè)了。我那有學(xué)識(shí)的爸爸十分高興，因?yàn)榧又輼?biāo)準(zhǔn)石油公司錄用我為它的油輪隊(duì)工作。盡管我的未來(lái)前程遠(yuǎn)大，但我還是在6個(gè)月后辭職離開(kāi)了這家公司，加入海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)去學(xué)習(xí)飛行。對(duì)此我那有學(xué)識(shí)的爸爸非常傷心，而富爸爸則祝賀我做出的決定。

　　Job security meant everything to my educated dad. Learning meant everything to my rich dad. Educated dad thought I went to school to learn to be a ship's officer. Rich dad knew that I went to school to study international trade. So as a student, I made cargo runs, navigating6 large freighters7, oil tankers and passenger ships to the Far East and the South Pacific. While most of my classmates, including Mike, were partying at their fraternity8 houses, I was studying trade, people and cultures in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines. I also was partying, but it was not in any frat house. I grew up rapidly.

　　對(duì)于有學(xué)識(shí)的爸爸來(lái)說(shuō)，穩(wěn)定的工作就是一切。而對(duì)于富爸爸來(lái)說(shuō)，學(xué)習(xí)才是一切。有學(xué)識(shí)的爸爸以為我上學(xué)是為了做一名船長(zhǎng)，而富爸爸明白我上學(xué)是為了學(xué)習(xí)國(guó)際貿(mào)易。因此，在做學(xué)生時(shí)，我跑過(guò)貨運(yùn)、為前往遠(yuǎn)東及南太平洋的大型貨輪、油輪和客輪導(dǎo)航。當(dāng)我的大部分同班同學(xué)，包括邁克，在他們的聯(lián)誼會(huì)會(huì)堂舉辦晚會(huì)的時(shí)候，我正在日本、泰國(guó)、新加坡、中國(guó)香港、越南、韓國(guó)和菲律賓學(xué)習(xí)貿(mào)易、人際關(guān)系和文化。我也參加晚會(huì)，但不去任何聯(lián)誼會(huì)，我迅速地成熟起來(lái)了。

　　There is an old cliché that goes, “Job is an acronym9 for 'Just Over Broke.'” And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers “live within their means10.” They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn. Look down the road at what skills they want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in the “Rat Race11”. Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of bill paying, they become like those little hamsters12 running around in those little metal wheels.

　　常言道，“工作(job)就是‘比破產(chǎn)強(qiáng)一點(diǎn)(Just Over Broke)’的縮寫(xiě)”。然而不幸的是，這句話確實(shí)適用于千百萬(wàn)人，因?yàn)閷W(xué)校沒(méi)有把財(cái)商看作是一種才智，大部分工人都“量入為出”：干活掙錢(qián)，支付賬單。相反，我勸告年輕人在尋找工作時(shí)要看看能從中學(xué)到什么，而不是只看能掙到多少。在選擇某種特定職業(yè)之前或是陷入 “老鼠賽跑(激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng))”之前，要好好掂量自己到底需要獲得什么技能。一旦人們?yōu)橹Ц顿~單而整天疲于奔命，就和那些在小鐵輪里不停奔跑轉(zhuǎn)圈的小老鼠一樣了。

　　Their little furry legs are spinning furiously, the wheel is turning furiously, but come tomorrow morning, they'll still be in the same cage: great job.

　　老鼠的小毛腿跑得飛快，小鐵輪也轉(zhuǎn)得飛快，可到了第二天早上，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己依然困在同一個(gè)老鼠籠里，那就是：重要的工作。

　　When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald's makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. All too often, they're poor or struggle financially or earn less than they are capable of, not because of what they know but because of what they do not know. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.

　　當(dāng)我在自己教授的班級(jí)上問(wèn)到“你們當(dāng)中有多少人做的漢堡包能比麥當(dāng)勞更好”時(shí)，幾乎所有的學(xué)生都舉起了手。我接著問(wèn)，“如果你們當(dāng)中大部分人都能做出比麥當(dāng)勞更好的漢堡包，那為什么麥當(dāng)勞比你們更能賺錢(qián)?” 答案是顯而易見(jiàn)的：麥當(dāng)勞擁有一套出色的運(yùn)營(yíng)體系。許多才華橫溢的人之所以貧窮的原因，就是因?yàn)樗麄冎皇菍?zhuān)心于做更好的漢堡包，而對(duì)運(yùn)營(yíng)體系幾乎一無(wú)所知。世界上到處都是有才華的窮人。在很多情況下，他們之所以貧窮、生活拮據(jù)或者收入與其能力不相符，不是因?yàn)樗麄円阎臇|西而是因?yàn)樗麄兾粗臇|西。他們只將注意力集中在提高和完善做漢堡包的技術(shù)上，卻不注意提高有關(guān)漢堡包的銷(xiāo)售和送貨技能。