To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say: “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week’s sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.

It may also be said that rational, industrious useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortune’s favoured children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.

工作和娛樂(lè)

要想獲得真正的快樂(lè)與安寧，一個(gè)人應(yīng)該有至少兩三種愛(ài)好，而且必須是真正的愛(ài)好。到晚年才說(shuō)“我對(duì)什么什么有興趣”是沒(méi)用的，這只會(huì)徒然增添精神負(fù)擔(dān)。一個(gè)人可以在自己工作之外的領(lǐng)域獲得淵博的知識(shí)，不過(guò)他可能幾乎得不到什么好處或是消遣。做你喜歡的事是沒(méi)用的，你必須喜歡你所做的事。總的來(lái)說(shuō)，人可以分為三種：勞累而死的、憂慮而死的、和煩惱而死的。對(duì)于那些體力勞動(dòng)者來(lái)說(shuō)，經(jīng)歷了一周精疲力竭的體力勞作，周六下午讓他們?nèi)ヌ咦闱蚧蛘叽虬羟蚴菦](méi)有意義的。而對(duì)那些政治家、專業(yè)人士或者商人來(lái)說(shuō)，他們已經(jīng)為嚴(yán)肅的事情操勞或煩惱六天了，周末再讓他們?yōu)楝嵤聞谏褚彩菦](méi)有意義的。

也可以說(shuō)，那些理性的、勤勉的、有價(jià)值的人們可分為兩類，一類，他們的工作就是工作，娛樂(lè)就是娛樂(lè);而另一類，他們的工作即娛樂(lè)。大多數(shù)人屬于前者，他們得到了相應(yīng)的補(bǔ)償。長(zhǎng)時(shí)間在辦公室或工廠里的工作，回報(bào)給他們的不僅是維持了生計(jì)，還有一種強(qiáng)烈的對(duì)娛樂(lè)的需求，哪怕是最簡(jiǎn)單的、最樸實(shí)的娛樂(lè)。不過(guò)，命運(yùn)的寵兒則屬于后者。他們的生活很自然和諧。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，工作時(shí)間永遠(yuǎn)不嫌長(zhǎng)。每天都是假日，而當(dāng)正常的假日來(lái)臨時(shí)，他們總是埋怨自己所全身心投入的休假被強(qiáng)行中斷了。不過(guò)，有些事情對(duì)兩類人是同樣至關(guān)重要的，那就是轉(zhuǎn)換一下視角、改變一下氛圍、將精力轉(zhuǎn)移到別的事情上。確實(shí)，對(duì)那些工作即是娛樂(lè)的人來(lái)說(shuō)，最需要隔一段時(shí)間就用某種方式把工作從腦子里面趕出去。