瓦尔登湖经济篇妙句2

If it is asserted that civilization is a real advance in the condition of man -- and I think that it is, though in the condition of man -- ans I think that it is, though only the wise improve their advantages -- it must be shown that it has produced better dwellings without making them more costly; and the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

如果说文明真的改善了人的条件，--我想也是，虽说只有聪明的人才使他们的有利条件得到了改善--那么它必须向世人表明，它已造出了价格不高、房型更好的住所，所谓物价，指的是用以交换物品所需的那部分人生，或者现在，或者以后。

While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings.

虽然文明在不断地改善着我们的住房，但它却没有同时改善住在房子里面的人。文明创造了宫殿，但却不易创造贵族和国王。

The luxury of one class is counterbalanced by the indigence of another.

一个阶级在享乐，另一个阶级就必然在吃苦。

Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives bacause they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have.

大多数人似乎没考虑过，一座房子该是什么样子，他们本不贫困，但实际上却是穷了一辈子，因为他们老想拥有一座跟邻居家一样的房子。