Poor People Do Not Need to Learn Frugality, and Humble People Do Not Need to Learn Respectfulness

貧窮的人不用學節儉而自然節儉，卑微的人不用學謙恭而自然謙恭。這是中國古代的一句諺語。其意不是讓人不學習節儉和謙恭這兩種人們普遍崇尚的美德，而在于揭示一條更為根本的哲理：人的品性，不是與生俱來的，也不是隨意塑造的，歸根到底，是由人的境遇決定的。猶言“人是環境的產物”。

The expression means that a person in poverty does not need to learn how to be frugal because he is naturally frugal, and a person with a humble background does not need to learn how to be respectful because he is naturally respectful. This Chinese proverb does not mean to discourage people from learning those two virtues universally held in high esteem. Rather, it is meant to shed light on an essential and philosophical principle that a person's character, in the final analysis, is not born nor randomly formed, but is determined by one's circumstances. In other words, "a person is the product of his environment."

引例 Citations：

◎諺言：“貧不學儉，卑不學恭。”非人性分（fèn）殊也，勢使然耳。（《資治通鑒·魏紀一·世祖文皇帝黃初元年》）

諺語說：“貧不學儉，卑不學恭。”并非人的品性天生不同，只是客觀情勢使人變成了那個樣子而已。

As the proverb goes, "Poor people do not need to learn frugality, and humble people do not need to learn respectfulness." People vary in their character not because they are born so, but because they are shaped into who they are by their physical environment. (History as a Mirror)

◎家貧不學儉，物理有固然。（陸游《示子遹[yù]》）

家貧的人不學節儉而自會節儉，事物有其內在規律而不得不然。

People from poor families do not need to learn how to be frugal because things follow their natural laws with inevitable results. (Lu You: Poem to My Son Lu Yu)

推薦：教育部 國家語委

供稿：北京外國語大學 外語教學與研究出版社

責任編輯：錢耐安