金圣叹说过：“人生三十不仕，不当再仕，五十不娶，不当再娶。何则？用非其时也。”这一种说法，可代表中国人一般的普通思想。中国人的事业观，最羡慕“少年得志”，最伤感“大器晚成”。为了这个原因，便是有所成就的人，到了五十以上，便有退休的意思。六十七十的人若还在事业上努力，就有抽身不得的慨叹了。照人生上寿不过八十而言，为私人作一番打算，这种作风好像也有点道理。只是就事业的观点上说，就不对。因为越是有年纪的人，他的学识经验也就越丰富，大事业正需要这种人撑持。而且为人作事，也必须有个自信心。一老就觉得自己不行，那也透着我们生命力不强。扩而充之，整个民族如此，那是我们一种自馁精神，对民族兴衰大有关系。欧美人之成大事业总在晚年，恰与我们的观点相反。最近有两个老人的行为，值得借鉴，正可给我们打一针兴奋剂。第一是美国务卿赫尔，以七十二岁之年，飞莫斯科开那全球注意的三国会议。第二是前英国首相劳合·乔治，八十一岁结婚。这可以证明他们的生命力强，也可以证明他们精神毫不衰老。老了还活泼的干，不必退休去等死，这人生才有意味，才没枉过“吾生也有涯”的岁月。

现在我国的事业，多半在四五十岁的中年人手上。中年人干吧，我们的前途还遥远着呢！

Jin Shengtan says, “People over 30 should not become an official, and people over 50 should not get married. Why? Because otherwise they would be doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.” That is representative of the mentality of people at large in China. According to the Chinese outlook on life, it is most enviable “to achieve success in one’s early years” but most sorrowful “to fail to achieve it until one’s old age”. Hence, even a successful man will feel like going to retirement when he is on the wrong side of 50. And those who continue to work out of necessity in their sixties or seventies must bemoan their plight. However, considering that men seldom live up to the age of 80, their personal concerns may seem to be impeccable. But, from the standpoint of a worthy cause, they are wrong. Because the older one is, the more knowledgeable and experienced he is and therefore the more indispensable he is to a great cause. Moreover, one should conduct oneself with self-confidence. Calling yourself a good-for-nothing on account of age manifests your lack of vitality. The same is true of a nation. Self-confidence has a lot to do with its rise and fall. Unlike us Chinese, Westerners usually go in for great undertakings in late life. The recent cases of two Western senior politicians set a good example for us and serve to give us a shot in the arm. One was 72-year-old US secretary of state Cordell Hull, who went to Moscow to attend the 3-power conference in the limelight of the world. The other was former British prime minister Lloyd George, who got married at the age of 81. Their activities afforded proof of their vitality and youthful spirit. The way to live a meaningful life and fully utilize the transient days of one’s life is by continuing to work vigorously in old age rather than retire.

Our national cause now rests, for the most part, on the shoulders of our middle-aged men—men in their forties or fifties. Middle-aged fellow countrymen, roll up your sleeves to strive for our distant goal!