明确不同工作的要求。不同工作要求的素质不一样。这需要你有足够的注意力和敏锐的洞察力，才能知道某个工作需要什么素质。有些工作要求人有勇气，有的工作则要求人机智。那些只要求人诚实正直的职业是最容易做的；那些需要人机智有才干的职业是最难做的——因为前者只需有好人品，后者即便用上你所有的关注和热情也许还不够。管人不易，尤其是管理愚蠢和疯狂的人，就更加不易——管理那些一无是处的人，你要有双倍的见识。一项工作如让人一心一意投入，时间、程序都固定，是很难让人接受的。好一点的工作应该是能让人按照自己的想法去做，既重要又不单调——变化能让人清醒。最受尊重的工作是不依赖别人的或是独立性很强的。最糟糕的工作是那些在现在和未来都让我们十分忧虑的工作。
know the demands of different occupations. it requires varied qualities, and to know which is needed taxes attention and calls for masterly discernment. some demand courage, others tact. those that merely require rectitude are the easiest, the most difficult those requiring cleverness. for the former all that is necessary is character; for the latter all one's attention and zeal may not suffice. it is a troublesome business to rule men, still more fools or blockheads: double sense is needed with those who have none. it is intolerable when an office engrosses a man with fixed hours and a settled routine. those are better that leave a man free to follow his own devices, combining variety with importance, for the change refreshes the mind. the most in repute are those that have least or most distant dependence on others; the worst is that which worries us both here and hereafter.
