《股票作手回忆录·第十四章·游戏永不变·人性永不变》第11节
You can imagine how keen I was to get back to trading on my old scale. I was so eager to begin that I could not think of anything else; but I held myself in leash. I saw Bethlehem Steel climb, every day, higher and higher, as I was sure it would, and yet there I was checking my impulse to run over to Williamson & Brown’s office and buy five hundred shares. I knew I simply had to make my initial operation as nearly a cinch as was humanly possible. Every point that stock went up meant five hundred dollars I had not made. The first ten points’ advance meant that I would have been able to pyramid, and instead of five hundred shares I might now be carrying one thousand shares that would be earning for me one thousand dollars a point. But I sat tight and instead of listening to my loud-mouthed hopes or to my clamorous beliefs I heeded only the level voice of my experience and the counsel of common sense. Once I got a decent stake together I could afford to take chances. But without a stake, taking chances, even slight chances, was a luxury utterly beyond my reach. Six weeks of patience--but, in the end, a victory for common sense over greed and hope!
注释摘要
这段文字发生的背景，是利文斯顿在1914年宣布破产、卸掉百万美元债务之后，于1915年初试图重新积攒本金的关键时刻。他当时虽然摆脱了债主的精神折磨，但口袋里一文不名，他向曾经的合伙人丹·威廉姆森求助，对方只答应给他五百股的交易额度。这五百股，就是他全部的翻身资本。因此，这次操作成功与否，直接决定他能否东山再起，还是就此彻底出局。他等了整整六个星期，眼看着伯…