古希腊七哲之一泰勒斯十分贫穷,人们便说,他的贫穷说明了哲学的无能甚至无用。为了反诘这种观点,泰勒斯决定让理论与实践作一次成功的火花碰撞。他运用自己丰富的天象学知识预测到来年橄榄必将大丰收,于是,就用自己可怜的一点钱作抵押,把所有橄榄榨油机都事先廉价租下。越明年,橄榄果然盛产,亟需大量的榨油机,他抬高租金,结果富甲一方。 Thales, one of the seven philosophers of ancient Greece, was very poor. People said that his poverty explained the incompetence and even uselessness of philosophy. In order to counter this view, Thales decided to make the theory and practice a successful spark. He used his rich astronomical knowledge to predict that the olive harvest of the coming year will surely be harvested. He will use his poor little money as collateral and rent all the olive oil presses in advance. The more the next year, the olives are in abundance, and a large number of oil presses are urgently needed. He raises rents, resulting in a richer party.