Andrew Carnegie—A Philanthropist Who Gives His Fortune Away
慈善家——安德鲁·卡内基
Andrew Carnegie's life was a true “rags to riches” story. Born to a poor Scottish family that immigrated to the United States， Carnegie became a powerful businessman and a leading force in the American steel industry. Today， he is remembered as an industrialist， a millionaire， and a philanthropist. That is because Carnegie quite believed that the wealthy had an obligation to give back to society， so he donated much of his fortune to causes like education and peace.
What is known to all of us is that all kids learn from their parents. When he was a child， Andrew Carnegie learned values from both of his parents. But their values were very different and often in conflict. From his father， Andrew learned the value of helping those who are less fortunate. That is because Carnegie's father， Will Carnegie， was part of British working class in Scotland， who adamantinely believed in making better conditions for the workingman. Will Carnegie， was a weaver but when he was unable to find work in America he tried to produce and sell his own cloth. He died at the age of 51 when Andrew was 20 years old and the only breadwinner for the family. Given these rigorous living circumstances， Carnegie's mother had to teach him that he needed to put his own needs before those of others in order to survive. This is a direct result of the family's poverty， especially after his father died.
When he grew up， Carnegie was extremely successful in business. He became a very wealthy man. In fact， when he retired， he was believed to be the richest man in the world. But he had mixed feelings about some of the ways in which he made his fortune， so as a result， he decided to give much of his money away. His father would have liked knowing that by the time he died， Carnegie had given away over $350 million， equal to more than $3 billion in dollar nowadays. Of course， it is interesting to see how Carnegie's parents' opposing values affected him as a person. However， Carnegie followed his father's value finally and donated part of his fortune to the improvement of the working conditions of the workingman.
Sometimes， can you imagine you are the richest person in the world and then giving all your money away？ How would you feel then？ Of course， it is quite difficult for most of us to do so， but that's exactly what Andrew Carnegie did. After retiring in 1901 at the age of 66 as the world's richest man， Andrew Carnegie wanted to become a philanthropist， a person who gives money to good causes， like commonweal. He believed in the “Gospel of Wealth”， which meant that wealthy people were obligated to give their money back to others in society. “He who dies rich， dies disgraced，” that is what he often said. He also strongly believed that the wealthy had a moral obligation to serve as stewards to society. The two causes Carnegie had a great passion for were education and international peace. Foremost， he believed that everyone was entitled to a proper education. For this reason， Carnegie was involved with the founding of many schools and universities. What is interesting is that Carnegie had made some charitable donations before 1901， but after that time， giving his money away became his new occupation. In 1902 he founded the Carnegie Institution to fund scientific research and established a pension fund for teachers with a $10 million donation. Among his praiseworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name， including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh.
Another way Carnegie contributed to public education was funding free public libraries. Throughout his life， Andrew Carnegie loved to read. So it made sense that he wanted to give much money to build libraries. When Carnegie was a young man he lived near Colonel James Anderson， a rich man who allowed any working boy to use his personal library for free. In those days， America did not found a system of free public libraries. Therefore， Carnegie donated more than five million dollars to establish 2，500 libraries in small communities throughout America and they formed the nucleus of the public library system of America nowadays.
Another of Carnegie's philanthropic focuses was the idea of peace among all nations. He established the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and funded the building of The Hague Palace of Peace， which houses The World Court. By 1911， Carnegie had donated a huge amount of money—90 percent of his fortune to the charitable causes.
The level of philanthropy displayed by Andrew Carnegie during his lifetime and beyond has been the foundation for traditions of philanthropy today. His endeavors began the first efforts toward the modern day foundation. His reflections and call to responsibility of other affluent people to give away their wealth drew the attention of many others to do the same， including Warren Buffett， John Rockefeller and W.K. Kellogg.
安德鲁·卡内基的一生可以用一个“乞丐变富翁”的故事来描述。他出生在一个贫穷的苏格兰家庭，后来举家移民到了美国。在美国，通过个人坚持不懈的努力，卡内基成为了美国钢铁工业的巨头和中坚力量。如今，人们缅怀卡内基，将他视为一位工业家、一位百万富翁以及一位慈善家。这是因为卡内基坚信富人们有回报社会的义务，因此，他将自己的大部分财产捐献给了教育和和平这类事业。
众所周知，父母是孩子的老师。当卡内基还是个小孩子时，他便从自己的父母身上学到了他们各自的价值观。卡内基父母的价值观却大相径庭，而且还经常引发矛盾和冲突。在他的父亲身上，卡内基学到了一种价值观，那便是去帮助穷人。这是因为卡内基的父亲威尔·卡内基是苏格兰英国工人阶级中的一员，他坚定不移地认为应该为劳动者们创造更好的条件。卡内基的父亲是一个织工，当他在美国找不到工作时，他便试着开始自己去自产自销布料。卡内基的父亲在五十一岁的时候便去世了，仅留下了二十岁的卡内基作为家里养家糊口的顶梁柱。在这样严峻的生活环境下，卡内基的母亲不得不教育卡内基——为了生存，他必须将自己的需要放在别人的需要之前。这便是家庭贫困所导致的最为直接的后果，尤其是在卡内基的父亲去世之后。
长大成人后的卡内基在生意上极为成功。他成为了一个富翁。事实上，他退休时，已被公认是世界首富。然而，卡内基对自己创造财富过程中用过的一些方法却有着复杂的想法。最终，他决定捐献自己的大部分财产。卡内基捐献了三亿五千万美元，相当于今天的三十亿美元。如果他的父亲在弥留之际能够知道这些的话，一定会倍感欣慰的。当然，看到父母双方对立的价值观作用在同一个人的身上，是一种很有趣的现象。然而，卡内基最终遵循了他父亲的价值观，将他捐献的财产中的部分用于改善工人的工作条件。
有的时候，试想一下，如果你是这个世界上最富有的人，但随后便放弃了所有财产的感受会是怎样的？当然，大多数的人是做不到这一点的，但安德鲁·卡内基却恰恰做到了。1901年，退休了的卡内基成为了世界上最富有的人，那一年他已66岁。在退休后，安德鲁·卡内基便想成为一名慈善家，为慈善事业，例如为公益事业捐款。他相信“富人的福音”中所蕴含的道理，那便是富人们有义务把他们自己的钱财归还给社会上的其他人。卡内基常说：“人死时，还富有，那就是死得可耻。”他同样强烈地认为富人们在精神层面上是社会的托管人、经纪人。他极为关注的两大事业便是教育和世界和平。首先，他认为每个人都有接受教育的权利。因此，卡内基捐款建造了很多学校和大学。有趣的是，1901年之前，卡内基曾为慈善事业捐过款，但在那之后，捐款便成为了他的一项崭新的职业。在1902年，他创建了卡内基协会以资助科学研究，并出资一千万建立了教师退休基金。卡内基对于社会值得称道的贡献都是以他的名字来命名的，这其中包括匹兹堡的卡内基学院（1967年与梅隆学院合并为卡内基梅隆大学）。
卡内基对于公众教育的另一大贡献便是资助修建免费公共图书馆。卡内基一生很喜欢读书，因此我们就不难理解为什么他为修建图书馆而大量捐款了。卡内基青年时曾住在克尼尔·詹姆斯·安德迅家附近。安德迅虽是位富人，但却允许任何一名青年劳工来他家的私人图书馆里免费阅读。那时，美国还没有建立起一个免费的国家公共图书馆。因此，卡内基捐赠了五百多万美元建立了2500个图书馆，这些图书馆遍布在美国各地的小村镇，形成了现如今美国公共图书馆系统的核心。
卡内基所关注的另一件慈善事业便是世界和平。他建立了“卡内基国际和平基金会”，并且捐赠建造了海牙和平宫，成为了世界法庭的所在地。到1911年，卡内基已将他资产中的大部分——财产中的90%捐赠给了慈善事业。
卡内基为慈善事业所做出的一生的功绩为今天的慈善事业奠定了基础。他的努力为现今慈善事业的根基奠了第一锹土。卡内基经常反思并呼吁富人有责任捐献财产。这吸引了许多富人竞相摹仿，这其中包括沃伦·巴菲特、约翰·洛克菲勒以及凯洛洛。
译者感言
作为一位为后人所铭记的传奇工业家和慈善家，卡内基的一生充满了人生的起起伏伏。他原本只是一个贫穷的苏格兰移民，出身于匹兹堡的贫民窟，但最终却成为了美国的钢铁大王。卡内基创建了一个钢铁帝国，同时也缔造了一个传奇。作为一名白手起家的实业家，卡内基对于财富有着自己独特的看法，他曾在33岁的日记里写道：“对金钱执迷的人，是品格最卑贱的人；如果我一直追求能赚钱的事业，有一天自己也一定会堕落下去，假使将来我能够获得某种程度的财富，就要把它用于社会福利。”最终，卡内基几乎将自己的财产捐赠一空。他一生捐赠款额之巨大，足以和死后设立诺贝尔奖金的瑞典科学家诺贝尔相媲美。卡内基虽不是鼎鼎大名，但是现如今很多人的生活都在他潜移默化的影响下发生着变化，特别是他的财富观更是为后人树立了一个正确对待财富的准则。
