由于在我的上一篇博文《为什么经济学家总预测错误：“马后炮”式的理由都不是理由》的评论中，我建议大家去读凯恩斯的名著：Keynes, J.M., The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, (BN Publishing,2009), 1935，所以想起了Samuelson对凯恩斯这本书的评价；翻译如下，与大家共勉。

It is a badly written book, poorly organized; any layman who, beguiled by the author’s previous reputation, bought the book was cheated of his 5 shillings.

这是一本写的很糟糕的书，组织的非常差；一般人基于作者以前的声誉买了这本书，觉得被骗了5先令。

It is arrogant, bad-tempered, polemical, and not overly-generous in its acknowledgements... In it the Keynesian system stands out indistinctly, as if the author were hardly aware of its existence or cognizant of its properties; and certainly he is at his worst when expoundingon its relations to its predecessors.

书中充满着傲慢、坏脾气、并挑起争端，而且在“感谢”中也显得十分吝啬。在书中，凯恩斯系统从来没有清晰地出现，好像作者从来不知道它的存在，也不知道它的特性；而最差劲的地方，是在他描述本书的工作与前人工作的关系方面。

Flashes of insight and intuition intersperse tedious algebra. An awkward definition gives way to an unforgettable cadenza. When it is finally mastered, we find its analysis to be obvious and at the same time new. In short, it is the work of genius.

见解和直觉点缀着枯燥的代数公式。粗糙的定义取代了难忘的华彩。当我们最后看懂以后，我们发现这些分析是那么的显而易见，而且同时又是全新的。简而言之，这就是天才的工作。

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    我是在 Andrew Lo 的一篇论文中第一次看到这段话的，从一开始就难以忘怀。一流的成果往往真是这样：开始时别人觉得你在瞎搞，对你嗤之以鼻；后来有人读了读你的文章，觉得好像有那么一点点道理；接着大家又想一想、想一想，消化理解之后，觉得很显然、很简单，就应该这么做；最后大家再回头一看，这么简单的事情竟然从来没有人做过 --- 这就是天才！