The Heresy of Positive Thinking
耕种自己田地的，必得饱食；追随虚浮的，却是无知。（箴言 12：11）
耕种自己田地的，必得饱食；追随虚浮的，足受穷乏。（箴言 28：19）
我未曾贪图一个人的金、银、衣服。 我这两只手常供给我和同人的需用，这是你们自己知道的。 我凡事给你们作榜样，叫你们知道应当这样劳苦，扶助软弱的人，又当记念主耶稣的话，说：“施比受更为有福。” （使徒行转 20:33-35）
... 要立志作安静人，办自己的事，亲手作工，正如我们从前所吩咐你们的， 叫你们可以向外人行事端正，自己也就没有甚么缺乏了。（帖撒罗尼迦前书 4:11-12）
从前偷窃的，不要再偷；总要劳力，亲手作正经事，就可有余分给那缺少的人。（以弗所书 4:28b）
GREED — and its crafty sibling, speculation — are the designated culprits for the financial crisis. But another, much admired, habit of mind should get its share of the blame: the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-American, positive thinking.
As promoted by Oprah Winfrey, scores of megachurch pastors and an endless flow of self-help best sellers, the idea is to firmly believe that you will get what you want, not only because it will make you feel better to do so, but because “visualizing” something — ardently and with concentration — actually makes it happen. You will be able to pay that adjustable-rate mortgage or, at the other end of the transaction, turn thousands of bad mortgages into giga-profits if only you believe that you can.
...
Americans did not start out as deluded optimists. The original ethos, at least of white Protestant settlers and their descendants, was a grim Calvinism that offered wealth only through hard work and savings, and even then made no promises at all. You might work hard and still fail; you certainly wouldn’t get anywhere by adjusting your attitude or dreamily “visualizing” success.
Source: The Power of Negative Thinking, New York Times, September 24, 2008