At about the same time as Lin Yutang was writing, another scholar held the view that "Of the nations of the world, it is we Chinese who are most able to put up with hard work." The problem as he saw it, though, was that, "It is also we Chinese whose bodies are most weak and who pay least attention to efficiency."
與林大師約略同時，另一位抗戰時期的學者也說了：「在世界各民族中，我們中國人要算是最能刻苦耐勞的」，問題是，最勞碌的是我們中國人，偏偏「體格最嬴弱而工作最不講效率的」，也是我們中國人。