100.做一个清醒的人,智慧的信徒,贤能的臣子

100.做一个清醒的人,智慧的信徒,贤能的臣子

做一个清醒的人,智慧的信徒,贤能的臣子。要完全做到这些,而不是看上去做到了,更不要装作做到了。现在,哲学已经不被人尊崇,但它仍然是智者关注的对象。思考的艺术已失去往日的名声。塞涅卡(1)将之引入罗马,在宫廷曾十分风行,但现在却不被人接受。识破欺骗一直被看作虑事周全之头脑的真正养料,也是品德高尚之灵魂的真正乐事。

100.Be a man without illusions, a wise Christian, a philosophic courtier

Be A man without illusions, a wise Christian, a philosophic courtier. Be all these, not merely seem to be them, still less affect to be them. Philosophy is nowadays discredited, but yet it was always the chiefest concern of the wise. The art of thinking has lost all its former repute. Seneca introduced it at Rome: it went to court for some time, but now it is considered out of place there. And yet the discovery of deceit was always thought the true nourishment of a thoughtful mind, the true delight of a virtuous soul.

(1) 见箴言第36条注(2)。