二六、法人剛多賽與英人毛萊之名言

（十一月六日）

剛多塞說：

It is not enough to do good, one must do it in a good way．No doubt we should destroy all errors, but as it is impossible to destroy them all in an instant, we should imitate a prudent architect who, when obliged to destroy a building, and knowing how its parts are united together, sets about its demolition in such a way as to prevent its fall from being dangerous.

—de Condorcet

〔中譯〕

僅行善還不夠，行善還要有個好方法。無疑，我們要滌除一切錯誤的東西，可是這不是頃刻之間就能做到的。我們應(yīng)該效法一個深謀遠(yuǎn)慮的建筑師，當(dāng)他不得不拆除一棟房子的時候，他心中知道房子的各個部件是如何搭在一起的。當(dāng)他動手拆除時，他會設(shè)一個法子以免使房子各部件卸下時造成巨大的傷害。

——剛多賽

毛萊說：

Now however great the pain inflicted by the avowal of unbelief, it seems to the present writer that one relationship in life and one only justifies us in being silent where otherwise it would be right to speak. This relationship is that between child and parents.

——John Morley: On Compromise , p. 128.

〔中譯〕

當(dāng)失去信仰時，不管受到的痛苦如何巨大，但在作者看來，生活中只有一種關(guān)系，一種由雙方默認(rèn)的、無須聲明的唯一的關(guān)系，那就是子女和父母之間的關(guān)系。

——約漢·毛萊：《姑息論》第128頁

韋蓮司女士昨寄書引此二則印證吾言，其言甚透澈故載于此。

讀Morley書，見原文，續(xù)錄一段：

This, of course, only where the son or daughter feels a tender and genuine attachment to the parent. Where the parent has not earned this attachment, has been selfish, indifferent, or cruel, the title to the special kind of forbearance can hardly exist. In an ordinary way, however, a parent has a claim on us which no other person in the world can have, and a man's self-respect ought scarcely to be injured if he finds himself shrinking from playing the apostle to his own father or mother.

——John Morley: On Compromise

〔中譯〕

當(dāng)然，由此而生出子女對父母的柔情，一種真正的依戀。如果父母不能臝得此種依戀，那他則可說是自私的，冷酷的或殘忍的。對這種情感的克制很難找到一個詞來稱呼它。然而一般來說，父母對子女具有一種別人無法擁有的權(quán)利。當(dāng)一個男子發(fā)覺在父母面前無法充當(dāng)說教者時，他的自尊心并沒有受到多大的傷害。

——約漢·毛萊：《姑息論》