雙語智慧書·心隨精英，口隨大眾

43．心隨精英，口隨大眾
　　心隨精英，口隨大眾。逆流而上難以糾正錯誤，并且危機四伏--只有蘇格拉底(1)才敢這么做。與他人唱反調(diào)，他人會視為侮辱，因為這相當于你在譴責其判斷力。你譴責了某種看法，也就譴責了贊成這種看法的人，因此，你會招致雙倍的厭惡。真理屬于少數(shù)人，謬誤惡劣卻普遍。你不能根據(jù)人們在公眾之前所言去判斷其是否明智。智者在那里說的話都不是發(fā)自內(nèi)心，只是迎合大眾趣味而已，他內(nèi)心也許對此深惡痛絕。謹慎之人應(yīng)避免被人反駁，也應(yīng)盡量不反駁別人--雖然他們老早便已作出評判，卻不急于發(fā)表。人的思想生而自由，不容亦不應(yīng)遭到貿(mào)然侵犯。智者因此保持緘默，如果他愿意敞開胸懷，也只是在隱蔽之處，在一小部分合適的人面前。

43．Think with the few and speak with the many
　Think with the few and speak with the many. By swimming against the stream it is impossible to remove error, easy to fall into danger: only a Socrates can undertake it. To dissent from others' views is regarded as an insult, because it is their condemnation. Disgust is doubled on account of the thing blamed and of the person who praised it. Truth is for the few, error is both common and vulgar. The wise man is not known by what he says on the public square, for there he speaks not with his own voice but with that of common folly, however much his inmost thoughts may gainsay it. The prudent avoid being contradicted as much as contradicting: though they have their censure ready they are not ready to publish it. Thought is free, force cannot and should not be used to it. The wise man therefore retires into silence, and if he allows himself to come out of it, he does so in the shade and before few and fit persons.
　　
(1) 古希臘哲學家、演說家，柏拉圖的老師。以"瀆神違教"之罪被控入獄，被判死刑，服毒而亡。