雙語智慧書·只和可敬之人交往

116．只和可敬之人交往
　　只和可敬之人交往。你能信任他們，他們也會(huì)信任你。他們的名聲是其行為的最好保證，哪怕是有誤會(huì)，也不會(huì)例外，因?yàn)樗麄兛偸茄匀缙湫?、行如其人。所以，寧可與高尚之人爭(zhēng)高下，也別與卑鄙之人爭(zhēng)輸贏。和墮落之人打交道很難，因?yàn)樗麄儧]有東西可做正直的抵押--和他們不可能建立真正的友情，和他們簽訂的協(xié)議也沒有約束力（無論這種協(xié)議看上去多么嚴(yán)格），因?yàn)樗麄儧]有榮譽(yù)感。不要和沒有榮譽(yù)感的人產(chǎn)生任何關(guān)系--榮譽(yù)無法約束他們，因此也不能要求他們有德行，因?yàn)闃s譽(yù)是人格的寶座。


116．Only act with honourable men
　Only act with honourable men. You can trust them and they you. Their honour is the best surety of their behaviour even in misunderstandings, for they always act according to what they are. Hence it is better to have a dispute with honourable people than to have a victory over dishonourable ones. You cannot treat with the ruined, for they have no hostages for rectitude. With them there is no true friendship, and their agreements are not binding, however stringent they may appear, because they have no feeling of honour. Never have anything to do with such men, for if honour does not restrain them, virtue will not, since honour is the throne of rectitude.