雙語智慧書·避免矯揉造作

123．避免矯揉造作
　　避免矯揉造作。越是才華橫溢之人，越不會矯揉造作，任何東西只要矯飾，就會變得庸俗。它不但讓別人厭煩，亦使自己煩惱。他們因處處小心而受盡折磨，淪為謹小慎微的犧牲品。若裝腔作勢，就算高才也會大打折扣，因為那樣會讓他們顯得傲慢做作而不自然，自然的東西總比不自然的東西更讓人心生愉悅。在世人看來，刻意顯示美德的人其實根本沒有美德。你越是在某件事上努力，越應隱藏自己付出的東西，這樣才能很自然地顯出你是天性使然。當然，你也不要為了避免矯飾而裝作不矯飾，那樣反而顯得造作。明智之人從不表現(xiàn)出知道自己的長處--只有你不注意自己的優(yōu)點，別人才會注意到你的優(yōu)點。除自己之外，別人都認為完美的人倍加偉大--通過兩條相反的途徑，他贏得了世人的贊譽。


123．Avoid affectation
　Avoid affectation. The more merit, the less affectation, which gives a vulgar flavour to all. It is wearisome to others and troublesome to the one affected, for he becomes a martyr to care and tortures himself with attention. The most eminent merits lose most by it, for they appear proud and artificial instead of being the product of nature, and the natural is always more pleasing than the artificial. One always feels sure that the man who affects a virtue has it not. The more pains you take with a thing, the more should you conceal them, so that it may appear to arise spontaneously from your own natural character. Do not, however, in avoiding affectation fall into it by affecting to be unaffected. The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them. He is twice great who has all the perfections in the opinion of all except of himself; he attains applause by two opposite paths.