《智慧书·第一辑·一至五十》第5则
Create a Feeling of Dependence. Not he that adorns but he that adores makes a divinity. The wise man would rather see men needing him than thanking him. To keep them on the threshold of hope is diplomatic, to trust to their gratitude boorish; hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one. More is to be got from dependence than from courtesy. He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well, and the orange once sucked falls from the golden platter into the waste-basket. When dependence disappears, good behaviour goes with it as well as respect. Let it be one of the chief lessons of experience to keep hope alive without entirely satisfying it, by preserving it to make oneself always needed even by a patron on the throne. But let not silence be carried to excess lest you go wrong, nor let another's failing grow incurable for the sake of your own advantage.
注释摘要
这则格言的标题“Create a Feeling of Dependence”与正文的第一句话构成一个完整的论断：让人对你产生依赖感，因为神性不是来自装饰者，而是来自崇拜者。葛拉西安在这里做了一次概念主义的微型翻转——他故意把 adorn（装饰、美化）和 adore（崇拜）并列，让读者意识到两者之间隔着的不只是几个字母，而是人对人的两种根本不同的态度。装饰…