《智慧书·第一辑·一至五十》第12则
Nature and Art: material and workmanship. There is no beauty unadorned and no excellence that would not become barbaric if it were not supported by artifice: this remedies the evil and improves the good. Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art. Without this the best of natural dispositions is uncultured, and half is lacking to any excellence if training is absent. Every one has something unpolished without artificial training, and every kind of excellence needs some polish.
注释摘要
这则格言与上一则关系密切，上一则讲向他人学习，这一则退后一步，把人际交往的养料放进一个更大的框架里：自然与人为，material 与 workmanship。葛拉西安在这里用的是经院哲学的术语遗存，但骨子里已经完全是文艺复兴人文主义的气质。他把人看作一件有待完成的制品——自然提供材料，人为提供技艺，二者缺一便不成器。 原文以对偶句开篇：没有不加修饰的美，也…