《智慧书·第一辑·一至五十》第26则
Find out each Man's Thumbscrew. 'Tis the art of setting their wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution. You must know where to get at any one. Every volition has a special motive which varies according to taste. All men are idolaters, some of fame, others of self-interest, most of pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order to bring them into play. Knowing any man's mainspring of motive you have as it were the key to his will. Have resort to primary motors, which are not always the highest but more often the lowest part of his nature: there are more dispositions badly organised than well. First guess a man's ruling passion, appeal to it by a word, set it in motion by temptation, and you will infallibly give checkmate to his freedom of will.
注释摘要
这一则里的“thumbscrew”是个令人不快的比喻。拇指夹，刑具，用螺丝慢慢拧紧来压碎指骨。约瑟夫·雅各布斯用这个词译西班牙原文，是在捕捉一种暴力感：发现一个人的拇指夹，就是找到他身上那个一旦施压他就不得不动的关节。不过葛拉西安在这里说的不是肉体折磨，而是动机。标题和正文合起来的意思很直白：弄清楚每个人究竟是被什么驱动着的，这是让他人行动起来的艺术；这需…