《智慧书·第二辑·五一至一百》第16则
See that Things end well. Some regard more the rigour of the game than the winning of it, but to the world the discredit of the final failure does away with any recognition of the previous care. The victor need not explain. The world does not notice the details of the measures employed; but only the good or ill result. You lose nothing if you gain your end. A good end gilds everything, however unsatisfactory the means. Thus at times it is part of the art of life to transgress the rules of the art, if you cannot end well otherwise.
注释摘要
这则格言的标题与正文构成一个完整的句子：务使事情有一个好的收场。葛拉西安在这里讲的是一个相当冷酷的命题，即结局本身拥有对过程的回溯性解释权。他开篇就对比了两种态度：有人更在意游戏本身的规则是否被严格遵循，有人只看最终的输赢。然后他立刻亮明立场——在世人眼里，只要最后失败了，此前所有的小心经营都不值一提。胜利者不必做任何解释。世人不会去追究手段的细节，他们只…