《智慧书·第三辑·一〇一至一五〇》第4则
Try your hand at Office. It requires varied qualities, and to know which is needed taxes attention and calls for masterly discernment. Some demand courage, others tact. Those that merely require rectitude are the easiest, the most difficult those requiring cleverness. For the former all that is necessary is character; for the latter all one's attention and zeal may not suffice. "Tis a troublesome business to rule men, still more fools or blockheads: double sense is needed with those who have none. It is intolerable when an office engrosses a man with fixed hours and a settled routine. Those are better that leave a man free to follow his own devices, combining variety with importance, for the change refreshes the mind. The most in repute are those that have least or most distant dependence on others; the worst is that which worries us both here and hereafter.
注释摘要
这则格言讲的其实是一件事：任何职位都不是一个能随便坐上去的位子。葛拉西安把标题和正文连成一句话——你要试试承担职务，但这需要交杂的禀赋，而且光知道自己有什么禀赋还不够，你得先看清楚这个职位要的究竟是什么。这不是一句泛泛的鼓励，而是一份冷静到近乎苛刻的职位分类学。 他区分出两种极端。有些职位只需要正直，这是最容易的，因为正直基本上可以靠品性撑起来。但需要用巧…