《智慧书·第三辑·一〇一至一五〇》第12则
Gain Good-will. For thus the first and highest cause foresees and furthers the greatest objects. By gaining their good-will you gain men's good opinion. Some trust so much to merit that they neglect grace, but wise men know that Service Road without a lift from favour is a long way indeed. Good-will facilitates and supplies everything: is supposes gifts or even supplies them, as courage, zeal, knowledge, or even discretion; whereas defects it will not see because it does not search for them. It arises from some common interest, either material, as disposition, nationality, relationship, fatherland, office; or formal, which is of a higher kind of communion, in capacity, obligation, reputation, or merit. The whole difficulty is to gain good-will; to keep it is easy. It has, however, to be sought for, and, when found, to be utilised.
注释摘要
这则格言在英译本里标作“Gain Good-will”，西班牙原文是“Tener buena dicha”，字面意思是“拥有好运”或“拥有善意的命运”。但这并非泛泛谈运气，而是专指赢得他人主动的善意、好感乃至眷顾。正文开头的“第一因与最高因”是一个嵌套了亚里士多德—经院哲学概念的修辞用法：在因果链条中，第一因推动一切后续，葛拉西安借此比喻善意在人事中的作用…