《智慧书·第三辑·一〇一至一五〇》第23则
Avoid Affectation. The more merit, the less affectation, which gives a vulgar flavour to all. It is wearisome to others and troublesome to the one affected, for he becomes a martyr to care and tortures himself with attention. The most eminent merits lose most by it, for they appear proud and artificial instead of being the product of nature, and the natural is always more pleasing than the artificial. One always feels sure that the man who affects a virtue has it not. The more pains you take with a thing, the more should you conceal them, so that it may appear to arise spontaneously from your own natural character. Do not, however, in avoiding affectation fall into it by affecting to be unaffected. The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them. He is twice great who has all the perfections in the opinion of all except of himself; he attains applause by two opposite paths.
注释摘要
这则格言的原文标题与正文实为一个连贯的判断：越是功绩卓著，就越不该显得做作。做作给一切事物涂上一层庸俗的光泽。葛拉西安在这里界定了一种自我消耗的悖谬——做作不但令旁观者疲惫，更令当事人自己受苦：他既是精巧面具的制造者，又是这面具的囚徒，时时刻刻要监控自己是否表演到位，从而沦为“照料的殉道者”。 这种对自我折磨的描述，在十七世纪西班牙的宫廷语境中尤其贴切。在…