《智慧书·第三辑·一〇一至一五〇》第26则
Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in not hiding it when committed. You should keep your desires sealed up, still more your defects. All go wrong sometimes, but the wise try to hide the errors, but fools boast of them. Reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is done; if a man does not live chastely, he must live cautiously. The errors of great men are like the eclipses of the greater lights. Even in friendship it is rare to expose one's failings to one's friend. Nay, one should conceal them from oneself if one can. But here one can help with that other great rule of life: learn to forget.
注释摘要
这一则格言在西班牙原文里有一个醒目的对句句式：把蠢事做出来是蠢，做完不懂得藏好则是更大的蠢。标题与正文的前半句其实是同一句话的两种说法：La necedad no está en hacer la necedad, sino en no saber encubrirla。这句话的力量恰恰在第二半句——葛拉西安把道德评估从“行为本身”悄悄转移到了“行为之后的…