《智慧书·第三辑·一〇一至一五〇》第28则
Highmindedness. One of the principal qualifications for a gentleman, for it spurs on to all kinds of nobility. It improves the taste, ennobles the heart, elevates the mind, refines the feelings, and intensifies dignity. It raises him in whom it is found, and at times remedies the bad turns of Fortune, which only raises by striking. It can find full scope in the will when it cannot be exercised in act. Magnanimity, generosity, and all heroic qualities recognise in it their source.
注释摘要
这则格言在西班牙原文里用的词是 grandeza de ánimo，字面意思是“灵魂的伟大”，英译作 highmindedness，中文常译为“心胸高远”或“气度恢宏”。葛拉西安一开篇就把它定为绅士——也就是他所设想的 el discreto，那个在宫廷中周旋的通达之人——“最主要的资质之一”。这句话本身就值得掂量：他并不说这是圣徒的德行，也不说这是学者的…