《智慧书·第三辑·一〇一至一五〇》第36则
Post Yourself in the Centre of Things. So you feel the pulse of affairs. Many lose their way either in the ramifications of useless discussion or in the brushwood of wearisome verbosity without ever realising the real matter at issue. They go over a single point a hundred times, wearying themselves and others, and yet never touch the all-important centre of affairs. This comes from a confusion of mind from which they cannot extricate themselves. They waste time and patience on matters they should leave alone, and cannot spare them afterwards for what they have left alone.
注释摘要
这一则是在讲心智在事务中的位置感，葛拉西安用的是一个空间隐喻：你得站在关联汇聚的地方，才能摸到事情的脉搏。那个位置不是随便一个点，而是能让所有信息、利益与因果都通向你的那个“中心”。整句话的意思可以概括为：一旦你偏离了这个中心，不管你多么勤奋、多么耐心地处理手头的事，所做的一切都可能只是在边缘绕圈子。 原文里有两个关键的比喻：“ramifications”…