《智慧书·第四辑·一五一至二百》第36则
Recognise Faults, however high placed. Integrity cannot mistake vice even when clothed in brocade or perchance crowned with gold, but will not be able to hide its character for all that. Slavery does not lose its vileness, however it vaunt the nobility of its lord and master. Vices may stand in high place, but are low for all that. Men can see that many a great man has great faults, yet they do not see that he is not great because of them. The example of the great is so specious that it even glosses over viciousness, till it may so affect those who flatter it that they do not notice that what they gloss over in the great they abominate in the lower classes.
注释摘要
这一则的标题和正文合在一起，说出了葛拉西安一句极不客气的话：缺点不会因为居高位的就变得不是缺点。他用的西班牙原文里，关键词是“vicios”（恶习、败德）和“altos puestos”（高位）之间的对立。整句话不是在劝人忍受上司的毛病，而是在警告一种认知上的谬误：人们容易把权势的光环误当成道德上的合格。brocade 是织锦，gold 是王冠，二者都是视…