《智慧书·第四辑·一五一至二百》第48则
Know how to transplant Yourself. There are nations with whom one must cross their borders to make one's value felt, especially in great posts. Their native land is always a stepmother to great talents: envy flourishes there on its native soil, and they remember one's small beginnings rather than the greatness one has reached. A needle is appreciated that comes from one end of the world to the other, and a piece of painted glass might outvie the diamond in value if it comes from afar. Everything foreign is respected, partly because it comes from afar, partly because It is ready made and perfect. We have seen persons once the laughing-stock of their village and now the wonder of the whole world, honoured by their fellow-countrymen and by the foreigners [among whom they dwell]; by the latter because they come from afar, by the former because they are seen from afar. The statue on the altar is never reverenced by him who knew it as a trunk in the garden.
注释摘要
要使自己的价值被认识，有时候非得出走不可。葛拉西安把这句话说得毫无温情：在某些地方，尤其是占据高位时，一个人必须跨出国境线，才能让人看见他的分量。这句话的西班牙语原文标题“Saberse trasplantar”，直译就是“懂得移植自己”——把一个人当作一株植物来考虑，换土而生。正文紧接着把故乡称作“伟大才能的后妈”，这不是修辞上的夸张，而是他对十七世纪西…