《智慧书·第六辑·二五一至三百》第2则
Neither belong entirely to Yourself nor entirely to Others. Both are mean forms of tyranny. To desire to be all for oneself is the same as desiring to have all for oneself. Such persons will not yield a jot or lose a tittle of their comfort. They are rarely beholden, lean on their own luck, and their crutch generally breaks. It is convenient at times to belong to others, that others may belong to us. And he that holds public office is no more nor less than a public slave, or let a man give up both berth and burthen, as the old woman said to Hadrian. On the other hand, others are all for others, which is folly, that always flies to extremes, in this case in a most unfortunate manner. No day, no hour, is their own, but they have so much too much of others that they may be called the slaves of all. This applies even to knowledge, where a man may know everything for others and nothing for himself. A shrewd man knows that others when they seek him do not seek him, but their advantage in him and by him.
注释摘要
这一则的标题与正文原是同一句话的两半，合起来是：人既不能完全属于自己，也不能完全属于他人，这两种情形都是卑劣的暴政。葛拉西安在这里用一个对句把两种极端钉在一起，而他真正的用力处，在于画出夹在两者之间那条几乎不存在的线。 我们先看第一个极端：完全属于自己。西班牙原文里用的是 ser todo para sí，字面意思是“全然为了自己”。葛拉西安紧接着就把这句…