《智慧书·第六辑·二五一至三百》第31则
Find Favour with Men of Sense. The tepid Yes of a remarkable man is worth more than all the applause of the vulgar: you cannot make a meal off the smoke of chaff. The wise speak with understanding and their praise gives permanent satisfaction. The sage Antigonus reduced the theatre of his fame to Zeus alone, and Plato called Aristotle his whole school. Some strive to fill their stomach albeit only with the breath of the mob. Even monarchs have need of authors, and fear their pens more than ugly women the painter's pencil.
注释摘要
这则以获取有识之士的垂青为主题，处理的其实是一个非常古老的问题：我们究竟该在乎谁的判断。标题与正文合在一起，直译过来大致是“寻找有识之士的欢心：一位卓越之人一声冷淡的‘是’，抵得过庸众所有的掌声——你没法靠谷壳冒出来的烟做一顿饭”。这就是整句话的骨架，后面全是它的展开。 这则格言浓缩了葛拉西安对名声之品质的一次明确分层。他并不是在泛泛地说“不要在乎别人怎么…