雙語智慧書·文明和高雅

87．文明和高雅
　　文明和高雅。人類生來野蠻，文化使人類高于動物。因此，是文化造就了人；人越文明，便越偉大。正因如此，古希臘人將世界上的其他人稱為野蠻之人。無知就是未開化--最能教化人類的莫如知識。但是，若不高雅，即便有知識，也顯得粗鄙。我們的才智，我們的欲求，特別是言談，都要顯得高雅才行。有些人天生就秀外慧中，他們的思想、言談、衣著（如同靈魂的果皮）和才干（如同靈魂的果實）都顯得高雅；相反，有的人粗俗不堪，極度缺乏教養(yǎng)，令人無法忍受，這使得他們的一切（甚至包括最優(yōu)秀的品質(zhì)）都失去了光芒。


87．Culture and elegance
　Culture and elegance. Man is born a barbarian, and only raises himself above the beast by culture. Culture therefore makes the man; the more a man, the higher. Thanks to it, Greece could call the rest of the world barbarians. Ignorance is very raw; nothing contributes so much to culture as knowledge. But even knowledge is coarse If without elegance. Not alone must our intelligence be elegant, but our desires, and above all our conversation. Some men are naturally elegant in internal and external qualities, in their thoughts, in their words, in their dress, which is the rind of the soul, and in their talents, which is its fruit. There are others, on the other hand, so gauche that everything about them, even their very excellences, is tarnished by an intolerable and barbaric want of neatness.