雙語智慧書·勿自鳴得意

107．勿自鳴得意
　　勿自鳴得意。你不能總是不滿意自己，這是怯懦的表現(xiàn)；也不要驕傲自大，那是愚蠢的表現(xiàn)。自滿大多源自無知，如果它不損害名聲的話，它能讓人有一種傻瓜一樣的快樂感（并非一無是處）。有的人因?yàn)檫_(dá)不到別人的完美，所以一味茍安于自己的平庸。有懷疑是明智的，甚至是有用的，無論是為了躲避禍患，還是為了在禍患來時(shí)得到慰藉--因?yàn)榈溁疾粫?huì)讓已經(jīng)提防它的人感到驚訝。荷馬(1)偶爾也打盹，亞歷山大(2)也是從高位上跌落后才清醒過來。世事有賴形勢(shì)。在某種情況下，環(huán)境可助人取得勝利，而在另一種條件下，卻可能使人遭受失敗。在所有不可救藥的愚蠢當(dāng)中，總有憑空而來的自滿在生長(zhǎng)、開花、結(jié)果。



107．Show no self-satisfaction
　Show no self-satisfaction. You must neither be discontented with yourself－and that were poor-spirited－nor self-satisfied－and that is folly. Self-satisfaction arises mostly from ignorance: it would be a happy ignorance not without its advantages if it did not injure our credit. Because a man cannot achieve the superlative perfections of others, he contents himself with any mediocre talent of his own. Distrust is wise, and even useful, either to evade mishaps or to afford consolation when they come, for a misfortune cannot surprise a man who has already feared it. Even Homer nods at times, and Alexander fell from his lofty state and out of his illusions. Things depend on many circumstances: what constitutes triumph in one set may cause a defeat in another. In the midst of all incorrigible folly remains the same with empty self-satisfaction, blossoming, flowering, and running all to seed.
　　
(1) 見箴言第83條注(2)。
(2) 亞歷山大大帝（前356-前323）：古馬其頓國王，著名的征服者。20歲即位，先鞏固了在希臘的霸權(quán)，后大舉東征，在西起巴爾干半島與尼羅河、東至印度河的廣袤領(lǐng)域建立帝國。公元前326年-前323年東征中多處負(fù)傷，最后病死，隨即帝國迅速瓦解。