胡适留学日记卷七二六、法人刚多赛与英人毛莱之名言

卷七二六、法人刚多赛与英人毛莱之名言

　　（十一月六日）

　　刚多塞说：

　　It is not enough to do good, one must do it in a good way．No doubt we should destroy all errors, but as it is impossible to destroy them all in an instant, we should imitate a prudent architect who, when obliged to destroy a building, and knowing how its parts are united together, sets about its demolition in such a way as to prevent its fall from being dangerous.

　　—de Condorcet

　　〔中译〕

　　仅行善还不够，行善还要有个好方法。无疑，我们要涤除一切错误的东西，可是这不是顷刻之间就能做到的。我们应该效法一个深谋远虑的建筑师，当他不得不拆除一栋房子的时候，他心中知道房子的各个部件是如何搭在一起的。当他动手拆除时，他会设一个法子以免使房子各部件卸下时造成巨大的伤害。

　　——刚多赛

　　毛莱说：

　　Now however great the pain inflicted by the avowal of unbelief, it seems to the present writer that one relationship in life and one only justifies us in being silent where otherwise it would be right to speak. This relationship is that between child and parents.

　　——John Morley:On Compromise, p. 128.

　　〔中译〕

　　当失去信仰时，不管受到的痛苦如何巨大，但在作者看来，生活中只有一种关系，一种由双方默认的、无须声明的唯一的关系，那就是子女和父母之间的关系。

　　——约汉·毛莱：《姑息论》第128页

　　韦莲司女士昨寄书引此二则印证吾言，其言甚透澈故载于此。

　　读Morley书，见原文，续录一段：

　　This, of course, only where the son or daughter feels a tender and genuine attachment to the parent. Where the parent has not earned this attachment, has been selfish, indifferent, or cruel, the title to the special kind of forbearance can hardly exist. In an ordinary way, however, a parent has a claim on us which no other person in the world can have, and a man's self-respect ought scarcely to be injured if he finds himself shrinking from playing the apostle to his own father or mother.

　　——John Morley: On Compromise

　　〔中译〕

　　当然，由此而生出子女对父母的柔情，一种真正的依恋。如果父母不能臝得此种依恋，那他则可说是自私的，冷酷的或残忍的。对这种情感的克制很难找到一个词来称呼它。然而一般来说，父母对子女具有一种别人无法拥有的权利。当一个男子发觉在父母面前无法充当说教者时，他的自尊心并没有受到多大的伤害。

　　——约汉·毛莱：《姑息论》

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