西洋幽默语录(之七十八)
汤姆斯马可黎爵士 (MACAULAY, Thomas Babington, Lord), 1800-1859
英国历史学家,散文作家,和诗人
An acre in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia.
在米勒色斯拥有一英亩的土地, 好过乌托邦的一块领地.
His imagination resembled the wings of an ostrich. It enables him to run, though not to soar.
他的幻想有如鸵鸟的两翼. 让他可以跑, 却不能飞.
Perhaps no person can be a poet, or even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind.
也许无人可以成为一个诗人, 或甚至欣赏诗歌, 假如他没有一点神经质的话.
The Puritan hated bear baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear but it gave pleasure to the spectators.
清教徒讨厌诱捕熊, 不是因为它让熊受苦, 而是因为它给观众带来乐趣.
摩利斯梅德林克 (MAETERLINCK, Maurice), 1862-1949
比利时诗人, 剧作家, 和散文作家
All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than the animals that know nothing.
所有我们的知识, 只帮我们死得比什么都不懂的动物更加痛苦.
The living are the dead on holiday.
在世的人是死人在度假.
约翰马哈非 (MAHAFFY, John Pentland), 1839-1919
爱尔兰学者
Ireland is a country in which the probable never happens and the impossible always does.
爱尔兰这个国家, 可能的从没发生, 不可能的, 经常.
凯瑟琳曼斯菲德 (MANSFIELD, Katherine), 1888-1937
英国短篇小说作家
Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing it.
後悔是惊人的浪费精力; 你不能从那里爬起来; 只有吞下它才有效.
唐麦奇士 (MARQUIS, Don), 1878-1937
美国新闻记者和幽默作家
The females of all species are most dangerous when they appear to retreat.
所有种类的雌性都是最危险的, 当她们看似退却的时候.
He worked like hell in the country so he could live in the city, where he worked like hell so he could live in the country.
他在乡下拼命苦干以便可以到城市生活; 他在城市拼命苦干以便可以回到乡下生活.
An idea isn’t responsible for the people who believe in it.
理念不会为相信它的人负责.
If you make people think they’re thinking, they’ll love you; but if you really make them think, they’ll hate you.
如果你让人们想他们想的, 他们会爱你, 但如果你真的要他们想, 他们会恨你.
The more conscious a philosopher is of the weak spots of his theory, the more certain he is to speak with an air of final authority.
一个哲学家当他越自觉到他的理论的弱点, 他讲话时的态度就更加坚决,有如他是最高的权威.
Ours is a world where people don’t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it.
在我们这个世界, 人们不知道他们到底要什么, 却愿意为它受苦受难.
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
延迟是和昨日继续保持关系的艺术.
Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.
发表一本诗, 有如在大峡谷上, 抛下一片玫瑰花瓣, 然后等它的回音.
The successful people are the ones who can think up things for the rest of the world to keep busy at.
成功的人可以想出很多东西, 然后让全世界的人去忙.
There is always a comforting thought in time of trouble when it is not our trouble.
在有问题的时候, 人常有自我安慰的想法, 幸好它不是我们的问题.
