西洋幽默语录(之一百一十三)
梭罗 (THOREAU, Henry David), 1817-1862
美国作家和自然主义者
Any fool can make a rule, and every fool will mind it.
任何愚人皆可制定条例, 而只有愚人会将它放在心上.
Be not simply good; be good for something.
不要只是单纯的好; 要有所好.
City life: millions of people being lonesome together.
城市生活: 成千上万的人们寂寞的在一起生活.
Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.
每一代的人都嘲笑旧式, 但却固守不变的追随新的.
I cannot easily buy a blank book to write thoughts in; they are commonly ruled for dollars and cents.
我不能随便买本空白的帐簿把我的思想写进去; 它们一般是用来进帐的.
I have received no more than one or two letters in my life that were worth the postage.
在我的一生中, 我还没有收到超过一两封信是值得邮资的.
I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company.
在我家里, 我有三张椅子: 一张是孤独时用的, 二张是交朋友用的, 三张是招待客人用的.
If I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behaviour.
如果我有什么后悔的, 很可能是我的良好行为.
If words are invented to conceal thought, newspapers are a great improvement on a bad invention.
假如文字是发明来掩盖思考, 新闻则是坏的发明中的一大进步.
My dwelling was small, and I could hardly entertain an echo in it.
我住的地方小, 我甚至不能容许有一点回音在里面.
Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.
并非故事一定要长, 而是将它写短要花更长的时间.
The rarest quality in an epitaph is truth.
在一个墓志铭中最稀罕的品质是真实.
There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers.
当今只有哲学教授, 没有哲学家.
What men call good friendship is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a little which lie close together to keep each other warm.
人们所谓的好交情, 通常只不过像猪寮里的猪, 互相依偎取暖吧了.
詹姆斯特伯 (THURBER, James), 1894-1961
美国幽默作家和艺术家
While he was not dumber than an ox, he was not any smarter.
虽然他并不比牛还笨, 但他也不比牛聪明多少.
托尔斯泰 (TOLSTOI, Leo Nikolaevich), 1828-1910
苏联小说家和社会改革者
All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family us unhappy in its own way.
所有快乐的家庭都一样, 但每个不快乐的家庭, 都有其不快乐的地方.
He never chooses an opinion; he just wears whatever happens to be in style.
他从来没有意见; 任何刚巧流行的他就穿.
托斯卡尼尼 (TOSCANINI, Arturo), 1867-1957
意大利歌剧和交响乐指挥
I kissed my first woman and smoked my first cigarette on the same day; I have never had time for tobacco since.
我在同一天吻我第一个女子和抽我第一根烟; 从此以后我就没有时间抽烟了.
