西洋幽默语录(之三十八)
爱默生 (EMERSON, Ralph Waldo), 1803-1882
美国散文作家, 诗人, 和哲学家
And what is a seed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered.
何谓种籽? 植物之德尚未被发现.
Culture is one thing and varnish, another.
文化是一回事, 文饰又是一回事.
Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.
民主成为一个欺压百姓的政府, 由报章编辑使之名正言顺.
The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.
人类的末日是, 它将亡於文明.
Every hero becomes a bore at last.
每个英雄最后将成为一个令人生厌的人.
Every man is an impossibility until he is born.
每个人都是一个不可能, 一直到他出世为止.
Every man is wanted, and no man is wanted much.
每个人都是需要的, 但没有人更加需要.
Fame is proof that people are gullible.
出名证明人是容易被骗的.
Once we had wooden chalices and golden priests; now we have golden chalices and wooden priests.
一度我们有木的圣餐杯和金的牧师; 现在我们有金的圣餐杯和木的牧师.
The first lesson of history is the good of evil.
历史的第一课是邪恶的好处.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
英雄并不比普通人勇敢多少, 他只是勇敢多五分钟吧了.
If a man own land, the land owns him.
如果一个人拥有土地, 土地就拥有他.
It is an amiable illusion, which the shape of our planet prompts, that every man is at the top of the world.
我们的地球的形状, 使我们每个人都以为自已处在地球的顶端. 这是个可爱的幻觉.
It is easy to live for others; everybody does.
靠别人而生是容易的; 每个人都是这样.
Keep cool: it will be one of a hundred years hence.
莫要着急: 这将是百年以来仅有的一次.
Men are conservative after dinner.
晚餐之后人都成了保守.
Men lose their tempers in defending their taste.
人为辩护他们的口味而失去他们的脾气.
Men wish to be saved from the mischief of their vices, but not from their vices.
人希望从他们的恶行所造成的祸害中得救, 而不是他们的恶行.
Money often costs too much.
钱的代价往往太大.
People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with the bad.
人们不应享有好的文章, 他们太喜欢坏的文章了.
The people are to be taken in very small doses.
人民是得以每回非常小量来处理的.
Society is a hospital of incurables.
社会是不治者的医院.
Speech is better than silence; silence is better than speech.
发言好过沉默; 沉默好过发言.
There is this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own idea.
自夸有这点好处: 讲者无意间透露了他自已的想法.
Truth is beautiful without doubt, and so are lies.
毫无疑问的, 真实是美丽的, 谎言也是一样.
We do not count a man’s years until he has nothing else to count.
我们不去算一个人的年岁, 除非他己经没有什么可以算了.
We are always getting ready to live, but never living.
我们经常随时准备生活, 却从来不去实践生活.
圣约翰厄文 (ERVINE, St. John), 1883-1971
爱尔兰剧作家和小说家
American motion pictures are written by the half-educated for the half-witted.
美国电影是由半桶水的人拍给一知半解的人看的.
No one can fully appreciate the fatuity of human nature until he has spent some time in a box office.
只要花点时间在戏院, 一个人就能完全了解人性的愚昧.
