弗朗西斯·培根/Francis Bacon

弗朗西斯·培根（1561～1626），英国科学家、哲学家和散文家。出身名门，而仕途坎坷，直至伊丽莎白女王辞世才得以提升，官至法相。但不久，即因受贿而被免职。从此，发奋著书，致力于多个领域的学术研究。主要作品有《亨利七世传》、《新工具》、《学术的进展》、《论说文集》。

1626年4月9日清晨，培根病逝于伦敦北郊。

It is a trivial grammar-school text,but yet worthy a wise man's co nsideration.Question was asked of Demosthenes,what was the chief part of an orator?He answered,Action.What next?--Action.What next again?--Action.

He said it that knew it best,and had,by nature,himself no advanta ge in that he commended.A strange thing,that that part of an orator wh ich is but superficial,and rather the virtue of a player,should be pla ced so high above those other noble parts of invention,elocution,and t he rest;nay,almost alone,as if it were all in all.But the reason is plain.

Wonderful like is the case of boldness in civil business.What first?--Boldness;what second and third?--Boldness.And yet boldness is a c hild of ignorance and baseness,far inferior to other parts;but,nevert heless,it does fascinate,and bind hand and foot those that are either shallow in judgment or weak in courage,which are the greatest part,yea,and prevaileth with wise men at weak times.Surely,as there are mount ebanks for the natural body,so are there mountebanks for the politic bo dy;men that undertake great cures,and perhaps have been lucky in two o r three experiments,but want the grounds of science,and therefore cann ot hold out,nay,you shall see a bold fellow many times do Mahomet's m iracle.Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him,and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his l aw.The people assembled;Mahomet called the hill to come to him again a nd again;and when the hill stood still,he was never a whit abashed,bu t said,if the hill will not come to Mahomet,Mahomet will go to the hil l.So these men,when they have promised great matters and failed most s hamefully,yet if they have the perfection of boldness,they will but sl ight it over,and make a turn,and no more ado.

Certainly to men of great judgment,bold persons are a sport to beho ld;nay,and to the vulgar also boldness has somewhat of the ridiculous;for if absurdity be the subject of laughter,doubt you not but great bol dness is seldom without some absurdity;especially it is a sport to see when a bold fellow is out of countenance,for that puts his face into a most shrunken and wooden posture,as needs'it must;for in bashfulness the spirits do a little go and come,but with bold men,upon like occasi on,they stand at a stay;like a stale at chess,where it is no mate,bu t yet the game cannot stir;but this last were fitter for a satire than for a serious observation.This is well to be weighed,that boldness is ever blind,for it seeth no dangers and inconveniences;therefore,it is ill in counsel,good in execution;so that the right use of bold persons is,that they never command in chief,but be seconds and under the direc tion of others;for in counsel it is good to see dangers;and in executi on not to see them except they be very great.

这里讲一个中学课本中常见的课文，但很值得一个聪明人思索。曾有人拿这样一个问题问狄摩西尼：“要想成为一名演说家，主要应具备的条件是什么？”“多说。”他回答道。“然后呢？”“多说。”“还有呢？”“仍然是多说。”

之所以如此回答，是因为他深刻地体会过。他深知自己在演讲方面没有什么天赋。作为演说要求的一部分，“多说”不过是表面化的条件，然而演说家却将它置于创新、雄辩等其他条件之上，不但如此，还把它看作不二法门，似乎有了它就具备了一切，虽然不可思议，但其中的道理却显而易见。

与此颇为相似的一件事是做事的胆量。“做事的首要条件是什么？”“胆量。”“其次，再次呢？”“照旧是胆量。”然而胆大妄为则是鄙陋无知的产物——远低劣于其他方面。尽管如此，胆量可以激发和鼓动那些见识短浅、缺乏勇气之人，而这种人是非常多的，胆量甚至能让聪明人脆弱时变得坚强。正如有江湖郎中医治生理疾病一样，治疗政治疾病也有江湖医生，他们保证能医治大病，也许误打误撞治愈两三例，但没有科学做依据，就不能长久。你可以看到这种狂人多次创造穆罕默德“奇迹”。穆罕默德为了让人们相信他有本事把山呼唤来，在山顶上为尊奉他教律的人祷告。他一遍一遍地呼山前来，观众都聚集前来了，但山纹丝不动，可他丝毫不觉羞愧，反而说“如果山不到穆罕默德这边来，穆罕默德就必须到山那边去。”这些政治上的行江者，一旦他们狂妄预言的事无耻地失败了，如果他们依然有这种“完美”的胆量，他们也会敷衍过去，扭转话题，不再那样说了。

在远见卓识的人眼中，胆大妄为是荒唐的，甚至在一般人看来也未免有些可笑。既然荒唐惹人发笑，那么胆大包天就免不了会干出荒唐可笑的事。最可笑的是，当胆大妄为的家伙丢脸时，这时他们所处的境地肯定最尴尬、最难堪，这种情况对胆小之人来说，尚且有回旋的余地，但胆大妄为的人碰到这种情况，就会不知所措，就好像下棋陷入了僵局，难分胜负，无法进行下去。但这最后所说的事情，若是用来写讽刺文章倒还可以，若作严肃的论述就不尽合适了。这一点非常值得认真考虑，胆大妄为常常是盲目的，因为它既看不到危险也看不到困难。所以胆大弊于思考，利于实干，因而有勇无谋的人绝不能担负主要责任，只能在别人的指导下工作。因为在运筹上要洞察危险，而要在行动上要藐视危险——除非这危险非常大。