查斯特菲爾德勛爵給兒子的信（節(jié)選）
查斯特菲爾德勛爵給獨(dú)生子菲利蒲的信成為有史以來(lái)最受推崇的家書，被譽(yù)為“一部使人脫胎換骨的道德和禮儀全書”。牛津大學(xué)出版社更將其列入該社《世界經(jīng)典》之一。下面是學(xué)習(xí)啦小編跟大家分享的查斯特菲爾德給兒子的信，歡迎大家來(lái)閱讀學(xué)習(xí)。
節(jié)選第13封信
As two mails are now due from Holland, I have no letters of yours, or Mr. Harte's to acknowledge; so that this letter is the effect of that 'scribendi cacoethes,' which my fears, my hopes, and my doubts, concerning you give me. When I have wrote you a very long letter upon any subject, it is no sooner gone, but I think I have omitted something in it, which might be of use to you; and then I prepare the supplement for the next post: or else some new subject occurs to me, upon which I fancy I can give you some informations, or point out some rules which may be advantageous to you. This sets me to writing again, though God knows whether to any purpose or not; a few years more can only ascertain that. But, whatever my success may be, my anxiety and my care can only be the effects of that tender affection which I have for you; and which you cannot represent to yourself greater than it really is. But do not mistake the nature of that affection, and think it of a kind that you may with impunity abuse. It is not natural affection, there being in reality no such thing; for, if there were, some inward sentiment must necessarily and reciprocally discover the parent to the child, and the child to the parent, without any exterior indications, knowledge, or acquaintance whatsoever; which never happened since the creation of the world, whatever poets, romance, and novel writers, and such sentiment-mongers, may be pleased to say to the contrary. Neither is my affection for you that of a mother, of which the only, or at least the chief objects, are health and life: I wish you them both most heartily; but, at the same time, I confess they are by no means my principal care.
My object is to have you fit to live; which, if you are not, I do not desire that you should live at all. My affection for you then is, and only will be, proportioned to your merit; which is the only affection that one rational being ought to have for another. Hitherto I have discovered nothing wrong in your heart, or your head: on the contrary I think I see sense in the one, and sentiments in the other. This persuasion is the only motive of my present affection; which will either increase or diminish, according to your merit or demerit. If you have the knowledge, the honor, and probity, which you may have, the marks and warmth of my affection shall amply reward them; but if you have them not, my aversion and indignation will rise in the same proportion; and, in that case, remember, that I am under no further obligation, than to give you the necessary means of subsisting. If ever we quarrel, do not expect or depend upon any weakness in my nature, for a reconciliation, as children frequently do, and often meet with, from silly parents; I have no such weakness about me: and, as I will never quarrel with you but upon some essential point; if once we quarrel, I will never forgive. But I hope and believe, that this declaration (for it is no threat) will prove unnecessary. You are no stranger to the principles of virtue; and, surely, whoever knows virtue must love it. As for knowledge, you have already enough of it, to engage you to acquire more. The ignorant only, either despise it, or think that they have enough: those who have the most are always the most desirous to have more, and know that the most they can have is, alas! but too little. Reconsider, from time to time, and retain the friendly advice which I send you. The advantage will be all your own.
寄自荷蘭的兩封信現(xiàn)在你們應(yīng)該收到了，但我現(xiàn)在還沒(méi)收到你或者哈特先生的確認(rèn)信件。所以這封信是一個(gè)“寫作狂”的舉動(dòng)，出于一位父親對(duì)你的擔(dān)心、恐懼和疑慮，我提筆給你寫此信。每次，當(dāng)我就某一主題給你寫完一封長(zhǎng)信，用不了多久我就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)我漏掉了一些可能對(duì)你有用的東西，然后我就準(zhǔn)備在下一封信里進(jìn)行補(bǔ)充。要么就是，我又想起了某個(gè)新的話題，我自信還能給你提供一些信息，或者也許只有上天才知道這些信究竟對(duì)你有沒(méi)有幫助，也許要等很多年以
后我們才能認(rèn)識(shí)到其作用。但是，無(wú)論我寫的信是否管用，唯一讓我變得如此焦慮和關(guān)心你的原因，只可能是一位父親對(duì)你的那份慈愛(ài)，這一點(diǎn)你可能難以完全體會(huì)。千萬(wàn)不要誤會(huì)這份愛(ài)的性質(zhì)，認(rèn)為它們可以被隨意濫用。這不是一種無(wú)私的情感，在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中就沒(méi)有這樣一種無(wú)私的情感;如果人們確實(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)父母對(duì)孩子或者孩子對(duì)父母存在著這樣一種情感，這種情感也是互動(dòng)的，無(wú)須任何外在的暗示、知識(shí)、體驗(yàn)之類的東西。自從有了這個(gè)世界以來(lái)就從來(lái)沒(méi)有發(fā)生過(guò)這樣無(wú)私的愛(ài)，無(wú)論詩(shī)人、傳奇作家、小說(shuō)家以及類似的情感制造者在把這種愛(ài)向別人傾拆時(shí)體會(huì)到了怎樣的愉快。我的這份愛(ài)不是一個(gè)母親對(duì)孩子的愛(ài)，一個(gè)母親唯一關(guān)注，或者說(shuō)最關(guān)注的是孩子的健康和生命：我希望你和別人都是真心誠(chéng)意的，但我同時(shí)也坦白，這不是我最關(guān)注的東西。
我的目標(biāo)是讓你適應(yīng)生活，如果你不適應(yīng)的話，我甚至根本不希望你活在這個(gè)世界上。這樣一來(lái)，我對(duì)你的愛(ài)就是，也只可能是調(diào)和你的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，這是一個(gè)理性生物對(duì)另一個(gè)理性生物唯一擁有的愛(ài)。迄今為止，我沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)你的心靈和頭腦中存在什么大的錯(cuò)誤，相反，我認(rèn)為從你的心靈中，我看到了理智，從你的頭腦中我看到了情感。這也正是現(xiàn)今我對(duì)你的愛(ài)的唯一來(lái)源所在。這種愛(ài)意將會(huì)隨著你的美德和缺點(diǎn)的變化而增強(qiáng)或減弱。如果你擁有了那些你應(yīng)該具備的知識(shí)、榮譽(yù)和正直品格，我的愛(ài)將會(huì)留下足夠的痕跡和溫暖作為回報(bào)。但如果你沒(méi)做到，那我的反感和憤恨也會(huì)以相同比例增長(zhǎng)。如果發(fā)生了后一種情況，請(qǐng)記住，除了給你必要的扶持手段外，我沒(méi)有任何別的義務(wù)了。任何時(shí)候如果我們發(fā)生了爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，不要指望和依賴通過(guò)利用我本性中的任何弱點(diǎn)來(lái)達(dá)成妥協(xié)，很多孩子經(jīng)常這樣做，只有那些愚蠢的家長(zhǎng)才吃這一套，我沒(méi)有這樣的弱點(diǎn)。除了一些最本質(zhì)的關(guān)鍵點(diǎn)之外，我永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)與你爭(zhēng)吵，一旦我們發(fā)生爭(zhēng)吵，我永不原諒你。但我希望也相信：我的上述宣言(不是威脅)將被證明是多慮了。你對(duì)美德的原則應(yīng)該是不陌生的，而且每一個(gè)了解美德的人都必定會(huì)熱愛(ài)美德。
關(guān)于知識(shí)，盡管你已經(jīng)擁有了相當(dāng)?shù)闹R(shí)，但還是要努力去掌握更多。只有無(wú)知的人才會(huì)要么鄙視知識(shí)，要么認(rèn)為他們的知識(shí)已足夠：那些擁有最多知識(shí)的人卻還一直起學(xué)更多，而且他們明白自己所擁有的最大的知識(shí)就是知道自己懂得的太少了。
時(shí)不時(shí)地回想回想，然后記住我給你的這些友好的建議，你將從中獲益良多。
內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介
查斯特菲爾德勛爵給他的獨(dú)生子菲利蒲的信，成為有史以來(lái)最受推崇的家書，被譽(yù)為“一部使人脫胎換骨的道德和禮儀全書”。牛津大學(xué)出版社更是將其列入該社《世界經(jīng)典》之一。這本書世世代代流行于英國(guó)上流社會(huì)，被譽(yù)為紳士們的“教科書”。您在通讀全書后將會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，它傾注了世間親情和人類智慧，是一部教人如何獲得他人信任，如何取得成功的經(jīng)典之作。對(duì)于正在融入世界一體化的國(guó)人來(lái)講，查斯特菲爾德勛爵傳授的這些“入世”知識(shí)，列疑會(huì)成為你步入“高貴”、取得成功的護(hù)照。
作者簡(jiǎn)介
查斯特菲爾德勛爵(1694-1773)
英國(guó)著名政治家、外交家及文學(xué)家。他曾就讀于劍橋大學(xué)，并游學(xué)歐洲大陸，1726年繼承爵位，1728年出使荷蘭，曾任愛(ài)爾蘭總督及國(guó)務(wù)大臣等職位。并與他同時(shí)代的文學(xué)家波普、艾略特、愛(ài)迪生、斯威夫特等過(guò)往甚密。
查斯特菲爾德勛爵留給世人最寶貴的財(cái)富，是他集幾十年的心血，寫給兒子菲利普?斯坦霍普及教子的信。在他的諄諄教誨下，其子也成為一名杰出的外交家。
這本書世世代代流行于英國(guó)上流社會(huì)，被譽(yù)為紳士們的“教科書”。牛津大學(xué)出版社更是將其列入該社《世界經(jīng)典》之一。本書在日本出版后曾刮起一股旋風(fēng)。相信中文版的問(wèn)世，能讓讀者分享前人經(jīng)驗(yàn)累積而成的智慧，助你邁向成功的人生。
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