《Poor Richard's Almanack》经典格言100条 摘录(中英对照)

注:以下内容摘自《UNSV.COM英语辅导杂志——爱情谚语大搜查》(第2010-405期,2010年11月8日出版) 《Poor Richard's Almanack》是由美国建国元老本杰明兰克林借“Poor Richard”之名写下的一部旷世杰作,是一部箴言集,因为都是写在日历本上,所以取名《Poor Richard的历书》。作为美国财富和智慧的象征,美国人民把富兰克林的头像印在100美元纸钞的正面。200多年来,这位智者的思想一直被那些希望拥有美德并过上富足生活的人们所遵循和实践着。1732年,富兰克林第一次以理查德斯(Richard Saunders)之名出版了他自编自印的日记,此后一直持续出版了25年。从1732年至1758年,它是在美洲殖民地出版的最畅销一本小册子,印数达到每年10000册。这本书在美国被誉为财富之书,在出版之初,美国移民几乎人手一册,它幽默、睿智、形式奇特,通篇贯彻着人类的智慧精华,书中的名言警句与人生箴言即使在现在看来也具有很积极的作用。 《Poor Richard's Almanack》经典格言100条+摘录(中英对照),欢迎转载分享。 (注:以下格言中包含一些过时的古英语,读者只需了解,不必钻研。) 到别人家中去拜访,要像冬季的白天那样短,免得被人嫌弃和追赶。 Visit should be short, like a winter's day, lest you're too trouble some hasten away. 轻不过钱包,重不过心。 Light purse, heave heart. 他去了,什么都没有落下,就是忘了和债主说再见。 He's gone, and forgot nothing but to say farewell to his creditors. 越是爱,越要揍。 Love well, whip well. 语言的巨人,行动的矮子。 Great talkers, little doers. 吃饭是为了活着,活着却不是为了吃饭。 Eat to live, and not live to eat. 伟人的恩赐并非飞来的财产。 The favor of the great is no inheritance. 烈火才能检验金子,金子才能检验女人,女人才能检验男人。 The proof of gold is fire, the proof of woman, gold; the proof of man, a woman. 多注意安全,少一些风险。 Distrust & caution are the parents of security. 舌头动得快,麻烦来的多。 Tongue double, brings trouble. 酒中想出的办法,水上做出的决定。 Take counsel in wine, but resolve after wards in water. 对一个好妻子不负责任,就是随手扔弃上帝的礼物。 A good wife lost is god's gift lost. 笨蛋的心在口中,智者的口在心上。 The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise is in his heart. 人心难测善恶如西瓜难辨生熟。 Men & melon are hard to know. 天才在自己的王国,犹如金子在山中藏着。 A fine genius in his own country, is like gold in the mine. 寒冬之雪使万物繁荣。 Snowy winter, a plentiful harvest. 清白自卫。 Innocence is its own defence. 想过得好,懂得放弃是第一要义。 Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and not what you please. 宁可失足,不可失言。 Better slip with foot than tongue. 采好看的玫瑰会遇刺,娶好看的老婆易惹事。 You cannot pluck roses without fear of horns. Nor enjoy a fair wife without danger of horns. 不正义,勇无力。 Without justice, courage is weak. 吃不了苦中苦,作不了人上人。 No man e'er was glorious, who was not laborious. 隐瞒过错劳神伤心,改正过错轻而易举。 What pains our justice takes his faults to hide. With half that pains sure he might cureem quite. 成功者戒骄。 In success be moderate. 勤者无难事,懒惰事事难。 All things are easy to industry, all things difficult to sloth. 骑在马上要紧贴马背,驾驭别人则要给他自由。 If you ride a horse, sit close and tight; If you ride a man, sit easy and light. 奉献欢乐者得到欢乐。 Who pleasure gives, shall joy receive. 有没有爱情的婚姻,就有没有婚姻的爱情。 Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. 不愚蠢,不精明,但要作个明白人。 Be neither silly, nor cunning, but wise. 节省时什么都是便宜的,浪费时什么都是昂贵的。 All things are cheap to the saving, dear to the wasteful. 空讲道理,不如谈谈利益。 Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason. 祸福相依朝夕难料。 Happy's the woing, that's not long a doing. 不看缺点看优点。 Don't value a man for the quality he is of, but for the qualities he possesses. 是挚友的留住他,是敌人的争取他。 Do good to the friend to keep him, to your enemy to gain him. 好心思使人快活,坏心眼让人不安。 A good man ia seldom uneasy, an ill one never easie. 教你的孩子学会沉默,也就是教他怎么开口说话。 Teach your child to hold his tongue, he'll learn fast enough to speak. 不懂服从,难以施令。 He that can not obey, can not command. 魅力毫无用处,糊涂难以求得。 As charms are nonsence, nonsence is a charm. 肿痛之处容易磨破,骄矜之人容易树敌。 As sore places meet most rubs, proud folks meet most affronts. 不是他左右财富,而是财富左右了他。 He does not possess wealth, it possesses him. 专等上苍恩赐,就要常饿肚子。 He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner. 无知者一不小心成了先知,智者一不小心成了愚人。 He that knows nothing of it, may by chance be a prophet; while the wisest that is may happen to miss. 不进步,则退步。 Look before, or you'll find yourself behind. 有些人审时度势,有些人闭门造车。 Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise. 提问题要提得深入,答问题要答得简洁。 Weighty questions ask for deliberate answers. 选择朋友和放弃朋友一样要慎重考虑。 Be slow in chusing a friend, slower in changing. 谦虚受人尊敬。 Humility makes great men twice honourable. 谎言站不住脚跟,真理却稳步向前。 A lie stands on 1 leg, truth on 2. 时下忍气吞声,得志便又猖狂。 It is better to take many injuries than to give one. 机遇是值得争夺的东西。 Opportunity is the great bawd. 身体是事业的本钱。 Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. 谦卑对领导迫不得已,对同事实属礼貌,对下级无比美妙。 To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness. 太阳在不求回报地照着。 The sun never repents of the good he does, nor does he demand a recompence. 人在人群中,干吗要生他人气? Are you angry that others disappoint you? Remember you cannot depend upon yourself. 农夫并不一定粗俗,但粗俗者一定卑鄙。 He is no clown that drives the plow, but he that do the clownish things. 不在希望中生活,就在屁声中死去。 He that live upon hope, dies farting. 不熟悉的就不要去做。 Do not do that which you would not have known. 未来难测。 Tis easy to see, hard to foresee. 谨慎的人的嘴,把公事变成隐私。 In a discreet man's mouth, a publick thing is private. 崇拜是因为无知。 Admiration is the daughter of ignorance. 不看别人信件,不偷他人钱财,不听他人秘密。 Nor eye in a letter, nor hand in a purse, nor ear in the secret of another. 耐心成就一切。 He that can have patience, can have what he will. 自助者天助。 God helps them that help themselves. 以柔克刚。 Gifts burst rocks. 出卖信誉的人财友两空。 He that sells upon trust, loses mangy friends, and always wants money. 理智便是力量。 Force shites upon reason's back. 话多误事。 He that speaks much, is much mistaken. 知道的不全说,见到的不乱说,就能生活得很舒心。 He that would live in peace and at ease. Must not speak all he knows, nor judge all he sees. 一个伟大的人,从来都是胸怀大志。 The master piece of man, is to live to the purpose. 通向荣耀的捷径--努力争取,做到问心无愧。 The nearest way to come at glory, is to do that for conscience which we do for glory. 不被自己弄晕,胜过才高八斗。 He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books. 吃一堑长一智。 After crosses and losses men grow humbler & wiser. 做的好胜过说得好。 Well done is better than well said. 千金易得,知己难求。 No better relation than a prudent & faithful friend. 假如你想拥有时间,就不要等待时间。 If you have time dont wait for time. 世上最伟大的问题莫过于:人生在世能做什么好事? The noblest question in the world is what good may I do in it? 没有比善良更受人欢迎的了。 Nothing so popular as goodness. 只有自己才能欺骗自己。 Who has deceived you so oft as yourself? 没有什么比自己制造的痛苦更能使人痛苦的事。 Is there anything men take more pains about than to render themselves unhappy? 太快乐使人痛苦,太自由使人受奴。 Nothing brings more pain than too much pleasure; nothing more bondage than too much liberty, (or libertinism.) 多读书,但不能乱读书。 Read much, but not many books. 写文章要引经据典,说话却要通俗易懂。 Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar. 与人分享快乐,就会永远快乐。 Fly pleasures, and they'll follow you. 想具备高尚的品德,不仅要具备风采,也要具备气质。 Hast thou virtue? acquire also the graces & beauties of virtue. 假如你聪明、有学识,就再增加智慧和谦逊吧。 If you hast wit & learning, add to it wisdom and modesty. 假如你想声名永存,要么写出值得一读的书,要么做出值得一写的事。 If you wou'd not be forgotten, As soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing. 财富和权力难得,却无法与美德和自由相比。 Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power. 让缺点在你面前消失。 Let the vices die before there. 不可轻易迷信前人,当实事求是,弃糟粕而取精华。 The ancients tell us what is best; but we must learn of the moderns what is fittest. 把握不了一分钟,就会浪费一小时。 Since thou are not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour. 做了错事,就得听气话。 If you do what you should not, you must hear what you would not. 阅读使人充实,思考使人深沉,谈话使人智慧。 Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man. 好话不怕多说几次。 If any man flatters me, I'll flatter him again; tho' he were my best friend. 素质差的人不知道怎么承认错误,也不知道怎么承担责任。 None but the well-bred man knows how to confess a fault, or acknowledge himself in an error. 发现别人的长处,看见自己的短处。