Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, "What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?" my friend suggested,--"But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil." No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he. I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.来源:( http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_596ba9fc01009s6n.html) - 《论自助》 中文翻译_丽人购物天堂_新浪博客 Every decent and well-spoken individual affects and sways me more than is right. I ought to go upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways. If malice and vanity wear the coat of philanthropy, shall that pass? If an angry bigot assumes this bountiful cause of Abolition, and comes to me with his last news from Barbadoes, why should I not say to him, 'Go love thy infant; love thy wood-chopper; be good-natured and modest; have that grace; and never varnish your hard, uncharitable ambition with this incredible tenderness for black folk a thousand miles off. Thy love afar is spite at home.' Rough and graceless would be such greeting, but truth is handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness must have some edge to it,--else it is none. The doctrine of hatred must be preached, as the counteraction of the doctrine of love, when that pules and whines. I shun father and mother and wife and brother when my genius calls me. I would write on the lintels of the door-post, *Whim*. I hope it is somewhat better than whim at last, but we cannot spend the day in explanation. Expect me not to show cause why I seek or why I exclude company. Then again, do not tell me, as a good man did to-day, of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee thou foolish philanthropist that I grudge the dollar, the dime, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me and to whom I do not belong. 任何名副其实的真正的人,都必须是不落俗套的人。任何采集圣地棕搁叶的人,都不应当拘泥于名义上的善,而应当发掘善之本身。除了我们心灵的真诚之外,其它的一切归根结蒂都不是神圣的。解脱自己,皈依自我,也就必然得到世人的认可。记得,当我还很小的时候,有位颇受人尊重的师长。他习惯不厌其烦地向我灌输宗教的古老教条。有一回,我禁不住回了他一句。听到我说,如果我完全靠内心的指点来生活,那么我拿那些神圣的传统干嘛呢;我的这位朋友提出说:“可是,内心的冲动可能是低下的,而不是高尚的。”我回答说:“在我看来,却不是如此。不过,倘若我是魔鬼的孩子,那么我就要照魔鬼的指点来生活。”除了天性的法则之外,在我看来,没有任何法则是神圣的。 好与坏,只不过是个名声而已,不费吹灰之力,便可以将它从这人身上移到那人身上。唯一正确的,是顺从自身结构的事物;唯一错误的,是逆自身结构的事物。一个人面对反对意见,其举措应当像除了他自己之外,其它的一切都是有名无实的过眼烟云。使我惭愧的是,我们如此易于成为招牌、名份的俘虏,成为庞大的社团和毫无生气的习俗的俘虏。 任何一个正派、谈吐优雅之士都比一位无懈可击的人更能影响我、左右我。我应当正直坦诚、生气勃勃,以各种方式直抒未加粉饰的真理…如果恶意和虚荣披着慈善的外衣,可行吗?如果一个愤怒偏执的人假定这个慷慨引起了废止,并且从巴巴多斯岛传来了他最后的消息,为何我不应该告诉他:去爱你的孩子,爱你的砍柴工具,养成良好的谦虚的性格,保持优雅,不要伪装你的冷酷,拥有慈爱之心,迈过这些不可思议的台阶对于一个毫无希望的平民就走出了一千米远。 你对外界的爱伴随内心的痛苦,粗陋和不雅会向你招手,但是坚持真理要比虚伪的爱更加英俊潇洒。你的善良一定要有一个限度,不然它就什么都不是。 当开始悲哀时,作为爱的精神的对立面,仇恨的意识必须被劝诫。当我的天才召唤我时,我会避开父亲、母亲、妻子和兄弟,会把灵感写在门口柱子上的软麻布上。我希望它会比让灵感消失要强一些,但是我们没有时间对它做出解释。假使我没有表现出来,我会疏远亲人和朋友花时间去探究。然后再一次,不要告诉我,今天作为一个好人,我需要对促使所有贫穷的人开始好转表示感激。这些人是我的贫穷吗?我告诉你这个愚蠢的慈善家,我很不情愿把这些元、角、分给到那些不属于我的或者我不属于的人。