Itisnotonlyinpublicways,butinprivatelifeequally,thatwisdomisneeded.

　　不仅在公开的方面,在私人生活领域,睿智也同样是需要的.

　　Itisneededinthechoiceofendstobepursuedandinemancipationfrompersonalprejudice.

　　在选择如何达到目标和撇除个人偏见时需要它.

　　Evenanendwhichitwouldbenobletopursueifitwereattainablemaybepursuedunwiselyifitisinherentlyimpossibleofachievement.

　　就算是高尚地追逐到最后,这种追求或许不明智,这种追逐注定不可能达到目的.

　　Manymeninpastagesdevotedtheirlivestoasearchforthephilosopher'sstoneandtheelixiroflife.Nodoubt,iftheycouldhavefoundthem,theywouldhaveconferredgreatbenefitsuponmankind,butasitwastheirliveswerewasted.

　　古时候,有许多人为了寻找点金石和长生术而献出他们的生命.毫无疑问的,如果能够找到这些东西,他们将留名人类史.但事实证明,他们只是浪费生命.

　　Todescendtolessheroicmatters,considerthecaseoftwomen,MrAandMrB,whohateeachotherand,throughmutualhatred,bringeachothertodestruction.

　　不要去做些毫无意义的事情.请思考这个事例,有这么两个人,A先生和B先生相互仇视和憎恨对方.

　　SupposeyougototheMrAandsay,'WhydoyouhateMr'HewillnodoubtgiveyouanappallinglistofMrB'svices,partlytrue,partlyfalse.

　　假设你去问A先生,“你为什么憎恨B先生?”A先生会立即给你罗列出B先生的种种劣迹,可能有些是真的,有些并非事实.

　　AndnowsupposeyougotoMrB.HewillgiveyouanexactlysimilarlistofMrA'sviceswithanequaladmixtureoftruthandfalsehood.

　　然后假设你问B先生同样的问题,他将象A先生一样真假混合地罗列出A先生的种种罪行.

　　SupposeyounowcomebacktoMrAandsay,'YouwillbesurprisedtoolearnthatMrBsaysthesamethingsaboutyouasyousayabouthim',andyougotoMrBandmakeasimilarspeech.

　　如果你将答案回告A先生,“您将对B先生的答案与您的回答一样感到惊讶.”,同样再将这句话告诉B先生.

　　Thefirsteffect,nodoubt,willbetoincreasetheirmutualhatred,sinceeachwillbesohorrifiedbytheother'sinjustice.

　　毫无疑问,他们一定会因为对方的不公平答案而更加憎恶彼此.

　　Butperhaps,ifyouhavesufficientpatienceandsufficientpersuasiveness,youmaysucceedinconvincingeachthattheotherhasonlythenormalshareofhumanwickedness,andthattheirenmityisharmfultoboth.Ifyoucandothis,youwillhaveinstilledsomefragmentofwisdom.

　　但如果你有足够的耐心和充分的说服力,你将成功说服他们,这些通常都是人性同有的缺点,他们的仇视其实也是互相伤害.如果你能做到这点,那么说明你具有智慧.

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　　个人翻译,仅供参考.