培根：培根論真理

假如一個人的想法中滿是仁愛，順應天意，走在真理的前沿，即便生活在人間，也不遜於天堂。

下面是本站小編爲大家帶來英語經典美文：培根論真理，希望大家喜歡!

Truth，which only doth judge itself，teacheth that the inquiry of truth，which is the love-making or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth，which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereigngood of human nature. The first creature of God，in the works of the days，was the light of the sense;the last was the light of reason;and his sabbath work ever since is the illumination of his Spirit. First he breathed light upon the face of the matter or chaos;then he breathed light into the face of man;and still he breatheth and inspireth light into the face of his chosen. The poet that beautified the sect mat was otherwise inferior to the rest saith yet excellently well:It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore and to see ships tossed upon the sea; a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below; but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon thevantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded，and where the air is always clear and serene)，and to see the errors and wanderings and mists and tempests in the vale below; so always that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling or ainly, it is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.

真理只能自我判別，教導人們追尋真理，即對真理的追求;對真理的認知，對真理的信仰，也意味着對真理的享受。這三個要素組成了人性中無比高尚的美德。感性之光是上帝創造世界時創造的第一件東西，最後創造的纔是理性之光。上帝精神的再現則是安息日。起初，上帝將光明賦予混亂的物質世界，然後用光明悄然地點亮人類的心靈世界;現在他依然把聖光賜予其所思選的臣民。有一派哲學在其他方面沒有什麼實際作用，可其中有一位詩人說了一句經典名言:依在海岸邊，注視着在大海中飄蕩的船帆，是一件快樂的事情;靠在城堡垛口，注視激戰中的戰場，也是一件快樂的事;但沒有什麼能趕得上站在真理的前沿(那是一座誰也無法侵佔的山嶺，那裏空氣清爽，萬籟寂靜)，觀察山谷中的錯誤、迷茫、薄霧與風暴，那更是叫人歡欣雀躍。並且這種期望的態度是同情，而非自滿或自大。的確，假如一個人的想法中滿是仁愛，順應天意，走在真理的前沿，即便生活在人間，也不遜於天堂。

To pass from theological and philosophical truth to the truth of civil business: it will be acknowledged even by those that practice it not that clear and round dealing is the honor of man's nature; and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver,which may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious. And therefore Montaigne said prettily, when he inquired the reason why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace and such an odious charge. Saith he,If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth is as much to say as that he is brave toward God and a coward toward men. For he faces God，and shrinks from man. Surely the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith cannot possibly be so highly expressed as in that it shall be the last peal to call the judgments of God upon the generations of men;it being foretold that when Christ cometh，he shall not find faith upon the earth.

前面講了神學與哲學意義上的真理，現在來討論一下日常生活中的真理。品格惡劣，精於世故的人，也被迫接受光明正大—人類的一種崇高品德。虛僞如同用金銀合金製成硬幣，即便可以增大金屬的硬度，卻貶低了其內在的真正價值。虛僞與欺詐如同彎曲的小路，唯有走路時依靠肚腹而不是雙腳的毒蛇，才選擇這條道路。假如一個說謊話、背信棄義的人露出了破綻，由此帶來的羞恥感是沒有辦法掩蓋的。因此，蒙田在議論“謊言”一詞爲何如此讓人厭惡時，說過這樣一句至理名言:“我們不如這樣想，一個人說自己在上帝面前肆意妄爲，而在凡人面前卻很懦弱，這同說謊沒有什麼區別。”因爲謊言可以面對上帝，卻不敢面對凡人。當然，在描述虛僞與背信棄義的危害性時，懇求上帝對世世代代的人類進行裁決，他們無疑是最後的警鐘。人們預示:耶穌靈魂來到世上後，他在地球上不會找到絲毫信仰。