Vic - Quotes of the Day 8

2011年8月12日

As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.
社會墮落，語言也跟著墮落。言辭被用來掩飾而非闡明行為：摧毀一個城市，叫做解放它。言辭被用來迷惑人，好令人們在選舉時鄭重地投票自損。
- Gore Vidal, writer (1925- )

There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents. There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents. The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to prevent its ascendancy.
有些人是天生的貴族，因為他們品德高尚、才能出眾。但社會上也有基於財富和出身、無才無德的人造貴族。人造貴族是政體中的毒素，我們應設法防止他們得勢。
- Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826)

We love flattery, even though we are not deceived by it, because it shows that we are of importance enough to be courted.
即使沒有信以為真，我們仍喜歡受人奉承，因為這證明我們值得別人討好。
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)