弗朗西斯·培根/Francis Bacon
弗朗西斯·培根（1561～1626），英國科學家、哲學家和散文家。出身名門，而仕途坎坷，直至伊麗莎白女王辭世才得以提升，官至法相。但不久，即因受賄而被免職。從此，發奮著書，致力於多個領域的學術研究。主要作品有《亨利七世傳》、《新工具》、《學術的進展》、《論說文集》。
1626年4月9日清晨，培根病逝於倫敦北郊。
It is a trivial grammar-school text,but yet worthy a wise man's co nsideration.Question was asked of Demosthenes,what was the chief part of an orator?He answered,Action.What next?--Action.What next again?--Action.
He said it that knew it best,and had,by nature,himself no advanta ge in that he commended.A strange thing,that that part of an orator wh ich is but superficial,and rather the virtue of a player,should be pla ced so high above those other noble parts of invention,elocution,and t he rest;nay,almost alone,as if it were all in all.But the reason is plain.
Wonderful like is the case of boldness in civil business.What first?--Boldness;what second and third?--Boldness.And yet boldness is a c hild of ignorance and baseness,far inferior to other parts;but,nevert heless,it does fascinate,and bind hand and foot those that are either shallow in judgment or weak in courage,which are the greatest part,yea,and prevaileth with wise men at weak times.Surely,as there are mount ebanks for the natural body,so are there mountebanks for the politic bo dy;men that undertake great cures,and perhaps have been lucky in two o r three experiments,but want the grounds of science,and therefore cann ot hold out,nay,you shall see a bold fellow many times do Mahomet's m iracle.Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him,and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his l aw.The people assembled;Mahomet called the hill to come to him again a nd again;and when the hill stood still,he was never a whit abashed,bu t said,if the hill will not come to Mahomet,Mahomet will go to the hil l.So these men,when they have promised great matters and failed most s hamefully,yet if they have the perfection of boldness,they will but sl ight it over,and make a turn,and no more ado.
Certainly to men of great judgment,bold persons are a sport to beho ld;nay,and to the vulgar also boldness has somewhat of the ridiculous;for if absurdity be the subject of laughter,doubt you not but great bol dness is seldom without some absurdity;especially it is a sport to see when a bold fellow is out of countenance,for that puts his face into a most shrunken and wooden posture,as needs'it must;for in bashfulness the spirits do a little go and come,but with bold men,upon like occasi on,they stand at a stay;like a stale at chess,where it is no mate,bu t yet the game cannot stir;but this last were fitter for a satire than for a serious observation.This is well to be weighed,that boldness is ever blind,for it seeth no dangers and inconveniences;therefore,it is ill in counsel,good in execution;so that the right use of bold persons is,that they never command in chief,but be seconds and under the direc tion of others;for in counsel it is good to see dangers;and in executi on not to see them except they be very great.
這裏講一個中學課本中常見的課文，但很值得一個聰明人思索。曾有人拿這樣一個問題問狄摩西尼：“要想成為一名演說家，主要應具備的條件是什麽？”“多說。”他回答道。“然後呢？”“多說。”“還有呢？”“仍然是多說。”
之所以如此回答，是因為他深刻地體會過。他深知自己在演講方麵沒有什麽天賦。作為演說要求的一部分，“多說”不過是表麵化的條件，然而演說家卻將它置於創新、雄辯等其他條件之上，不但如此，還把它看作不二法門，似乎有了它就具備了一切，雖然不可思議，但其中的道理卻顯而易見。
與此頗為相似的一件事是做事的膽量。“做事的首要條件是什麽？”“膽量。”“其次，再次呢？”“照舊是膽量。”然而膽大妄為則是鄙陋無知的產物——遠低劣於其他方麵。盡管如此，膽量可以激發和鼓動那些見識短淺、缺乏勇氣之人，而這種人是非常多的，膽量甚至能讓聰明人脆弱時變得堅強。正如有江湖郎中醫治生理疾病一樣，治療政治疾病也有江湖醫生，他們保證能醫治大病，也許誤打誤撞治愈兩三例，但沒有科學做依據，就不能長久。你可以看到這種狂人多次創造穆罕默德“奇跡”。穆罕默德為了讓人們相信他有本事把山呼喚來，在山頂上為尊奉他教律的人禱告。他一遍一遍地呼山前來，觀眾都聚集前來了，但山紋絲不動，可他絲毫不覺羞愧，反而說“如果山不到穆罕默德這邊來，穆罕默德就必須到山那邊去。”這些政治上的行江者，一旦他們狂妄預言的事無恥地失敗了，如果他們依然有這種“完美”的膽量，他們也會敷衍過去，扭轉話題，不再那樣說了。
在遠見卓識的人眼中，膽大妄為是荒唐的，甚至在一般人看來也未免有些可笑。既然荒唐惹人發笑，那麽膽大包天就免不了會幹出荒唐可笑的事。最可笑的是，當膽大妄為的家夥丟臉時，這時他們所處的境地肯定最尷尬、最難堪，這種情況對膽小之人來說，尚且有回旋的餘地，但膽大妄為的人碰到這種情況，就會不知所措，就好像下棋陷入了僵局，難分勝負，無法進行下去。但這最後所說的事情，若是用來寫諷刺文章倒還可以，若作嚴肅的論述就不盡合適了。這一點非常值得認真考慮，膽大妄為常常是盲目的，因為它既看不到危險也看不到困難。所以膽大弊於思考，利於實幹，因而有勇無謀的人絕不能擔負主要責任，隻能在別人的指導下工作。因為在運籌上要洞察危險，而要在行動上要藐視危險——除非這危險非常大。