唯美王子: 奥斯卡•王尔德双语妙句集
奥斯卡·王尔德，英国唯美主义艺术运动的倡导者，英国著名的作家、诗人、戏剧家、艺术家、童话家。《典雅》杂志将他和安徒生相提并论。王尔德父亲是外科医生，母亲是诗人与作家。王尔德自幼便显示很高的天赋，他精通法语、德语和古典文学。
王尔德自都柏林圣三一学院毕业后，获得奖学金，于1874年进入牛津大学莫德林学院学习。在牛津，王尔德受到了沃尔特?佩特及约翰?拉斯金的审美观念影响，并接触了新黑格尔派哲学、达尔文进化论和拉斐尔前派的作品，这为他之后成为唯美主义先锋作家确立了方向。在出版首本《诗集》后，他在文坛开始崭露头角，并来到伦敦发展。虽然年轻的王尔德还没有获得一个文学奖项，但服装惹眼、谈吐机智、特立独行的他在伦敦社交界已经小有名气，一些杂志甚至刊登着讽刺他的文章。他是英国唯美主义运动的倡导者，19世纪与萧伯纳齐名的英国才子，他一生中就写过九篇童话，但每一篇都是精华，他的童话作品可以与安徒生童话和格林童话相媲美，童话集有《快乐王子和其他故事》《石榴屋》。最著名的童话为《巨人的花园》《快乐王子》《夜莺与玫瑰》在王尔德的墓碑上，他被誉为“才子和戏剧家”。最体现王尔德才华的，不是童话，也不是短片小说，而是《道连?格雷的画像》等长篇小说，以及《温德米尔夫人的扇子》《莎乐美》等戏剧作品，其戏剧作品堪称一时之绝唱。
※ 王尔德墓碑前读者留下的吻痕
爱，始于自我欺骗，终于欺骗他人。这就是所谓的浪漫。
爱自己是终身浪漫的开始。
——爱自己就是开始延续一生的罗曼史。
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
我们都生活在阴沟里，但仍有人仰望星空。
Most people discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
大多数人发现他们从未后悔的事情只是他们的错误，但发现时已经太晚了。
What is the chief cause of divorce? Marriage.
什么是离婚的主要原因？结婚。
No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did he would cease to be an artist.
伟大的艺术家所看到的，从来都不是世界的本来面目。一旦他看透了，他就不再是艺术家。
The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray.
情感的好处就是让我们误入歧途。
The heart was made to be broken.
心是用来碎的。
公众惊人地宽容。他们可以原谅一切，除了天才。
Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions.
宗教一旦被证明是正确时就会消亡。科学便是已消亡宗教的记录。
Only the shallow know themselves.
-Phrases and Philosophies for the use of the Young (1894)
只有浅薄的人才了解自己。
The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation.
摆脱诱惑的唯一方式是臣服于诱惑……我能抗拒一切，除了诱惑。
Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation
不满是个人或民族迈向进步的第一步。
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.
格言是智慧耐用的替代品。
A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
梦想家只能在月光下找到前进的方向，他为此遭受的惩罚是比所有人提前看到曙光。
Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.
每个圣人都有过去，每个罪人都有未来。
我喜欢有未来的男人和有过去的女人。
Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals.
社会仅仅以一种精神概念而存在，真实世界中只有个体存在。
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing
一个愤世嫉俗的人知道所有东西的价格，却不知道任何东西的价值。
I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world.
我喜欢人甚于原则，此外我还喜欢没原则的人甚于世界上的一切。
It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution
给我们赦免的，是忏悔而不是牧师。
I don't want to earn my living; I want to live.
我不想谋生；我想生活。
Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.
适度是极其致命的事情。过度带来的成功是无可比拟的。
When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers
当神想惩罚我们时，他们就回应我们的祈祷。
"Life is never fair...And perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not."
生活从来不是公平的……而且，或许对我们大多数人来说，这是件好事。
Nothing is so aggravating than calmness.
没有比冷静更让人恼火的。
Popularity is the one insult I have never suffered.
声望是我从未经受的侮辱之一。
奚落是庸才对天才的颂歌。
To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual
什么也不做是世上最难的事情，最困难并且最智慧。
A true friend stabs you in the front.
真朋友才会当面中伤你。
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
平常的财宝会被偷走，而真正的财富则不会。你灵魂里无限珍贵的东西是无法被夺走的。
The well bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.
教养良好的人处处和他人过不去，头脑聪明的人处处和自己过不去。
Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.
永远宽恕你的敌人，没有什么能比这个更让他们恼怒的了。
Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes, they forgive them
孩子最初爱他们父母，等大一些他们评判父母；然后有些时候，他们原谅父母。
A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally.
绅士就是从不无心伤害别人感觉的人。
Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative
谈论天气是无趣人类最后的避难所。
One's real life is often the life that one does not lead.
真实生活就通常就是我们无法掌控的生活。
Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others
邪恶是善良的人们编造的谎言，用来解释其他人的特殊魅力。
愚人创造了这个世界，智者不得不活在其中。
Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious; both are disappointed.
男人因疲倦而结婚，女人因好奇而结婚；最终他们都会失望。
The happiness of a married man depends on the people he has not married.
已婚者的快乐来自那些他没有娶的人。
Men become old, but they never become good.
人们越长越老，但绝不会越变越好。
The evolution of man is slow. The injustice to man is great.
人类的进化很缓慢。他们遭受的不公待遇显而易见。
The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray, and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional.
情感的好处就是让我们引入歧途，而科学的好处是不感情用事。
I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.
我敬佩简单的快乐，那是复杂的最后避难所。
Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.
除了感官，什么也不能治灵魂的创痛，同样，感官的饥渴也只有灵魂解除得了。
A good name, like good will, is got by many action and lost by one.
一个好的名声，就像好的意向一样，在很多个举动中形成，在一个举动中失去。
Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.
女人是用来被爱的，不是用来被理解的。
Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.
艺术并非模仿生活，而是生活在模仿艺术。
Don't be afraid of the past. If people tell you that it is irrevocable, don't believe them.
不要惧怕过去。如果人们告诉你说过去的事情无可挽回，别相信他们。
Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everyone in good society holds exactly the same opinion.
争论是俗不可耐的，因为道德社会里每个人都持完全相同的观点。
Death and vulgarity are the only two facts in the nineteenth century that one cannot explain away.
死亡和庸俗是十九世纪仅有的无法用巧辩逃避的东西。
Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.
每次人们赞同我的时候，我都觉得自己一定错了。
I am not at all romantic. I am not old enough. I leave romance to my seniors.
我一点都不浪漫。我还不算太老。还是把浪漫留给比我老的人吧。
Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.
每个人犯了错误，都自称是经验。
There is only one real tragedy in a woman's life. The fact that her past is always her lover, and her future invariably her husband.
女人的生活中只有一个真正的悲剧：她总在缅怀过去，却必须活在未来。
We teach people how to remember, we never teach them how to grow.
我们教给人们如何记忆，却从来不教他们如何成长。
Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success.
任何人都能对朋友的不幸感到同情，但要消受一个春风得意的朋友，则需要非常优良的天性。
不够真诚是危险的，太真诚则绝对是致命的。
A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
一个人在选择他的敌人时，再小心也不为过。
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.
所有女人都会变得像她们的母亲一样，这是女人的悲剧。但没有男人变得像他们的父亲，这是男人的悲剧。
Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.
要避免争论，争论总是俗不可耐，而且常常令人信服。
Bad artists always admire each other's work.
糟糕的画家总是欣赏彼此的作品。
Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.
男女之间不可能存在友谊，有的只是爱恨情仇。
Conscience and cowardice are really the same things.
良心和怯懦其实是一回事。
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
教育是一件可敬的事，但要时刻牢记，没有什么值得知道的事是教得会的。
I have made an important discovery…that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.
我有一个重大发现——如果摄入足量酒精，就会产生各种陶醉的效果。
I love acting. It is so much more real than life.
我喜欢看戏。与人生相比，戏剧更加真实。
I think that God, in creating Man, somewhat overestimated his ability.
我想，上帝在创造人类时高估了他的能力。
Ignorance is like a delicate flower: touch it and the bloom is gone.
无知就像是一朵精致的花朵：摸一下，它就消失了。
It is only the intellectually lost who ever argue.
争论者损失的只是智力。
Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other.
人生就是一件蠢事追着另一件蠢事而来，而爱情则是两个蠢东西追来追去。
Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.
结婚是想象战胜了理智，再婚是希望战胜了经验。
The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
乐观的基础完全是恐惧。
The difference between journalism and literature is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.
报纸和文学的区别是，报纸没法读，而文学则没人读。
The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.
对于忠告，你所能做的，就是把它奉送给别人，忠告从来就不是给自己准备的。
The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.
摆脱诱惑的唯一方法是屈服于它。
This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.
悬念是可怕的。我希望它一直延续下去。
A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.
一个人倘若不为自己思考，那就从未思考过。
Young men want to be faithful, and are not; old men want to be faithless, and cannot.
年轻人想有信仰，但他们却没有；老年人不想有信仰，但却办不到。
Ambition is the last refuge of the failure.
雄心壮志是失败最后的避难所。
An excellent man; he has no enemies; and none of his friends like him.
一个极其优秀的人，他没有敌人，而他的朋友也没有一个喜欢他的。
本文来源：国际范儿，慕容澈译。
转自：文学文化研究
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