A COLLECTION OF GOOD WORDS
文明
Civilization
Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.
长久以来，我们与文明最亲密的接触一直是通过艺术来实现的。
In the cold, shivering twilight, preceding the daybreak of civilization, the dominating emotion of man was fear.
在文明破晓前寒冷颤抖的暮色中，人类最主要的情感是恐惧。
One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person.
对文明的控诉之一是，幸福和智慧很少能在同一个人身上找到。
Civilization exists precisely so that there may be no masses but rather men alert enough never to constitute masses.
文明的存在，就是为了没有群众，只有足够警觉的人，永远不会构成群众。
A modern civilization is only possible when it is accepted that singular beings exist and express themselves freely.
一个现代文明只有当它被接受为个体存在并自由表达自己时才有可能。
Walls, no less than writing, define civilization. They are monuments of resistance against time, like writing itself.
墙壁，和文字一样，定义了文明。它们是抵抗时间的纪念碑，就像写作本身一样。
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.
如果一个国家期望无知和自由，在文明的状态下，它期望的是过去和将来都不会发生的事情。
A country where flowers are priced so as to make them a luxury has yet to learn the first principles of civilization.
一个把鲜花定价成奢侈品的国家还没有学会文明的首要原则。
Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.
也许，没有一个国家富裕到可以同时为战争和文明买单。我们必须做出选择;我们不能两者兼得。
The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
文明的力量不是由它的战争能力来衡量的，而是由它防止战争的能力来衡量的。
Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. From that divine tear and from that human smile is derived the grace of present civilization.
耶稣哭了。伏尔泰笑了。从那神圣的眼泪和人类的微笑中，产生了现代文明的优雅。
Women know what men have long forgotten. The ultimate economic and spiritual unit of any civilization is still the family.
女人知道男人早已忘记了什么。任何文明的最终经济和精神单位仍然是家庭。
KEEP EXPLORING
沿着这个主题，再读几句。
Nature is the master of talents; genius is the master of nature.
自然是天赋的主人;天才是自然的主宰。
Civilization is so hard on the body that some have called it a disease, despite the arts that keep puny bodies alive to a greater average age, and our greater protection from contagious and germ diseases.
文明对身体的要求是如此之高，以至于有些人把它称为一种疾病，尽管艺术能让弱小的身体活到更大的平均年龄，也能更好地保护我们免受传染病和细菌性疾病的侵害。
In a country of such recent civilization as ours, whose almost limitless treasures of material wealth invite the risks of capital and the industry of labor, it is but natural that material interests should absorb the attention of the people to a degree elsewhere unknown.
在我们这样一个文明近现代的国家，几乎无穷无尽的物质财富财富带来了资本和劳动产业的风险，物质利益在某种程度上吸引了人们的注意力，这是很自然的，但在其他地方却不为人知。
In our civilization, men are afraid that they will not be men enough and women are afraid that they might be considered only women.
在我们的文明中，男人害怕自己不够男人，女人害怕自己可能被认为只是女人。
On a group of theories one can found a school; but on a group of values one can found a culture, a civilization, a new way of living together among men.
一个人可以根据一组理论建立一所学校;但在一组价值观上，人们可以找到一种文化，一种文明，一种人类共同生活的新方式。
Julian Assange is certainly no hero. The man behind WikiLeaks issued threats as if he were Dr. No bent on ending civilization as we know it. We will find him, lock him up, and throw away the key. But give the man credit; for a week the truth was laid bare.
朱利安•阿桑奇当然不是英雄。维基解密背后的人发出了威胁，仿佛他是决心终结我们所知的文明的诺博士。我们会找到他，把他锁起来，然后扔掉钥匙。但要称赞那人。整整一个星期，真相大白于天下。