[英國]弗朗西斯·培根/Francis Bacon
A man that is young in years, may be old in hours, if he have lost no time. But that happened rarely. Generally, youth is like the first cogitations, not so wise as the second. For there is a youth in thoughts, as well as in ages.
And yet the invention of young men, is more lively than that of old;and imaginations stream into their minds better, and, as it were, more divinely. Natures that have much heat, and great and violent desires and perturbations, are not ripe for action, till they have passed the meridian of their years;as it was with Julius Caesar and Septimius Severus……
Young men are fitter to invent, than to judge;fitter for execution, than for counsel;and fitter for new projects, than for settled business. For the experience of age, in things that fall within the compass of it, directeth them;but in new things, abuseth them.
The errors of young men, are the ruin of business;but the errors of aged men, amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner. Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold;stir more than they can quiet;fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees;pursue some few principles, which they have chanced upon absurdly care not to innovate, which draws unknown inconveniences;use extreme remedies at first;and, that which doubleth all errors, will not acknowledge or retract them;like an unready horse, that will neither stop nor turn. Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success. Certainly it is good to compound employments of both;for that will be good for the present, because the virtues of either age, may correct the defects of both;and good for succession, that young men may be learners, while men in age are actors;and, lastly, good for extern accidents, because authority followeth old men, and favor and popularity, youth. But for the moral part, perhaps youth will have the pre-eminence, as age hath for the politic.
一個人假使不曾虛度生活，年歲不大也可以表現得成熟老練，隻不過這種情況少有發生罷了。深思未必出自風霜，歲月同樣可見年輕，可一般的青年畢竟謀劃不過長輩，智慧也不及他們少年老成的同齡人。
但青年的創造性是更為豐富的，想象力也如湧泉一樣奔放靈活，這似乎更得益於神助。天性剛烈、心懷熱望、情緒敏感的人不曆經中年，行事總是青澀，凱撒和塞維拉斯即為例證……
青年擅長創造卻缺乏判斷，擅長行動卻缺乏商討，擅長革新卻缺乏對經驗的借鑒。日積月累的經驗可以引導他們掌握舊事物，但也會遮蓋他們看見新事物的視線。
青年人犯錯往往毀壞大局，而老年人的錯則是邁步太小或行動太緩。無論謀事還是操行，青年都騖遠喜功，基調高，動幅大，好走極端，他們藐視前例，目空一切，革新的勇氣綽綽有餘，而欠方式和分寸上的考慮，結果反而招致意外的麻煩。他們有如不羈的野馬，行事極端而不自知自救，一旦開蹄犯錯，就瀉至千裏，不可複回。老年人呢？他們顧忌太多，議論過長，寧求安穩，不願冒險，總是滿足於平平成績而不向往極致的輝煌。毫無疑問，最好是將兩者特點結合。就現在來說，青年和老年可以互相取長補短。就發展來說，老年人是主事者，而青年可以學習取經。最後就社會來說，老年人以權威之姿指引方向，青年人則能振奮民心、鼓舞士氣。但如果從政治上講，老人的閱曆是珍貴的，那麽，青年人的純真則在人性中熠熠閃光。
心靈小語
在人生不同的階段，上帝賜予人不同的智慧。這智慧不分高下優劣，其價值在於彼此配合，往往可以發揮出意想不到的力量。
詞匯筆記
cogitation[,k?d?i'tei??n]n.深思；思考
At first, such a complex problem disheartened them. However, they finally worked out the solution after much cogitation.
起初，這個複雜問題使他們感到灰心喪氣，但經過仔細思考，他們終於研究出了解決辦法。
perturbation[,p?：t?'bei??n]n.擾動；混亂；煩惱
In chaos theory, the smallest initial perturbation can result in a huge change downstream.
在混沌理論中，最為微小的初始混亂可能導致後續巨大的下遊變化。
meridian[m?'ridi?n]n.子午線；經線；頂點
A meridian is an imaginary circle.
子午線是假想出來的一個圓圈。
retract[ri'tr?kt]v.縮進；拉回；退回
A cat can retract its claws.
貓可以縮回它的爪子。
小試身手
深思未必出自風霜，歲月同樣可見年輕。
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青年人犯錯往往毀壞大局，而老年人的錯則是邁步太小或行動太緩。
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老年人呢？他們顧忌太多，議論過長，寧求安穩，不願冒險，總是滿足於平平成績而不向往極致的輝煌。
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短語家族
……the errors of aged men, amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner.
amount to：等於；相當於
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Pursue some few principles, which they have chanced upon absurdly care not to innovate, which draws unknown inconveniences.
chance upon：偶然遇見；偶然發現
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