雙語智慧書·進退之際，了解時運

36．進退之際，了解時運
　　進退之際，了解時運。把握自己的時運比了解自己的脾氣秉性更為重要。如果人到四十才向希波克拉底(1)要健康，無疑是愚蠢的；如果這時才知道向塞涅卡(2)要智慧，就更愚蠢了。懂得在等待好運的同時如何引導運氣，需要有高超的技巧。有的事只要等待好運便能完成，因為運氣是有周期的且能提供機會--盡管它沒有規(guī)律，難以捉摸。如果受到幸運女神的青睞，你就應大膽向前，因為幸運女神喜歡勇敢的人。作為女性，她也喜歡年輕人。假使你時運不濟，你就應撤退，以免一失再失。

36．In acting or refraining, weigh your luck
　In acting or refraining, weigh your luck. More depends on that than on noticing your temperament. If he is a fool who at forty applies to Hippocrates for health, still more is he one who then first applies to Seneca for wisdom. It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it. For something is to be done with it by waiting so as to use it at the proper moment, since it has periods and offers opportunities, though one cannot calculate its path, its steps are so irregular. When you find Fortune favourable, stride boldly forward, for she favours the bold and, being a woman, the young. But if you have bad luck, keep retired so as not to redouble the influence of your unlucky star.
　　
(1) 古希臘名醫(yī)，西方醫(yī)學奠基人。
(2) 古羅馬政治家、哲學家、演說家、作家，晚期斯多葛派哲學的主要代表人物。