275.參加游戲,但應(yīng)得體
參加游戲,但應(yīng)得體。你不應(yīng)總是裝模作樣而令人厭煩,這是保持豪爽風(fēng)度的至理名言。你可放棄一點點尊嚴(yán),以贏得人們的喜歡。你可偶爾去人們常去的地方,但不能失禮。對于當(dāng)眾丟丑的人,人們不會認(rèn)為他在私下里有多謹(jǐn)慎。因一時玩樂而失去的,也許會比一生辛苦所得還要多。但是,你也不能自命不凡,不合群相當(dāng)于在譴責(zé)他人。你更不能故作拘謹(jǐn),女人才會如此,就連在宗教方面太過拘束也會遭人嘲笑。做男人就應(yīng)像個男人。女人可以模仿男人,而且把這作為優(yōu)點。但男人模仿女人則不是什么優(yōu)點。
275.Join in the game as far as decency permits
Join in the game as far as decency permits. Do not always pose and be a bore: this is a maxim for gallant bearing. You may yield a touch of dignity to gain the general good-will: you may now and then go where most go, yet not beyond the bounds of decorum. He who makes a fool of himself in public will not be regarded as discreet in private life. One may lose more on a day of pleasure than has been gained during a whole life of labour. Still you must not always keep away: to be singular is to condemn all others. Still less act the prude-leave that to its appropriate sex: even religious prudery is ridiculous. Nothing so becomes a man as to be a man: a woman may affect a manly bearing as an excellence, but not vice versa.