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奥里森·斯威特·马登：向前进·摘录 345
奥里森·斯威特·马登《向前进》· Pushing to the Front · 领导
George Herbert has well said: "What we are is much more to us than what we do." An aim that carries in it the least element of doubt as to its justice or honor or right should be abandoned at once. The art of dishing up the wrong so as to make it look and taste like the right has never been more extensively cultivated than in our day. It is a curious fact that reason will, on pressure, overcome a man's instinct of right. An eminent scientist has said that a man could soon reason himself out of the instinct of decency if he would only take pains and work hard enough. So when a doubtful but attractive future is placed before one, there is a great temptation to juggle with the wrong until it seems the right. Yet any aim that is immoral carries in itself the germ of certain failure, in the real sense of the word--failure that is physical and spiritual.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21291
定位：Excerpt 345 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
乔治·赫伯特说得好：我们是什么样的人，比我们做什么事更重要。一个目标只要在正义、荣誉或对错上有一丝疑虑，就该立刻放弃。如今把错事包装成对事的本事，比以往任何时候都更盛行。奇怪的是，理性在压力下会压倒人内心的是非直觉。一位著名科学家说过，只要肯下功夫，人甚至能靠推理把自己说服到不要体面。所以当一个诱人却可疑的前景出现时，人很容易把错的说成对的。但任何不道德的目标，本身就带着必然失败的种子——是身心两方面的真正失败。
上下文
马登在书中引用赫伯特的话，批评当时社会为错误目标辩护的风气。
今日一问
你手头有没有一个目标，其实你心里知道它不太对，却一直在给自己找理由？
公版作品；原文逐字取自 Project Gutenberg，仅摘录段落并附全书链接。
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