第8章
第3段
Some hold that such papers as these are scarcely the proper objects of so serious a consideration; but that can scarcely be maintained from a political or ethical point of view. In this problem of the mildness and tameness of the Harmsworth mind there is mirrored the outlines of a much larger problem which is akin to it.
有人認為實在無須嚴肅看待這類新聞報導，但從政治或道德的角度來看，這觀點很難站得住腳。哈姆斯沃斯這派人心智溫文馴良的問題，其實顯示出一個類似，但更為嚴重的問題。
第4段
The Harmsworthian journalist begins with a worship of success and violence, and ends in sheer timidity and mediocrity. But he is not alone in this, nor does he come by this fate merely because he happens personally to be stupid. Every man, however brave, who begins by worshipping violence, must end in mere timidity. Every man, however wise, who begins by worshipping success, must end in mere mediocrity. This strange and paradoxical fate is involved, not in the individual, but in the philosophy, in the point of view. It is not the folly of the man which brings about this necessary fall; it is his wisdom. The worship of success is the only one out of all possible worships of which this is true, that its followers are foredoomed to become slaves and cowards. A man may be a hero for the sake of Mrs. Gallup's ciphers or for the sake of human sacrifice, but not for the sake of success. For obviously a man may choose to fail because he loves Mrs. Gallup or human sacrifice; but he cannot choose to fail because he loves success. When the test of triumph is men's test of everything, they never endure long enough to triumph at all. As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is a mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength at all. Like all the Christian virtues, it is as unreasonable as it is indispensable.
哈姆斯沃斯式的新聞報導以對成功與暴力的崇拜為起點，卻以無膽與平庸作結。然而他絕非個案，也絕非僅因他剛好不太聰明而遭逢這命運。每個人，無論多麽勇敢，只要他的出發點是對暴力的崇拜，最終必定喪膽。每個人，無論多麽有智慧，只要他一開始是為了追求成功，終必落於平庸。這怪異與矛盾的定律並非出於個人，而是源於哲學與思考觀點。不是一個人的愚妄導致最終的失敗，而是他的智慧。在所有可想得到，對真實、真理的崇拜中，唯有對成功的崇拜，預先註定其跟隨者將成為奴隸與懦夫。一個人可能因為蓋洛普夫人（譯註：Elizabeth Wells Gallup，因撰寫大量文獻討論培根與莎士比亞書中隱藏的密碼而聞名）的密碼或因活人獻祭而成為英雄，但不會是因為成功而成為英雄。因為很顯然的，一個人能夠因熱愛蓋洛普夫人或活人獻祭而選擇失敗，但不可能因為熱愛成功而選擇失敗。當勝利的考驗是對所有一切的試驗時，人永遠難堅持到足以搆到勝利的那刻。只要事情看來仍有希望，盼望就只是錦上添花、濫調陳詞，只有當一切都看來無望時，盼望才成為真實的力量。就好像所有基督徒的品德，如此無道理又如此必需。
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