And here I am persuaded that no one can have[97] devoted6 any serious attention to this aspect of the subject, but will own, (and seeing how greatly popular morals are affected7 by popular proverbs, will own with thankfulness,) that, if not without serious exceptions, yet still in the main they range themselves under the banners of the right and of the truth; he will allow that of so many as move in an ethical8 sphere at all, very far more are children of light and the day than of darkness and night. Indeed, the comparative paucity9 of unworthy proverbs is a very noticeable fact, and one to the causes of which I shall have presently to recur10.
Coarse proverbs.
At the same time, when I affirm this, I find it necessary to make certain explanations, to draw certain distinctions. In the first place, I would not, by what I have said, in the least deny that an ample number of coarse proverbs are extant: it needs but to turn over a page or two of Ray’s Collection of English Proverbs, or of Howell’s, or indeed of any collection in any tongue, which has not been weeded carefully, to convince oneself of the fact;—nor yet would I deny, that of these many may, more or less, live upon the lips of men. Having their birth, for the most part, in a period of a nation’s literature and life, when men are much more plain-spoken, and have far fewer reticences than is afterwards the case, it is nothing strange that some of them, employing words forbidden now, but not forbidden then, should sound coarse and indelicate enough in our ears: while indeed there are others, whose offence and grossness[98] these considerations, while they may mitigate12, are quite insufficient13 to excuse. But at the same time, gross words and images, (I speak not of wanton ones,) bad as they may be, are altogether different from immoral14 maxims15 and rules of life. And it is these immoral maxims, unrighteous, selfish, or otherwise unworthy rules, of which I would affirm the number to be, if not absolutely, yet relatively17 small.
And then further, in estimating the morality of proverbs, this also will claim in justice not to be forgotten. In the same manner as coarse proverbs are not necessarily immoral, so the application which is made of a proverb by us may very often be hardhearted and selfish, while yet the proverb itself is very far from so being. This selfishness and hardness lay not in it of primary intention, but only by our abuse; and in the cases of several, these two things, the proverb itself, and the ordinary employment of it, will demand to be kept carefully apart from one another. For instance: He has made his bed, and now he must lie on it;—As he has brewed18, so he must drink;—As he has sown, so must he reap; [144]—if these are employed to justify19 us in refusing to save others, so far as we may, from the consequences of their own folly20, or imprudence, or even guilt21, why then one can only say that they are very ill employed;[99] and there are few of us with whom it would not have gone hardly, had all those about us acted in the spirit of these proverbs so misinterpreted; had they refused to mitigate for us, so far as they could, the consequences of our errors. But if the words are taken in their true sense, as homely22 announcements of that law of divine retaliations in the world, according to which men shall eat of the fruit of their own doings, and be filled with their own ways, who shall gainsay23 them? What affirm they more than every page of Scripture24, every turn of human life, is affirming too, namely, that the everlasting25 order of God’s universe cannot be violated with impunity27, that there is a continual returning upon men of what they have done, and that in their history we may read their judgment?
Charity begins at home.
Charity begins at home, is the most obvious and familiar of these proverbs, selfishly abused. It may be, no doubt it often is, made the plea for a selfish withholding28 of assistance from all but a few, whom men may include in their “at home,” while sometimes the proverb receives a narrower interpretation29 still; and self, and self only, is accounted to be “at home.” And yet, in truth, what were that charity worth, which did not begin at home, which did not preserve the divine order and proportion and degree? It is not for nothing that we have been grouped in families, neighbourhoods, and nations; and he who will not recognise the divinely appointed nearnesses to himself of some over others, who thinks to be a cosmopolite without being a patriot30, a philanthropist without owning a distinguishing[100] love for them that are peculiarly “his own,” who would thus have a circumference31 without a centre, deceives his own heart; and affirming all men, to be equally dear to him, is indeed affirming them to be equally indifferent. Home, the family, this is as the hearth32 at which the affections which are afterwards to go forth33 and warm in a larger circle, are themselves to be kept lively and warm; and the charity which did not exercise itself in outcomings of kindness and love in the narrower, would be little likely to seek a wider range for itself. Wherever else it may end, and the larger the sphere which it makes for itself the better, it must yet begin at home. [145]
There are, again, proverbs which, from another point of view, might seem of an ignoble34 cast, and as calculated to lower the tone of morality among those who received them; proposing as they do secondary, and therefore unworthy, motives35 to actions, which ought to be performed out of the highest. I mean such as this: Honesty is the best policy; wherein honesty is commended, not because it is right, but because it is most prudent36 and politic37, and has the promise of this present world. Now doubtless there are proverbs not a few which, Prudential morality. like this, move in the region of what has been by [101] Coleridge so well called “prudential morality;” and did we accept them as containing the whole circle of motives to honesty or other right conduct, nothing could be worse, or more fitted to lower the moral standard of our lives. He who resolves to be honest because, and only because, it is the best policy, will be little likely long to continue honest at all. But the proverb does not pretend to usurp38 the place of an ethical rule; it does not presume to cast down the higher law which should determine to honesty and uprightness, that it may put itself in its place; it only declares that honesty, let alone that it is the right thing, is also, even for this present world, the wisest. Nor dare we, let me further add, despise prudential morality, such as is embodied39 in sayings like this. The motives which it suggests are helps to a weak and tempted40 virtue42, may prove great assistances to it in some passing moment of a violent temptation, however little they can be regarded as able to make men for a continuance even outwardly upright and just.
And once more, proverbs are not to be accounted selfish, which announce selfishness; unless they do it, either avowedly43 recommending it as a rule and maxim16 of life, or, if not so, yet with an evident complacency and satisfaction in the announcement which they make, and in this more covert44 and perhaps still more mischievous45 way, taking part with the evil which they proclaim. There are a great many proverbs, which a lover of his race would be very thankful if there had been nothing in the world to justify or to provoke; for the convictions[102] they embody46, the experiences on which they rest must be regarded as very far from complimentary47 to human nature: but seeing they express that which is, however we might desire it were not, it would be idle to wish them away, to wish that this evil had not found its utterance48. Nay49, it is much better that it should so have done; for thus taking form and shape, and being brought directly under notice, it may be better watched against and avoided. Such proverbs, not selfish, but rather detecting selfishness and laying it bare, are the following; this Russian, on the only too slight degree in which we are touched with other men’s troubles: The burden is light on the shoulders of another; with which the French may be compared: One has always enough strength to bear the misfortunes of one’s friends. [146] Such is this Italian: Every one draws the water to his own mill; [147] or as it appears in its eastern shape, which brings up the desert-bivouack before one’s eyes: Every one rakes the embers to his own cake. Such this Latin, on the comparative wastefulness50 wherewith that which is another’s is too often used: Men cut broad thongs51 from other men’s leather; [148] with many more of the same character, which it would be only too easy to bring together.
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Selfish proverbs.
With all this, I would not of course in the least deny that immoral proverbs, and only too many of them, exist. For if they are, as we have recognised them to be, the genuine transcript52 of what is stirring in the hearts of men, then, since there is cowardice53, untruth, selfishness, unholiness, profaneness54 there, how should these be wanting here? The world is not so consummate55 an hypocrite as the entire absence of all immoral proverbs would imply. There will be merely selfish ones, as our own: Every one for himself and God for us all; or as this Dutch: Self’s the man; [149] or more shamelessly cynical57 still, as the French: Better a grape for me, than two figs58 for thee; [150] or again, such as proclaim a doubt and disbelief in the existence of any high moral integrity anywhere, as Every man has his price; or assume that poor men can scarcely be honest, as It is hard for an empty sack to stand straight; or take it for granted that every man would cheat every other if he could, as the French: Count after your father; [151] or, if they do not actually “speak good of the covetous,” yet assume it possible that a blessing59 can wait on that which a wicked covetousness60 has heaped together, as the Spanish: Blessed is the son, whose father went to the devil; or find cloaks and apologies for sin, as[104] the German: Once is never; [152] or such as would imply that the evil of a sin lay not in its sinfulness, but in the outward disgrace annexed61 to it, as the Italian: A sin concealed62 is half forgiven. [153] Or again there will be proverbs dastardly and base, as the Spanish maxim of caution, which advises to Draw the snake from its hole by another man’s hand; to put, that is, another, and it may be for your own profit, to the peril63 from which you shrink yourself;—or more dastardly still, “scoundrel maxims,” an old English poet has called them; as for instance, that one which is acted on only too often: One must howl with the wolves; [154] in other words, when a general cry is raised against any, it is safest to join it, lest one be supposed to sympathise with its object; to howl with the wolves, if one would not be hunted by them. In the whole circle of proverbs I know no baser, nor more dastardly than this. And yet who will say that he[105] has never traced in himself the cowardly temptation to obey it? Besides these there will be, of which I shall spare you any examples, proverbs wanton and impure64, and not merely proverbs thus earthly and sensual, but devilish; such as some of those Italian on revenge which I quoted in my third lecture.
Immoral proverbs rare.
But for all this these immoral proverbs, rank weeds among the wholesome65 corn, are comparatively rare. In the minority with all people, they are immeasurably in the minority with most. The fact is not a little worthy of our note. Surely there lies in it a solemn testimony66, that however men may and do in their conduct continually violate the rule of right, yet these violations67 are ever felt to be such, are inwardly confessed not to be the law of man’s life, but the transgressions68 of the law; and thus, stricken as with a secret shame, and paying an unconscious homage70 to the majesty71 of goodness, they do not presume to raise themselves into maxims, nor, for all the frequency with which they may be repeated, pretend to claim recognition as abiding72 standards of action.
As the sphere in which the proverb moves is no imaginary world, but that actual and often very homely world which is round us and about us; as it does not float in the clouds, but sets its feet firmly on this common earth of ours from which itself once grew, being occupied with present needs and every-day cares, it is only natural that the proverbs having reference to money should be[106] numerous; and in the main it would be well if the practice of the world rose to the height of its convictions as expressed in these. Frugality73 is connected with so many virtues—at least, its contrary makes so many impossible—that the numerous proverbial maxims inculcating this, than which none perhaps are more frequent on the lips of men, must be regarded as belonging to the better order; [155] especially when taken with the check of others, which forbid this frugality from degenerating74 into a sordid75 and dishonourable parsimony76; such, I mean, as our own: The groat is ill saved which shames its master. In how many the conviction speaks out that the hastily-gotten will hardly be the honestly-gotten, that “he who makes haste to be rich shall not be innocent,” as when the Spaniards say: He who will be rich in a year, at the half-year they hang him; [156] in how many others, the confidence that the ill-won will also be the ill-spent, [157] that he who shuts up unlawful gain in his storehouses, is shutting up a fire that will one day destroy them. Very solemn and weighty in this sense is the German proverb: The unrighteous penny corrupts77 the righteous pound; [158] and the Spanish, too, is striking: That which is another’s always yearns78 for its lord;[107] [159] it yearns, that is, to be gone and get to its true owner. In how many the conviction is expressed that this mammon, which more than anything else men are tempted to think God does not concern Himself about, is yet given and taken away by Him according to the laws of his righteousness; given sometimes to his enemies and for their greater punishment, that under its fatal influence they may grow worse and worse, for The more the carle riches, he wretches79; but oftener withdrawn80, because no due acknowledgment of Him was made in its use; as when the German proverb declares: Charity gives itself rich; covetousness hoards81 itself poor; [160] and the Danish: Give alms, that thy children may not ask them; Alms the salt of riches. and the Rabbis, with a yet deeper significance: Alms are the salt of riches; the true antiseptic, which as such shall prevent them from themselves corrupting82, and from corrupting those that have them; which shall hinder them from developing a germ of corruption83, such as shall in the end involve in one destruction them and their owners. [161]
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At the same time, as it is the very character of proverbs to look at matters all round, there are others to remind us that even this very giving itself shall be with forethought and discretion84; with selection of right objects, and in right proportion to each. Teaching this, the Greeks said, Sow with the hand, and not with the whole sack; [162] for as it fares with the seed corn, which if it shall prosper85, must be providently86 dispersed87 with the hand, not prodigally88 shaken from the sack’s mouth, so is it with benefits, which shall do good either to those who impart, or to those who receive them. Thus again, there is a Danish which says, So give to-day, that thou shalt be able to give to-morrow; and another: So give to one, that thou shalt have to give to another. [163] And as closing this series, as teaching us in a homely but striking manner, with an image Dantesque in its vigor89, that a man shall[109] carry nothing away with him when he dieth, take this Italian, Our last robe, that is our winding90 sheet, is made without pockets. [164]
Manly91 proverbs.
Let me further invite you to observe and to admire the prevailing92 tone of manliness93 which pervades94 the great body of the proverbs of all nations: let me urge you to take note how very few there are which would fain persuade you that “luck is all,” or that your fortunes are in any other hands, under God, than your own. This our own proverb, Win purple and wear purple, proclaims. There are some, but they are exceptions, to which the gambler, the idler, the so-called “waiter upon Providence,” can appeal. For the most part, however, they courageously95 accept the law of labour, No pains, no gains,—No sweat, no sweet,—No mill, no meal, [165] as the appointed law and condition of man’s life. Where wilt96 thou go, ox, that thou wilt not have to plough? [166] is the Catalan remonstrance97 addressed to one, who imagines by any outward change of circumstances to evade98 the inevitable99 task and toil100 of existence. And this is Turkish: It is not with saying Honey, Honey, that sweetness will come into the mouth; and to many languages another with its striking[110] image, Sloth101, the key of poverty, [167] belongs: while, on the other hand, there are in almost all tongues such proverbs as the following: God helps them that help themselves; [168] or as it appears with a slight variation in the Basque: God is a good worker, but He loves to be helped. And these proverbs, let me observe by the way, were not strange, in their import at least, to the founder102 of that religion which is usually supposed to inculcate a blind and indolent fatalism—however some who call themselves by his name may have forgotten the lesson which they convey. Certainly they were not strange to Mahomet himself; if the following excellently-spoken word has been rightly ascribed to him. One evening, we are told, after a weary march through the desert, he was camping with his followers103, and overheard one of them saying, “I will loose my camel, and commit it to God;” on which Mahomet took him up: “Friend, tie thy camel, and commit it to God;” [169] do, that is, whatever is thine to do, and then leave the issue in higher hands; but till thou hast done this, till thou hast thus helped thyself, thou hast no right to look to Heaven to help thee.
How excellently this unites genuine modesty104 and manly self-assertion: Sit in your own place, and no man can make you rise; and how good is this[111] Spanish, on the real dignity which there often is in doing things for ourselves, rather than in standing105 by and suffering others to do them for us: Who has a mouth, let him not say to another, Blow. [170] And as a part of this which I have called the manliness of proverbs, let me especially note the noble utterances106 which so many contain, summoning to a brave encountering of adverse107 fortune, to perseverance108 under disappointment and defeat and a long-continued inclemency109 of fate; breathing as they do, a noble confidence that for the brave and bold the world will not always be adverse. Where one door shuts another opens; [171] this belongs to too many nations to allow of our ascribing it especially to any one. And this Latin: The sun of all days has not yet gone down, [172] however, in its primary application intended for those who are at the top of Fortune’s wheel, to warn them that they be not high-minded, for there is yet time for many a revolution in that wheel, is equally good for those at the bottom, and as it contains warning for those, so strength and encouragement for these; for, as the Italians say: The world is his who has patience. [173] And then, to pass over some of our own, so familiar that they need not be adduced, how manful a lesson is contained in Persian proverb.this Persian proverb: A stone that is fit for the wall, is not left in the way. It is[112] a saying made for them who appear for a while to be overlooked, neglected, passed by; who perceive in themselves capacities, which as yet no one else has recognised or cared to turn to account. Only be fit for the wall; square, polish, prepare thyself for it; do not limit thyself to the bare acquisition of such knowledge as is absolutely necessary for thy present position; but rather learn languages, acquire useful information, stretch thyself out on this side and on that, cherishing and making much of whatever aptitudes110 thou findest in thyself; and it is certain thy turn will come. Thou wilt not be left in the way; sooner or later the builders will be glad of thee; the wall will need thee to fill up a place in it, quite as much as thou needest a place to occupy in the wall. For the amount of real capacity in this world is so small, that places want persons to fill them quite as really as persons want to fill places; although it must be allowed, they are not always as much aware of their want.
And this proverb, Italian and Spanish, If I have lost the ring, yet the fingers are still here, [174] is another of these brave utterances of which I have been speaking. In it is asserted the comparative indifference111 of that loss which reaches but to things external to us, so long us we ourselves remain, and are true to ourselves. The fingers are far more than the ring: if indeed those had gone,[113] then the man would have been maimed; but another ring may come for that which has disappeared, or even with none the fingers will be fingers still. And as at once a contrast and complement112 to this, take another, current among the free blacks of Hayti, and expressing well the little profit which there will be to a man in pieces of mere56 good luck, which are no true outgrowths of anything which is in him; the manner in which, having no root in himself out of which they grew, they will, as they came to him by hazard, go from him by the same: The knife which thou hast found in the highway, thou wilt lose in the highway. [175]
Abuse of proverbs.
But these numerous proverbs, urging self-reliance, bidding us first to aid ourselves, if we would have Heaven to aid us, must not be dismissed without a word or two at parting. Prizing them, as we well may, and the lessons which they contain, at the highest, yet it will be profitable for us at the same time always to remember that to such there lies very near such a mischievous perversion113 as this: “Aid thyself, and thou wilt need no other aid;” even as they have been sometimes, no doubt, understood in this sense. As, then, the pendant and counter-weight to them all, not as unsaying what[114] they have said, but as fulfilling the other hemisphere in the complete orb11 of truth, let me remind you of such also as the following, often quoted or alluded114 to by Greek and Latin authors: The net of the sleeping (fisherman) takes; [176]—a proverb the more interesting, that we have in the words of the Psalmist, (Ps. cxxvii. 2,) when accurately115 translated, a beautiful and perfect parallel: “He giveth his beloved” (not “sleep,” as in our version, but) “in sleep;” God’s gifts gliding116 into his bosom117, he knowing not how, and as little expecting as having laboured for them. Of how many of the best gifts of every man’s life will he not thankfully acknowledge this to have been true; or, if he refuse to allow it, and will acknowledge no eud?monia, no ‘favourable providence’ in his prosperities, but will see them all as of work, how little he deserves, how little likely he is, to retain them to the end. Let us hold fast, then, this proverb as the most needful complement of those.
I feel that I should be wanting to hearers such as those who are assembled here, that I should fail in that purpose which has been, more or less, present to me even in dealing118 with the lighter119 portions[115] of my subject, if I did not earnestly remind you of the many of these sayings that there are, which, while they have their lesson for all, yet seem more directly addressed to those standing, as not a few of us here, at the threshold of the more serious and earnest portion of their lives. Proverbs for young men. Lecturing to a Young Men’s Society, I shall not unfitly press these upon your notice. Take this Italian one, for instance: When you grind your corn, give not the flour to the devil, and the bran to God;—in the distribution, that is, of your lives, apportion120 not your best years, your strength and your vigour121 to the service of sin and of the world, and only the refuse and rejected to your Maker122, the wine to others, and the lees only to Him. Not so; for there is another ancient proverb, [177] which we have made very well our own, and which in English runs thus: It is too late to spare, when all is spent. The words have obviously a primary application to the goods of this present life; it is ill saving here, when nothing or next to nothing is left to save. But they are applied123 well by a heathen moralist, (and the application lies very near,) to those who begin to husband precious time, and to live for life’s true ends, when life is nearly gone, is now at its dregs; for, as he well urges, it is not the least only which remains124 at the bottom, but the worst. [178] On the other hand, The morning hour has gold in its mouth; [179] and this, true in [116] respect of each of our days, in which the earlier hours given to toil will yield larger and more genial125 returns than the later, is true in a yet higher sense, of that great life-day, whereof all the lesser126 days of our life make up the moments, is true in respect of moral no less than mental acquisition. The evening hours have often only silver in their mouths at the best. Nor is this Arabic proverb, as it appears to me, other than a very solemn one, being far deeper than at first sight it might seem: Every day in thy life is a leaf in thy history; a leaf which shall once be turned back to again, that it may be seen what was written there; and that whatever was written may be read out in the hearing of all.
And among the proverbs having to do with a prudent ordering of our lives from the very first, this Spanish seems well worthy to be adduced: That which the fool does in the end, the wise man does at the beginning; [180] the wise with a good grace what the fool with an ill; the one to much profit what the other to little or to none. A word worth laying to heart; for, indeed, that purchase of the Sibylline127 books by the Roman king, what a significant symbol it is of that which at one time or another, or, it may be, at many times, is finding place in almost every man’s life;—the same thing to be done in the end, the same price to be paid at the last, with only the difference, that much of the advantage, as well as all the grace, of an earlier compliance128 has past away. The nine precious[117] volumes have shrunk to six, and these dwindled129 to three, while yet the like price is demanded for the few as for the many; for the remnant now as would once have made all our own.
I have already in a former lecture adduced a proverb which warns against a bad book as the worst of all robbers. In respect too of books which are not bad, nay, of which the main staple130 is good, but in which there is yet an admixture of evil, as is the case with so many that have come down to us from that old world not as yet partaker of Christ, there is a proverb, which may very profitably accompany us in our study of all these: Where the bee sucks honey, the spider sucks poison. Study of the Classics. Very profitably may this word be kept in mind by such as at any time are making themselves familiar with the classical literature of antiquity131, the great writers of heathen Greece and Rome. How much of noble, how much of elevating do they contain: what love of country, what zeal132 for wisdom, may be quickened in us by the study of them; yea, even to us Christians134 what intellectual, what large moral gains will they yield. Let the student be as the bee looking for honey, and from the fields and gardens of classical literature he may store it abundantly in his hive. And yet from this same body of literature what poison is it possible to draw; what loss, through familiarity with evil, of all vigorous abhorrence135 of it, till even the foulest136 enormities shall come to be regarded with a speculative137 curiosity rather than with an earnest hatred,—yea, what lasting26 defilements of the imagination[118] and the heart may be contracted hence, till nothing shall be pure, the very mind and conscience being defiled138. Let there come one whose sympathies and affinities139 are with the poison and not with the honey, and in these fields it will not be impossible for him to find deadly flowers and weeds from which he may suck poison enough.
With a few remarks on two proverbs more I will bring this lecture to an end. Here is one with an insight at once subtle and profound into the heart of man: Ill doers are ill deemers; and instead of any commentary on this of my own let me quote some words which were not intended to be a commentary upon it at all, and which furnish notwithstanding a better than any which I could hope to give. They are words of a great English divine of the 17th century, who is accounting140 for the offence which the Pharisee took at the Lord’s acceptance of the affectionate homage and costly141 offering of the woman that was a sinner: [119]“Which familiar and affectionate officiousness, and sumptuous142 cost, together with that sinister143 fame that woman was noted144 with, could not but give much scandal to the Pharisees there present. For that dispensation of the law under which they lived making nothing perfect, but only curbing145 the outward actions of men; it might very well be that they, being conscious to themselves of no better motions within than of either bitterness or lust146, how fair soever they carried without, could not deem Christ’s acceptance of so familiar and affectionate a service from a woman of that fame to proceed from anything better than some loose and vain principle ... for by how much every one is himself obnoxious147 to temptation, by so much more suspicious he is that others transgress69, when there is anything that may tempt41 out the corruptions148 of a man.” [181]
Chinese proverb.
And in this Chinese proverb which follows, Better a diamond with a flaw, than a pebble149 without one, there is, to my mind, the assertion of a great Christian133 truth, and of one which reaches deep down to the very foundations of Christian morality, the more valuable as coming to us from a people beyond the range and reach of the influences of direct Revelation. We may not be all aware of the many and malignant150 assaults which were made on the Christian faith, and on the morality of the Bible, through the character of David, by the blind and self-righteous Deists of a century or more ago. Taking the Scripture testimony about him, that he was the man after God’s heart, and putting beside this the record of those great sins which he committed, they sought to set these great, yet still isolated151, offences in the most hateful light; and thus to bring at once him, and the Book which praised him, to a common shame. But all this while, the question of the man, what[120] he was, and what the moral sum total of his life, to which alone the Scripture testimony bore witness, and to which alone it was pledged, this was a question with which they concerned themselves not at all; while yet it was a far more important question than what any of his single acts may have been; and it was this which, in the estimate of his character, was really at issue. To this question we answer, a diamond, which, if a diamond with a flaw, as are all but the one “entire and perfect chrysolite,” would yet outvalue a mountain of pebbles152 without one, such as they were; even assuming the pebbles to be without; and not merely to seem so, because their flaw was an all-pervading one, and only not so quickly detected, inasmuch as the contrast was wanting of any clearer material which should at once reveal its presence.
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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judgment
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censure
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preponderating
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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paucity
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recur
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| vi.复发，重现，再发生 | |
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orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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12
mitigate
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| vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和 | |
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13
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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14
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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15
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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16
maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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17
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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18
brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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19
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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20
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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21
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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22
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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23
gainsay
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| v.否认，反驳 | |
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24
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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25
everlasting
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|
| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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26
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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27
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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28
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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29
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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30
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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31
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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32
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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33
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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34
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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35
motives
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|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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36
prudent
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|
| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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37
politic
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|
| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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38
usurp
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|
| vt.篡夺，霸占；vi.篡位 | |
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39
embodied
|
|
| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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40
tempted
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|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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41
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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42
virtue
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|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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43
avowedly
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| adv.公然地 | |
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44
covert
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|
| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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45
mischievous
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|
| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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46
embody
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|
| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
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47
complimentary
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|
| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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48
utterance
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|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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49
nay
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|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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50
wastefulness
|
|
| 浪费，挥霍，耗费 | |
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51
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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52
transcript
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|
| n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书 | |
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53
cowardice
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|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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54
profaneness
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|
| n.渎神，污秽 | |
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55
consummate
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|
| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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56
mere
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|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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57
cynical
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|
| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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58
figs
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| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
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59
blessing
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|
| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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60
covetousness
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61
annexed
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| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
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62
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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63
peril
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|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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64
impure
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|
| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
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65
wholesome
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|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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66
testimony
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|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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67
violations
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|
| 违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸 | |
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68
transgressions
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|
| n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
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69
transgress
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|
| vt.违反，逾越 | |
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70
homage
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|
| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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71
majesty
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|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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72
abiding
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|
| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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73
frugality
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|
| n.节约，节俭 | |
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74
degenerating
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|
| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的现在分词 ) | |
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75
sordid
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|
| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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76
parsimony
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|
| n.过度节俭，吝啬 | |
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77
corrupts
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|
| （使）败坏( corrupt的第三人称单数 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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78
yearns
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|
| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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79
wretches
|
|
| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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80
withdrawn
|
|
| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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81
hoards
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|
| n.（钱财、食物或其他珍贵物品的）储藏，积存( hoard的名词复数 )v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的第三人称单数 ) | |
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82
corrupting
|
|
| （使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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83
corruption
|
|
| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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84
discretion
|
|
| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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85
prosper
|
|
| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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86
providently
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|
| adv.有远虑地 | |
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87
dispersed
|
|
| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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88
prodigally
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|
| adv.浪费地，丰饶地 | |
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89
vigor
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|
| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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90
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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91
manly
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|
| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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92
prevailing
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|
| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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93
manliness
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| 刚毅 | |
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94
pervades
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|
| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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95
courageously
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|
| ad.勇敢地，无畏地 | |
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96
wilt
|
|
| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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97
remonstrance
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|
| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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98
evade
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|
| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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99
inevitable
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|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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100
toil
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|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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101
sloth
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|
| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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102
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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103
followers
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|
| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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104
modesty
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|
| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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105
standing
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|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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106
utterances
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|
| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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107
adverse
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|
| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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108
perseverance
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|
| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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109
inclemency
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|
| n.险恶，严酷 | |
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110
aptitudes
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| （学习方面的）才能，资质，天资( aptitude的名词复数 ) | |
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111
indifference
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|
| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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112
complement
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|
| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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113
perversion
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|
| n.曲解；堕落；反常 | |
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114
alluded
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|
| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
accurately
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|
| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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116
gliding
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|
| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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117
bosom
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|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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118
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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119
lighter
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|
| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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120
apportion
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| vt.（按比例或计划）分配 | |
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121
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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122
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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123
applied
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|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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124
remains
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|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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125
genial
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|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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126
lesser
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|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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127
sibylline
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|
| adj.预言的；神巫的 | |
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128
compliance
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|
| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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129
dwindled
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|
| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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130
staple
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|
| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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131
antiquity
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|
| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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132
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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133
Christian
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|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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134
Christians
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|
| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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135
abhorrence
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|
| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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136
foulest
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|
| adj.恶劣的( foul的最高级 )；邪恶的；难闻的；下流的 | |
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137
speculative
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|
| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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138
defiled
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|
| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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139
affinities
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|
| n.密切关系( affinity的名词复数 )；亲近；（生性）喜爱；类同 | |
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140
accounting
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|
| n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表 | |
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141
costly
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|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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142
sumptuous
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|
| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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143
sinister
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|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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144
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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145
curbing
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| n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 ) | |
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146
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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147
obnoxious
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| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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148
corruptions
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| n.堕落( corruption的名词复数 )；腐化；腐败；贿赂 | |
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149
pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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150
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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151
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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152
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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