138.任其自然的藝術
任其自然的藝術。風浪越大,你越應順其自然,公事與私事都要如此。生活中時常會有颶風,情感中常有暴雨,這時,明智的做法是退入一個安全的港灣,靜待風浪消退。治療常讓疾病惡化,在這種情況下,你要順應自然和天道。聰明的醫(yī)生懂得什么時候不開藥,有時,不治療反而更見功夫。想要止住愚昧大眾的吼聲,最好的方法就是袖手旁觀,待其平息?,F(xiàn)在的讓步,是為了不久后的征服。井水一攪就渾,不會因為我們折騰它而澄清,如不去動它,它自然會清。對付混亂的最好方法就是任其自然,這樣它們自會平息。
138.The art of letting things alone
The art of letting things alone. The more so the wilder the waves of public or of private life. There are hurricanes in human affairs, tempests of passion, when it is wise to retire to a harbour and ride at anchor. Remedies often make diseases worse: in such cases one has to leave them to their natural course and the moral suasion of time. It takes a wise doctor to know when not to prescribe, and at times the greater skill consists in not applying remedies. The proper way to still the storms of the vulgar is to hold your hand and let them calm down of themselves. To give way now is to conquer by and by. A fountain gets muddy with but little stirring up, and does not get clear by our meddling with it but by our leaving it alone. The best remedy for disturbances is to let them run their course, for so they quiet down.