卡耐基演讲·3.使用类比

类比，根据韦氏字典，是“两样事物之间相似的关系……不是存在于事物本身的相像，而在于两种或两种以上的事物在性质、状况或效用方面的相像。”An analogy, according to Webster, is a "relation of likeness between two things ... consisting in the resemblance not of the things themselves but of two or more attributes, circumstances, or effects."

使用类比支持论点是个很好的技巧。以下是一段题目为《更强劲电力的需要》的演讲摘录。由C.吉拉德·戴维生在任内政部助理秘书时所讲。请留意他如何利用类比来做比较，以支持自己的论点：The use of an analogy is a fine technique for supporting a main idea. Here is an excerpt from a talk on "The Need for More Electric Power" by C. Girard Davidson when he was Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Note how he employs a comparison, an analogy, to back up his point:

“繁荣的经济必须不断向前迈进，不然就会陷于紊乱。好比飞机停憩于地面时，只是一堆无用的螺钉、螺帽的组合，可是一旦在空中前进，它就如鱼得水，发挥了有效的功能。为了要停留在高空，它必须继续前进。它若是不前进，就会下沉——而它是不能后退的。”A prosperous economy has to keep moving for-word or it goes into a tailspin. There is a parallel with the airplane, which is a useless collection of nuts and bolts standing still on the ground. When moving forward in the air, however, it comes into its own and serves as a useful function. To stay up, it has to keep going forward. If it doesn't move , it sinks-and it can't move backward.

这里有另一个类比，恐怕是演讲史上最杰出的类比了。它是林肯在艰难的南北战争期间，回答批评他的人所使用的：Here is another, perhaps one of the most outstanding analogies in the history of eloquence; it ws used by Lincoln in answer to his critics during a crucial period of the Civil war:

“诸位先生，我想让各位来做一番假设。假设你所有的财产都是黄金，而你把它交给著名的走索家柏罗丁手中，让他走在绳索上带过尼亚加拉瀑布去。当他走在瀑布上时，你会不会摇动绳索，或不断地对他喊叫‘柏罗丁，再俯低些！走快些！’不会，我确信你一定不会。你会屏息闭嘴，肃立一边，直至他安全走过去。现在，政府亦处于相同的情况。它正背负着极大的重量越过狂澜汹涌的海洋。数不尽的财宝握在它的手中，它正竭尽所能地去做。请勿打扰它！只需保持安静，它就能带你安然渡过。”Gentlemen, I want you to suppose a case for a moment. Suppose that all the property you were worth was in gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin, the famous rope-walker, to carry across the Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Would you shake the rope while he was passing over it, or keep shouting to him, "Blondin, stoop a little more! Go a little faster!" No, I am sure you would not. You would hold your breath as well as your tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safely over. Now the government is in the same situation. It is carrying an immense weight across a stormy ocean. Untold treasures are in its hands. It is doing the best it can. Don't badger it! Just keep still, and it will get you safely over.