双语智慧书·赢得并维护美名

97．赢得并维护美名
　　赢得并维护美名。我们对荣誉，只有使用权，而无所有权。美名来之不易，它只青睐非凡之人，而这种人是十分罕见的，庸人则俯拾皆是。美名一旦拥有，便容易保持。获得好名声要承担许多义务，但也给你更多恩惠。如果美名出自显赫的权力或高尚的行为，则自有其威严，令人崇拜。美名只有根基深固，才能永恒。


97．Obtain and preserve a reputation
　Obtain and preserve a reputation. It is the usufruct of fame. It is expensive to obtain a reputation, for it only attaches to distinguished abilities, which are as rare as mediocrities are common. Once obtained, it is easily preserved. It confers many an obligation, but it does more. When it is owing to elevated powers or lofty spheres of action, it rises to a kind of veneration and yields a sort of majesty. But it is only a well-founded reputation that lasts permanently.