解密那些名人名言背后的意思：看看谁躺枪了！

　　小时候不用功读书时总是会被教育 “天才是1%的灵感加99%的汗水”;读到名人们说“如果我能看的更远一些，那是因为我站在巨人的肩膀上”，总免不了感叹一下他们既如此牛还如此谦虚。然而，你是否曾想过这些名言也许根本就不是大多数人所想的意思，不过是被人断章取义、以讹传讹。作为曾经“信名言，过人生”的世纪君，今天就做一把考据党，为大家还原那些名言的真实历史，看看到底有哪些名人莫名躺枪……

　　Wordsmiths like Shakespeare and Robert Frost loved their sarcasm¹. But when you take comments like that out of context, they can mean the exact opposite of the author’s intention.

　　That hasn’t stopped us from spouting² famous lines, many from classic literature, however we see fit.

　　马上学：wordsmith是“word”和“smith(铁匠)”两个词组成的合成词，字面意思虽然是”对文字千锤百炼的人”，实际上指的是语言大师，大文豪。例如，In today's review section Anthony Edwards, playwright³, poet, novelist and general wordsmith, talks about his glittering career. 在今天的评论栏目中，安东尼?爱德华兹——著名的剧作家、诗人、小说家也是语言文字领域里的大师，将为我们讲述他光辉的事业。

　　Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration⁴.

　　天才就是1%的灵感加99%的汗水。

　　大发明家爱迪生的这句名言不知鼓舞了多少勤奋向上的童鞋。可是你或许不知道这句还有下半句，Accordingly, a “genius” is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework. 因此，通常只有那些有天分并且付出全部努力的人才能成为“天才”。爱迪生大师的意思显然是要强调后半句，言下之意也就是说没有天赋光凭蛮干也是不行的。

　　马上学：注意文中提到的do one’s homework可不是做家庭作业的意思。而是表示“认真研究学习，做好完全准备”的意思。例如，It was obvious that she had done her homework and thoroughly⁵ prepared for her interview. 显然她对面试做了充分而用心地准备。

　　Money is the root of all evil.

　　金钱是万恶之源。

　　“金钱是万恶之源”?那可未必哦，上帝教导的其实是“对金钱的贪婪是所有罪恶之源——《圣经》提摩太前书第6章第10节”。要是钞票会说人话，一定会吐槽一句，“我和乃们什么仇什么怨?!”

　　Not really. The love of money is the root of all evil, according to Timothy 6:10 from the King James Bible.

　　Romeo, Romeo, whereforart thou, Romeo?

　　罗密欧啊，罗密欧，为什么是你，我的爱人?

　　没错，当大文豪莎士比亚笔下婀娜多姿的朱丽叶站在阳台上呼唤爱人的时候，心里想得可不是罗密欧跑哪儿去风流了。在中古英文中，whereforeart其实表示的是“why”的含义。朱丽叶在这里质问命运之神为何让自己爱上了世仇蒙太古家的儿子罗密欧。

　　In most high school adaptations of Shakespeare’s well-known play, Juliet raises a hand to her furrowed⁶ brow, searching for her lover from a balcony. But “whereforeart” doesn’t mean “where.” It means “why.” Juliet questions why fate made Romeo a Montague, her family’s sworn enemy.

　　I disapprove⁷ of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

　　我不同意你的观点，但是我誓死捍卫你表达观点的权利。

　　很多人认为这是法国文豪伏尔泰的名言。事实上这句话是作家Evelyn Beatrice Hall拜读了伏尔泰倡导宗教和解的大作《论宽容》一文之后所做的解读，而当时距离伏尔泰的时代早已过了200年了。

　　Most attribute this insight to Voltaire. In reality, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, a writer born two hundred years later, paraphrased⁸ a quote from Voltaire’s “Treatise on Tolerance,” which begged for understanding between religions.

　　If I have seen a little further it is by standing⁹ on the shoulders of Giants.

　　如果我能看的更远一些，那是因为我站在巨人的肩膀上。

　　牛顿的这句名言出自其1676年写给竞争对手胡克的信。很多人以为牛顿说这句是谦虚，实际上当时牛顿一直在和胡克争夺胡克定律是谁发现的。这句话是牛顿给对手胡克的信里提到的。实际上是在讽刺胡克身高太矮。

　　The best-known use of this phrase was by Isaac Newton in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, in 1676: "What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical¹⁰ consideration. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

　　而且这个比喻也并非牛顿原创。根据史料 ，早在 12世纪，著名的法国沙特尔学校校长、 中世纪哲学家伯纳德( Bernard of Chartres)就曾说过：“Nos esse quasi nanos gigantium humeris insidientes.”大意是， 我们都像坐在巨人肩膀上的矮子。这句话如今还能在沙特尔市著名的哥特式大教堂的窗户上找到。伯纳德以来，至少有十余人用过这一比喻，牛顿是其中最著名的一个。

　　But Newton didn't coin the phrase himself. He was alluding¹¹ to a simile¹² said much earlier by Bernard of Chartres, a 12th-century man.John of Salisbury wrote that Bernard of Chartres used to say that "we [the Moderns] are like dwarves¹³ perched on the shoulders of giants [the Ancients], and thus we are able to see more and farther than the latter."

　　Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

　　我能否将你与夏日相比?

　　莎翁这句几百年来被情侣们奉为经典的情话实际上并不是写给哪位姑娘的，而是献给自己心目中的男神——莎士比亚最好的同性朋友的赞美诗。小伙伴们来看下一句，Thou art more lovely and more temperate¹⁴.(你比夏天更可爱，更温婉。)简直更加情意绵绵了有木有。事实上，莎士比亚一生中总共写了上百首十四行诗献给这位仁兄!基情四射啊。

　　More than one slick love letter has included this phrase. But arguably Shakespeare’s most famous sonnet¹⁵ praised a man, not a woman. He actually wrote hundreds of sonnets¹⁶ about this guy, his dearest friend.

　　Blood is thicker than water.

　　血浓于水。

　　在美国，很多家庭的合影照片上会镶嵌这句名言表达家庭温暖和家人之爱。然而这句话原本的表述却是“誓约之血浓于胎腹之水”，所谓的“胎腹之水”指的是家庭血缘关系，而“誓约之血”则隐喻士兵血洒疆场。这个谚语原本的意思竟然是“部队里的兄弟情要胜过父母兄弟的血亲之情”，这你敢信?!

　　This gets uttered around awkward family photos on the mantle¹⁷ of nearly every home in the country. The original phrase, however, meant the opposite. An earlier proverb preached, “The blood of the covenant¹⁸ is thicker than the water of the womb.” In this case, “water of the womb” refers to family while “blood of the covenant” means blood shed by soldiers. So really, military bonds trump¹⁹ your siblings²⁰ and parents.

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