23.没有瑕疵
没有瑕疵。这是完美所必要达到的境界。任何人都会有缺点,无论是身体上还是精神上。尽管很容易克服,人们却听之任之。杰出人士身上的缺陷,总会让目光敏锐的人感到遗憾——要知道,一小片乌云便足以遮掩整个太阳的光辉。在我们的名誉方面,也有类似瑕疵,居心不良者一眼就能看到,且会不断发难。最好的方法是把瑕疵当作装饰,所以恺撒曾用桂冠隐藏起自己秃头的缺陷。
23.Be spotless
Be spotless: the indispensable condition of perfection. Few live without some weak point, either physical or moral, which they pamper because they could easily cure it. The keenness of others often regrets to see a slight defect attaching itself to a whole assembly of elevated qualities, and yet a single cloud can hide the whole of the sun. There are likewise patches on our reputation which ill-will soon finds out and is continually noticing. The highest skill is to transform them into ornament. So Caesar hid his natural defects with the laurel.