罗素:智慧与道德

1959年BBC采访伯特兰·罗素(Bertrand Russell)的最后一个问题:

“罗素伯爵,假设这段录像就如《死海古卷》一样,在一千年以后被我们的后代看到。有关您的一生,以及在此生所学到的东西中,您觉得有什么值得和未来那一代人分享的吗?”

罗素的回答:

I should like to say two things, one intellectual and one moral. The intellectual thing I should want to say to them is this:

我想分享两个事情,一个有关智慧,一个有关道德。有关智慧,我想对他们说的是:

When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out.

当你在研究任何事物,或思考任何哲理时,只问自己事实是什么,由事实证明的真相又是什么。

Never let yourself be diverted either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed.

永远不要让你本人被自己更愿意相信的,或者认为人们相信了就会对社会更有益的东西所影响。

But look only, and solely, at what are the facts. That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say. 

只是纯粹的观察,究竟事实是什么。这就是我想说的有关智慧的事情。

The moral thing I should wish to say to them is very simple. I should say love is wise, hatred is foolish.

有关道德的事情,我想对他们说的东西非常简单。我想说爱是明智的,恨是愚蠢的。

In this world which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like.

在这个日益紧密联结的世界中,我们要学会相互容忍,我们不得不接受这样一个事实:总会有人说出我们不想听的话。

We can only live together in that way and if we are to live together and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.

我们必须懂得宽容和忍让,只有这样我们才能共同生存,而不是同归于尽,因为这对人类继续在地球上繁衍生息是至关重要的。

月球

月球土壤的化学成分和地球的不同,而且年龄比地球更加古老。

月球围绕地球的公转周期是27.32天。因为月球永远只有一面朝向地球,所以月球的自转周期与公转周期相同。

太阳的直径是月亮直径的395倍,太阳和地球的平均距离是月亮和地球平均距离的395倍,所以从地球上看太阳和月亮几乎一样大。