評(píng)論
打印
The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opponents than from his fervent supporters. For his supporters will push him to disaster unless his opponents show him where the dangers are. So if he is wise he will often pray to be delivered from his friends, because they will ruin him. But, though it hurts, he ought also to pray never to be left without opponents; for they keep him on the path of reason and good sense.
反對(duì)派是不可或缺的。一個(gè)好政治家，就和其他任何明白事理的人一樣，永遠(yuǎn)會(huì)從他的反對(duì)者那里學(xué)到比從他最熱心的支持者那里更多的東西。因?yàn)槌撬姆磳?duì)者給他指出危險(xiǎn)所在，他的支持者們肯定會(huì)把他推進(jìn)災(zāi)難之中。所以，如果他聰明的話，他就會(huì)常常祈禱能從朋友的影響中解放出來(lái)，因?yàn)樗麄儠?huì)毀了他。但是，雖然這會(huì)使他痛苦，他同時(shí)還應(yīng)該希望他永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)落到?jīng)]有反對(duì)派的地步；因?yàn)樗麄儠?huì)使他始終不離開理智和明智的道路。
The national unity of a free people depends upon a sufficiently even balance of political power to make it impracticable for the administration to be arbitrary and for the opposition to be revolutionary and irreconcilable. Where that balance no longer exists, democracy perishes. For unless all the citizens of a state are forced by circumstances to compromise, unless they feel that they can affect policy but that no one can wholly dominate it, unless by habit and necessity they have to give and take, freedom cannot be maintained.
一個(gè)國(guó)家的自由人民的民族團(tuán)結(jié)依靠的是政治權(quán)利足夠合理的平衡，這樣辨治者們就不可能專制武斷，而反對(duì)派也不至于被迫走向革命，變得不可調(diào)和。一旦這種平衡不再存在，民主也就完蛋了，因?yàn)槌且粋€(gè)國(guó)家所有的公民都在形勢(shì)的壓力下必須調(diào)和，除非他們覺得自己能夠影響政策，而無(wú)人能夠完全獨(dú)霸，除非出于習(xí)慣和需要他們不得不禮尚往來(lái)，平等對(duì)待，否則自由是不可能得到維持的。
