2023/10/23 傳道人vs講道

• 當我形容一個傳道人時，我盼望他是單純、真誠、認真，在道理上無可指摘，用的話語是平易近人的，態度安祥，…為有罪的人作神恩典的使者。（William Cowper）Would I describe a preacher,…I would express him simple, grave, sincere; In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain, and plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste, and natural in gesture; much impress’d himself, as conscious of his awful charge, and anxious mainly that the flock he feeds may feel it too, affectionate in look, and tender in address, as well becomes a messenger of grace to guilty men.
• 當我們在講道上有虧欠時，並不都會徒然；在陳腐的禱告與講章裡頭隱藏著一個詩意的真理：雖然是一篇愚蠢的道，卻可能被人以智慧來聆聽。（愛默生Ralph Waldo Emerson美國詩人1803~1882）When we preach unworthily it is not always quite in vain. There is poetic truth concealed in all the commonplaces of prayer and of sermons, and though foolishly spoken, they may be wisely heard.
• 用這個來試驗一個傳道人：當會眾散會時說的不是「多麼棒的一篇道」，而是「我現在要去做…」（St. Frances de Sales）The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not what a lovely sermon, but, I will do something!
• 壞傳道人將魔鬼帶到教會來。（Thomas Fuller）Bad priests bring the devil into the church.
• 最難駕馭的學生，會成為最敬虔的傳道人。（德國諺語）The unruliest students make the most pious preachers.

 

2023/10/09 傳道人vs講道

• 一位有名的傳道人承認說：「當我沒東西講時，我常開始在講台上吼叫！」A popular preacher once said of his pulpit efforts, “I always roar when I have nothing to say.”
• 一個傳道人若想討每個人喜歡，必定徒然；因為無論你站著面對哪個方向，必有一半的世人是在你背後！It is in vain for the preacher to hope to please all alike. Let a man stand with his face in what direction he will, he must necessarily turn his back on one-half of the world.
• 我講道時，總是如同最後一次講道，如同一個將死的人對一群將死的人說話。（Richard Baxter）I preached as never sure to preach again, And as a dying man to dying men.
• 講道是從一個人的人格所發出來的真理。（Phillips Brooks）Preaching is truth through personality.
• 愛講道是一回事，愛你講道的對象完全是另一回事。（Richard Cecil）To love to preach is one thing－to love those to whom we preach, quite another.
• 我喜歡聚會前教堂的安靜，過於聽任何講道。（愛默生Ralph Waldo Emerson美國詩人1803~1882）I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
• 我尊崇那些心是溫暖的，手是清潔的，他的教導與生命是一致的，生命透亮地呈現在世人眼前的傳道人，顯明他在神聖的事上是誠實的。（William Cowper）I venerate the man whose heart is warm, Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life, Coincident, exhibit lucid proof That he is honest in the sacred cause.

 

2023/09/25 愚Stupidity

• 有二件事是無限的：宇宙和人類的愚昧；其中，宇宙是否無限，我沒把握。Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.（Albert Einstein）
• 神使人的智慧有限，看來不太公平的是，祂沒有同時限制人的愚昧。In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity.（Konrad Adenauer，德國政治家，1876-1967)
• 愚傻也是神的恩賜，但人不可誤用它。（若望保祿二世）Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it（Pope John Paul II，1920-2005)
• 有個住在河對岸的人，我沒跟他吵架，但他有權殺我，只因他的統治者跟我的統治者吵架；有比這更愚蠢的事了嗎？（巴斯葛，法國數學家、哲學家）Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?（Blaise Pascal，1623-1662）
• 在一個愚笨但誠實的人，與一個聰明但彎曲詭詐的人之間，我選擇前者，因為雖然我無法從前者手中得著多少東西，但我在後者面前無法保有我已得著的。（美國四星上將Hershey）Between a fellow who is stupid and honest and one who is smart and crooked, I will take the first. I won't get much out of him, but with that other guy I can't keep what I've got.（Lewis B. Hershey）American Soldier, 1893-1977

 

2023/09/11 愚Stupidity

• 無論是男士或女士，若無法在一本好小說裡找到樂趣，必然是難以忍受的愚蠢。（珍奧斯汀）The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.（Jane Austen）
• 人天生無知，但並不愚昧；他們是藉著教育才變成愚昧的。（羅素）Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.（Bertrand Russell）
• 一個聰明的白痴，勝過一個愚蠢的天才。Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.（Samuel Goldwyn）
• 如果你想進步，就要停留在愚傻中。If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.（Epictetus，古希臘斯多亞哲學家）
• 要在世上成功，光有愚傻是不夠的，你還必須端正有禮貌。（伏爾泰）To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.（Voltaire）
• 一個人若幹出全然愚蠢的傻事來，通常是出自最高貴的動機。（王爾德，愛爾蘭作家）Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.（Oscar Wilde，1854-1900）

 

2023/08/28 愚Stupidity

• 我們都是天生無知的，但你必須努力才能留在愚傻中。（富蘭克林）We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.（Benjamin Franklin）
• 擁有老朋友的祝福之一，就是你可以在他們面前表現出愚蠢來。（愛默生）It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.（Ralph Waldo Emerson）
• 每個女孩都可以使自己變得迷人，你只要站在那裡，顯得很愚蠢即可。Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.（Hedy Lamarr，演員、數學家）
• 這世界的麻煩就是，愚蠢的人總是帶著確信，聰明的人總是充滿懷疑。（羅素）The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.（Bertrand Russell）
• 生活是艱辛的，但對愚蠢的人會更加艱辛。（約翰韋恩，演員）Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid.（John Wayne）
• 書本對愚昧人的用處，就如同鏡子對失明人士的用處一般。Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.（Chanakya，印度古哲學家）
• 愛，就是大家一起愚傻。Love is being stupid together.（Paul Valery）

 

2023/08/14 藝術

• 藝術是個使我們能認知真理的謊言。（畢卡索）Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.（Pablo Picasso）
• 我們所能有的最美妙的經歷，就是奧祕的經歷；它是站在真實藝術與真實科學的搖藍之間，基礎的情感。（愛因斯坦）The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.（Albert Einstein，《The World As I See It》）
• 我夢著繪畫，我畫出我的夢。（梵谷）I dream my painting and I paint my dream.（Vincent Van Gogh）
• 藝術使我們找到自己，但同時也使我們失去自己。（梅頓）Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.（Thomas Merton，《No Man Is an Island》）
• 藝術將每天生活中，靈魂沾染到的灰塵洗除。（畢卡索）Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.（Pablo Picasso）
• 藝術不是我們所看見的，而是我們使別人看見的。Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.（Edgar Degas，印象派畫家愛德加）
• 創意需要勇氣。（馬諦斯，法國畫家）Creativity takes courage. （Henri Matisse）

 

2023/07/31 藝術

• 藝術家貯藏著來自各方，來自天空、地球、碎紙片、一個閃現的形狀、蜘蛛網的情感。（畢卡索）The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.（Pablo Picasso）
• 只要你能想像的東西，都是真實的。（畢卡索）Everything you can imagine is real.（Pablo Picasso）
• 每個小孩都是藝術家；問題是他長大後，是否能繼續作個藝術家。（畢卡索）Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.（Pablo Picasso）
• 繪畫是看得見過於去感受的詩；詩是看不見但能感受的繪畫。（達文西）Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.（Leonardo da Vinci）
• 畫家應該先以塗滿黑色來開始在畫布上作畫；因為大自然的一切都是黑暗的，直到光來照亮它。（達文西）A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.（Leonardo da Vinci）

 

2023/07/17 藝術

• 在我們的想像中，這世界只是一塊畫布而已（梭羅，美國作家）。This world is but a canvas to our imagination.（Henry David Thoreau）
• 創造力允許你犯一些錯，而藝術使你知道哪些要保留下來。Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.（Scott Adams，美國卡通畫家）
• 如果你聽見你裡頭有聲音說：「你不會畫圖。」那麼你應該想辦法去畫，那個聲音就會靜默下來。（梵谷）If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.（Vincent Van Gogh）
• 真實的藝術作品，只不過是神聖完全的影像。（米開蘭基羅）The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.（Michelangelo）
• 有些畫家會將太陽變成一個黃色的區塊；另一些畫家則將一個黃色區塊變成太陽。（畢卡索）Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.（Pablo Picasso）
• 我發現我能以色彩和形狀來表達無法以其他任何方式表達的事物──就是那些說不出來的事物。I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.（Georgia O'Keeffe，美國藝術家）

 

2023/07/03 藝術

• 每一位詩人、音樂家、和藝術家，若非上帝的恩典，常會被引誘，由喜愛他所表現的事物，轉而喜愛表現，直到他們墮落到地獄的深淵，再也無法對上帝感興趣，而只對他們所說的有關上帝的事感興趣。因為他們不會止於對繪畫感興趣而已，他們會越陷越深，變成對自己的個性有興趣，甚至對自己的聲望有興趣。（魯益師C.S.Lewis，《The Great Divorce》）
• 你若到上帝的聖山中間飲那如同「遺忘川Lethe」的泉水，你將忘記自己作品的所有權，你欣賞它們就好像那是別人的作品一樣；沒有驕傲，也沒有謙遜。（魯益師C.S.Lewis，《The Great Divorce》） （摘自校園出版《開往天堂的巴士》──《The Great Divorce》）

 

2023/06/19 藝術

• 人是用他的頭腦繪畫，而不是用手。（米開蘭基羅）A man paints with his brains and not with his hands. (Michelangelo)
• 藝術家不是照事物的本身來看它們，而是用他所是的來看這些事物。The artist doesn’t see things as they are, but as he is.
• 藝術不是一件事，而是一條道路。Art is not a thing; it is a way. (Elbert Hubbart)
• 如果一個人不是偉大的雕刻家或畫家，他就不可能成為一位建築師。如果他不是雕刻家或畫家，那麼他不過是一位蓋房子的人而已。No person who is not a great sculptor or painter can be an architect. If he is not a sculptor or painter, he can only be a builder. (John Ruskin)
• 起初你作畫，是因為你從世上的景物看見天堂。你的畫所以成功，乃是因為它使別人也看見天堂。起初你愛的是光本身，你愛繪畫是因為你把它當做表現光的一種方法。（魯益師C.S.Lewis，《The Great Divorce》）（摘自校園出版《開往天堂的巴士》）