On Human Nature and Politics中英.doc

On Human Nature and Politics 论人性和政治 Bertrand Russel 1. Undoubtedly the desire for food has been, and still is, one of the main causes of great political events. But man differs from other animals in one very important respect, and that is that he has desires which are, so to speak, infinite, which can never be fully gratified, and which would keep him restless even in Paradise. The boa constrictor, when he has had an adequate meal, goes to sleep, and does not wake until he needs another meal. Human beings, for the most part, are not like this. When the Arabs, who had been used to living sparingly on a few dates, acquired the riches of the Eastern Roman Empire and dwelt in palaces of almost unbelievable luxury, they did not, on that account, become inactive. Hunger could no longer be a motive, for Greek slaves supplied them with exquisite viands at the slightest nod. But other desires kept them active: four in particular, which we can label acquisitiveness, rivalry, vanity and love of power. 无疑，要得到食物的强烈欲望一直是并仍然是导致巨大政治事件的主要原因之一。但人与其它动物有一个很重要的区别，那就是他有着可谓无尽头的欲望，永远不可能完全得到满足，即使到了天堂也会使他不得安宁。巨蟒饱吃一顿后就睡觉，不到需要再吃一顿时不醒。人大多不是这样。当惯于靠吃几个椰枣节俭为生的阿拉伯人获得东罗马帝国的财富，居住在几乎令人难以置信的豪华宫殿中时，他们并未因此就闲居不动了。饥饿不可能再是一个动机了，因为只需稍一颔首，希腊奴隶便奉上精美佳肴。但是别的欲望使他们继续活动，主要有四种欲望，我们可称之为：占有欲，竞争欲，虚荣心，权力欲。 2. Acquisitiveness -- the wish to possess as much as possible of goods, or the title to goods -- is a motive which, I suppose, has its origin in a combination of fear with the desire for necessaries. 占有欲——占有尽可能多的财产或财产的所有权——这一动机想来根源在于恐惧和拥有生活必需品的愿望的结合。 3. I once befriended two little girls from Esthonia, who had narrowly escaped death from starvation in a famine. They lived in my family, and of course had plenty to eat. But they spent all their leisure visiting neighbouring farms and stealing potatoes, which they hoarded. Rockefeller, who in his infancy had experienced great poverty, spent his adult life in a similar manner. Similarly the Arab chieftains on their silken Byzantine divans could not for