Now as to the matter of lying. You want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught. Once caught, you can never again be in the eyes to the good and the pure, what you were before. Many a young person has injured himself permanently through a single clumsy and ill finished lie, the result of carelessness born of incomplete training. Some authorities hold that the young out not to lie at all. That of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain , and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, and precision which alone can make the accomplishment graceful and profitable. Patience, diligence, painstaking attention to detail—these are requirements; these in time, will make the student perfect; upon these only, may he rely as the sure foundation for future eminence. Think what tedious years of study, thought, practice, experience, went to the equipment of that peerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world the lofty and sounding maxim that “Truth is mighty and will prevail”—the most majestic compound fracture of fact which any of woman born has yet achieved. For the history of our race, and each individual’s experience, are sewn thick with evidences that a truth is not hard to kill, and that a lie well told is immortal. There is in Boston a monument of the man who discovered anesthesia; many people are aware, in these latter days, that that man didn’t discover it at all, but stole the discovery from another man. Is this truth mighty, and will it prevail? Ah no, my hearers, the monument is made of hardy material, but the lie it tells will outlast it a million years. An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid; such a lie as that has no more real permanence than an average truth. Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it. A feeble, stupid, preposterous lie will not live two years—except it be a slander upon somebody. It is indestructible, then of course, but that is no merit of yours. A final word: begin your practice of this gracious and beautiful art early—begin now. If I had begun earlier, I could have learned how.  
        接着来谈谈说谎的问题。你们可要非常谨慎地对待说谎；否则十有八九会被揭穿。一旦揭穿，在善良和纯洁的眼光看来，你就再也不可能是过去的你了。多少年轻人，因为一次拙劣难圆的谎言，那是由于不完整的教育而导致的轻率的结果，使得自己永远蒙受损害。有些权威认为，年轻人根本不该说谎。当然，这种说法言之过甚，其实未必如此；不过，虽然我可不能把话讲得太过分，我却认定而且相信自己看法正确，那就是，在实践和经验使人获得信心、文雅、严谨之前，年轻人运用这门了不起的艺术时要有分寸，只有这三点才能使得说谎的本领无伤大雅，带来好处。耐性、勤奋、细致入微──这些是必要素质；这些素质日久天长便会使学生变得完善起来；凭借这些，只有凭借这些，他才可能为将来的出类拔萃打下稳固的基础。试想一下，要付出多么漫长的岁月，通过学习、思考、实践、经验，那位盖世无双的前辈大师才具有如此的素养，他迫使全世界接受了“真理是强大的而且终将取胜”这句崇高而掷地有声的格言──这是关于事实的复杂层面道出的最豪迈的话，迄今任何出自娘胎的人都未获得。因为我们人类的历史，还有每个个人的经验，都深深地埋下了这样的证据：一个真理不难扼杀，一个说得巧妙的谎言则历久不衰。波士顿有座发现麻醉法的人的纪念碑；许多人到后来才明白，那个人根本没有发现麻醉法，而是剽窃了另一个人的发现。这个真理强大吗？它终将取胜吗？唉，错哉，听众们，纪念碑是用坚硬材料建造的，而它所晓示的谎言却将比它持久百万年。一个笨拙脆弱而有破绽的谎言是你们应该不断学会避免的东西；诸如此类的谎言比起一个普通事实来，决不具有更加真实的永恒性。嗨，你们倒不如既讲真话又和真理打交道。一个脆弱愚蠢而又荒谬的谎言持续不了两年──除非是对什么人物的诽谤。当然，那种谎言是牢不可破的，不过那可不是你们的光彩。最后说一句：早些开始实践这门优雅美妙的艺术──从现在做起。要是我早些做起，我就能学会门道了。