【双语阅读】品味李光耀的那些经典名言
- 2015年03月27日15:02 来源：小站整理
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他是新加坡的“国父”，也是一位饱受争议的政治家。没有人会质疑他为新加坡所做的一切，即使反对他的人，也都承认这是李光耀最大的遗产。今天，小站君跟大家一起缅怀这位伟大的老人。
【没有新闻就是好新闻】
“我总是觉得此事很奇怪：一个国家有麻烦时，就会受到国际媒体注目......1942年日本占领新加坡之前，或1955年和1956年新加坡发生暴动期间导致两名记者遇害之前，世上没有多少人听过新加坡这个地方。后来我开始明白，当涉及外国媒体时，没有消息就是好消息。”
“I have always thought it strange that a country figures prominently in the world press mainly when it is in trouble…Nobody in the rest of the world heard much about Singapore until it was captured by the Japanese in 1942 or again until there were riots in 1955 and 1956 in the course of one of which two members of your fraternity were killed. I have come to believe that, so far as the foreign press is concerned, no news is good news.”
【谈及习近平】
“我认为习近平能够与纳尔逊.曼德拉(NelsonMandela)相提并论：一个情绪极为稳定丶不受自身苦难影响判断的人──换言之，是个了不起的人物。”
“I would put him in Nelson Mandela's class of persons. A person with enormous emotional stability who does not allow his personal misfortunes or sufferings to affect his judgement. In other words, he is impressive.”
【谈美国人】
“美国人是了不起的传教士，他们有一股难以压抑的冲动，要别人改变信仰。”
“The Americans are great missionaries. They have an irrepressible urge to convert others.”
【谈及李显龙】
“如果我没当上总理，他可能早几年就坐上那个位置了。我不会让不够格的家庭成员担任要职，因为这对新加坡或我本人的历史功过来说，都是个灾难。绝不能允许有那样的事。”
“If I were not the Prime Minister, he [Lee Hsien Loong]could have become Prime Minister several years earlier. It is against my interest to allow any family member, who's incapable, to be holding an important job because that would be a disaster for Singapore and my legacy.That cannot be allowed.
【关于治国】
哪怕我卧病在床、哪怕我已经入土，要是我觉得新加坡有什么不妥，我就会站起来。
Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up.
【谈及他干预新加坡人的生活】
“我经常被指责干预新加坡人的私生活。对，但如果我不这样做，我们今天不会有这样的成就。我可以毫不懊悔地说，若我们从没介入国民的私人问题，你我今天不会有这样的成就，国家也无法取得现时的经济发展──你的邻居是谁?你如何生活?你制造的噪音、你怎样吐痰或你所用的语言，都是由国家决定对错。不要理会别人的想法。”
“I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.”
【新加坡是保姆国家？】
“若果真如此，我会很自豪地说：自己建立了一个这样的国家。”
If Singapore is a nanny state, then I am proud to have fostered one.
【新加坡人与狗】
“如可以挑选国民，而这批国民是受过教育的丶从小就很有教养，这样管治时就不必太过严厉，因为他们受过训练。情况就跟狗一样。若小狗从小就以适当方式培训，就会知道要到外面撒尿大便。但新加坡不是这种社会。我们曾经努力训练一些成年狗，但它们还是会刻意在电梯里小便。”
“If you can select a population and they're educated and they're properly brought up, then you don't have to use too much of the stick because they would already have been trained. It's like with dogs. You train it in a proper way from small. It will know that it's got to leave, go outside topee and to defecate. No, we are not that kind of society. We had to train adult dogs who even today deliberately urinate in the lifts.”
【管治之道】
“要让人民快乐，有两件事情是可以做的，但必须做其中一件。一是给予人民感到满足的东西──好的食物丶好的衣服丶一个美好的家;如果你做不到，就给他们一个美好的憧憬。”
“You've got to do one of two things when you've got to keep people happy: either, give them something that will satisfy them, better food, better clothes, better homes; or if you can't do that, then give them the vision of greatness to come”.
【谈是否相信天堂】
“我希望死后能与妻子重逢，但我不觉得能实现。我只会像她一样，不复存在──否则另一个世界的人口便会过多。”
“I wish I can meet my wife in the hereafter, but I don't think I will. I just cease to exist just as she has ceased to exist – otherwise the other world would be overpopulated.”
【谈及领导力】
“我没听说过有人上完领袖课便能当领袖的。”
“I do not yet know of a man who became a leader as a result of having undergone a leadership course.”
【再谈及领导力】
“令人惊讶的是，当今西方国家大部分领袖，都不曾接受专业培训，也没持有相关资格。他们在大选中胜出，原因是他们上电视时相貌堂堂、说话动听。但他们的表现最后叫选民失望。”
“Amazingly,throughout most of the contemporary Western world leaders in government requireno special training or qualification. Many get elected because they sound and look good on television. The results have been unhappy for their voters.”
