羅賓德拉納德·泰戈爾/Rabindranath Tagore
There are some people, who are proud and wise and practical, who say that it is not in human nature to be generous, that men will always fght one another, that the strong will conquer the weak, and that there can be no real moral foundation for man's civilization. We cannot deny the facts of their assertion that the strong have power in the human world, but I refuse to accept this as a revelation of truth……
We should know that truth, any truth that man acquires, is for everyone.
Money and property belong to individuals, to each of you, but you must never exploit truth for your personal aggrandizement;that would be selling God's blessing for a proft. However, science is also truth;it has its place in the healing of the sick, and in giving more food and leisure for life. When it helps the strong crush the weak, and rob those who are asleep, it is using truth for impious ends. Those who are thus sacrilegious will suffer and be punished, for their own weapons will be turned against them.
有一些很驕傲、明智和實際的人,他們說,寬厚並不是人類的本性,人們將永遠互相爭鬥,強者將會征服弱者,人類的文明不可能有真實的道德基礎。我們不能否認他們所說的強者在人類世界上具有權勢這個事實,但是我拒絕把這種說法當做真理的啟示而加以接受……
我們應該知道,真理——人類所獲得的任何真理——是為一切人而設的。
金錢和財產屬於個人,屬於你們當中的每一個人,但是你們絕對不能利用真理來增加你們個人的財富和權勢,因為那樣做就等於出賣上帝的恩澤,借以謀利。可是科學也是真理,它適當的職責在於救治病人,並為人類生活提供更多的食物與閑暇。如果它幫助強者去壓迫弱者,去掠奪那些在沉睡中的人,它就是在利用真理去達成不虔敬的目的。那些以這種方式褻瀆神聖的人定會遭到報應和懲罰,因為他們的武器將會被用來對付他們自己。