政壇巨人李光耀的英語名言錄

【No news is good news】

“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.”
　　“我總是覺得此事很奇怪：一個(gè)國家有麻煩時(shí)，就會(huì)受到國際媒體注目......1942年日本占領(lǐng)新加坡之前，或1955年和1956年新加坡發(fā)生暴動(dòng)期間導(dǎo)致兩名記者遇害之前，世上沒有多少人聽過新加坡這個(gè)地方。後來我開始明白，當(dāng)涉及外國媒體時(shí)，沒有消息就是好消息。”──李光耀於1959年9月16日於外國記者協(xié)會(huì)發(fā)言

【誰最偉大？】

“I would say the greatest was Deng Xiaoping. At his age, to admit that he was wrong, that all these ideas, Marxism, Leninism, Maoism, they are just not working and have to be abandoned, you need a great man to do that…”
　　“我覺得最偉大的是鄧小平。以他這個(gè)年紀(jì)，要承認(rèn)自己的錯(cuò)誤，承認(rèn)馬克斯丶列寧丶毛澤東思想不可行而必須放棄，只有偉人才能做到。”──《李光耀對話錄》（Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew ）湯姆．普雷特（Tom Plate）著

【On Deng Xiaoping (again)】

Deng Xiao Ping is a great man because he changed China froma broken-backed state, which would have imploded like the Soviet Union, into what it is today, on the way to becoming the world's largest economy.
　　“鄧小平是個(gè)偉人。中國原是一個(gè)破敗的國家，本可能像蘇聯(lián)那樣崩潰，但他一手改變了中國的命運(yùn)，讓這個(gè)國家變成今天的面貌，并逐步成為全球最大經(jīng)濟(jì)體。”──《新加坡賴以生存的硬道理》

【On Xi Jinping】

“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.”
　　“我認(rèn)為習(xí)近平能夠與納爾遜．曼德拉（NelsonMandela）相提并論：一個(gè)情緒極為穩(wěn)定丶不受自身苦難影響判斷的人──換言之，是個(gè)了不起的人物。”──《時(shí)代雜志》（2007年11月19日）

【On Americans】

“The Americans are great missionaries. They have an irrepressible urge to convert others.”
　　“美國人是了不起的傳教士，他們有一股難以壓抑的沖動(dòng)，要?jiǎng)e人改變信仰。”──《李光耀才智名人名言錄》（1992年）

【On thegreatest US President that he'veseen】

“But for the misfortune of Watergate, I would say Richard Nixon. He had a realistic view of the world. He was a great analyst, realistic, but also a tactician to get things done. But this need with wanting to know everything and to make sure he got re-elected became obsessive.”
　　“如果沒有水門事件，我認(rèn)為是理查·尼克森（Richard Nixon）。他的世界觀很務(wù)實(shí)，分析力很強(qiáng)，實(shí)事求是，還精於謀略，把事情辦好。但他凡事過問的性格，加上極希望連任，令他為人變得過於執(zhí)著。”──《李光耀對話錄》（Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew ）

【On the worst US President】

“my name is Jimmy Carter, I'm a peanut farmer, I'm running for president. The next thing you know, he was the president!”- Tom Plate's Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew
　　“我的名字是吉米·卡特（Jimmy Carter），我是種花生的，現(xiàn)在競選總統(tǒng)。然後，他就當(dāng)了總統(tǒng)！”──《李光耀對話錄》（Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew ）

【On George W. Bush】

“I would not put him (George W Bush) the second worst. Iwould say Bush Jr. had melancholy advisers…Bush Jr. knew he didn't have much experience. It is virtue to know yourself”.- Tom Plate's Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew
　　“我不認(rèn)為他是第二差的總統(tǒng)。我覺得小布什的顧問分析事物過於悲觀……布什自知經(jīng)驗(yàn)不足，了解自己是一種美德。”──《李光耀對話錄》（Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew ）

【On Bill Clinton】

“Very clever man, very political, likeable fellow because he's got that outgoing personality… When he talks to you, you are the most important person in the world. But I think, it's generally true, he breaks the rules… Well, in his case, it's partly his character. I don't know. I mean, he had a difficult childhood and so on, so forth”.
　　“他很聰明，精於政治，且性格外向，很討人歡喜……跟他說話，你會(huì)自覺是世上最重要的人。但我想，他經(jīng)常犯規(guī)，這大致上也是事實(shí)……就他的情況來說，這部份是他性格所致。我不知道。我的意思是：他的童年很艱苦，諸如此類…….”──《李光耀對話錄》（Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew ）

【On British politicians】

“In Britain, if you look at the First Class Honours list of Oxford or Cambridge and trace their careers, you will find that these people end up not in politics, but in banking, finance and the professions.”
　　“在英國，要是看看牛津或劍橋一等榮譽(yù)畢業(yè)生的事業(yè)歷程，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這些人最終沒有從政，而是當(dāng)上銀行家丶金融家或?qū)�業(yè)人士。”

【On Lee Hsien Loong】

“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.
　　“如果我沒當(dāng)上總理，他可能早幾年就坐上那個(gè)位置了。我不會(huì)讓不夠格的家庭成員擔(dān)任要職，因?yàn)檫@對新加坡或我本人的歷史功過來說，都是個(gè)災(zāi)難。絕不能允許有那樣的事。”──《李光耀才智名人名言錄》（2005年）

【On whetherhe was proud of his son being the PM】

“Yeah, but at the same time, I must be very careful that heis not going to smudge the record.. Well, he has got a tough time, but he has got more resources than I had when I started.”- Tom Plate's Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew
　　“是的。但我也非常小心，以免他犯錯(cuò)……他正面對一個(gè)艱難時(shí)期，但比起我掌政之初，他可以運(yùn)用的資源豐富得多。”──《李光耀對話錄》（Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew ）

關(guān)於治國

“I always tried to be correct, not politically correct.”- 2000 The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew
　　“我只做正確的事情，不管是否政治正確。”──《李光耀才智名人名言錄》（2000年）

“What are our priorities? First, the welfare, the survival of the people. Then, democratic norms and processes which from time to time we have to suspend.”- 1986 National Day Rally
　　“我們先要處理的事是什麼？第一，福利和民生。其次是民主規(guī)范，以及須不時(shí)中止的民主進(jìn)程。”──1986年國慶群眾大會(huì)

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.- 1988 National Day Rally
　　哪怕我臥病在床丶哪怕我已經(jīng)入土，要是我覺得新加坡有什麼不妥，我就會(huì)站起來。──1988年國慶群眾大會(huì)

“My colleagues are not intimidated by me. Far from it. They speak their minds. Nothing has happened to them. But if we allow vicious, evil attacks to pass unchallenged － then the whole system must be undermined.”
　　“我的同僚并不怕我，一點(diǎn)都不。他們有話就直說，也沒什麼后果。但如果我們?nèi)斡伤�人惡意攻擊，整個(gè)制度就將遭到破壞。”

“I have been accused of many things in my life, but not evenmy worst enemy has ever accused me of being afraid to speak my mind.”
　　“我平生受過各種指責(zé)，但連我最大的敵人都不敢說我怯於表達(dá)意見。”

“One-man-one-vote is a most difficult form of government..Results can be erratic.”
　　“一人一票是最難操作的政制形式……結(jié)果難以預(yù)料。”

【On hiscritics】

“Not all who oppose the PAP are communists; some arecommunists, some reactionaries, some opportunists and some merely confused.”
　　“并非所有反對人民行動(dòng)黨的人都是共產(chǎn)主義者。他們有些是共產(chǎn)主義者丶有些是反動(dòng)分子丶有些是機(jī)會(huì)主義者，但有些只是糊涂蛋。”

【On interfering in S'poreans' private lives】

“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.”

“我經(jīng)常被指責(zé)干預(yù)新加坡人的私生活。對，但如果我不這樣做，我們今天不會(huì)有這樣的成就。我可以毫不懊悔地說，若我們從沒介入國民的私人問題，你我今天不會(huì)有這樣的成就，國家也無法取得現(xiàn)時(shí)的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展──你的鄰居是誰？你如何生活？你制造的噪音、你怎樣吐痰或你所用的語言，都是由國家決定對錯(cuò)。不要理會(huì)別人的想法。”

【On a typical S'porean】

“You know the Singaporean. He is a hard-working, industrious, rugged individual. Or we would not have made the grade. But let us also recognise that he is a champion grumbler.
　　“你們知道的。新加坡人努力工作丶勤奮且堅(jiān)定，否則我們達(dá)不到眼下的成績。但我們也須承認(rèn)，新加坡人是牢騷大王。”

【On Americans' view of Singapore】

“They don't know where Singapore is, they are notinterested. They think of only Michael Fay, then maybe caning, chewing gum…strange odd place this Singapore”.
　　“美國人對新加坡不感興趣，連新加坡在哪里都不清楚。美國人談到新加坡，只知道邁克爾•費(fèi)伊（MichaelFay）（譯注：受鞭刑的美國青年），或鞭刑丶口香糖......認(rèn)為新加坡是個(gè)怪地方。”

【S'pore as a nanny state】

If Singapore is a nanny state, then I am proud to have fostered one.
　　“若果真如此，我會(huì)很自豪地說：自己建立了一個(gè)這樣的國家。”

【Of S'poreans and Dogs】

“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.”
　　“如可以挑選國民，而這批國民是受過教育的丶從小就很有教養(yǎng)，這樣管治時(shí)就不必太過嚴(yán)厲，因?yàn)樗麄兪苓^訓(xùn)練。情況就跟狗一樣。若小狗從小就以適當(dāng)方式培訓(xùn)，就會(huì)知道要到外面撒尿大便。但新加坡不是這種社會(huì)。我們曾經(jīng)努力訓(xùn)練一些成年狗，但它們還是會(huì)刻意在電梯里小便。”

【On governing】

“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”.
　　“要讓人民快樂，有兩件事情是可以做的，但必須做其中一件。一是給予人民感到滿足的東西──好的食物丶好的衣服丶一個(gè)美好的家；如果你做不到，就給他們一個(gè)美好的憧憬。”

【On why Heaven does not need a Population White Paper】

“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.”
　　“我希望死后能與妻子重逢，但我不覺得能實(shí)現(xiàn)。我只會(huì)像她一樣，不復(fù)存在──否則另一個(gè)世界的人口便會(huì)過多。”

【On love】

I don't believe in love at first sight. I think it's a grave mistake. You're attracted by physical characteristics and you will regret it.
　　“我不相信一見鐘情。我認(rèn)為那是大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。因?yàn)槟阒皇潜粚Ψ降耐獗砦�引，最終定會(huì)后悔。”

【On saying no】

“You lose nothing by being polite. The answer is 'No', but please say it politely and give the reasons… Explain to me why 'No'. Don't change 'No' to 'Yes'. Don't be a fool. If there was a good reason why it is 'No', it must remain 'No', but the man must be told politely.”
　　“對人有禮，于己無損。說不時(shí)應(yīng)有禮貌，并解釋原因……告知對方你為何說不。但絕不能以'是'代替'不'，勿做愚人。有理由說不時(shí)，就必須堅(jiān)持，但必須有禮地告知對方。”

【On life】

“Life is notjust eating, drinking, television and cinema…The human mind must be creative,must be self-generating; it cannot depend on just gadgets to amuse itself.”
　　“生命不只是吃、喝、看電視、看電影……人類必須具創(chuàng)意、必須有自發(fā)性，不可只依賴玩意兒自娛。”

【On eugenics】

“There are many sons of doctors who have married doctors. Those who married spouses who are not as bright are tearing their hair out because their children can't make it. I have lived long enough to see all this play out.”
　　“有很多醫(yī)生的子女與醫(yī)生成婚。那些伴侶稍遜的人現(xiàn)正為自己的子女不成器而懊惱。我平生看過不少這樣的實(shí)證。”