美国政治讽刺作家P.J.O'Rourke语录

武夷山 辑译

 P.J. O'Rourke ，1947年生，是美国政治讽刺作家，他嬉笑怒骂，皆成文章。下面翻译他的一些语录。

There are several recognizable types of humorous activity. There is, when you make fun of people who are smarter than you;, when you make fun of people who are richer than you; and, when you make fun of both while taking your clothes off.

幽默活动有几种可识别的类型。如果你拿比你聪明的人开涮，那就是parody（恶搞）；如果你拿比你有钱的人开涮，那就是satire（讽刺）；如果你同时开涮以上两类人，一边还脱光自己的衣服，那就是burlesque（戏仿）。

Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them.
    除了有孩子的人，谁都懂该怎么培养孩子。

The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to.

整个节假日期间的适当行为就是一醉方休。新年除夕夜，痛饮达到高峰，那时你醉得不成样子，居然吻了自己的配偶。
 

People will tell you anything but what they do is always the truth.

人们什么话都会说，但是他们所做的事才反映了真实情况。
 

If you talk to most businessmen, they'll say that what they do is for the public good, but you know they're just greedy, and consumers are just consuming for the sake of their own greed.

你与多数商人聊天时，他们会说，他们的所作所为符合公众利益，但是你知道，他们是很贪婪的，消费者也是为了满足自己的贪婪而消费。
 

Hubris is one of the great renewable resources.

傲慢自大是一种重要的可再生资源。
 

Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.

不管怎么说，社会的主要弊病的根由不是毒品，也不是酒精。如果我们要找到问题的根源，我们不应该检查人们是否用了毒品，而应该检查他们是否愚蠢、无知、贪婪和酷爱权力。