Leviathan — Page 10
I say the similitude of Passions, which are the same in all men, Desire, Feare, Hope, &c; not the similitude or The Objects of the Passions, which are the things Desired, Feared, Hoped, &c: for these the constitution individuall, and particular education do so vary, and they are so easie to be kept from our knowledge, that the characters of mans heart, blotted and confounded as they are, with dissembling, lying, counterfeiting, and erroneous doctrines, are legible onely to him that searcheth hearts.
Digo la semejanza de las Pasiones, que son las mismas en todos los hombres, el Deseo, el Miedo, la Esperanza, etc.; no la semejanza de los Objetos de las Pasiones, que son las cosas Deseadas, Temidas, Esperadas, etc.: pues estos varían tanto según la constitución individual y la educación particular, y son tan fáciles de mantener fuera de nuestro conocimiento, que los caracteres del corazón del hombre, borrados y confundidos como están, con la simulación, la mentira, el engaño y las doctrinas erróneas, son legibles únicamente para aquel que escudriña los corazones.
And though by mens actions wee do discover their designee sometimes; yet to do it without comparing them with our own, and distinguishing all circumstances, by which the case may come to be altered, is to decypher without a key, and be for the most part deceived, by too much trust, or by too much diffidence; as he that reads, is himselfe a good or evill man.
Y aunque por las acciones de los hombres descubrimos a veces sus designios, hacerlo sin compararlos con los nuestros propios y sin distinguir todas las circunstancias por las cuales el caso puede llegar a alterarse, es descifrar sin una clave, y ser engañado en la mayor parte de los casos, ya sea por demasiada confianza o por demasiada desconfianza; según sea el que lee, un hombre bueno o malo.
But let one man read another by his actions never so perfectly, it serves him onely with his acquaintance, which are but few.
Pero aunque un hombre lea a otro por sus acciones con toda la perfección posible, esto le sirve únicamente con sus conocidos, que son pocos.
He that is to govern a whole Nation, must read in himselfe, not this, or that particular man; but Man-kind; which though it be hard to do, harder than to learn any Language, or Science; yet, when I shall have set down my own reading orderly, and perspicuously, the pains left another, will be onely to consider, if he also find not the same in himselfe.
Quien haya de gobernar a toda una Nación debe leer en sí mismo, no a este o aquel hombre particular, sino a la Humanidad; lo cual, aunque sea difícil de hacer, más difícil que aprender cualquier Lengua o Ciencia, sin embargo, cuando yo haya expuesto mi propia lectura de manera ordenada y clara, el trabajo que le queda a otro será únicamente considerar si él también encuentra lo mismo en sí mismo.
For this kind of Doctrine, admitteth no other Demonstration.
Pues este tipo de Doctrina no admite otra Demostración.
Vocabulary
- Digo
- I say; first-person singular present of decir
- semejanza
- Similarity or resemblance between things or people
- Pasiones
- Passions; strong emotions that drive human behavior
- mismas
- Same; feminine plural adjective indicating identity
- hombres
- Men; plural of hombre, referring to human beings
- Deseo
- Desire; a strong wish or longing for something
- Miedo
- Fear; an unpleasant emotion caused by danger
- Esperanza
- Hope; optimistic expectation that something good will happen
- Objetos
- Objects; things that can be perceived or thought about
- Deseadas
- Desired; feminine plural past participle of desear
- Temidas
- Feared; feminine plural past participle of temer
- Esperadas
- Hoped for; feminine plural past participle of esperar
- pues
- For, since, well; conjunction indicating reason or continuation
- varían
- Vary; they differ or change depending on circumstances
- tanto
- So much, as much; adverb indicating degree or quantity
- según
- According to; preposition indicating conformity or dependence
- constitución
- Constitution; individual's physical or mental makeup
- individual
- Individual; relating to a single person or thing
- educación
- Education; process of learning and upbringing
- particular
- Particular, specific; relating to one person or thing
- tan
- So, as; adverb used in comparisons of equality
- fáciles
- Easy; plural adjective meaning not difficult
- mantener
- To maintain or keep something in a certain state
- fuera
- Outside, beyond; preposition or adverb of location
- conocimiento
- Knowledge; awareness or understanding of information
- caracteres
- Characters; distinctive traits or marks of a person
- corazón
- Heart; the center of emotions and inner character
- hombre
- Man; adult male or human being in general
- borrados
- Erased; obscured or wiped out, making recognition difficult
- confundidos
- Confused, mixed up; made difficult to distinguish clearly
- simulación
- Simulation, pretense; act of feigning or deceiving others
- mentira
- Lie; a false statement intended to deceive someone
- engaño
- Deceit; deliberate trickery or deception of another person
- doctrinas
- Doctrines; sets of beliefs or principles officially taught
- erróneas
- Erroneous; incorrect or mistaken, containing errors
- legibles
- Legible, readable; able to be read or understood
- únicamente
- Only, solely; exclusively and nothing more
- aquel
- That one; masculine singular distal demonstrative pronoun
- escudriña
- Scrutinizes; examines something very carefully and thoroughly
- corazones
- Hearts; plural of corazón, centers of emotion and feeling
- aunque
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- acciones
- Actions; things done or carried out by someone
- descubrimos
- We discover; first-person plural present of descubrir
- veces
- Times; used in a veces meaning sometimes
- designios
- Designs, intentions; plans or purposes someone has in mind
- sin
- Without; preposition indicating absence or lack
- compararlos
- To compare them; infinitive with attached pronoun
- propios
- Own; masculine plural adjective indicating belonging to oneself
- distinguir
- To distinguish; to recognize differences between things
- circunstancias
- Circumstances; conditions surrounding an event or situation
- cuales
- Which; plural relative pronoun used in clauses
- caso
- Case; a particular situation or instance
- llegar
- To arrive, to reach; to get to a place or state
- alterarse
- To change, to be altered; to become different
- descifrar
- To decipher; to decode or interpret something obscure
- clave
- Key, code; something that helps unlock or explain something
- engañado
- Deceived; past participle of engañar, to be tricked
- mayor
- Greater, older; adjective indicating larger degree or age
- parte
- Part; a portion or section of a whole
- casos
- Cases; plural of caso, instances or situations
- ya
- Already, now; adverb indicating prior completion or immediacy
- sea
- Be; third-person singular present subjunctive of ser
- demasiada
- Too much; feminine singular adjective indicating excess
- confianza
- Trust, confidence; belief in reliability of someone or something
- desconfianza
- Distrust; lack of confidence or suspicion toward others
- lee
- Reads; third-person singular present of leer
- lea
- Read; third-person singular present subjunctive of leer
- perfección
- Perfection; the state of being flawless or complete
- posible
- Possible; capable of happening or being done
- sirve
- Serves, is useful; third-person singular present of servir
- conocidos
- Known; acquaintances or things that are recognized
- pocos
- Few; masculine plural adjective indicating small number
- Quien
- Who; relative pronoun referring to a person
- haya
- Has; third-person singular present subjunctive of haber
- gobernar
- To govern; to rule or manage a country or group
- Nación
- Nation; a country or large community of people
- debe
- Must, should; third-person singular present of deber
- leer
- To read; to interpret written or printed text
- sí
- Himself, herself; reflexive pronoun used after preposition
- mismo
- Himself, same; reflexive intensifier or adjective
- sino
- But rather; conjunction correcting a negative statement
- Humanidad
- Humanity; all human beings collectively or human nature
- cual
- Which; relative pronoun used to refer back to something
- difícil
- Difficult; hard to do, understand, or accomplish
- aprender
- To learn; to acquire knowledge or a skill
- cualquier
- Any; adjective meaning whichever or any one
- Lengua
- Language, tongue; a system of human communication
- Ciencia
- Science; systematic study of the natural world
- embargo
- Sin embargo means however; obstacle or restriction
- cuando
- When; temporal conjunction or adverb
- expuesto
- Exposed, presented; past participle of exponer
- propia
- Own; feminine singular adjective indicating self-ownership
- lectura
- Reading; the act of reading or a text being read
- manera
- Manner, way; method or style of doing something
- ordenada
- Orderly, organized; arranged in a systematic way
- clara
- Clear; easy to understand or perceive
- trabajo
- Work; effort or task requiring physical or mental effort
- queda
- Remains; third-person singular present of quedar
- será
- Will be; third-person singular future of ser
- considerar
- To consider; to think carefully about something
- si
- If; conditional conjunction introducing a hypothesis
- también
- Also, too; adverb indicating addition
- encuentra
- Finds, encounters; third-person singular present of encontrar
- Pues
- Well, since; discourse marker or causal conjunction
- tipo
- Type, kind; a category or sort of something
- Doctrina
- Doctrine; a set of principles or beliefs taught formally
- admite
- Admits, allows; third-person singular present of admitir
- Demostración
- Demonstration, proof; evidence showing something is true
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