On Liberty — Page 9
Every one will judge for himself of this romantic episode in Mill's career, according to such experience as he may possess of the philosophic mind and of the value of these curious but not infrequent relationships.
Chacun jugera par lui-même de cet épisode romantique dans la carrière de Mill, selon l'expérience qu'il peut avoir de l'esprit philosophique et de la valeur de ces relations curieuses mais non rares.
It may have been a piece of infatuation, or, if we prefer to say so, it may have been the most gracious and the most human page in Mill's career.
Cela a pu être un égarement passionnel, ou, si nous préférons le dire ainsi, cela a pu être la page la plus gracieuse et la plus humaine de la carrière de Mill.
Mrs. Mill may have flattered her husband's vanity by echoing his opinions, or she may have indeed been an Egeria, full of inspiration and intellectual helpfulness.
Mme Mill a peut-être flatté la vanité de son mari en faisant écho à ses opinions, ou elle a peut-être été en effet une Égérie, pleine d'inspiration et d'aide intellectuelle.
What usually happens in these cases,--although the philosopher himself, through his belief in the equality of the sexes, was debarred from thinking so,--is the extremely valuable action and reaction of two different classes and orders of mind.
Ce qui se produit habituellement dans ces cas,--bien que le philosophe lui-même, en raison de sa croyance en l'égalité des sexes, se fût interdit de le penser ainsi,--est l'action et la réaction extrêmement précieuses de deux classes et ordres d'esprit différents.
To any one whose thoughts have been occupied with the sphere of abstract speculation, the lively and vivid presentment of concrete fact comes as a delightful and agreeable shock.
Pour quiconque a eu l'esprit occupé par la sphère de la spéculation abstraite, la présentation vive et animée d'un fait concret constitue un choc délicieux et agréable.
The instinct of the woman often enables her not only to apprehend but to illustrate a truth for which she would be totally unable to give the adequate philosophic reasoning.
L'instinct de la femme lui permet souvent non seulement de saisir mais aussi d'illustrer une vérité pour laquelle elle serait totalement incapable de fournir le raisonnement philosophique adéquat.
On the other hand, the man, with the more careful logical methods and the slow processes of formal reasoning, is apt to suppose that the happy intuition which leaps to the conclusion is really based on the intellectual processes of which he is conscious in his own case.
D'un autre côté, l'homme, avec ses méthodes logiques plus rigoureuses et les processus lents du raisonnement formel, est enclin à supposer que l'heureuse intuition qui bondit vers la conclusion est réellement fondée sur les processus intellectuels dont il est conscient dans son propre cas.
Thus both parties to the happy contract are equally pleased.
Ainsi, les deux parties de l'heureux contrat sont également satisfaites.
Vocabulary
- Chacun
- Each person; everyone individually.
- jugera
- Will judge; shall evaluate or determine.
- par
- By; through; indicating agent or means.
- lui-même
- Himself; himself; self (reflexive pronoun).
- de
- Of; from; indicating possession or origin.
- cet
- This; that (demonstrative adjective, masculine).
- épisode
- Episode; an incident or event in sequence.
- romantique
- Romantic; relating to romance or emotions.
- dans
- In; inside; within a space or time.
- la
- The (feminine singular definite article).
- carrière
- Career; professional life or occupation.
- selon
- According to; in accordance with.
- expérience
- Experience; knowledge from personal observation.
- qu
- That; which (relative pronoun, shortened).
- il
- He; it (masculine singular pronoun).
- peut
- Can; is able to; may.
- avoir
- To have; to possess or hold.
- esprit
- Spirit; mind; intellectual faculties or wit.
- philosophique
- Philosophical; relating to philosophy.
- et
- And; conjunction joining words or clauses.
- valeur
- Value; worth; merit or importance.
- ces
- These; those (demonstrative adjective, plural).
- relations
- Relations; connections or relationships between entities.
- curieuses
- Curious; strange or unusual; interesting.
- mais
- But; however; expressing contrast.
- non
- No; not; negative response or refusal.
- rares
- Rare; uncommon; seldom encountered or found.
- Cela
- That; this (demonstrative pronoun).
- pu
- Could; was able to (past participle).
- être
- To be; to exist or have state.
- un
- A; an (indefinite article, masculine).
- passionnel
- Passionate; driven by strong emotions.
- ou
- Or; presenting alternative choices.
- si
- If; conditional conjunction; so (adverb).
- nous
- We; us (first person plural pronoun).
- préférons
- Prefer; like better than another.
- le
- The; it (masculine singular article/pronoun).
- dire
- To say; to tell or speak.
- ainsi
- Thus; in this way; so.
- cela
- That; this (demonstrative pronoun).
- page
- Page; a leaf or section of text.
- plus
- More; additional or greater quantity.
- gracieuse
- Gracious; elegant or charming in manner.
- humaine
- Human; relating to humanity.
- peut-être
- Perhaps; maybe; possibly or probably.
- flatté
- Flattered; pleased by praise or compliments.
- vanité
- Vanity; excessive pride in appearance.
- son
- His; her; its (possessive adjective).
- mari
- Husband; male spouse in marriage.
- en
- In; by; some (preposition or pronoun).
- faisant
- Making; doing (present participle of faire).
- écho
- Echo; repetition of sound or ideas.
- ses
- His; her; its (possessive adjective, plural).
- opinions
- Opinions; beliefs or judgments held.
- elle
- She; her (feminine singular pronoun).
- été
- Was; summer (past participle or noun).
- effet
- Effect; result or consequence of action.
- une
- A; an (feminine indefinite article).
- pleine
- Full; complete or containing much.
- inspiration
- Inspiration; creative influence or motivation.
- aide
- Aid; help or assistance.
- intellectuelle
- Intellectual; relating to the mind.
- Ce
- This; that (demonstrative pronoun).
- qui
- Which; that; what (relative pronoun).
- se
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun for all persons.
- produit
- Occurs; happens; is produced or created.
- habituellement
- Usually; customarily; as a general rule.
- cas
- Case; situation or circumstance.
- bien
- Well; good; thoroughly or indeed.
- que
- That; which; what (relative/conjunction).
- philosophe
- Philosopher; person devoted to philosophical inquiry.
- raison
- Reason; rational faculty or justification.
- sa
- His; her; its (possessive adjective, feminine).
- croyance
- Belief; faith or conviction held.
- égalité
- Equality; state of being equal.
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