On Liberty — Page 10
The abstract truth gets the concrete illustration; the concrete illustration finds its proper foundation in a series of abstract inquiries.
La vérité abstraite reçoit son illustration concrète ; l'illustration concrète trouve son fondement approprié dans une série de recherches abstraites.
Perhaps Carlyle's epithets of "iridescent" and "vivid" refer incidentally to Mrs. Mill's quick perceptiveness, and thus throw a useful light on the mutual advantages of the common work of husband and wife.
Peut-être les épithètes de Carlyle, « irisée » et « vive », font-elles incidemment référence à la prompte perspicacité de Mme Mill, jetant ainsi une lumière utile sur les avantages mutuels du travail commun du mari et de la femme.
But it savours almost of impertinence even to attempt to lift the veil on a mystery like this.
Mais il y a presque de l'impertinence à vouloir seulement tenter de lever le voile sur un mystère tel que celui-ci.
It is enough to say, perhaps, that however much we may deplore the exaggeration of Mill's references to his wife, we recognise that, for whatever reason, the pair lived an ideally happy life.
Il suffit de dire, peut-être, que quelle que soit notre déploration de l'exagération des références de Mill à sa femme, nous reconnaissons que, pour quelque raison que ce soit, le couple vécut une vie idéalement heureuse.
It still, however, remains to estimate the extent to which Mrs. Taylor, both before and after her marriage with Mill, made actual contributions to his thoughts and his public work.
Il reste cependant à évaluer dans quelle mesure Mme Taylor, tant avant qu'après son mariage avec Mill, apporta des contributions réelles à sa pensée et à son œuvre publique.
Here I may be perhaps permitted to avail myself of what I have already written in a previous work.[1]
Je me permettrai peut-être ici de me servir de ce que j'ai déjà écrit dans un ouvrage précédent.[1]
Mill gives us abundant help in this matter in the _Autobiography_.
Mill nous offre une aide abondante à ce sujet dans l'_Autobiographie_.
When first he knew her, his thoughts were turning to the subject of Logic.
Lorsqu'il la connut pour la première fois, ses réflexions se tournaient vers le sujet de la Logique.
But his published work on the subject owed nothing to her, he tells us, in its doctrines.
Mais son ouvrage publié sur ce sujet ne lui devait rien, nous dit-il, en ce qui concerne ses doctrines.
It was Mill's custom to write the whole of a book so as to get his general scheme complete, and then laboriously to re-write it in order to perfect the phrases and the composition.
Mill avait coutume d'écrire l'intégralité d'un livre afin d'établir son plan général dans sa totalité, puis de le réécrire laborieusement pour perfectionner les phrases et la composition.
Doubtless Mrs. Taylor was of considerable help to him as a critic of style.
Mme Taylor lui fut sans doute d'une aide considérable en tant que critique de style.
Vocabulary
- vérité
- Truth; the quality of being true
- abstraite
- Abstract; not concrete or tangible
- reçoit
- Receives; third person singular of recevoir
- illustration
- Illustration; example that clarifies or explains something
- concrète
- Concrete; specific and tangible, not abstract
- trouve
- Finds; third person singular of trouver
- fondement
- Foundation; basis or underlying support for something
- approprié
- Appropriate; suitable for a particular purpose or context
- série
- Series; a sequence or set of related things
- recherches
- Research; investigations or scholarly inquiries
- abstraites
- Abstract; plural feminine form of abstrait
- épithètes
- Epithets; descriptive words or phrases applied to someone
- irisée
- Iridescent; shimmering with rainbow-like colors
- vive
- Vivid, lively; sharp and bright in character
- incidemment
- Incidentally; in passing, as a side remark
- référence
- Reference; an allusion or mention of something
- prompte
- Prompt, quick; responding rapidly without delay
- perspicacité
- Perspicacity; keen insight and sharp mental perception
- jetant
- Throwing, casting; present participle of jeter
- ainsi
- Thus, in this way; linking adverb of manner
- lumière
- Light; illumination, or figuratively clarity and insight
- utile
- Useful; serving a practical purpose or function
- avantages
- Advantages; benefits or favorable conditions
- mutuels
- Mutual; shared equally between two or more parties
- travail
- Work; labor or professional activity
- commun
- Common, shared; held or done jointly together
- mari
- Husband; a married male partner
- femme
- Woman, wife; adult female or married partner
- presque
- Almost, nearly; adverb indicating near completion
- impertinence
- Impertinence; rudeness or inappropriate boldness
- vouloir
- To want; to wish or desire something
- seulement
- Only, merely; limiting adverb restricting scope
- tenter
- To attempt; to try to do something
- lever
- To lift, raise; to remove or uncover something
- voile
- Veil; covering that conceals or obscures something
- mystère
- Mystery; something unknown or difficult to explain
- tel
- Such; of that kind or degree
- celui
- This one, that one; masculine demonstrative pronoun
- suffit
- It suffices; it is enough, from suffire
- dire
- To say, tell; fundamental French verb of speech
- soit
- May be; subjunctive form of être
- déploration
- Lamentation; the act of deploring or lamenting something
- exagération
- Exaggeration; overstating beyond what is accurate
- références
- References; mentions or allusions to something
- reconnaissons
- We recognize; first person plural of reconnaître
- quelque
- Some, a certain; indefinite adjective indicating approximation
- raison
- Reason; a cause, motive, or rational explanation
- couple
- Couple; two people in a romantic relationship
- vécut
- Lived; simple past of vivre, third person singular
- vie
- Life; the existence and experiences of a person
- idéalement
- Ideally; in an ideal or perfect manner
- heureuse
- Happy; feeling or expressing joy and contentment
- reste
- Remains; it still is necessary or left to do
- cependant
- However, nevertheless; conjunction indicating contrast
- évaluer
- To evaluate; to assess the value or extent of something
- mesure
- Measure, extent; the degree to which something applies
- tant
- So much, both; adverb indicating degree or quantity
- avant
- Before; preposition indicating time or order
- après
- After; preposition indicating subsequent time
- mariage
- Marriage; the legal union of two people
- apporta
- Brought, contributed; simple past of apporter
- contributions
- Contributions; things added to help or improve something
- réelles
- Real, genuine; actually existing or significant
- pensée
- Thought, thinking; intellectual reflection or idea
- œuvre
- Work; a creative or intellectual body of work
- publique
- Public; relating to society or the general community
- permettrai
- Will allow myself; future of permettre, first person
- ici
- Here; adverb indicating the current location
- servir
- To serve, use; to make use of something
- déjà
- Already; having happened before the current moment
- écrit
- Written; past participle of écrire
- ouvrage
- Work, book; a written or literary production
- précédent
- Previous, preceding; coming before in time or order
- offre
- Offers, provides; third person singular of offrir
- aide
- Help, assistance; support provided to someone
- abondante
- Abundant, plentiful; existing in large quantities
- sujet
- Subject, topic; the matter being discussed
- Lorsqu'
- When; conjunction introducing a time clause
- connut
- Met, came to know; simple past of connaître
- fois
- Time, occasion; an instance of something occurring
- réflexions
- Reflections, thoughts; careful considerations or musings
- tournaient
- Were turning; imperfect of tourner, third person plural
- vers
- Toward, towards; preposition of direction
- Logique
- Logic; reference to Mill's System of Logic
- publié
- Published; past participle of publier
- devait
- Owed, was supposed to; imperfect of devoir
- rien
- Nothing; negative pronoun indicating absence
- concerne
- Concerns, regards; relates to a particular matter
- doctrines
- Doctrines; sets of principles or beliefs taught
- coutume
- Custom, habit; a usual practice or behavior
- écrire
- To write; to compose text or letters
- intégralité
- Entirety, whole; the complete totality of something
- livre
- Book; a written and published literary work
- afin
- In order to; conjunction expressing purpose
- établir
- To establish; to set up or determine something firmly
- plan
- Plan, outline; a structured scheme or design
- général
- General; broad, not specific or detailed
- totalité
- Totality; the whole or entire amount of something
- puis
- Then, next; adverb indicating sequence
- réécrire
- To rewrite; to write again with improvements
- laborieusement
- Laboriously; with great effort and painstaking care
- perfectionner
- To perfect, refine; to improve to the highest standard
- phrases
- Sentences; grammatically complete units of expression
- composition
- Composition; the way a text is written and structured
- fut
- Was; simple past of être, third person singular
- sans
- Without; preposition indicating absence
- doute
- Doubt; uncertainty or lack of conviction
- considérable
- Considerable; large or significant in degree
- critique
- Critique, criticism; evaluative analysis of a work
- style
- Style; the distinctive manner of writing or expression
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