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.
Ognuno giudicherà da sé questo episodio romantico nella carriera di Mill, secondo l'esperienza che egli possa avere della mente filosofica e del valore di questi rapporti curiosi ma non infrequenti.
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.
Potrebbe essere stata una follia sentimentale, o, se preferiamo dirlo, potrebbe essere stata la pagina più graziosa e più umana della carriera di 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.
La signora Mill potrebbe aver lusingato la vanità del marito facendo eco alle sue opinioni, oppure potrebbe essere stata davvero un'Egeria, piena di ispirazione e di supporto intellettuale.
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.
Ciò che di solito accade in questi casi — sebbene il filosofo stesso, per la sua fede nell'uguaglianza dei sessi, fosse impedito dal pensarlo — è l'azione e la reazione estremamente preziosa di due diverse classi e ordini di mente.
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.
Per chiunque abbia la mente occupata nella sfera della speculazione astratta, la presentazione vivace e vivida del fatto concreto giunge come una sorpresa deliziosa e gradevole.
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'istinto della donna le consente spesso non solo di cogliere ma di illustrare una verità per la quale sarebbe del tutto incapace di fornire un adeguato ragionamento filosofico.
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'altra parte, l'uomo, con i metodi logici più accurati e i lenti processi del ragionamento formale, tende a supporre che la felice intuizione che balza alla conclusione sia davvero fondata sui processi intellettuali di cui è consapevole nel proprio caso.
Thus both parties to the happy contract are equally pleased.
Così entrambe le parti del felice accordo sono ugualmente soddisfatte.
Vocabulary
- Ognuno
- Each one, everyone, every person
- giudicherà
- Will judge, will form an opinion about something
- da
- From, by, since; common preposition with many uses
- sé
- Himself, herself, itself; reflexive pronoun
- questo
- This; demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- episodio
- Episode, incident, a particular event or occurrence
- romantico
- Romantic, relating to romance or Romanticism
- nella
- In the; contraction of 'in' and 'la'
- carriera
- Career, professional path or life's work
- di
- Of, from; very common Italian preposition
- secondo
- According to; also means second or second course
- l'
- The; elided definite article before a vowel
- esperienza
- Experience, personal knowledge gained through living
- che
- That, which, who; very common conjunction or pronoun
- egli
- He; formal or literary third-person masculine pronoun
- possa
- May, can; subjunctive form of potere
- avere
- To have; fundamental auxiliary and lexical verb
- della
- Of the; contraction of 'di' and 'la'
- mente
- Mind, intellect, the thinking faculty
- filosofica
- Philosophical, relating to philosophy or deep thought
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- del
- Of the; contraction of 'di' and 'il'
- valore
- Value, worth, importance of something
- questi
- These; plural demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- rapporti
- Relationships, reports, connections between people
- curiosi
- Curious, strange, interesting or unusual
- ma
- But; common adversative conjunction
- non
- Not; basic negation word
- infrequenti
- Infrequent, not common, occurring rarely
- Potrebbe
- Could, might; conditional form of potere
- essere
- To be; fundamental verb of existence
- stata
- Been; past participle of essere, feminine form
- una
- A, an; indefinite article, feminine singular
- follia
- Madness, folly, foolishness or crazy behavior
- sentimentale
- Sentimental, overly emotional or romantically tender
- o
- Or; basic disjunctive conjunction
- se
- If; common conditional conjunction
- preferiamo
- We prefer; first person plural of preferire
- dirlo
- To say it; infinitive with clitic pronoun attached
- potrebbe
- Could be; conditional of potere, third person
- la
- The; definite article, feminine singular
- pagina
- Page, a page in a book or chapter of life
- più
- More, most; comparative or superlative adverb
- graziosa
- Graceful, charming, pretty or delightful
- umana
- Human, relating to humanity or human nature
- La signora
- The lady, the woman; polite form of address
- aver
- To have; shortened infinitive form of avere
- lusingato
- Flattered, pleased by praise or admiration
- vanità
- Vanity, excessive pride in oneself
- marito
- Husband, a woman's male spouse
- facendo
- Doing, making; gerund of fare
- eco
- Echo, repetition of sound or ideas
- alle
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'le'
- sue
- His, her, its; possessive adjective, feminine plural
- opinioni
- Opinions, personal views or judgments
- oppure
- Or else, alternatively; stronger form of 'o'
- davvero
- Really, truly, indeed; emphasizes truth
- un'
- A, an; elided feminine indefinite article
- piena
- Full, full of; feminine adjective of fullness
- ispirazione
- Inspiration, a creative or motivating influence
- supporto
- Support, backing, assistance given to someone
- intellettuale
- Intellectual, relating to the intellect or reasoning
- Ciò
- This, that; neuter demonstrative pronoun
- solito
- Usual, habitual; as in 'di solito' meaning usually
- accade
- Happens, occurs; third person of accadere
- in
- In, into; common locative preposition
- casi
- Cases, instances, situations or circumstances
- sebbene
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- filosofo
- Philosopher, a thinker devoted to philosophy
- stesso
- Same, himself; used for emphasis or sameness
- per
- For, through, by; very common Italian preposition
- sua
- His, her; possessive adjective, feminine singular
- fede
- Faith, belief, trust in something or someone
- nell'
- In the; elided contraction of 'in' and 'l''
- uguaglianza
- Equality, the state of being equal
- dei
- Of the; contraction of 'di' and 'i'
- sessi
- Sexes, the two biological or social genders
- fosse
- Was, were; imperfect subjunctive of essere
- impedito
- Prevented, hindered, stopped from doing something
- dal
- From the; contraction of 'da' and 'il'
- pensarlo
- To think it; infinitive with attached pronoun
- è
- Is; third person singular present of essere
- azione
- Action, act, something done or performed
- reazione
- Reaction, response to an action or stimulus
- estremamente
- Extremely, to a very great degree
- preziosa
- Precious, valuable, highly esteemed
- due
- Two; the cardinal number two
- diverse
- Different, various, distinct from one another
- classi
- Classes, groups, categories or social classes
- ordini
- Orders, types, categories or ranks
- Per
- For, to; preposition indicating purpose or recipient
- chiunque
- Whoever, anyone who; indefinite pronoun
- abbia
- Has, have; present subjunctive of avere
- occupata
- Occupied, engaged, busy with a task or role
- sfera
- Sphere, realm, domain of activity or thought
- speculazione
- Speculation, abstract thinking or philosophical inquiry
- astratta
- Abstract, not concrete, existing only in thought
- presentazione
- Presentation, the way something is shown or offered
- vivace
- Lively, vivid, energetic or bright
- vivida
- Vivid, clear, strikingly bright or intense
- fatto
- Fact, deed; also past participle of fare
- concreto
- Concrete, tangible, specific and real
- giunge
- Arrives, comes; third person singular of giungere
- come
- As, like, how; conjunction or adverb of manner
- sorpresa
- Surprise, an unexpected and pleasant discovery
- deliziosa
- Delightful, delicious, extremely pleasant or charming
- gradevole
- Pleasant, agreeable, pleasing to the senses
- istinto
- Instinct, natural impulse or innate tendency
- donna
- Woman, adult female person
- le
- Her, to her; also feminine plural article
- consente
- Allows, permits, enables someone to do something
- spesso
- Often, frequently; common adverb of frequency
- solo
- Only, alone, just; adverb or adjective
- cogliere
- To grasp, to pick, to seize or perceive
- illustrare
- To illustrate, to clarify or explain with examples
- verità
- Truth, a fact or principle that is true
- quale
- Which, what; interrogative or relative pronoun
- sarebbe
- Would be; conditional of essere
- tutto
- All, everything, completely; very common pronoun/adjective
- incapace
- Incapable, unable, lacking the ability
- fornire
- To provide, to supply, to furnish something
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article
- adeguato
- Adequate, sufficient, appropriate for the purpose
- ragionamento
- Reasoning, logical thought process or argument
- D'
- Of; elided preposition before a vowel
- altra
- Other, another; feminine form of altro
- parte
- Part, side, role; also direction or place
- uomo
- Man, male adult human being
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- i
- The; masculine plural definite article
- metodi
- Methods, systematic ways of doing something
- logici
- Logical, based on logic or rational reasoning
- accurati
- Accurate, precise, careful and thorough
- lenti
- Slow; also lenses; here meaning unhurried processes
- processi
- Processes, procedures, sequences of operations
- formale
- Formal, relating to form or established procedure
- tende
- Tends, inclines toward; third person of tendere
- a
- To, at; very common preposition
- supporre
- To suppose, to assume something is the case
- felice
- Happy, fortunate, well-chosen or apt
- intuizione
- Intuition, immediate insight without conscious reasoning
- balza
- Leaps, jumps; third person of balzare
- alla
- To the; contraction of 'a' and 'la'
- conclusione
- Conclusion, final outcome or logical deduction
- sia
- Is, be; present subjunctive of essere
- fondata
- Founded, based, grounded on something solid
- sui
- On the; contraction of 'su' and 'i'
- intellettuali
- Intellectual, relating to intellect; also noun for intellectuals
- cui
- Whom, which, of which; relative pronoun
- consapevole
- Aware, conscious, knowing about something
- nel
- In the; contraction of 'in' and 'il'
- proprio
- Own, one's own; also truly or exactly
- caso
- Case, situation, instance or chance
- Così
- So, thus, in this way; common adverb
- entrambe
- Both, the two; feminine form of entrambi
- parti
- Parts, sides, parties involved in something
- accordo
- Agreement, accord; being in harmony with others
- sono
- Are, I am; present tense of essere
- ugualmente
- Equally, in the same way or degree
- soddisfatte
- Satisfied, content, pleased with an outcome
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