If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition-wealth, distinction, control over one's destiny-must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition's behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition-if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is a heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped―with the educated themselves riding on them.

Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs-the locations, place names and name brands may change, but such items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in three-star restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is," Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious."

The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly professed. Consequences follow from this, of course, some of which are that ambition is driven underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.

小白必看考研入门宝典-新东方

主讲：王江涛、董仲蠡等
课时：15

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全文翻译

雄心如果想要获得尊重，那么它的回报--财富、声望、对命运的掌控--则必须被认为值得为之牺牲。如果雄心的传统要焕发生命力，那么它就应该受到广泛的认同;雄心尤其应该得到那些自身得到他人崇拜的人们的高度尊重，那些接受过良好教育的人最应该包括在内。怪就怪在恰恰是那些受过良好教育的人在声称他们不再将雄心作为理想。可是奇怪的是他们已经从雄心中受益最多--如果不总是他们自己的雄心，那么就是他们父母的和祖父母的。这其中有着强烈的虚伪感，就好比把马放跑后再关上马厩的门，而骑在那些马背上的正是受过良好教育的人自己。

当然，现在人们对成功及其标志的兴趣似乎不逊从前，夏日别墅，欧洲旅行、宝马轿车--尽管它们的地点、地名和商标可能会不一样，但现在对这些东西的需求似乎并未比一、二十年前减少。现在，人们不能像以前那样轻易公开地承认自己的梦想，以免别人认为自己爱出风头，贪婪和庸俗。相反，我们目睹的是得体的虚伪，而且比以前任何时候都多。如：美国物欲主义批评家在南安普顿拥有一幢夏日别墅;激进读物的出版商到三星级宾馆就餐;倡导终生参与民主制的新闻记者却把自己的子女送进私立学校。对于这样的人，以及其他许多不如他们这么特殊的人而言，最好的表达是“成功不惜一切代价，雄心不让任何人看出”。

很多人从不同角度对雄心进行了攻击;却没什么人为之公开辩护，即使辩护也不能服人，尽管辩护者并非极不引人注意。因此，在美国，本应该是一种健康的冲动，一种应该受人仰慕并扎根于青年人心灵的品质的雄心，其得到的支持也许比以往任何时期都低。但这并不意味着雄心已经结束了，人们不再感觉到它对人们的激励了，只是人们不再公开地以它为荣，更少愿意公开地承认。很多不良后果随之而来，如雄心被赶入地下，或变得偷偷摸摸。现在的情况是这样的：左边是愤怒的批评家，右边是愚蠢的支持者，而居中的通常是大多数认真而努力追求成功的人。

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