不要坐以待毙。在被抛弃之前，自己先舍弃，这是智者的格言。你应以胜利收场，要像太阳那样，在最耀眼之时隐身于云朵之后，以免让人看到落日西沉，且猜测：它是落了还是未落？一旦有可能发生不幸，就应明智地退出，以免当灾祸降临才被迫后退。不要等到人们对你冷眼相待并把你送入坟墓——那时你就没了尊严，只剩感慨。聪明的驯马师懂得何时把马放回牧场，以免马跑到中途颓然倒毙，被人耻笑。美人应及早砸碎镜子，而不要等到人老珠黄。
do not wait till you are a sinking sun. it is a maxim of the wise to leave things before things leave them. one should be able to snatch a triumph at the end, just as the sun even at its brightest often retires behind a cloud so as not to be seen sinking, and to leave in doubt whether he has sunk or no. wisely withdraw from the chance of mishaps, lest you have to do so from the reality. do not wait till they turn you the cold shoulder and carry you to the grave, alive in feeling but dead in esteem. wise trainers put racehorses to grass before they arouse derision by falling on the course. a beauty should break her mirror early, lest she do so later with open eyes.
