使结局完美。有些人注重行事是否合乎规范,而非是否成功。但是,对世人而言,最终失败的结局是耻辱的,它抵消了人们对你之前遵循规矩的所有认可。获胜之人无须解释。世人只注重结果,而非你所用方法的细节。如果你可以达到预期的目标,荣誉就不会减损。无论你采用的手段如何令人不满,只要有好的结局,那么一切将被镀金。因此,有些时候,逾越规则正是生活的规则——如果只有不拘泥于手段才能成功的话。
See that things end well. Some regard more the rigour of the game than the winning of it, but to the world the discredit of the final failure does away with any recognition of the previous care. The victor need not explain. The world does not notice the details of the measures employed, but only the good or ill result. You lose nothing if you gain your end. A good end gilds everything, however unsatisfactory the means. Thus at times it is part of the art of life to transgress the rules of the art, if you cannot end well otherwise.