法律这门职业（The profession of law）.docx

法律这门职业（The profession of law）.docx

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法律这门职业（Theprofessionoflaw）

Theprofessionoflaw-aconcludingspeechforundergraduatesatHarvardUniversityinFebruary17,1886

Holmes,translatedbyChenXugang

Imightendthespeechnow.ButIknowsomepassionateyoungpeoplewillfeeltheirmainproblemhasnotbeenansweredyet.Hewouldask,"whatdoesallthismeantomyheart?

"Youdidn'taskmetosellmyinherentrightsinexchangeforsmallprofits.WhatdoyoumeanbyshowingthatIcanreachmyspiritualperfectionthroughsuchadoor?

Hardtostudyadullandprofessionalsystem,earnestlyprotectthelitigantandthemerchantbusinessoperationpractice,thenoisyandtheconflictbetweeninterestsofgreed,howthesethingscanconstituteaperson'slife?

Students,Idonothesitatetothinkthatthesequestionsarenotunimportant.Ihavetoadmitthatthesequestionsmaynotbeansweredintheend.Theyseemtomeoftendifficulttoanswer.However,Ibelievethereisstillananswer.Youwillalsoencountertheseproblemsinavarietyofreallifesituations.IfapersonhastheheartofSanchoPanza（SanchoPanza）,thentheworldisinhiseyes,asinSanchoPanza'seyes.Ifamanhasanidealisticmind,thenhewillmake--Idonotsay-hewillfind--hisworldisideal.Ofcourse,thelawisnotforartistsorpoets.Lawisthecauseofathinker.Forthosewhobelieveinthelawwithme,themainobjectofinvestigationishumanactivitywithoutanydivine,

Andthatknowledgeisnotinferiortopeopleownperception,

Isay,andIneverhesitatetosay:

apersoncanbeinthelegalfieldasinotherfieldslikegreatliving;asinotherfields,hewillfindintheinfiniteperspective,theworldisunified;and,likeinotherfields,hewouldruinhislife,hedrinkstheheroismofbitter,hewillbedeadbeatchasingtoreachthegoalwhen.Lifecanbegiventoapersontostartthinkingorstruggling,justafact（a）.Ifthereisonlyoneuniverse,andifyoucanmovefromoneparttoanother,thatfactisnotimportant.Becausethefactsarecommunicatedbyaninvisiblepath.It'sjustthatpeopledon'tseehowitallworks.Asathinker,yourworkisbetweenawholeobjectandthecontactrevealmoreclear;andthatyouknowthetruth（yourfact）andthesystem（frame）betweentherationalconnection.Ifyourmajorislaw,thenthereisabumpyroadtoAnthropology--namelyaboutHumanScience（thescienceofman）,leadingtopoliticaleconomics--onlegislationandethicstheory,

andthroughthisroad,leadingtotheirultimateoutlookon

life.Thesameistrueforanysubject.Theonlydifferenceisthatthepathofknowledgeissmoothorrugged.Tomasteracertainknowledge,youmustmastertheknowledgeoftheadjacentsubject,inordertoknowsomething,

Youhavetoknowallaboutit.

MaybeItalktoomuchaboutintellectualresearch.Icannothelpbutthinkofintellectualinquiryasamatterofmaterialadventure,anditsscopeisnarrowing.Ilookforwardtothefuture,idealistswillbehappytoacceptthelife,dignity,ratherthanadesiretomakecontributions.Ihaveseeneverythinganddriveoutthe

timeforourknowledgeofthewildernesssettheboundariesoflionsandbuffaloarefromthedesolatelanddisappeared,justastheyarefromWestAfricaandisnolongerthevastdisappear.ButthedepressingtimeIenvisionedisnothereyet.Idonotthinktherewillbeanygreatchangesinhumanitybetweenyouandourtwogenerations;youcanstillconquerwithoutrestraint,andtherearestillsomethingslefttobeconquered.Therearestillsomeareasinthelawforyoutosearchfor,andtherearestillsomewaystogowhereyouwishtogo.

ButIdonotthinkIhavepointedouttoyouthepathandthenestofflowers--Ihavenotpointedoutaplacetoyou,wheretherewillbegloriousresults,withyourlightandnewjob.Aneasyoutcomeisnotworthhaving.Youreducation,yourso-callededucationbeganintheendthemoment--thenyouwillnolongerbeimportantthought,willnolongerbesomegreatfigurescarvedfromrawmaterialsintheso-called"fivewordjewelry"（"jewelsfive-words-long"shengtunhuobo）,

Itbegantodigoutfromtherawmaterialfromthesurfaceyoucannotsee,cannotmaketheforecastresults,andmayonlyafteralongtimecanbehandy,thistime,youwillbeabletoextractthetruthfromlifetoyoubeartowork.Apersononlywhenhelearnedhehadneverseenthestarswithhisactionstodeterminethedirectiontolearnhowtouse（knowledge）toexplorethewandhemayneverhavedifficulttoreachthespring,hehastherighttoexploretheintellectual.Here,Iwanttopointouttoyouwhatmakesyourstudiesheroic.Itellyouwithdeepsorrowthat

inordertoattaingreatthoughts,wemustbebothidealistsandheroes.Onlywhenyouworkalonewhenyoufeelaroundthedarkandfeelthanaroundadyingmanagreatloneliness,