这次，是抄书（真没跟老本共事过，*_*）。抄自 Walter Isaacson 的文章，“A Most Uncommon Everyman”
ZT 开始
When he returned from Franc to become the sage at Constitutional Convention, Franklin was not America’s most profound political theorist (1787年，独立战争结束后八年，宪法尚未通过，此会就是在“立宪”，本老汉注。). But he did embody one crucial virtue that was key to gathering’s success: a belief in the nobility of compromise. Throughout his life, one of his mantras had been “Both sides must part with some of their demands.” He used this phrase many times, but never more notably than when Constitutional Convention became deadlocked on the issue of whether the new Congress should be proportioned by population or have equal votes for each state.
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First Franklin succinctly stated the problem: “The diversity of opinions turns on two points. If a proportional representation takes place, the small State contend that their liberties will be in danger. If an equality of votes is to be put in its place, the large State say their money will be in danger.” Then he gently emphasized, in a homespun analogy that drew on his affection for craftsmen and construction, the importance of compromise: “When a broad table is to be made, and the edges of planks do not fit, the artist takes a little from both, and makes a good joint. In like manner here, both sides must part with some of their demands.”
ZT 结束。
老本对“美国精神”的一个主要贡献，“妥协”。当然，是在把问题“简练的陈述”后的妥协。
We are not writing a “Constitution”, for sure，we can make this work.
三点。别急。简练的陈述。妥协。