思想家,係great thinker。我們除了瞓覺發夢,醒著的時候,無時無刻都在想這個想那個,但要思想至成「家」,當然是另一境界了。
日常的think,還可以用來罵人和道歉:
Just what were you thinking 當時你到底在想什麼?
真正意思是,一些事發生後,對方覺得你要負責之餘,亦係亂。這句子查實係幾惡的批評,是「你點解會搞咁?」若真衰就要認:
Sorry, I did that without thinking. 對不起,我不經大腦就做了。
Think 儘管抽象,仍然有講得出的層次:
Think through
Through,穿過。意思是徹頭徹尾都想一想,即認真考慮。例:
I will think it through and get back to you soonest. 我會好好想一想,然後盡早回覆你。
Think of
Of,有焦點的。例:
When it rains, what do you first think of 下雨天,你最先想到什麼?
(留意I think ABOUT him,只係泛泛、無關痛癢的想起,但I think OF him,就係因某原因而想起此人,視乎上文下理,可以去到思念的地步。)
Think out loud/think aloud
把想的話不自覺地說了出來。例:
Sorry, I was mumbling. I was just thinking out loud. 對不起,我喃喃自語。我只是把在想的(唔覺唔覺)說了出來。
想的,與做的,不一定一致,之謂知易行難,easier said than done。德國思想家歌德(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)如此說:
To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking. 想,很容易。做,就難了。而世上最難的事,莫過於想與做的一致。
想與做之間,還有一層「講」。香港人不時掛在口邊的一句:講就天下無敵!講,talking is cheap、sounding invincible、just paying lip service。
世上有許多叫人三思的箴言,卻也有許多名句,叫人不必想了,講多無謂,行動最實際。
Actions speak louder than words. 行動勝於千言萬語。
Do you want to know who you are Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you – Thomas Jefferson. 你想知道自己是誰嗎?不必問。行動!行動會描繪及闡釋你這個人──傑佛遜,美國立國國父之一。
近年流行的,是聞說一度在Twitter 上廣為流傳的這句:
Don’t talk, just act. 不要講,只要做。
Don’t say, just show. 不必說,只須展示。
Don’t promise, just prove. 不用承諾,只須做得到。
許多生活小節,要做得到,確也並非難事。譬如說,我們不會隨地吐痰,不是因為怕給人捉,或怕交罰款,而是我們擁抱文明精神的一份decency 分寸、禮數、教養。
是柏拉圖(Plato)說的:
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. 好人不需要法律來告訴他們,什麼是負責任的行為;而壞人,就只會走法律罅。