查尔斯·凯特灵语录

作者: 阮一峰

日期: 2011年2月 3日

查尔斯·凯特灵(Charles Kettering,1876-1958)是一个美国发明家,曾经担任通用汽车公司研发主管27年(1920-1947)。

在那个年代,汽车公司代表了技术的最高水平,听上去有点像今天Google、苹果公司的那种感觉。查尔斯·凯特灵在世界上最大的汽车公司里负责研发,他在业界的地位可想而知。

前几天,我读到了他的一些语录,觉得很有启发(前提是要从工程师的角度,去理解这些话),就做了摘录。

==========================

1.

The whole fun of living is trying to make something better.

生活的所有乐趣,在于使某样东西变得更好。

2.

The key to economic prosperity is the organized creation of dissatisfaction.

经济繁荣的关键,在于有组织地创造对现状的不满。

3.

It's amazing what ordinary people can do if they set out without preconceived notions.

普通人也可以做出惊人的成绩,只要他不被那些先入为主的观念束缚。

4.

My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.

我只关心未来,因为我的余生都会在那里度过。

5.

Nothing ever built arose to touch the skies unless some man dreamed that it should, some man believed that it could, and some man willed that it must.

多少伟大的东西,都是起于一两人之梦想。先是一些人觉得也许可以做到,然后另一些人下定决心,一定要把它做出来。

6.

People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they're exactly like the old ones.

人们都是开明的,只要新事物与旧事物足够相像。

7.

So few have imagination that there are ten thousand fiddlers to one composer.

拥有想象力的人少之又少,所以世界上的小提琴手数以万计,而作曲家却寥寥无几。

8.

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.

世人总是不喜欢变化,但是只有变化才会带来进步。

9.

A problem well stated is a problem half solved.

一个问题只要能够清晰地表述,就已经解决了一半。

10.

If you want to kill any idea in the world, get a committee working on it.

扼杀创意,只要让一个委员会负责实施就行了。

11.

It is easy to build a philosophy - it doesn't have to run.

创立一种哲学是很容易的,因为你不必运行它。

(完)

留言(17条)

查尔斯·凯特灵(Charles Kettering,1876-1958)是一个美国发明家,曾经担任通用汽车公司研发主管27年(1920-1940)。

He was a founder of Delco, and was head of research for General Motors for 27 years from 1920 to 1947.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_F._Kettering

第7条的意思,照我看是“有想象力的人少之又少,这就是为什么有一万个拉琴的,才出一个谱曲的。”

So few have imagination that there are ten thousand fiddlers to one composer.

---

我理解这句指的是:

想象力很难得,以至于每出一千个小提琴家才能出一个作曲家。

!!! KAO ! 完全可以全部当作软件工程的法则来用哪!

1940-1920=27 ?

#7 translation is wrong. "Fiddler" means unimaginative people who can only follow the scores created by a composer.

#11 translation is a bit off. It's an obvious analogy to building and running a car, given Kettering's position.

引用zhuangbiaowei的发言:

1940-1920=27 ?

谢谢指正,我已经改过来了。

引用Geoffrey  Zheng的发言:

#7 translation is wrong. "Fiddler" means unimaginative people who can only follow the scores created by a composer.

So sorry for my mistake. I've corrected it.

感谢分享。
确实很经典。

好文!
我转了你的文章。
有意见请通知我删除 :-)

确实是好文,创造通用的关键人物

最喜欢第一句,很质朴,但要用一生去践行。

感谢楼主的分享~新的一年继续向前看~My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there。

People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they're exactly like the old ones.
人们都是开明的,只要新事物与旧事物足够相像。

这句话的意思似乎相反,直译是:人们非常容易接受新事物,只要它与旧的完全一样。言下之意是人们很难接受新事物

第二句的翻译我觉得好像比较别扭,CREATION在句子里应该是名词,里头应该有改变的意思,可能理解做创新会更合适。
经济繁荣的关键,在于对不满现状的有组织性创新。

It is easy to build a philosophy - it doesn't have to run.

创立一种哲学是很容易的,因为你不必运行它。

----最喜欢这句。所以总觉得说是不够的。

The key to economic prosperity is the organized creation of dissatisfaction.

经济繁荣的关键,在于有组织地创造对现状的不满。

我最喜欢这个。

A problem well stated is a problem half solved.
一个问题只要能够清晰地表述,就已经解决了一半。
确实如此

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