James Poy Wong 黃培正
"Having improvement and criticism, as well as questioning the past are inclinations towards the pursuit of perfection, which is the proper and right attitude in life."
"Close Enough"1
差不多
记得幼年读胡适的 「差不多先生」，什么红糖，白糖， 迟了二分钟，人医和牛医，搞得很有趣味的笑话，当时差不多也笑了起来。 到现在粗畧懂得点世故，才知道这个故事的真义。 这点中国人有的劣根性非绝对改过不可。
古时做官只要无过，也不愿求功了。 现在的大人物就觉得到底不及古人， 所以只要扒得少一点，也算对得住良心了。 中国弄到这个田步，未尝不是因为这劣根性的毒害。 深固然是深的，但幸喜不是天生的一种残废，还有改过的可能。
马马虎虎，不三不四，求求其其，是永远不能把社会推动的。 就拿超级堡垒来说，工程师无时不是在追求十全十美。 十全十美是一个无穷尽的数，但是我们不能因此而放弃追求的努力。 假如工程师明知没有十全十美的东西，而又不存心去追求，那么百年后的超级堡垒就和最次发明的一样，没有改变，没有进步， 但是事实却不是这样。
有改革，有批评，对旧的有怀疑就是存有追求十全十美的动向。 是一种应有的人生态度。 所以存有做官思念的人，不会就当当律师，或学学法律而满足的。 一个没有信心，怕事，不肯负责的自封为时代青年领导者是暂时的。 这欺骗的和善，相亲的假面具终有被拆破的一日。
Close Enough
I remember reading “Mr. Close Enough” by Hu Shi when I was a child. It is something about red sugar, white sugar, being two minutes late, doctor for people and doctor for cows, and they make up some interesting jokes. I almost laughed at the time, but now I know a little about the way of the world and I finally understand the true meanings of this story. This ill character peculiar to the Chinese must absolutely be changed.
In pre-modern days an official just wanted to avoid making mistakes and would not desire to seek merit. Prominent people of today feel that they are not as good as the ancient people after all, so they would just bribe less and consider they are doing right to their conscience. China has fallen into this stage of affair probably due to the poisoning of such deep-rooted bad habits. It is indeed deep, but fortunately it is not an innate type of disability, so it is still possible to change.
Being careless, nondescript, and sloppy will never be able to give impetus to society. Take the super fortress for example. The engineer always wants to be perfect in every way. Perfection is an infinite number, but we can not discontinue the efforts in our pursuit of perfection due to this. If the engineer knows for sure there is no such thing as perfection and has no desire to pursue it, then the super fortress in a hundred years from now will be the same as the one originally invented without any changes and improvements. But the fact is not so.
Having improvement and criticism, as well as questioning the past are inclinations towards the pursuit of perfection, which is the proper and right attitude in life. Therefore, the one who has the desire to be an official would not be satisfied with being a lawyer for a while or just to briefly study laws. A person who is lacking confidence, afraid of getting into trouble, unwilling to take responsibility and proclaiming himself the leader of the generation of our time would not last long, as his phony mask of geniality and affection will be torn down some day.