第三节 每个人都是邻舍，但当照其良善而爱之
406# 每个人就个体而言，都是当被爱的邻舍；但须照其良善的性质而爱之。人之受生，并非为自己，乃是为他人；也就是说，人不是要只为自己而活，而是要为他人而活。否则，便不会有任何相互联结的社会，也不会在其中有任何良善。俗话说，各人都是自己的邻舍；但仁义的教义教导我们应当如何理解这句话：即各人应当为自己预备生活的必需，如食物、衣服、住所，以及在其所处公民生活中其他必需之物；并且这些不但要为自己预备，也要为自己的人预备；不但要为现在预备，也要为将来预备。因为人若不为自己取得生活的必需，便不能处于实行仁义的状态中；盖因他自己尚在百般匮乏之中。
然而，各人应如何作自己的邻舍，可由以下比喻明白：各人都应当供给自己的身体以食物；这是第一件事，但其目的，是使健全的心智居于健全的身体中。各人也应当供给自己的心智以食物，即那些属于聪明与判断的事物；但其目的，是使他由此能处于服务同胞、社会、祖国、教会，并因而服务主的状态中。凡如此行的人，便是为自己在永恒中妥善预备。
由此可见，何者在时间上为第一，何者在目的上为第一；并且在目的上为第一者，乃是万事所指向的对象。这也好比一个建造房屋的人：他首先要安置根基；但根基是为房屋而设，房屋又是为居住而设。凡以为自己是第一位、即首要邻舍的人，就如同把根基视为目的，而不是把居住视为目的的人；然而，居住才是本身第一且终极的目的，而房屋连同根基，不过是达到目的的手段。
406# 人不是为自己而生，而是为他人而生；也就是说，他生来不只是为自己而活，还为他人而活；否则，社会不会有凝聚力，它里面也不会有任何良善。俗话说，每个人都是自己的邻舍；但仁爱的教义教导当如何理解这句话。当然，很明显，每个人都必须为自己提供生活必需品，如食物、衣服、住所，以及他的社会生活所需的其它许多东西，这不仅是为他自己，也是为他的家庭，不仅为现在，也为将来。事实上，除非一个人为自己获得生活必需品，否则他不适合行使仁爱，因为他缺乏一切。至于每个人应以哪种方式成为自己的邻舍，这可从以下考虑明显看出来：每个人都应该为自己的身体提供食物；这一定是他关心的第一个对象，但目的应该是，在健康身体里拥有健全的心智。每个人都应该为心智提供食物，即提供培养智力和判断力的事物；但目的应该是，他可以由此处于为他的同胞、社会、国家、教会服务，从而为主服务的状态。凡这样做的人都在为自己提供永恒的福祉。由此明显可知，在时间上首先的是什么，在目的上首先的是什么；在目的上首先的，是一切事物所关注的对象，或真正的总体目标。这种情况就像一个人盖房子：他必须先打地基；但打地基是为了盖房子，盖房子是为了居住。视自己为自己的首要或主要邻舍的人，就像一个视地基为目的，而不是视居住为目的的人；然而，居住本身才是最初和最终的目的，房子及其地基只是达到这个目的的一种手段。
406. All Individual Members of Humankind Are the Neighbor We Are to Love, but [in Different Ways] Depending on the Type of Goodness They Have
We are not born for our own sake; we are born for the sake of others. That is, we are not born to live for ourselves alone; we are born to live for others. Otherwise society would not be cohesive and there would be no good in it.
There is a common saying that we are all neighbor to ourselves. The body of teaching on goodwill, however, shows how we should understand this. We are all supposed to provide ourselves with the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, a place to live, and many other things that are required by the civic life in which we participate. And we provide these things not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones, not only for the present but also for the future. If we do not provide ourselves with the necessities of life, we are in no state to practice goodwill, because we lack everything.
How we are to be neighbors to ourselves, however, can be shown through the following analogy: We should all provide our bodies with food. This has to come first, but the goal is to have a sound mind in a sound body. We also ought to provide our mind with its food, that is, things that build intelligence and judgment; but the goal is to be in a state in which we can serve our fellow citizens, our community, our country, the church, and therefore the Lord. People who pursue this goal are providing well for themselves to eternity.
These points make clear what is primary from the standpoint of time and what is primary from the standpoint of purpose. What is primary from the standpoint of purpose is the true overall goal.
This situation is like people building a house. They have to lay the foundation first, but the foundation is for the house, and the house is for living in. People who hold being neighbors to themselves as their first and foremost objective are like people whose main purpose is building the foundation rather than living in the house. Yet living in the house is the primary and ultimate purpose overall; the house and its foundation are only a means to an end.
406. 1 III. Every person taken singly is the neighbour who is to be loved, but he should be loved according to the quality of his good.
Man was not born for his own sake, but for the sake of others; that is, so that he should not live for himself alone, but for others. Otherwise no society could hold together, nor could there be any good in it. The common saying goes, that each person is his own neighbour; but the doctrine of charity teaches us how we ought to understand this. It means that each person should procure for himself the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, somewhere to live and many other things demanded by the society in which he lives. These he should procure not only for himself, but for his people; and not only for the present, but also for the future. For unless a person provides himself with the necessities of life, he is not in a position to exercise charity, being in want of everything.
In what way, however, each person ought to be his own neighbour can be seen from this analogy. Everyone ought to provide his body with food; this is the first consideration, but for the purpose of having a healthy mind in a healthy body. Everyone ought also to provide his mind with the food it needs, such things as fall within the domain of intelligence and judgment, but in order that he may as a result be in a position to be of service to his fellow citizen, his community, country, the church and so the Lord. Anyone who does this provides well for himself for ever. This shows plainly what is first in time, and what is first in purpose; and it is this which all else has in view. This is also like someone building a house: first he lays the foundations, but the purpose of the foundations is the building of a house, and the purpose of the house is to be somewhere to live. Anyone who thinks being his own neighbour comes first or takes the leading position is like someone who regards the foundations as the purpose rather than having somewhere to live; when in fact this is the first and last purpose in building, and the house with its foundations is only a means to this end.
Footnotes:
1. This passage is closely modelled on HD 97-98.
406. III. EVERY MAN INDIVIDUALLY IS THE NEIGHBOR WHO IS TO BE LOVED, BUT ACCORDING TO THE QUALITY OF HIS GOOD.
Man is born not for the sake of himself but for the sake of others; that is, he is born not to live for himself alone but for others; otherwise there could be no cohesive society, nor any good therein. It is a common saying that every man is a neighbor to himself; but the doctrine of charity teaches how this is to be understood, namely, that everyone should provide for himself the necessaries of life, as food, clothing, a dwelling, and other things which are necessarily required in the social life in which he is, and this not only for himself, but also for his family, nor for the present alone, but also for the future. For unless a man acquires for himself the necessaries of life, he is not in a condition to exercise charity, since he is in want of everything. But how every man ought to be a neighbor to himself may be seen from the following comparison: Every man ought to provide his body with food; this must be first, but the end should be that he may have a sound mind in a sound body; and every man ought to provide his mind with food, namely, with such things as pertain to intelligence and judgment; but the end should be that he may thereby be in a state to serve his fellow-citizens, society, his country, the church, and thus the Lord. He who does this provides well for himself to eternity. From this it is plain what is first in time, and what is first in end, and that the first in end is that to which all things look. It is also like building a house; first the foundation must be laid; but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for a dwellingplace. He who believes himself to be a neighbor to himself in the first place or primarily, is like one who regards the foundation, not the dwelling, as the end; and yet the dwelling is itself the first and the last end, and the house with its foundation is only a means to the end.
406. III. EVERY MAN INDIVIDUALLY IS THE NEIGHBOR WHO OUGHT TO BE LOVED, BUT ACCORDING TO THE QUALITY OF HIS GOOD.
Man is not born for himself, but for the sake of others; that is, he is not born to live for himself alone, but for others; otherwise there would be no such thing as social community, in which any good could exist. It is a common saying that every man is neighbor to himself; but the doctrine of charity teaches how this is to be understood. It is obvious, of course, that every one must provide himself with the necessaries of life, as food, clothing, a dwelling, and the many other things which his civil life demands. He must do this not only for himself, but also for his family, and not only for the present, but also for the future; for if anyone does not procure for himself the necessaries of life, being in want of all things, he is not in a position to exercise charity.
In what way, however, a man ought to be neighbor to himself may appear from the following considerations. Every man ought to provide food and clothing for his body. This must be the first object of his care, but with the end in view that there may be a sound mind in a sound body. He must also provide proper food for his mind, that is, such things as pertain to intelligence and judgment; again with the end in view that he may thereby be in a position to serve his fellow citizen, the society of which he is a part, his country, the Church, and thus the Lord. He who does this provides for his welfare to eternity.
From this, we may perceive what is first in time, and what is first in end. What is first in end is the object to which all things have reference. For example, when a man builds a house he first lays the foundation, but the end in view is a house for habitation. He who believes that he is neighbor to himself in the first place or primarily, is like a man who regards the foundation as the end, and not habitation in the house; whereas habitation in the house is the first and ultimate end in view, while the house with its foundation is only a means to that end.
406. Quod Omnis homo in singulari sit Proximus, qui amandus est, sed secundum 1 quale boni ejus.
Homo non natus est propter 2 se, sed propter alios; hoc est, ut non vivat sibi soli, sed aliis, alioquin non foret aliqua cohaerens Societas, et in illa aliquod bonum. In communi sermone est, quod quisque sibi proximus sit, sed Doctrina Charitatis docet, quomodo hoc 3 intelligendum est; nempe, quisque sibi prospiciet necessitates vitae, ut victum, amictum, habitationem, et plura, quae in vita civili, in qua est, necessario requiruntur; et haec non modo pro se, sed etiam pro suis, nec modo pro tempore praesenti, sed etiam pro venturo, nam nisi quis sibi comparat necessitates vitae, non est in statu exercendi Charitatem, in omnium enim inopia est. Quomodo autem quisque sibi Proximus esse debet, constare potest ex hoc simili; quisque providere debet corpus suum victu; hoc 4 primum erit, sed ob finem, ut Mens sana sit in Corpore sano; et quisque providere debet Mentem suo victu, nempe talibus quae sunt intelligentiae et judicii, sed ob finem ut ille inde sit in statu serviendi concivi, societati, patriae, Ecclesiae, et sic Domino; qui hoc facit, ille providet sibi bene in aeternum; inde patet, quid primum tempore, et quid primum fine, et quod primum fine sit id quod omnia spectant. Hoc quoque est, sicut qui construit Domum, primo ponet fundamentum, sed fundamentum erit pro domo, et domus pro habitatione; qui credit sibi Proximum esse primo loco seu primario, is similis est ei qui spectat fundamentum ut finem, non habitationem, cum tamen habitatio est ipse finis primus et ultimus, ac Domus cum fundamento est modo medium ad finem.
Footnotes: