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品格到底为何物？我们大概都将之想象成抽象缥缈的美德，但现代奥林匹克运动之父顾拜旦（1863—1937）提出了截然相反的观点，认为品格主要来自肉体的感受。正是肉体经历的锤炼和苦痛，才锻造了人类坚持忍耐、追求至善等不朽品格。奥林匹克运动会的宗旨，不外如是。
英文正文
In this year1894and in this city of Paris,whose joys and anxieties the world shares so closely that it has been likened to the world's nerve centre,we were able to bring together the representatives of international athletics,who voted unanimously(so little controversial is the principle concerned)for the restoration of atwo-thousand-year-old idea which today as in the past still quickens the human heart for it satisfies one of its most vital,and whatever may have been said on the subject,one of its most noble instincts.In the temple of science these delegates heard echo in their ears amelody also2,000years old,reconstituted by an eminent archaeologist through the successive labours of several generations.And in the evening electricity transmitted everywhere the news that Hellenic Olympism had re-entered the world after an eclipse of several centuries.
The Greek heritage is so vast,Gentlemen,that all those who in the modern world have conceived physical exercise under one of its multiple aspects have been able legitimately to refer to Greece,which contained them all.Some have seen it as training for the defence of one's country,others as the search for physical beauty and health through ahappy balance of mind and body,and yet others as that healthy drunkenness of the blood which is nowhere so intense and so exquisite as in bodily exercise.
At Olympia[1],Gentlemen,there was all,that,but there was something more which no-one has yet dared to put into words,because since the middle ages asort of discredit has hovered over bodily qualities and they have been isolated from qualities of the mind.Recently the first have been admitted to serve the second but they are still treated as slaves and made every day to feel their dependence and inferiority.
This was an immense error whose scientific and social consequences it is almost impossible to calculate.After all,Gentlemen,there are not two parts to aman—body and soul;there are three—body,mind and character;character is not formed by the mind,but primarily by the body.The men of antiquity knew this,and we are painfully relearning it.
The adherents of the old school groaned when they saw us holding our meetings in the heart of the Sorbonne:they realized that we were rebels and that we would finish by casting down the edifice of their worm-eaten philosophy.It is true,Gentlemen;we are rebels and that is why the press which has always supported beneficent revolutions has understood and helped us—for which,by the way,I thank it with all my heart.
中文译文
在巴黎索邦代表大会的致辞
皮埃尔·德·顾拜旦
此时此地，在1894年的巴黎，世界的神经为之牵动，对这里的喜悦焦虑感同身受；我们成功地将世界体育代表聚集在一起，他们一致赞同（在原则方面鲜有争议）恢复一个已延续2000年的理念——今日这个理念仍如以往一般让我们怦然心动，因为它满足了我们心中最重要也最高贵（无论以往的看法如何）的本能。在科学的殿堂，这些代表听到了2000年前的古曲，由一位卓越的考古学家在几代人的研究基础上复原而来。晚上，希腊的奥林匹克主义在数世纪的湮没之后重回人间的消息，经由电波传遍了世界。
先生们，希腊的传统如此丰富，以至于现代人所想到的所有类别的体育都可以追溯到希腊，都被其包括在内。一些人将之视为保卫国家的训练，另一些人通过灵与肉的平衡寻求形体的美貌与健康，还有些人想获得血液的微醺感——这种感觉唯有在身体锻炼中才会如此强烈和优美。
先生们，所有这些都存在于奥林匹亚，但还有一些话迄今没有人敢说，因为自中世纪以来，身体特质被从精神特质剥离而遭到贬抑。近来，人们虽然承认前者服务于后者，但仍然视之为奴仆，时刻感觉到它的派生性和低劣。
这是个巨大的错误，在科学和社会两方面都引起了无法计量的后果。因为，先生们，人并非只包括肉体和灵魂两部分，而包括三部分：肉体、思想和品格；品格不由思想决定，而主要由肉体决定。古人知道这一点，而我们却在痛苦地重新认识它。
旧派经院的支持者哀叹我们在索邦的中心举办大会：他们意识到我们是反叛者，会最终摧毁他们的过时哲学。先生们，这没错；我们就是反叛者，这也是总是支持有益革命的媒体理解我们、帮助我们的原因。在此我对他们表示衷心感谢。
词汇速记
athletics n. 体育运动，竞技
unanimously adv. 全体一致地
archaeologist n. 考古学家
Hellenic adj. 希腊的
eclipse n. 消失，黯然失色
exquisite adj. 精致的，剧烈的
edifice n. 大厦，结构体系
beneficent adj. 慈善的，有益的
美句欣赏
After all,Gentlemen,there are not two parts to aman—body and soul;there are three—body,mind and character;character is not formed by the mind,but primarily by the body.这句话虽短，却挑战了西方文明，尤其是基督教文明中的“灵肉二元论”。品格论的提出，以及它主要由肉体决定的观点，具有浓厚的世俗人文主义色彩。