08上 | 管家的职业荣耀，心中的永恒标尺

上期回顾

The greatness lies in the lack of drama and spectacle. It is highly superficial to be demonstrative.但是美国人就是very proud of the grand and breathtaking spectacle of their nation.然后借物言志，谈到了the criteria of a truly great butler！就此引出了神秘组织Hayes Society! 

正文阅读

The Hayes Society claimed to admit butlers of 'only the very first rank'. Much of the power and prestige it went on to gain derived from the fact that unlike other such organizations which have come and gone,it managed to keep its numbers extremely low, thus giving this claim some credibility. 
This, and the fact that the Hayes Society tended to be a rather secretive body, lent it much mystique for a time, ensuring that the pronouncements it occasionally issued on professional matters were received as though hewn' on tablets of stone.

If one looks at these persons we agree are 'great' butlers, if one looks at, say, Mr Marshall or Mr Lane, it does seem to me that the factor which distinguishes them from those butlers who are merely extremely competent is most closely captured by this word 'dignity'.

“English are probably more acutely sensitive than any other nation to the distinction between 'serious' and 'solemn', between 'sincerity' and 'earnestness.”

Of course, this merely begs the further question: of what is 'dignity' comprised? 

Mr Graham ['greɪəm] would always take the view that this 'dignity' was something like a woman's beauty and it was thus pointless to attempt to analyse it. 

I, on the other hand, held the opinion that to draw such a parallel tended to demean the 'dignity' of the likes of Mr Marshall. Moreover, my main objection to Mr Graham's analogy was the implication that this 'dignity' was something one possessed or did not by a fluke of nature; and if one did not self-evidently have it, to strive after it would be as futile as an ugly woman trying to make herself beautiful. 

I believe strongly that this 'dignity' is something one can meaningfully strive for throughout one's career. Those 'great' butlers like Mr Marshall who have it, I am sure, acquired it over many years of self-training and the careful absorbing of experience. 

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