我们常说"培养人才"，但认真研究古今中外，发现所谓对人才的"培养"，充其量是为人才的成长提供了环境与影响；人才不是被别人培养出来的。

　　It is often said that "we should cultivate talent". By examining various qualified personnel across-the-board, the word "cultivate" has become questionable to me; the best it can do in fact is to provide an environment or conditions for talents to come forth.

　　正如教育的实质不是"教"而是"学"，人才其实是"学"出来和"用"出来的。世界上没有单纯的"教"，却有单纯的"学"；"教"一定要有对象，"学"却不一定以"教"为前提："教"不是到处都有，"学"却可随时发生。

　　In the same way that education is not about teaching but about learning, talent is produced by learning and applying. Teaching is conditioned by various factors, such as object, subject, lectureship and so on, whereas learning is not preconditioned by teaching and can take place everywhere, at any time.

　　"学"的另一端是"用"，"用"的效果又可促进"学"。人不被"用"永远也不是"才"；人才只有在"用"中才会不断增值。同样，用错地方的人才，便是"庸才"，甚至是"废材"。

　　While learning leads to application, applying what has been learnt in turn inspires one's learning. A person's talent potential may never be explored unless he or she is being put in place, and misplacing a talent may produce mediocrity or even a waste of potential.

　　人才的基本要素是德、才、学、识。以工匠的斧头作比喻，"德"是斧头的质量，"才"是斧刃，"学"是重量，"识"是斧头做功的方向，四样俱全，左右逢源，才能取得功效。

　　There are four basic components constituting a talent—virtue, capability, knowledge and insight. A talent may bear some analogy to a functional axe, with which virtue is quality, ability the edge, knowledge the weight and insight directs it to the point. Any achievement is actually the result of the effective combination of these four.

　　其中"德"和"才"的关系至关重要。古人讲："才盛于德，谓之小人；德盛于才，谓之君子；德才兼备，谓之圣人"。可见，只有二者的次序、比重正确，方可成为真正意义上的人才。

　　Of these four basic components, virtue and capability are of crucial importance. As it is quoted from the ancient saying: "He whose capacity exceeds his virtue is considered to be an inferior man; he whose virtue exceeds his capacity is a superior man; he who possesses both decent virtue and brilliant capacity can be regarded as a sage". Clearly, only when these components are appropriately defined can a person become a true talent.

　　人才又有"专才"与"通才"之分。一般来讲，做具体工作的是专才，做管理的是通才；当然，也有二才兼备者。造原子弹的是专才，但使用原子弹的一定是通才，二者位置不可颠倒。

　　There are also distinctions between a generalist and a specialist. Generally speaking, the person assigned to perform specialized duty is a specialist and, the person in a management position is a generalist with the exception of people with both talents. Make no mistake, the person who constructs an atomic bomb never has the power to use it but has to leave it to a generalist.

　　世界上需要各种各样的人才，但却都要以"学"和"用"为契机，而没有"被"培养的捷径。

　　Various talents are required in the world, and for such talents to be developed, one first has to go through the arduous process of learning and applying; there is obviously no shortcut for being "cultivated talents".