English Original
Woodrow Wilson strongly disapproved of the indiscriminate granting of honorary degrees during his tenure as president of Princeton University.
He remarked, "Our universities have recently learned to confer honorary degrees with care. In the past, however, the practice was rather promiscuous. I once encountered an uncouth individual who held three such degrees, yet his speech and demeanor were exceedingly rude."
When I inquired of an acquaintance how this could be, he explained, "Well, the third was awarded because he already had two. The second was given because he had one, and the first was conferred simply because he showed up."
中文翻译
伍德罗·威尔逊在担任普林斯顿大学校长期间，强烈反对不加区分地授予荣誉学位。
他曾说：“我们的大学最近才懂得审慎地授予荣誉学位。然而在过去，这种做法相当随意。我曾遇到一个粗鲁的人，他拥有三个这样的学位，但其言谈举止却极其无礼。”
当我向一位熟人询问此人何以获得三个学位时，他解释道：“嗯，授予他第三个学位是因为他已经有了两个。授予他第二个是因为他有了一个，而授予第一个，仅仅是因为他到场了。”