胡适在谈及自己生平为人时,说过这样一句话“:不降志,不辱身,不追赶时髦,也不回避危险。”王元化先生说他最欣赏胡适这句话。一个知识分子如果真的能够做到这一步,也就无愧于自己的责任与使命了。胡适是“五四”一代人物中,唯一在思想上始终保持一致,一以贯之,而没有太大改变的人。他晚年在纽约向唐德刚口述自传,谈到“白话文运动”时,所持观点和三十年前几乎一字不差。直到逝世前,他谈科学精神和科学方法时,仍旧是他在“五四”后不久提出的那十五个字:“拿出证据来,大胆的假设,小心的求证。”胡适终其一生没说过太违心的话、没做过太违心的事,这在那个狂飙突进的年代是很不容易的。 When talking about his own life, Hu Shi said the following sentence: “Do not drop the flag, do not shame, do not catch up with fashion, nor avoid danger.” Mr. Wang Yuanhua said he most admired Hu Shi this sentence. If an intellectual can really do this step, it is worthy of his own responsibility and mission. Hu Shih is the only person in the “May Fourth” generation who has always remained consistent ideologically and consistently without any major changes. When he spoke to Tang Degang in New York later in his life, speaking of “vernacular movement ”, his view was almost the same as thirty years ago. Until his death, when he talked about scientific spirit and scientific methods, he remained the fifteen words he proposed shortly after the May Fourth Incident: “Take out evidence, bold assumptions and careful proofs.” Hu Shi did not say too much to his life’s words, did not do anything too unruly, which is in the era of radical hurdles is not easy.