词源趣谈 | the salt of the earth 社会中坚，最优秀的人

the salt of the earth 指品格优秀、善良的社会中坚。

这一表达出自《钦定版圣经》的《马太福音》第5章第13－14节中耶稣的“登山宝训（the Sermon on the Mount）”：

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world.
你们是世上的盐。盐若失了味，怎能叫他再咸呢？以后无用，不过丢在外面，被人践踏了。你们是世上的光。