It was impossible for him to pay the government three hundred dollars or pay someone else to serve for him in the army.

VOA: special.2009.10.29

To him this was not useless, because it didn't serve the state.

这对彼得大帝来说无所功用,因为这对俄国没有任何贡献

耶鲁公开课 - 欧洲文明课程节选

Plato himself, remember, made a number of trips to Sicily to serve as the advisor to a king there, Dionysius, and all of these missions failed and left him deeply dispirited.

记不记得柏拉图自己，曾多次旅行到西西里岛,从事国王顾问的工，Dionysius王，他所有的使命都未竟成功,并使他深深感到气馁。

耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选