費正清:「He was a Chinese renaissance man who embraced both cultures... George was a calligrapher of note and an expert on Chinese painting. Yet he had got a Western education too... He had been through the London blitz and the fall of Singapore and knew many power holders around the world.」(他學貫中西,是一位通才[23][24]。他是書法名家,亦通國畫藝術;又曾在西方接受教育,親歷倫敦空襲,目睹新加坡淪陷,幷與多位世界政要相識。)[25]:387
葉文心:「George Yeh was exquisitely educated in the Chinese classics. He was also well versed in its artistic tradition as a result of family exposure.Yet George wore Western-style suits and finished college as an English major. His friends in Beijing in the 1930s, like himself, were British-style gentlemen and American-inspired liberals.」(葉公超受過系統式的中國古典教育,也耳濡目染書香世家的藝文傳統,同時他著西裝,且大學主修英文。他在1930年代的北京朋友們也如他一般,都是受美國自由主義精神指引且帶有英倫風範的紳士。)[35]:180
季羨林:「第一年英文,教授就是葉公超先生,用的課本是英國女作家Jane Austen的Pride and Prejudice。公超先生教學法非常奇特。他幾乎從不講解,一上堂,就讓坐在前排的學生,由左到右,依次朗讀原文,到了一定段落,他大聲一喊:“Stop!”問大家有問題沒有。沒人回答,就讓學生依次朗讀下去,一直到下課。學生摸出了這個規律,谁愿意朗讀,就坐在前排,否則往後坐。有人偶爾提一個問題,他斷喝一聲:“查字典去!”這一聲獅子吼有大威力,從此天下太平,宇域寧靜,相安無事,轉瞬過了一年。」[29]
许渊冲:「叶先生讲课时问得多,讲得少;从不表扬,时常批评;但讲起词汇的用法来,却很精采。……他讲《荒凉的春天》时,杨振宁问他:“有的过去分词前用be,为什么不表示被动?”但叶先生却不屑回答,反问杨振宁Gone are the days为什么用are?杨以后有问题都不直接问他,而要我转达了。二月八日他讲《生活的目的》时,先要学生朗读课文;学生才念一句,他能说出学生是哪省人;学生念得太慢,他就冷嘲热讽,叫人哭笑不得。轮到我念了,我在别人念时没听,只顾准备下面一段,所以念得非常流利,满以为不会挨骂了,不料他却问我:“你读得这么快幹什么?你说生活的目的到底是什么?”生活的目的在上一段,我没有听,自然也答不出,他就批评我只重形式,不重内容,这对我是一个很好的教训。……他对人要求很严,考试要求很高,分数给得很紧:一小时考五十个词汇,造五个句子,答五个问题,还要写一篇英文短文。杨振宁考第一,才得八十分;我考第二,只得七十九分。」[33]:45-46
楊振寧:「But Professor Yeh's course was a disaster: he was not interested in students and was not above practising one-upmanship on us. I do not remember learning anything from him.」(不過叶教授的英文课是場災難:他对学生不感兴趣,並未對我們進行更深的訓練。我不记得曾从他那里学到了什么。[39]:21)[40]
费正清:「In Taiwan, however, the stultifying personality of CKS still held sway. Our old friend from Peking George Yeh (Yeh Kung-ch'ao), one-time professor of English literature at Tsing Hua, had risen by sheer talent to be the Republic of China's foreign minister for a decade and then ambassador in Washington. But now, having refused to follow the Old Man's diplomatic ideas, George was tethered in Taipei as a cabinet minister without portfolio.」(然而個性拘泥的蔣中正仍在臺灣握有實際主導地位。我們在北京時的老朋友葉公超原先是清華大學的英國文學教授,憑藉自身才能當上了中華民國的外交部部長,任職近十年,接著又任駐華盛頓大使。但現在,由於他不願順著老頭子的意思搞外交,結果被困在臺北,擔任內閣的“不管部部長”。)[25]:387
费正清:「Our chief pleasure in Taipei was to see ex-Foreign Minister George Yeh again, still the same strong individual, still frozen in position as a minister without portfolio, island-bound yet asked to handle the budget. Secret police trailed him when he was out but Chiang Ching-kuo came to see him when he was hospitalized — a curious stultification of top-level talent.」(在臺北最讓我們愉快的是再次見到前任外交部部長葉公超,他依舊是位堅毅的人,也繼續被以有名無實的“部長”職位冷凍,困於孤島卻被要求處理財務預算。他外出時,秘密警察跟踪他;他住院時,蔣經國卻蒞臨探望——真是對天才最為稀奇古怪的愚弄。)[41]:441
^Wen Yuan-ning, and others. Imperfect Understanding: Intimate Portraits of Modern Chinese Celebrities. Edited by Christopher Rea (Amherst, MA: Cambria Press, 2018), pp. 17-24, 153-55.