On Motes and Beams　细小如尘，高大如梁

时间：2024-03-21 02:28:24

（单词翻译:单击）

On Motes1 and Beams　细小如尘，高大如梁
◎ Alexander Sviyash
It is curious that our own offenses2 should seem so much less heinous3 than the offenses of others.
I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage
to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others. We turn our attention away from our own
defects, and when we are forced by untoward4 events to consider them, find it easy to condone5 them.
For all I know we are right to do this; they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in
ourselves together.
But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them,
but by an image that we have found of ourselves from which we have left out everything that offends
our vanity or would discredit6 us in the eyes of the world. To take a trivial instance: how scornful we
are when we catch someone out telling a lie; but who can say that he has never told not one, but a
hundred?
There is not much to choose between men. They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness,
of virtue7 and vice8, of nobility and baseness. Some have more strength of character, or more
opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are
the same. For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that
if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would
consider me a monster of depravity. The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should
inspire one with tolerance9 to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon
our fellows, even the most eminent10 and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves
not too seriously.
让人奇怪的是，和别人的过错比起来，我们自身的过错往往不是那样可恶。我想，其原
因应该是我们知晓自身犯错的一切情况，因此总能设法为自己找到托词，而对于别人的错误
却无法原谅。我们从不关注自己的缺点，即便是深陷困境而不得不正视它们的时候，我们也
很容易就宽恕自己。据我所知，我们这样做是正确的。缺点是我们自身的一部分，我们必须
接纳自己的好和坏。
但是当我们评判别人的时候，我们就不是用真实的自我来判断：而是用一种自我形象来
评判，这种自我形象完全摒弃了在世人眼中会伤害到自己的虚荣，或败坏自己的名声的东
西。举一个小例子来说：当我们发现某人在说谎时，我们是多么蔑视他啊！但是，谁能够说
自己从未说过谎？可能还不止一百次呢。
人和人之间没什么太大的差别。任何人都是伟大与渺小、美德与邪恶、高尚与低贱的混
合体。有些人性格比较坚毅，机会也比较多，因此在这个或那个方面，能够更自由地发挥自
己的禀赋，但是人类的潜质却都是相同的。就我而言，我认为自己并不比大多人更好或更
差，但是我知道，如果我记下我生命中每一次举动和我脑海掠过的每个想法，世界将会把我
视为一个邪恶的怪物。每个人都会有这样的怪念头，这样的认识应当激励我们宽容自己，也
宽容他人。除此之外，若这些念头能使我们用幽默的态度看待他人，即使是天下最优秀最令
人尊敬的人，也能使我们不把自己看得过于重要，那是很有裨益的。

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1 motes 59ede84d433fdd291d419b00863cfab5     
n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点
参考例句：
  • In those warm beams the motes kept dancing up and down. 只见温暖的光芒里面，微细的灰尘在上下飞扬。 来自辞典例句
  • So I decided to take lots of grammar motes in every class. 因此我决定每堂课多做些语法笔记。 来自互联网
2 offenses 4bfaaba4d38a633561a0153eeaf73f91     
n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势
参考例句：
  • It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
3 heinous 6QrzC     
adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的
参考例句：
  • They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
  • I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。
4 untoward Hjvw1     
adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的
参考例句：
  • Untoward circumstances prevent me from being with you on this festive occasion.有些不幸的事件使我不能在这欢庆的时刻和你在一起。
  • I'll come if nothing untoward happens.我要是没有特殊情况一定来。
5 condone SnKyI     
v.宽恕；原谅
参考例句：
  • I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
  • I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。
6 discredit fu3xX     
vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑
参考例句：
  • Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
  • They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。
7 virtue BpqyH     
n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力
参考例句：
  • He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
  • You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。
8 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的
参考例句：
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
9 tolerance Lnswz     
n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差
参考例句：
  • Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
  • Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。
10 eminent dpRxn     
adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的
参考例句：
  • We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
  • He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

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