本傑明·富蘭克林/Benjamin Franklin
本傑明·富蘭克林（1706—1790），18世紀美國最偉大的科學家，著名的政治家和文學家。他生於北美洲的波士頓，幼年家境貧窮，一生隻受過兩年正式教育。8歲入學，10歲輟學，此後又當了近10年的印刷工人。但他自學從未間斷過，從自然科學、技術方麵的讀物到著名科學家的論文以及名家作品，無不涉獵。
1726年，他出版了《窮查理曆書》，當時被譯成12種文字，暢銷歐美各國。也奠定了他在文學上地位。獨立戰爭爆發後，他參加了第二屆大陸會議和《獨立宣言》的起草工作。
1790年4月17日，深夜11點，富蘭克林溘然逝去。他一生最真實的寫照是他自己所過的一句話“誠實和勤勉，應該成為你永久的伴侶。”本文是作者於1780年創作的，當時他正在法國為國事奔走，卻仍然有閑情雅致寫這種輕鬆的文章，此文足以窺見作者美國式的幽默和機智。
There are two sorts of people in the world,who with equal degrees o f health&wealth,and the other comforts of life,become,the one happ y,and the other miserable.This arises very much from the different vie ws in which they consider things,persons,and events;and the effect of those different views upon their own minds.
In whatever situation Men can be placed,they may find conveniences&inconveniences:In whatever company,they may find persons&convers ation more or less pleasing;At whatever table,they may meet with meats&drinks of better and worse taste,dishes better&worse dressed;In w hatever climate they will find good and bad weather;Under whatever gove rnment,they may find good&bad laws,and good&bad administration o f those laws.In every poem or work of genius they may see faults and be auties.In almost every face&every person,they may discover fine feat ures&defects,good&bad qualities.
Under these circumstances,the two sorts of people above mentioned f ix their attention,those who are to be happy,on the conveniencies of t hings,the pleasant parts of conversation,the well-dressed dishes,the goodness of the wines,the fine weather;&etc.,and enjoy all with che arfulness.Those who are to be unhappy think&speak only of the contra ries.Hence they are continually discontented themselves,and by their r emarks sour the pleasures of society,offend personally many people,and make themselves everywhere disagreeable.If this turn of mind was founde d in nature,such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied.But as the disposition to criticize,&be disgusted,is perhaps taken up origin ally by imitation,and is unawares grown into a habit,which though at p resent strong may nevertheless be cured when those who have it are convi nced of its bad effects on their felicity;I hope this little admonition may be of service to them,and put them on changing a habit,which thoug h in the exercise it is chiefly an act of imagination yet has serious co nsequences in life,as it brings on real griefs and misfortunes.For as many are offended by,&nobody well loves this sort of people,no one s hows them more than the most common civility and respect,and scarcely t hat;and this frequently puts them out of humour,and draws them into di sputes and contentions.If they aim at obtaining some advantage in rank of fortune,nobody wishes them success,or will stir a step,or speak a word,to favour their pretensions.If they incur public censure or disgr ace,no one will defend or excuse,and many join to aggravate their misc onduct,and tender them completely odious.If these people will not chan ge this bad habit,and condescend to be pleased with what is pleasing,w ithout fretting themselves and others about the contraries,it is good f or others to avoid an acquaintance with them;which is always disagreeab le,and sometimes very inconvenient,especially when one finds one's se lf entangled in their quarrels.
An old philosophical friend of mine was grown,form experience,very cautious in this particular,and carefully avoided any intimacy with suc h people.He had,like other philosophers,a thermometer to show him the heat of the weather,and a barometer to mark when it was likely to prove good or bad;but,there being no instrument invented to discover,at fir st sight,this unpleasing disposition in a person,he for that purpose m ade use of his legs;one of which was remarkably handsome,the other,by some accident,crooked and deformed.If a stranger,at the first intervi ew,regarded his ugly leg more than his handsome one,he doubted him.If he spoke of it,&took no notice of the handsome leg,that was sufficie nt to determine my philosopher to have no further acquaintance with him.Every body has not this two-legged instrument,but every one with a litt le attention,may observe signs of that carping,fault-finding dispositi on,&take the same resolution of avoiding the acquaintance of those inf ected with it.I therefore advise those critical,querulous,discontente d,unhappy people,that if they wish to be respected and beloved by othe rs,&happy in themselves they should leave off looking at the ugly leg.
這世上有兩種人，他們擁有著同樣的健康、財富以及其他生活上的享受，但是，一種人快樂，另一種人卻煩惱。這很大程度上緣於他們對事物的觀點不同，比如對人和對事，因此產生了快樂和煩惱的差別。
人無論處於什麽境地，總是會遇到“幸”與“不幸”。不管在什麽場合，與什麽樣的人接觸並進行交流，總有讓他開心或煩心的；無論在什麽樣的餐桌前吃飯，酒肉總有對味和不對味的，餐具也總有精致和粗糙的；無論在什麽氣候下，他們總能遭遇好天氣或壞天氣；無論哪個政府統治，法律條文總有好壞之分；再偉大的詩句或著作中，總能挑出精彩的和平庸的；差不多每一個人的臉上，都有美麗和難看的地方，每一個人，也總有優點和缺點。
在這種情況下，上麵所說的兩種人注重的東西剛好相反。快樂的人，總是看著事物的長處：交談中愉快的部分，食物的精致，酒的美味，美好的天氣等等，並且滿心歡喜地享受這一切。那些不快樂的人，卻站在對立的一麵，因此他們總是對自己不滿意，他們說的話在社交場合很掃興，既得罪了別人，也讓自己悶悶不樂。如果這種性格是與生俱來的，那麽真值得同情，可是如果是盲目模仿別人，最後不知不覺成了習慣的，那麽他們應該深信不疑這種惡習將對他們幸福的人生產生很不好的影響，即便這種頑固的惡習是可以根除的。我希望這忠告可以給他們一點幫助，改變這不好的習慣。或許這習慣主要作用於心理上，但是卻能給生活造成惡劣的影響，帶來一些現實的悲傷與不幸。因為總是得罪人，大家都不喜歡他，頂多表示一些必不可少的禮節，甚至連最起碼的尊重都不會給他。這會使他們的生活缺乏情趣，而且會引起各種矛盾和爭執。如果他們想增加財富，沒有人會祝福他們好運，沒有人願意為他們出謀劃策。如果他們招致公眾的責難和羞辱，也沒有人出來為他們辯護或諒解，有的人甚至誇大其詞地攻擊他們，使他們變得更討厭。如果這些人不改變這些壞習慣，仍舊對那些人們認為美好的事物不屑一顧，一天到晚怨天尤人，那麽大家還是少和他接觸好，因為這種人很難相處，而且當你卷進他們的爭吵時，你會有更大的麻煩。
我有一個哲學家老朋友，他經曆過很多人情世故，按照他的閱曆，行為謹慎的話，就要盡量避免和這種人打交道。和其他的哲學家一樣，他也有一個顯示氣溫的溫度計和一個預報天氣好壞的氣壓計，但世上沒有人可以發明一種儀器，來預測人的這種壞習慣，因此，他就利用自己的兩條腿來測驗。他的一條腿長得很好看，另一條腿因為意外事故而成了畸形。如果陌生人初見他時，對他的醜腿比美腿更專注，那麽他就會有所疑慮。如果那人隻談論那條醜腿，而不注意他的好腿，那我的朋友就會很快決定不再與他深交。不是每個人都有這樣一雙腿作為測量儀器，但隻要稍加留意，每個人都能看出點那種挑三揀四的人的劣跡，從而避免和這種人交往。所以，我奉勸那些愛挑剔、愛發牢騷、整天愁眉苦臉的人，如果想受人尊敬並且想給自己找樂子，就不要總是盯著別人的醜腿看。