威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆/William Somerset Maugham
It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous 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 untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone 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 formed of ourselves from which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit 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 virtue and vice, 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 tolerance to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.
令人好奇的是，与他人的过失相比，我们自己的过失看上去往往不是那么可憎。我想，这是因为我们了解一切导致过失出现的情况，所以，能够想出借口原谅自己犯一些不容许他人犯的过错。我们不关注自己的缺点，即使深陷困境、不得不正视它们时，我们也会很容易就宽恕自己。据我所知，我们这样做是正确的。缺点是我们自己的一部分，我们必须接纳自己的好与坏。
但当我们评判别人时，情况就大为不同。我们不是通过真正的自我而是用另外一种自我形象来判断，完全摒除了在任何人眼中会伤害到自己的虚荣或者体面的事物。举一个小例子：当觉察到别人说谎时，我们是多么的不屑啊！但是有谁可以说自己从未说过谎？可能还不止一百次呢！
人与人之间的区别并不大。他们皆是伟大与渺小、善良与邪恶、高贵与低贱的混合体。有些人性格比较坚毅，机会也较多，因此在这个或者那个方向上，能更自由地发挥自己的天资，但是人类潜质都是同样的。至于我自己，我不认为自己比多数人更好或更差。但是我知道，如果记下我生命中每一个行动和每一个掠过我心头的想法的话，世人将会把我看成一个邪恶的怪物。每个人都会有这样的怪念头，如果能认识到这一点，我们就应该能宽容自己，也宽容他人。由此，即使是面对那些全世界最优秀、最令人尊敬的人，我们也应该保持幽默、宽大的态度，而不要太过苛刻。
心灵小语
如果你比敌人强大，那么，宽恕你的敌人；如果对手比你强大，那么，宽恕你自己。宽恕，本就是种美德，人生，本没必要太苛刻。
词汇笔记
heinous [?hein?s] adj. 可憎的；十恶不赦的
例 His brother is a heinous boy.
他弟弟是个讨厌的孩子。
occasion [??kei??n] v. 致使；惹起；引起
例 What occasioned such an angry response?
何故引起如此愤怒的反应？
trivial [?trivi?l] adj. 琐碎的；不重要的
例 How can anyone say that tidying the room is a personal, trivial matter?
谁能说整理房间只是一己的私事，或不重要的小事？
virtue [?v?:tju:] n. 美德；优点
例 Virtue is lofty, but it requires you to give.
美德是崇高的，但它需要你付出和给予。
小试身手
令人好奇的是，与他人的过失相比，我们自己的过失看上去往往不是那么可憎。
译_______________
人与人之间区别并不大。
译_______________
我们不关注自己的缺点，即使深陷困境、不得不正视它们时，我们也会很容易就宽恕自己。
译_______________
短语家族
……that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves that we cannot excuse in others.
manage to：设法做到；勉力完成
造_______________
……we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world.
leave out：遗漏；省去；不考虑
造_______________