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I'm drawn to a lovely quote by St. Augustine in "The City of God," where he says, "It's a sin to judge any man by his post."
我很喜欢圣奥古斯丁在“上帝之城”里的一句话，他说，“以社会地位评价人是一种罪”。
In modern English that would mean it's a sin to come to any view of who you should talk to, dependent on their business card.
用现在的口吻说，看一个人的名片来决定你是否要和他交谈，这是罪。
It's not the post that should count.
人的价值不在他的社会地位。
According to St. Augustine, only God can really put everybody in their place;
对圣奥古斯丁来说，只有神可以决定一个人的价值，
he's going to do that on the Day of Judgment, with angels and trumpets, and the skies will open.
他将在天使围绕、小号奏鸣、天空破开的世界末日给于最后审判。
Insane idea, if you're a secularist person, like me.
如果你是像我一样的世俗论者，这想法太疯狂了。
But something very valuable in that idea, nevertheless.
但这想法有它的价值。
In other words, hold your horses when you're coming to judge people.
换句话说，最好在你开口评论他人之前悬崖勒马。
You don't necessarily know what someone's true value is.
你很有可能不知道他人的真正价值。
That is an unknown part of them, and we shouldn't behave as though it is known.
这是不可测的，于是我们不该为人下定论。
There is another source of solace and comfort for all this.
还有另一种慰藉。
When we think about failing in life, when we think about failure,
当我们想象人生中的失败，
one of the reasons why we fear failing is not just a loss of income, a loss of status.
我们恐惧的原因并不只是失去收入，失去地位。
What we fear is the judgment and ridicule of others. And it exists.
我们害怕的是他人的评论和嘲笑。它的确存在。
The number one organ of ridicule, nowadays, is the newspaper.
今日世界上最会嘲笑人的便是报纸。
If you open the newspaper any day of the week, it's full of people who've messed up their lives.
每天我们打开报纸，都能看到那些把生活搞砸的人。
They've slept with the wrong person, taken the wrong substance, passed the wrong piece of legislation
他们与错误对象共枕，使用错误药物，通过错误法案，
whatever it is, and then are fit for ridicule.
种种让人在茶余饭后拿来挖苦的新闻。
In other words, they have failed. And they are described as "losers."
这些人失败了，我们称他们为“失败者”。
Now, is there any alternative to this?
还有其它做法吗？
I think the Western tradition shows us one glorious alternative, which is tragedy.
西方传统给了我们一个光荣的选择，就是“悲剧”。
Tragic art, as it developed in the theaters of ancient Greece, in the fifth century B.C.,
悲剧的艺术来自古希腊，西元前五世纪，
was essentially an art form devoted to tracing how people fail, and also according them a level of sympathy,
这是一个专属于描绘人类失败过程的艺术，同时也加入某种程度的同情，
which ordinary life would not necessarily accord them.
在现代生活并不常给于同情时。
A few years ago, I was thinking about this, and I went to "The Sunday Sport,"
几年前我思考着这件事，我去见“周日运动期刊”，
a tabloid newspaper I don't recommend you start reading if you're not familiar with it already.
如果你还不认识这个小报，我建议你也别去读。
