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.
令人奇怪的是，和别人的过错比起来，我们自己所犯过错似乎并不是那样的不可原谅。我猜想，其原因应该是我们完全清楚是什么导致了犯错，因此能够找到理由原谅自己，却找不到理由原谅他人。
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.
人和人之间没什么大的不同。他们皆是组合体——伟大与渺小，善良与邪恶，高尚与卑劣。有的人个性较强，或者机遇较多，因而在这个或那个方面，他们能够更自由地发挥自己的天资，但是人类的潜能却都是一样的。
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.
这种认识——每个人都会有这样的怪念头——应当能够对我们产生启发：宽容自己，也要宽容他人。假如因此我们可以在评价他人时不太严苛——即使是世间最杰出和最令人尊敬的人，而且，假如我们也因此不对自己自视过高，那就挺好的。
