《智慧书·第三辑·一〇一至一五〇》第9则
Be not Censorious. There are men of gloomy character who regard everything as faulty, not from any evil motive but because it is their nature to. They condemn all: these for what they have done, those for what they will do. This indicates a nature worse than cruel, vile Indeed. They accuse with such exaggeration that they make out of motes beams wherewith to force out the eyes. They are always taskmasters who could turn a paradise into a prison; if passion intervenes they drive matters to the extreme. A noble nature, on the contrary, always knows how to find an excuse for failings, if not in the intention, at least from oversight.
注释摘要
这则格言劝人不要成为那种对一切都挑剔谴责的人。标题“Be not Censorious”与正文的第一句话实为一体：世上有一类阴沉之人，他们看什么都觉得有毛病——倒未必出于恶意，更多是性情使然。然而葛拉西安紧接着便下了重判：这种性情比残忍更坏，简直是卑劣。如此断语并非随意，因为在他看来，这类人在谴责他人时惯用一种夸张术：把别人眼中的小刺说成巨大的梁木，再用这…