1、Toleranceby E.M. ForsterSurely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a sound state of mind. Architects, contractors, international commissioners, marketing boards, broadcasting corporations will never, by themselves, build a new world. They must be inspired by the proper spirit in the peop
2、le for whom they are working.What, though, is the proper spirit? There must be a sound state of mind before diplomacy or economics or trade conferences can function. But what state of mind is sound? Here we may be different. Most people, when asked what spiritual quality is needed to rebuild another
3、 civilization, will reply “Love“. People must love one another, they say, nations must do likewise, and then the series of cataclysms which is threatening to destroy us will be checked.Respectfully but firmly, I disagree. Love is a great force in private life; it is indeed the greatest of all things
4、. But love in public affairs does not work. It has been tried again and again: by the Christian civilizations of the Middle Ages, and also by the French Revolution, a secular movement which reasserted the Brotherhood of Man. And it has always failed. The idea that nations should love one another or
5、that a person in Portugal should love an unknown person in Peru -it is absurd, unreal, and dangerous. It leads us into perilous and vague sentimentalism. “Love is what is needed,“ we chant, and then sit back and the world goes on as before. The fact is we can only love what we know personally. And w
6、e cannot know much. In public affairs, in the rebuilding of civilization, something much less dramatic and emotional is needed, namely, tolerance. Tolerance is a very dull virtue. It is boring. Unlike love, it has always had bad press. It is negative. It means merely putting up with people, being ab
7、le to stand things. No one has ever written an ode to tolerance, or raised a statue to her. Yet this is the quality which will most be needed after the war. This is the state of mind we are looking for. This is the only force which will enable different races and classes and interests to settle down
8、 together to the work of reconstructionThe world is full of people-appallingly full; it has never been so full before, and they are all tumbling over each other. Most of these people one doesnt know and some of them one doesnt like; doesnt like the color of their skins, say, or the shape of their no
9、ses, or the way they blow them or dont blow them, or the way they talk, or their fondness of jazz or their dislike of jazz, and so on. Well, what is one to do? There are two solutions. One is the Nazi solution. If you dont like them, kill them, banish them, segregate them, and strut up and down proc
10、laiming that you are the salt of the earth. The other way is less thrilling, but is on the whole the way of the democracies, and I prefer it. If you dont like people, put up with them as well as you can. Dont try to love them. You cant, and youll only strain yourself. But try to tolerate them. On th
11、e basis of that tolerance a civilized future may be built. Certainly I see no other foundation for the postwar world.For what it will most need is the negative virtues: not being huffy, touchy, irritable, revengeful. I have lost all faith in positive militant ideals; they can so seldom be carried ou
12、t without thousands of human beings getting maimed or imprisoned. Phrases like “I will purge this nation,“ “I will clean up this city,“ terrify and disgust me. They might not have mattered when the world was emptier; they are horrifying now, when one nation is mixed up with another, when one city ca
13、nnot be organically separated from its neighbors.I dont regard tolerance as a great eternally established divine principle, though I might perhaps quote “In My Fathers House there are many mansions“ in support of such a view. Its just a makeshift, suitable for an overcrowded and overheated planet. I
14、t carries on when love gives out, and love generally give out as soon as we move away from our home and our friends, and stand among strangers in the queue for potatoes. Tolerance is wanted in the queue; otherwise we think, “Why will people be so slow?“ It is wanted in the tube, or “Why will people
15、be so fat?“ Its wanted at the telephone, or “Why will people be so deaf?“ or conversely, “Why do they mumble?“ It is wanted in the street, in the office, at the factory, and it is wanted above all between classes, races, religions, and nations. Its dull. And yet it entails imagination. For you have
16、all the time to be putting yourself in someone elses place. Which is a desirable spiritual exercise.论容忍爱德华.摩根.弗斯特毫无疑问，对于一个文明来讲，健全的思想是它唯一的坚实基础。建筑师、承包商、国际理事、营销董事会和广播公司永远不会以一己之力建立一个新世界。他们必须从他们服务的大众那里获取某种精神力量，借此来启发自己。那么，这种精神力量究竟是什么？民主、经济以及国际贸易得以正常运行说明人们已经拥有某种靠得住的精神品质。但是，什么样的精神品质能被称之为“靠得住” 的？对于这个问题，我们或许有
17、不同的答案。当被问到重建一种文明所需要的精神品质是什么时，大多数人会回答：“是爱” 。他们会说，人们必须相互友爱，各民族之间必须相互关照，这样一来，人类就可以尽可能地保护自己，免受灾难的威胁。虽然我尊重这种想法，但我必须坚决地反对它。爱是一个人生活中的伟大力量；事实上它是所有品质中最伟大的。但是，对于公共事务来说，爱却起不了作用。这点已经被验证过一遍又一遍了：中世纪的基督教文明失败了，法国大革命这场非宗教性质的运动重申了人们彼此友爱，也失败了。事实上，以爱为基础的运动总是以失败告终。一个国家应该爱另一个国家，或是一个葡萄牙人应该爱一个身在秘鲁的陌生人这种想法本身就不切实际、荒谬而又充满了风险。
18、它会让我们陷入一种危险而模棱两可的感情主义。我们在人前歌颂到：“世界需要爱” ，然后坐下来袖手旁观，一切照旧。事实上，我们只会爱自己熟悉的人或物，而我们熟悉的又着实太少。在处理公共事务时，在重建文明之际，我们需要一些不太戏剧化和感性化的品质，这种品质就是“容忍” 。不像爱，容忍是一种无趣甚至无聊的美德，给人一种压迫感。它是消极的，教导人们对人容忍，对事容忍。从来没有人为容忍歌功颂德或者树碑立传过。然而，容忍是我们在战后最需要的东西，正是我们所寻求的那种“靠得住”的精神品质。唯有相互容忍，我们才能团结不同种族、不同阶级、不同利益去重建文明。这个世界从未像现在这样挤过，满满地全是人 熙熙攘攘，叫人
19、害怕。大部分人是你不认识的，一些人是你不喜欢的，比如说，你不喜欢他们的肤色，你不喜欢他们鼻子的形状，你不喜欢他们擤鼻涕或者不擤鼻涕，你不喜欢他们说话的方式或者他们对于爵士乐的喜恶，凡此种种。好吧，你该怎么做呢？有两种选择。一种是纳粹式的解决办法：不喜欢他们，就杀了他们，驱逐他们或者把他们隔离起来，然后趾高气昂地向世界宣布他们是劣等人，你才是社会精英。另一种办法则不那么骇人听闻，大致上是民主的方式，也是我推崇的方式：即使你不喜欢也尽可能地容忍他们。不用为难自己非要爱他们，你也做不到。试着去容忍他们，只有在这种容忍的基础上我们才能发展未来的文明。除此之外，我不认为有其他什么可以拯救战后的世界了。这
20、个世界最需要某些形似“否定”的美德：不焦躁、不易怒、不沮丧、不记仇。我对激进的理想主义早就失去了信心。为了实现这些所谓的理想，难免有成千上万的人要付出惨重代价，他们或受伤，或被囚禁。诸如“我要净化这个民族 ”或者“我要清洗整座城市” 之类的言论让我害怕，让我恶心。如果这个世界人口寥寥，这么说说也就算了。但是现在各国人民融合在一起，城市之间的界限也变得不那么清楚，再那么做无疑就是人类的梦魇。虽然我也可以援引“上帝所在之处总有你的住所”这样的话来奉劝世人学会宽容，我却不认为容忍是一种永恒的神圣法则。在这个过于拥挤和喧嚣的世界，它只是一种权宜之计。当爱不起作用的时候，容忍可以引导我们继续前进。事实上
21、，我们离开家人和朋友，站在一堆陌生人之间排着队买土豆时，爱就已经不起作用了。排队时需要容忍，要不然你会抱怨：他们怎么那么慢？坐地铁时需要容忍，要不然你心里会嘀咕：他们怎么那么肥？打电话时需要容忍，要不然你会抓狂：他们耳朵有毛病吗？或者他们嘟嘟囔囔说什么呢？在大街上、在办公室、在工厂里，各个阶级、各个民族、各个宗教和国家都需要容忍。是的，容忍很无趣。但是从积极的方面看，它也需要我们的想象力，因为我们被迫不断地进行换位思考，尝试去理解不同的人。这也算是一种精神层面的锻炼吧。译者：十一学校 2013 年上学期翻译班学生霸元婕 仇润泽 段言 高菁 何梦溪 赫雪琦 黄霈轩 荆世雄 寇思涵 李嘉睿 卢冉昕 马雪婷 商琪 商逸菲 王鹤尘 王子祺 魏嘉仪 杨明微 姚诗雨 于天奕 张晓雯 赵昕怡 白若菲 窦文韬 段宇光 黄若涵 朗逸飞 李睦麟 李子宜 刘采薇 刘佳琪 刘沛林 刘晓光 刘笑彤 罗启舟 毛佳钰 秦雨菲 唐子阳 王文钊 王宇辰 杨冬盈 杨睿远 杨一尘 周子其 周子源
