第2章 何为普罗克拉斯提斯之床(2)
对撒谎者最好的报复，就是让他相信你真的信了他的谎言。
当我们打算做一件我们潜意识里知道注定要失败的事情时，就会征询别人的建议，这样就可以把失败怪罪到别人头上。
当你真心想说“不”的时候，就会更难说出口。
Never say no twice if you mean it.
Your reputation is harmed the most by what you say to defend it.
The only objective definition of aging is when a person starts to talk about aging.
They will envy you for your success， for your wealth， for your intelligence， for your looks， for your status ——but rarely for your wisdom.
Most of what they call humility is successfully disguised arrogance.
If you want people to read a book， tell them it is overrated.
如果你说“不”是认真的，就用不着再说第二次。
对你名誉损害最大的是你为了维护它而说的话。
当一个人开始谈论衰老的时候，他就真的老了。
人们会羡慕你的成功、你的财富、你的聪明、你的相貌、你的地位——但是很少有人会羡慕你的智慧。
所谓的“谦逊”，其实通常都是掩饰得比较成功的傲慢。
如果你想让人们读某一本书，告诉他们它被高估了。
You never win an argument until they attack your person.
Nothing is more permanent than “temporary” arrangements， deficits， truces and relationships； and nothing is more temporary than “permanent” ones.
The most painful moments are not those we spend with uninteresting people； rather， they are those spent with uninteresting people trying hard to be interesting.
Hatred is love with a typo somewhere in the computer code， correctable but very hard to find.
I wonder whether a bitter enemy would be jealous if he discovered that I hated someone else.
只有当他们开始对你展开人身攻击时，你才算是赢得了一场争论。
没有什么比“临时”的安排、赤字、休战和情感关系更加恒久，没有什么比“恒久”的这些东西更加临时。
让我们最痛苦的，不是跟没意思的人在一起，而是跟努力表现得有意思的没意思的人在一起。
恨是某一行代码出了错误的爱，这错误可以改正，但很难被找到。
假如我的某个死敌发现我恨的是另一个人，我不知道他会不会感到嫉妒。
The characteristic feature of the loser is to be moan， in general terms， mankind's flaws， biases， contradictions， and irrationality——without exploiting them for fun and profit.
The test of whether you really liked a book is if you reread it (and how many times)； the test of whether you really liked someone's company is if you are ready to meet him again and again——the rest is spin， or that variety of sentiment now called self-esteem.
We ask “why is he rich (or poor)？” not “why isn't he richer (or poorer)？”；“why is the crisis so deep？” not “why isn't it deeper？”
Hatred is much harder to fake than love. You hear of fake love； never of fake hate.
失败者的特点是会抱怨人类的缺陷、偏见、自相矛盾和缺乏理智，但又不利用这些东西追求自己的欢乐和利益。
你是否真的喜欢一本书，判断标准是你是否会重读它（以及重读了多少遍）；你是否真的喜欢一个人的陪伴，判断标准是你是否愿意再次遇见他——剩下的都是空话，或者是所谓“自尊”。
我们会问“他为什么有钱（或是没钱）”，而不是“他为什么不能更有钱（或是更没钱）”；我们会问“为什么危机如此深重”，而不是“为什么危机不更加深重”。
恨远比爱难以伪造。你听说过虚假的爱，但还没听说过虚假的恨。
The opposite of manliness isn't cowardice； it's technology .
Usually， what we call “good listener” is someone with skillfully polished indifference.
It is the appearance of inconsistency， and not its absence， that makes people attractive.
You remember emails you sent that were not answered better than emails that you did not answer.
People reserve standard compliments for those who do not threaten their pride；the others they often praise by calling “arregant”.
男子气概的反义词不是怯懦，而是科技。
一般来说，所谓“好的倾听者”其实对他们倾听的内容并不关心，只不过他们擅长掩盖这种漠不关心。
正是人们表现出来的自相矛盾之处让他们富有魅力。
你记得住自己发出去却没收到回复的邮件，却记不住自己收到了却没有回复的邮件。
人们会把恭维之词留给那些对他们的骄傲感没有威胁的人；至于那些威胁到他们骄傲感的人，他们会用“骄傲”来评价。
Since Cato the Elder， a certain type of maturity has shown up when one starts blaming the new generation for “shallowness” and praising the previous one for its "values".
It is as difficult to avoid bugging others with advice on how to exercise and other health matters as it is to stick to an exercise schedule.
By praising someone for his lack of defects you are also implying his lack of virtues.
When she shouts that what you did was unforgivable， she has already started to forgive you.
Being unimaginative is only a problem when you are easily bored.
从古罗马的老加图开始，人们一直通过斥责下一辈人的“浅薄”、赞扬上一辈人的“价值”来表现自己的成熟。
要忍住不给别人提锻炼和保健方面的建议，简直跟自己坚持锻炼一样难。
表扬一个人没有缺点的时候，你也在指出他没有优点。
当她嚷嚷着无法原谅你做的事情的时候，她已经开始原谅你了。
只有当你动不动就感到厌倦的时候，缺乏想象力才算是个问题。
We call narcissistic those individuals who behave as if they were the central residents of the world； those who do exactly the same in a set of two we call lovers.
Friendship that ends was never one； there was at least one sucker in it.
Most people fear being without audiovisual stimulation because they are too repetitive when they think and imagine things on their own.
Unrequited hate is vastly more diminishing for the self than unrequited love. You can't react by reciprocating.
For the compassionate， sorrow is more easily displaced by another sorrow， than by joy.
那些把自己当作世界中心的人，我们称为自恋者；那些把自己和另一个人当作世界中心的人，我们称为恋人。
友谊从来不是可以被宣告结束的，如果是这样，其中至少有一个人是傻瓜。
绝大多数人害怕失去视听刺激，因为当他们自己思考和想象时，总是在重复同样的内容。
没有回报的恨远比没有回报的爱更能让人显得渺小。
对于有同情心的人来说，用新的悲哀替换旧的悲哀，远比用快乐替换悲哀要容易。
Wisdom in the young is as unattractive as frivolity in the elderly.
Some people are only funny when they try to be serious.
It is difficult to stop the impulse to reveal secrets in conversation， as if information had the desire to live and the power to multiply.
年轻人的智慧跟老人的轻佻一样不讨人喜欢。
有些人只有在试图表现得严肃的时候才显得滑稽。
谈话时，要忍住不把秘密说出来是很难的，信息仿佛具有生存的欲望和繁殖的能力。
It is a very recent disease to mistake the unobserved for the nonexistent.
Asking science to explain life and vital matters is equivalent to asking a grammarian to explain poetry.
You exist if and only if you are free to do things without a visible objective， with no justification and， above all， outside the dictatorship of someone else's narrative.
把观察不到的东西当作不存在，这是近来开始流行的一种疾病。
让科学解释生活和生命，就像让语法专家解释诗歌一样。
只有当你可以自由地做任何事情，不需要明显的目的、理由和别人的要求时，你才算真正存在于这世上。
You cannot express the holy in terms made for the profane， but you can discuss the profane in terms made for the holy.
Atheism (materialism) means treating the dead as if they were unborn. I won't. By accepting the sacred， you reinventreligion.
If you can't spontaneously detect (without analyzing) the difference between sacredand profane， you'll never know whatreligion means. You will also never figure out what we commonly call art.You will never understand anything.