最佳金玉良言

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings. Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn't a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to bear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to Daddy with tears in my eyes.

大约12岁时，我有个敌人，一个常常当面指责我的女孩。随着一周周过去，她给我列的缺点来越多：我很瘦，我不是好学生，我太爱说话，我太骄傲。我一直都在默默地忍受。最后我忍无可忍，眼里噙着泪跑去找爸爸。

 

 

He listened to me quietly. Then he asked, "Are the things she says true or not? Allen, didn't you ever wonder what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

爸爸静静地听我说着。随后他问道:“她说的这些是不是真的？爱伦，难道你不想知道自己的真实模样吗？你现在既然有了那个女孩的意见，那就去把她所说的一切都列下来，在（你认为）对的上面打分。对她所说的其他事情不要在意。”

 

I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change (like being very thin), but a good number I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a fairly clear picture of myself.

我按照爸爸所说的去做了。令我惊讶的是，我发现（女孩说的）一半左右都是对的。其中有些部分我无法改变（比如我真的很瘦），但有一些事我是可以改变的，而且我愿意改变。我第一次对自己有了清晰的认识。

 

 

 

I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. "That's just for you," he said. "You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don't shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”

我将这个清单送给爸爸。他没有去接。“那是给你自己的，”他说，“你比任何别的人更清楚自己真实的一面。但你必须学会倾听，不要光是生气地捂住耳朵，感到受伤。当一些关于你的评论是对的时，你会发现那对你是有帮助的。这个世界上充满了那些自认为懂你的人。不要捂住耳朵。学会倾听别人说的话，但要吸收那些真话，并做你认为正确的事情。”

 

Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.

爸爸的建议在很多重要时刻都会在我耳边回响。我这辈子没听过比这更好的建议了。

 

面对他人的否定，我们应该做自己还是听取别人的意见一直都是一个颇有争议的问题，读完这篇文章以后，你的观点又发生变化吗？我们什么时候应该做自己，又什么时候应该听取别人的意见呢？