善良和聰明哪個更難？選擇和天賦到底哪個更加重要？杰夫·貝佐斯在普林斯頓大學演講中曾說：“當你們活到八十歲，在某個安靜的時刻沉思，回到內(nèi)心深處，想起自己的人生故事時，其中最為充實、最有意義的那段講述，會被你們作出的一系列決定所填滿。最后，是選擇塑造了我們的人生。”
? ? ? ? ? ? ? It's Harder to Be Kind
As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texas. I helped fix windmills, vaccinate cattle, and do other chores.
當我還是個孩子的時候，我和我的祖父母在德克薩斯州的農(nóng)場里度過夏天。我?guī)兔π蘩盹L車，給牛接種疫苗，還有做其他雜務。
We also watched soap operas every afternoon, especially "Days of our Lives."
我們每天下午都看肥皂劇，尤其是《我們的日子》。
My grandparents belonged to a Caravan Club, a group of Airstream trailer owners who travel together around the U.S. and Canada.
我的祖父母參加了一個房車俱樂部，那是一群開著Airstream房車的人，他們一起環(huán)游美國和加拿大。
And every few summers, we'd join the caravan.
每隔幾個夏天，我們就會加入商隊。
We'd hitch up the Airstream to my grandfather's car, and off we'd go, in a line with 300 other Airstream adventurers.
我們把Airstream掛在爺爺?shù)能嚿?，和其?00名Airstream探險者一起出發(fā)。
I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked forward to these trips.
我愛我的祖父母，崇拜他們，我真的很期待這些旅行。
On one particular trip, I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the big bench seat in the back of the car. My grandfather was driving.
在一次特別的旅行中，我大約10歲。我在車后座的長椅上打滾。我祖父開車。
And my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the smell.
我祖母坐在副駕駛座上。一路上她都在抽煙，我討厭那種味道。
At that age, I'd take any excuse to make estimates and do minor arithmetic.
在那個年齡，我會找任何借口去做估算和小算術。
I'd calculate our gas mileage; figure out useless statistics on things like grocery spending.
我要計算我們的油耗；計算一些無用的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，比如雜貨支出。
I'd been hearing an ad campaign about smoking.
我一直在聽一個關于吸煙的廣告活動。
I can't remember the details, but basically the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off of your life: I think it might have been two minutes per puff.
具體細節(jié)我記不太清了，但基本上廣告上是這么說的，每吸一口煙會讓你少活幾分鐘，我想應該是兩分鐘。
At any rate, I decided to do the math for my grandmother.
無論如何，我決定為我的祖母算一算。
I estimated the number of cigarettes per day, estimated the number of puffs per cigarette and so on.
我估計了每天香煙的數(shù)量，估計了每支香煙要吸幾口等等。
When I was satisfied that I'd come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head into the front of the car, tapped my grandmother on the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed:
當我對自己得出一個合理的數(shù)字感到滿意時，我把頭探進車前，拍了拍祖母的肩膀，然后驕傲地宣布：
"At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your life!"
“每次吸兩分鐘，你就少活九年!”
I have a very vivid memory of what happened next, and it was not what I had expected.
我對接下來發(fā)生的事情有著非常清晰的記憶，但這并不是我所期望的。
I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills.
我以為我會因為我的聰明和算術技巧而受到贊揚。
"Jeff, you're so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division."
“杰夫，你真聰明。你必須做一些復雜的估算，算出一年中有多少分鐘，然后做一些除法?！?br>
That's not what happened.
但事實并非如此。
Instead, my grandmother burst into tears.
相反，我的祖母哭了起來。
I sat in the backseat and didn't know what to do while my grandmother was crying. My grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway.
我坐在后座上，不知道該做什么，而我的祖母在哭。我的祖父一直在默默地開車，他把車停在了公路的路肩上。
He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow.
他下了車，轉(zhuǎn)過來，打開我的門，等著我跟他走。
Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time?
我有麻煩了嗎?我的祖父是一個非常聰明、安靜的人。他從來沒有對我說過一句嚴厲的話，也許這是第一次?
Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother.
或者他會讓我回到車上向我奶奶道歉。
I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be.
我和我的祖父母在這方面沒有任何經(jīng)驗，也沒有辦法估計后果。
We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said:
我們停在拖車旁邊。祖父看著我，沉默了一會兒，然后溫和而平靜地說:
"Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."
“杰夫，總有一天你會明白，善良比聰明更難?！?br>
— THE END —
