The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.

　　我们对同伴犯下的最大罪行并非对他们怀恨在心，而是冷漠待之。这便是人性丧失的本质。

　　——George Bernard Shaw乔治•萧伯纳

　　Many people--especially young people--seem to have a hard time understanding other people's right to quiet. My wife and I worked as camp hosts at a small campground for one summer, and we were only a bit surprised to see just how many people were willing to stay up very late at night talking and laughing around the campfire, even though they were literally surrounded by the darkened tents of other people who were trying to sleep.

　　许多人尤其是年轻人似乎对他人享受安静的权利难以理解。一年夏天，我与妻子组织了一个小的夏令营活动。当时围坐在营火前的众人熬到深夜仍欢声笑语，尽管就在他们附近，其他人正躺在被夜色覆盖的帐篷中艰难入睡。我们看到这幅情景真的惊呆了。

　　I can understand the positive feeling of companionship and enjoying other people's companies, but if we want to respect the rights of others, then it's important that we recognize that there's a time and a place for everything.

　　我能理解结伴及有人相伴左右的美好畅快之感。但如果我们想要尊重他人的权益，那注意到我们行事的时间与地点很重要。

　　My wife and I had to spend a lot of time reminding people that quiet hours had started at ten because people simply weren't willing to respect those hours. They wanted to do what they wanted to do, and all of the other people who were affected by their actions simply didn't matter to them.

　　我与妻子不得不花很多功夫提醒人们十点钟后请保持安静，只因为他们不愿去对之重视。他们随心而为，而他们根本不在意自己的行为会给其他所有人带去怎样的影响。

　　Many people know that the law of Karma eventually will cause some sort of return to the folks who don't respect the rights of others, but it's a shame that we even have to think of such a thing. What would life be like if our understanding of Karma were to be limited to the positive returns that life would provide because we only shared positive thoughts, words, and actions with our fellow humans and the other living beings on this planet?

　　许多人都知晓因果循环之理——那些不尊重他人权利的人儿终究将得到某种报应。然而我们甚至要去想这么一回事，真是惭愧。倘若我们将因果仅理解为人生会带来的好回报，因为我们与这个星球上的同伴或是其他人只交换积极的想法、正能量的话和鼓舞人的行为，那么人生会变得怎样呢?

　　We should not, of course, make decision about what we do and do not do simply because of what we think we'll get back. Our decisions should be made based on whether what we're doing is respecting the rights and needs of others.

　　当然我们不应该仅仅为了我们想要得到的回报，而决定什么该做和什么不该做。我们做的决定要基于对他人权利和需求的尊重。

　　Life, after all, is a cooperative effort, and the better we treat our fellow human beings, the more we respect them and their rights, the more positive and loving andcompassionate is this world going to be. It's a very simple and important principal for all of us to realize we're going to give to the world in positive ways.

　　毕竟生活是大家一同努力营造的。我们对同类越好，便会越尊重他们及其权利，这个世界也会越来越明媚，充满爱与同情心。对我们所有人来说，有意识去积极地看待这个世界，是极为简单又重要的原则。

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（编辑：何莹莹）