Morning! Good morning!

早！早安！

Oh, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night

喔，以防我之後碰不到你們，午安！晚安！再見！

Setting out to try to become a nicer person sounds like a deeply colorless and dispiriting ambition

試圖讓變成一位好人這樣的目標聽起來乏味且令人沮喪

In theory, we love niceness, of course, but in practice, there appears to be something embarrassingly anodyne, meek, tedious, even sexless about the concept

理論上來說，我們喜歡善良特質，但實際上，這個概念似乎有點令人難堪地平淡、懦弱、無趣、甚至不性感

A nice person sounds like something we try to be only once every other more arduous and more rewarding alternative had failed

我們似乎只有在從事一個較艱鉅且報酬較高的事情時失敗之後偶爾才會試圖去當好人

Our suspicion of niceness may feel personal, but it has a long history

我們對於善良特質的懷疑看似是我們的個人觀感，但這背後其實有漫長的歷史

bearing the sediment of at least four major cultural currents that it pays to try and understand:

它是至少四大文化潮流的累積，值得我們了解

For centuries, Christianity was the single most powerful force shaping our intellectual horizons

有好幾個世紀，基督教是形塑人們知識視野最強大的力量

and it was profoundly committed to promoting niceness to the world

而它深深致力於將善良推廣至全世界

With the finest aesthetic and intellectual resources, it sang the praises of forgiveness, charity, tenderness, and empathy

利用擁有最精緻美感且富有知識的資源，基督教讚揚寬恕、慈善、溫柔與同理心

But – unfortunately for niceness – Christianity didn’t simply leave it there

但，很不幸的，基督教教義並沒有停在善良的部分

It also suggested that there might be a fundamental opposition between being nice and being successful

它也暗示了善良與成功之間也許存在著根本的對立

Successful people were not, so believers were told, on the whole very nice people

信徒被告知成功的人一般來說並不是好人

and nice people were not, on the whole, very successful

而好人大體上不太成功

It seemed applicants to the Kingdom of Heaven had a choice to make: niceness or success

有意前往天國的人們面臨了抉擇：善良或成功

At a stroke, the dichotomy deeply tarnished the appeal of niceness to anyone with the remotest spark of healthy, worldly ambition in their hearts

一下子，對於心中擁有任何一點健康的、世俗抱負的人而言，這種二分法深深地破壞了善良的吸引力

Christianity might have been striving to enthuse us about niceness, but by connecting it up so firmly with failure

基督教或許致力於激發我們對於善良的嚮往，但將善良與失敗做如此牢固的連結

it created an enduring feeling that this was ultimately a quality of interest chiefly to losers

這讓我們持續認為只有失敗者會對善良特質感興趣

For the last two hundred years, we’ve been heavily influenced by the cultural movement known as Romanticism

兩百年以來，我們深深地被「浪漫主義」這個文化運動影響

and for the Romantics, the admirable person has been synonymous with the exciting person

對於浪漫主義者而言，令人敬佩的人就是有趣的人

someone intense and creative, mercurial and spontaneous, someone who might upset tradition

這個人熱情且具有創意、易變且自然，這個人也許會背離傳統

and dare at points to be forceful, even rude, in the name of following the call of their own hearts

會在某些時候以追隨內在心聲的名義，敢於強而有力地、甚至無禮地待人處事

The diametric opposite of this heroic figure was, for the Romantics, someone mild and respectable, guarded and conservative, unflashy and quiet

對於浪漫主義者而言，截然相反於這位英雄角色的人溫和可敬、謹慎保守、樸素沈默

In other words, the boring person

換句話來說，無聊的人

Here too, there has seemed a radical choice to be made: either fiery, unpredictable and brilliant, or meek, conventional and always in bed by nine

人們又面臨了抉擇：不是熱血、出色且不可預測，就是溫順、普通且九點前上床

To this charge-sheet of niceness, Capitalism added another indictment

資本主義又讓善良罪加一條

presenting an interpretation of the world as a deeply competitive arena in which all companies were committed to forge continuous battle for market share

將世界呈現成一個擁有高度競爭性的競技場，所有公司必須為了提升市場佔有而不停地奮鬥

in an atmosphere marked by ruthlessness, determination and impatience

這樣的氣氛是無情的、充滿決心與不耐煩

Those who succeeded had to know how to destroy the competition and handle the workforce without a trace of emotion

成功的人必須知道如何打敗敵人並且無絲毫情緒地在職場生存

A nice person, unwilling to squeeze wages or outwit an opponent, would end up either bankrupt or in the mailroom

好人則因為不願壓縮工資成本或智勝對手，最終落得破產或在信件事工作的下場

A final, more personal association hangs over niceness: the belief that the nice can’t be sexually desirable

最後，這個對於善良的聯想較為個人：認為好人不可能是性感的

for the qualities that make us erotic are bound up with the possession of brutal, domineering, confident edges at odds with the tenderness and coziness beloved of the nice

因為我們認為讓我們性感的特質都與殘酷、跋扈、充滿自信有關，與好人喜愛的溫柔體貼截然不同

Once again, an awkward choice presents itself:

人們再次面臨抉擇：

between the pleasant friend with whom to go to the park and the dangerous companion with whom to disappear into the dungeon with handcuffs and a whip

該和那位和藹可親的友人去公園散步還是該和那位危險的伴侶戴著手銬與皮鞭消失於地牢？

Despite all this, the truth is that we like niceness very much and depend upon it even more

儘管上述一切，事實上，我們都很喜歡善良的人，且極度依賴他們

It's just that our true memories of niceness have been suppressed by a culture that unfairly makes us feel unintelligent for lending niceness our approval

只是我們對於善良的最初記憶被一個不公平地讓我們覺得認可善良特質很愚蠢的文化所壓制

All of the qualities we've been taught to think of as opposed to niceness are in fact highly compatible with, and at points, highly dependent upon it

我們被教導與善良對立的所有特質事實上能與善良相容和諧，且某些時候，非常依賴善良

However much we are committed to success,

無論我們多致力於成功

for long portions of our lives, we are intensely vulnerable creatures wholly at the mercy of the gentleness of others

我們在生命的很大一部分是極為脆弱的、全由他人的溫柔支配

We’re only ever able to be successful because other people, usually our mothers, have given up a good share of their lives to being nice to us

我們的成功完全歸功於他人犧牲生活的一大部分善待我們（這個人通常是我們的母親）

As for excitement, this too can only ever be a phase, as all those who've made real contributions to humankind know

至於對於刺激的嚮往，這也只會是個過渡期，所有對於人類做出實質貢獻的人都知道

Quiet days, domestic routine and regular bedtimes are the necessary preconditions of the creative highs

平淡的日子、做日常家務事以及準時入眠都是經歷創作高峰的先決條件

There is nothing more sterile than a demand that life be constantly exciting

沒有任何事比要求生命持續帶給你刺激更枯燥

For its part, capitalism may reward competition between firms, but it relies on collaboration within them

資本主義也許會獎勵公司之間的競爭，但它依賴公司內的合作

No company can function long without trust and bonds of personal affection

沒有了信任與人與人之間的情感所形成的聯繫，沒有任何公司能長久運作

Much to the frustration of bosses, money can’t guarantee the necessary commitment from employees

老闆都為此感到惱怒，但金錢並不能確保職員為公司作出必要的奉獻

only meaning and a spirit of companionship will

只有「意義」以及「友誼」才能

Lastly, the sexual thrill of nastiness only ever properly entices in conditions of trust

最後，惡劣的人所散發出的性感刺激只有在建立於信任時才有吸引力

However much we may fantasize about a night with a ruthless conqueror

我們無論怎麼幻想與一位無情的征服者共度一晚

it would be alarming to wind up with an actual example

若這真的發生了，這會嚇到我們的

We need to know someone is fundamentally kind before an offer of a rope and the sound of swearwords become properly interesting

在皮繩或充滿髒話的辱罵能吸引我們之前，我們必須知道這個人的內心是善良的

So much of what we value is, in fact, preserved by niceness and is compatible with it

我們重視的很多事情都是為善良所支持，也都與善良是相容的

We can be nice and successful, nice and exciting, nice and wealthy, and nice and potent

我們可以同時善良又成功、善良又有趣、善良又有錢、善良又有權勢

Niceness is a virtue awaiting our rediscovery and our renewed, un-conflicted appreciation

善良是等待我們重新發現、重新以不矛盾的心去欣賞的美德