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

我們對同伴犯下的最大罪行并非對他們懷恨在心，而是冷漠待之。這便是人性喪失的本質。

——George Bernard Shaw喬治?蕭伯納

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.

許多人尤其是年輕人似乎對他人享受安靜的權利難以理解。一年夏天，我與妻子組織了一個小的夏令營活動。當時圍坐在營火前的眾人熬到深夜仍歡聲笑語，盡管就在他們附近，其他人正躺在被夜色覆蓋的帳篷中艱難入睡。我們看到這幅情景真的驚呆了。

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.

我能理解結伴及有人相伴左右的美好暢快之感。但如果我們想要尊重他人的權益，那注意到我們行事的時間與地點很重要。

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.

我與妻子不得不花很多功夫提醒人們十點鐘后請保持安靜，只因為他們不愿去對之重視。他們隨心而為，而他們根本不在意自己的行為會給其他所有人帶去怎樣的影響。

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?

許多人都知曉因果循環之理——那些不尊重他人權利的人兒終究將得到某種報應。然而我們甚至要去想這么一回事，真是慚愧。倘若我們將因果僅理解為人生會帶來的好回報，因為我們與這個星球上的同伴或是其他人只交換積極的想法、正能量的話和鼓舞人的行為，那么人生會變得怎樣呢?

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.

當然我們不應該僅僅為了我們想要得到的回報，而決定什么該做和什么不該做。我們做的決定要基于對他人權利和需求的尊重。

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.

畢竟生活是大家一同努力營造的。我們對同類越好，便會越尊重他們及其權利，這個世界也會越來越明媚，充滿愛與同情心。對我們所有人來說，有意識去積極地看待這個世界，是極為簡單又重要的原則。