Pride and Prejudice

 

Pride goes before a fall 驕傲使人失敗，是至理名言。If you are too proud and overconfident, you will make mistakes leading to your defeat.

 

傲慢，往往令人聯想到偏見，多得英國女作家 Jane Austen 珍・奧斯汀家傳户曉的文學名著 Pride and Prejudice《傲慢與偏見》推波助瀾的功勞。

 

 

驕傲的反面是謙遜。如果謙遜 humility 是美德（virtue），驕傲 pride 便是惡行（vice）。天主教七宗罪順次序為：驕傲、妒忌、暴怒、懶惰、貪婪、貪食及色欲。The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust. 傲慢被認為是七宗罪中最原始、最嚴重的一項，包括對上帝不敬、濫用權力、對他人凶殘。

 

收斂驕氣，表示謙遜 humble yourself，為了去做本來不願意做的一件事而拋開面子、忍氣吞聲，可以用 swallow one’s pride 這句成語：to forget your pride and accept something humiliating。另一句成語 pride of place，意思和驕傲無關，表示最好的、最顯著的、最突出的或最重要的位置：the best or most prominent position in which something is most easily seen or given to the most important thing in a particular group。例句：All the entries in the flower show are good, but pride of place must go to Peter’s roses in this competition.

 

 

Pride and joy 是你引以為傲的人或事物，例如你的同窗好友成為世界知名人士：Your classmate who becomes a world famous scientist is your pride and joy. 相近的說法有：take pride in something；feel proud about somebody 以某事某人自豪：you take pride in his accomplishments；he does you proud。我為自己的工作感到驕傲，I take pride in my work；回顧過去的成就，我感到十分光榮，I looked with pride at what I had achieved。

 

The pride of something 便是值得自豪的人或事物：a person or thing that gives people a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction：他的藝術珍藏是家族的光榮 His art collection was the pride of the family；新體育場是這個城市的驕傲 The new sports stadium is the pride of the town。可見 pride 的解釋：自豪感、得意感、滿足的愉悅，並不一定是貶詞。Pride 作動詞用時，也有同樣的意思：She had always prided herself on her appearance，她總是對自己的外貌感到得意而自豪。

 

Proud 作為形容詞最常見的例子有：Your achievements are something to be proud of 你的成就是值得驕傲的。I feel very proud to be a part of the team 我以能成為隊中的一員感到十分榮幸。This is the proudest moment of my life 這是我生命中最榮耀的時刻。慣用語 do somebody proud 等於說盛情款待 treat somebody very well，給予某人隆重的禮遇 look after your guest very well，especially by giving them good food and entertainment；而 do yourself something proud 表示做了為自己贏得讚譽的事，令自己引以為傲 you do something that makes you proud of yourself or that makes other people proud of you。

 

 

偏見，成見，英文 prejudice，源自 “prejudge”，預先判斷，一般指不給別人公正的考查便貿然作出判斷。這種判斷，沒有任何證據，只憑先入為主的成見。Prejudice is an unfair and often unfavourable feeling or opinion not based on reason or enough knowledge, and sometimes resulting from fear or distrust of ideas different from one’s own. 持有偏見的人往往所見到的，不是個人而是群體。這些人的眼中，一個民族或者一個地區內的成員都一律相同，具有共同的特徵、性格和習慣：Prejudice often refers to a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their perceived group membership. 種族定型 racial stereotyping 是最普遍的偏見。種族主義者 nationalist 往往認為每一個種族的特色和能力才幹都不同，各個種族天生就有優劣之分。

 

先入為主的成見

 

偏見的形成，有個人的、社會的、文化的因素。偏見可能來自一個人的價值觀，也有可能由於一些人鼓吹一些對其它種族、地域或者文化不正確的觀點而產生。偏執己見的人，對事情往往有先入為主的看法，當事實與其看法相左時，這些人會加以歪曲、誤解、或者不予理會。Prejudice is prejudgment, or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. A few commonplace examples of prejudice are those based on someone’s race, gender, nationality, social status, sexual orientation or religious affiliation.

 

人類的進步和文化的創造，常常在打破既有偏見的過程中實現：Human history has been an incessant series of struggles against prejudices.

 

 

by Stephen Sestanovich

 

“Maximalist unearths the backroom stories and personalities that bring American foreign policy to life. Who knew how hard Lyndon Johnson fought to stay out of the war in Vietnam—or how often Henry Kissinger ridiculed the idea of visiting China? Who remembers that George Bush Sr. found Ronald Reagan’s diplomacy too passive—or that Bush Jr. considered Bill Clinton’s too active? Leaders and scoundrels alike emerge from this retelling in sharper focus than ever before.”

 

 

本專欄逢周二、五發表