威廉·薩默塞特·毛姆/William Somerset Maugham
威廉·薩默塞特·毛姆（1874—1965），英國著名小說家、劇作家、散文家。也是醫學係學生，後轉而致力寫作。他的文章常在譏諷中潛藏對人性的憐憫與同情。《人性的枷鎖》是傾其畢生心血的巨著，也為他奠定了偉大小說家的不朽地位。本文的《微塵與棟梁》指他人的小缺點與自己的大缺點，以此為篇名喻義深遠，希冀藉此申明責己與責人之道。
It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others.I suppose the reason is that we know all th e circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in our selves what we cannot excuse in others.We turn our attention away from our own defects,and when we are forced by untoward events to consider t hem,find it easy to condone them.For all I know we are right to do thi s;they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.
But when we come to judge others,it is not by ourselves as we reall y are that we judge them,but by an image that we have formed of ourselv es from which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or wou ld discredit us in the eyes of the world.To take a trivial instance:ho w scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie;but who can s ay that he has never told not one,but a hundred?
There is not much to choose between men.They are all a hotchpotch o f greatness and littleness,of virtue and vice,of nobility and baseness.Some have more strength of character,or more opportunity,and so in o ne direction or another give their instincts freer play,but potentially they are the same.For my part,I do not think I am any better or any wo rse than most people,but I know that if I set down every action in my l ife and every thought that has crossed my mind,the world would consider me a monster of depravity.The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to ot hers.It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows,even t he most eminent and respectable,with humor,and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.