雙語智慧書·決不談論自己

117．決不談論自己
　　決不談論自己。當你談論自己時，要么是為了虛榮而夸獎自己，要么是因為自卑而責怪自己。這樣對言者來說不適合；對聽者來說，也不會感到愉悅。這點在日常談話中需避免，在正式文件中更需避免，在公共演講中則最需避免--這種時候，哪怕出現(xiàn)一點點愚蠢都是不明智的。當面談論某人也很不得體，因為這樣很可能讓你陷入兩個極端：被人認為是在諂媚，或是責難。


117．Never talk about yourself
　Never talk about yourself. To do so you must either praise yourself, which is vain, or blame yourself, which is little-minded: it is unseemly for the speaker and unpleasant for the listener. And if you should avoid this in ordinary conversation, how much more in official matters, and above all, in public speaking, where every appearance of unwisdom really is unwise. The same want of tact lies in speaking of a man in his presence, owing to the danger of going to one of two extremes: flattery or censure.