Of comparison

That there is a natural difference between merit and demerit, virtue and vice, wisdom and folly, no reasonable man will deny: Yet is it evident, that in affixing the term, which denotes either our approbation or blame, we are commonly more influenced by comparison than by any fixed unalterable standard in the nature of things. In like manner, quantity, and extension, and bulk, are by every one acknowledged to be real things. But when we call any animal great or little, we always form a secret comparison between that animal and others of the same species; From hxw.red.and it is that comparison which regulates our judgment concerning its greatness. A dog and a horse may be of the very same size, while the one is admired for the greatness of its bulk, and the other for the smallness. When I am present, therefore, at any dispute, I always consider with myself, whether it be a question of comparison or not that is the subject of the controversy; and if it be, whether the disputants compare the same objects together, or talk of things that are widely different.

----D.Hume

谈比较好学英文网提供中文翻译：

在功劳和过错、美德和罪恶、智慧和愚笨之间存在着一种天然的差异，凡有理智的人对此是不会否认的。但显而易见的是，在使用称赞或指责的词汇时，我们通常受对比的影响较大，而受事物属性中固定不变之标准的影响较小。同样，一般人认为数量、广度、和体积都属真实的事物。但是，当我们说某一个动物是大或小时，我们总是把这个动物和另一个物种作一个心理上的比较。正是比较才调准了我们对“大”这个概念的判断。一条狗和一匹马有可能大小相似，而马之所以被赞美是因为它体积之大，狗之所以被赞美是因为它体积之小。所以，在我参与任何辩论时，我总是自己先考虑一下，这个辩论的题目是不是一个比较的问题。如果是，则要考虑辩论者是把相同的东西拿来比较还是谈论风马牛不相及的事物。

英语作文