我們必須了解美，否則我們永遠(yuǎn)都會是它的奴隸

One of the most successful, influential and beloved women in American history, Eleanor Roosevelt once said that she had one regret: she wished she had been prettier. Who hasn’t felt the same way? We are all too aware of our physical imperfections. To overcome them, we spend billions upon billions of dollars every year on cosmetics, diet products, fashion, and plastic surgery.

身為美國史上最成功、最有影響力且最受人喜愛的女性之一的羅斯福夫人曾說她有一個遺憾：她希望自己長得更漂亮。誰沒有過同樣的想法呢?我們都強(qiáng)烈感覺到自己身體的缺陷。為了克服缺陷，我們每年都要花費幾十億美元--在化妝品、減肥食品、流行時尚與整容手術(shù)上。

Why do we care so much about how we look? Because it matters. Because beauty is powerful. Because even when we learn to value people mostly for being kind and wise and funny, we are still moved by beauty. No matter how much we argue against it or pretend to be immune, beauty exerts its power over us. There is simply no escape.

我們?nèi)绱嗽谝庾约旱耐饷?因為它很重要。因為美的力量很大。因為即使我們學(xué)著基本上去看重仁慈、智能、風(fēng)趣的人，但我們?nèi)詴艿矫赖母袆印o論我們多么用力辯駁，或假裝對它免疫，美仍然對我們產(chǎn)生影響。根本無法逃避。

Aristotle said, “Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction.” It’s not fair, but it’s true. We simply treat beautiful people better than we do others. Attach a photograph of a beautiful author to an essay, and people will think that is more creative and more intelligently written than exactly the same essay accompanied by the photo of a homely author.

亞里斯多德說：“美是比任何介紹信都要有用的推薦函。”這并不公平，但卻是事實。我們就是會對美麗的人比較好。把一位美麗作家的照片貼在作品上，讀者就會認(rèn)為這篇文章較有創(chuàng)意，寫得更有智能。完全相同的文章配上相貌平凡的作家照片，評價就會較低。

Our sensitivity to physical beauty is not something we can control at will. We are born with it. Experiments conducted by psychologist Judith J. Langlois showed that even small infants prefer to look at attractive faces. Before they have met a single supermodel, before they have watched a single TV show, before they have opened up a single fashion magazine, they are drawn to the same faces which adults have judged to be attractive.

我們對外在美的敏感，不是可以控制自如的。我們天生就這么敏感。心理學(xué)家朱迪絲藍(lán)洛斯的實驗顯示，就連小嬰兒也喜歡看漂亮的臉。他們從來沒有見過超級名模、沒看過電視節(jié)目，也沒翻開過時尚雜志，卻已經(jīng)受到大人也認(rèn)為有魅力的臉龐所吸引。

There are more important things in life than beauty. But as Etcoff says, “We have to understand beauty, or we will always be enslaved by it.” If you aim to be wise and kind and funny, it doesn’t mean that you can’t also try your best to look beautiful. There’s no reason to feel guilty about being moved by beauty’s power. It moves us all.

人生中有比美麗更重要的事，但就如艾特考夫所說：“我們必須了解美，否則我們永遠(yuǎn)都會是它的奴隸。”如果你的目標(biāo)是要聰明、仁慈又風(fēng)趣，這并不代表你就不能盡力讓自己變得漂亮。被美的力量感動，并不需要有罪惡感，因為所有的人都受它感動。