Ninety per cent. of all daily friction is caused by tone—mere tone of voice. Try this experiment. Say: 'Oh, you little darling, you sweet pet, you entirely15 charming creature!' to a baby or a dog; but roar these delightful16 epithets17 in the tone of saying: 'You infernal little nuisance! If I hear another sound I'll break every bone in your body!' The baby will infallibly whimper, and the dog will infallibly mouch off. True, a dog is not a human being, neither is a baby. They cannot understand. It is precisely18 because they cannot understand and articulate words that the experiment is valuable; for it separates the effect of the tone from the effect of the word spoken. He who speaks, speaks twice. His words convey his thought, and his tone conveys his mental attitude towards the person spoken to. And certainly the attitude, so far as friction goes, is more important than the thought. Your wife may say to you: 'I shall buy that hat I spoke19 to you about.' And you may reply, quite sincerely, 'As you please.' But it will depend on your tone whether you convey: 'As you please. I am sympathetically anxious that your innocent caprices should be indulged.' Or whether you convey: 'As you please. Only don't bother me with hats. I am above hats. A great deal too much money is spent in this house on hats. However, I'm helpless!' Or whether you convey: 'As you please, heart of my heart, but if you would like to be a nice girl, go gently. We're rather tight.' I need not elaborate. I am sure of being comprehended.
As tone is the expression of attitude, it is, of course, caused by attitude. The frictional tone is chiefly due to that general attitude of blame which I have already condemned20 as being absurd and unjustifiable. As, by constant watchful21 discipline, we gradually lose this silly attitude of blame, so the tone will of itself gradually change. But the two ameliorations can proceed together, and it is a curious thing that an agreeable tone, artificially and deliberately22 adopted, will influence the mental attitude almost as much as the mental attitude will influence the tone. If you honestly feel resentful against some one, but, having understood the foolishness of fury, intentionally23 mask your fury under a persuasive24 tone, your fury will at once begin to abate25. You will be led into a rational train of thought; you will see that after all the object of your resentment26 has a right to exist, and that he is neither a doormat nor a scoundrel, and that anyhow nothing is to be gained, and much is to be lost, by fury. You will see that fury is unworthy of you.
Do you remember the gentleness of the tone which you employed after the healing of your first quarrel with a beloved companion? Do you remember the persuasive tone which you used when you wanted to obtain something from a difficult person on whom your happiness depended? Why should not your tone always combine these qualities? Why should you not carefully school your tone? Is it beneath you to ensure the largest possible amount of your own 'way' by the simplest means? Or is there at the back of your mind that peculiarly English and German idea that politeness, sympathy, and respect for another immortal27 soul would imply deplorable weakness on your part? You say that your happiness does not depend on every person whom you happen to speak to. Yes, it does. Your happiness is always dependent on just that person. Produce friction, and you suffer. Idle to argue that the person has no business to be upset by your tone! You have caused avoidable friction, simply because your machine for dealing with your environment was suffering from pride, ignorance, or thoughtlessness. You say I am making a mountain out of a mole-hill. No! I am making a mountain out of ten million mole-hills. And that is what life does. It is the little but continuous causes that have great effects. I repeat: Why not deliberately adopt a gentle, persuasive tone—just to see what the results are? Surely you are not ashamed to be wise. You may smile superiorly as you read this. Yet you know very well that more than once you have resolved to use a gentle and persuasive tone on all occasions, and that the sole reason why you had that fearful shindy yesterday with your cousin's sister-in-law was that you had long since failed to keep your resolve. But you were of my mind once, and more than once.
What you have to do is to teach the new habit to your brain by daily concentration on it; by forcing your brain to think of nothing else for half an hour of a morning. After a time the brain will begin to remember automatically. For, of course, the explanation of your previous failures is that your brain, undisciplined, merely forgot at the critical moment. The tone was out of your mouth before your brain had waked up. It is necessary to watch, as though you were a sentinel, not only against the wrong tone, but against the other symptoms of the attitude of blame. Such as the frown. It is necessary to regard yourself constantly, and in minute detail. You lie in bed for half an hour and enthusiastically concentrate on this beautiful new scheme of the right tone. You rise, and because you don't achieve a proper elegance28 of necktie at the first knotting, you frown and swear and clench29 your teeth! There is a symptom of the wrong attitude towards your environment. You are awake, but your brain isn't. It is in such a symptom that you may judge yourself. And not a trifling30 symptom either! If you will frown at a necktie, if you will use language to a necktie which no gentleman should use to a necktie, what will you be capable of to a responsible being?... Yes, it is very difficult. But it can be done.
点击收听单词发音
1 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 banal | |
adj.陈腐的,平庸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 friction | |
n.摩擦,摩擦力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 shrieks | |
n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 simultaneously | |
adv.同时发生地,同时进行地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 stuffy | |
adj.不透气的,闷热的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 stuffiness | |
n.不通风,闷热;不通气 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 deteriorating | |
恶化,变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 epithets | |
n.(表示性质、特征等的)词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 deliberately | |
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 intentionally | |
ad.故意地,有意地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 persuasive | |
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 abate | |
vi.(风势,疼痛等)减弱,减轻,减退 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 elegance | |
n.优雅;优美,雅致;精致,巧妙 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 clench | |
vt.捏紧(拳头等),咬紧(牙齿等),紧紧握住 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 trifling | |
adj.微不足道的;没什么价值的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |