《那是一個最好的時代，那是一個最壞的時代》(It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..)

這是狄更斯1859年出版的小說《雙城記》A Tale of Two Cities第一章第一段的起頭，但是大部分的人可能只記得前面兩句，而忽略了第一段的最後幾句話：

『…in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only』

狄更斯的意思應該是說，自古至今，不論哪個時代，人類的基本思維並沒有改變，儘管有不同的工具，行為模式也沒有改變，一些媒體、名嘴、政客和公眾人物意欲喧譁取寵，而用最極端的形容詞，形容他們認為好或不好的人、事、物。

幸好，這個社會仍有善良的一面，也是沉默的大多數，並不受這些人的影響，使社會不論經歷多少荒誕怪異，仍能延續下去。

很多人都喜歡喧譁取寵，我也喜歡，但是總應該考量到社會責任吧…

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雙城記第一章第一段

『It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.』

那是最好的時代，那是最壞的時代；那是智慧的歲月，那是愚昧的歲月；那是信任的紀元，那是懷疑的紀元；那是光明的季節，那是黑暗的季節；那是希望的春天，那是失望的冬天；我們的前面曾應有盡有，我們的前面曾一無所有；我們都將走上天堂，我們都將走向另一端–簡言之，那段時期與現在的時期是那麼相似，那些最吵雜的權威人士都堅持，不論是善良或邪惡，用最高級形容詞來評論。

(直譯不妥之處，請大家幫忙修正)