The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 81 Not Everywhere Are Bad Guys
[United States] Osler

There are a lot of bad guys in the world, but most of them are good guys—like you, like me.We're all good people, aren't we?
The Association of Old Newspapermen in New York has regular dinners, and during the dinner, people often tell some old stories to add to the fun.On this day, Mr. William Bill, an old newspaperman - the vice chairman of this association - told a story of his own experience.

When Bill was 10, his mother died; his father died soon after, leaving seven orphans—five boys and two girls.A poor relative took Bill in, and the others went to an orphanage.

Bill supported himself by selling newspapers.In those days, there were as many newsboys as there were ants in the vegetable garden.It is not easy for him to fight for territory because of his small size.Bill was often beaten and suffered a lot.From the heat of summer to the freezing depths of winter, Bill hawks from the sidewalk.At a young age, Bill had learned to be cynical.One late spring afternoon, a tram stopped around the corner.Bill went up to him, ready to sell a few newspapers through the car window.When the car was starting, a fat man stood on the rear pedal and said, "Newspaper seller, here are two copies!"

Bill went forward to deliver two newspapers.The car moved, and the fat man held up a coin and laughed.Bill chased after him and said, "Sir, give me the money."

"I'll give it to you if you jump on the pedal." He laughed, rubbing the coin between his palms.The car drove faster and faster.

Bill rolled a bag of newspapers from his armpit to his shoulder, and leaped to get onto the running board, but his foot slipped and he fell on his back.He was about to get up when a carriage behind him stopped next to him with a "squeak".

A woman with a bouquet of roses in the car, with tears in her eyes, cursed at the tram: "This damned inhuman thing, hateful!" Then leaned over to Bill and said, "My child, I will I see, you wait here, I'll be back." Then he said to the coachman: "Mark, catch up and kill him!" Bill got up, wiped away his tears, and recognized the woman holding the rose as a movie poster Miss May Irwin, the star of the show.

After 10 minutes, the carriage turned back, and the female star greeted Bill to get into the car.Then he said to the coachman, "Mark, tell him what you have done."

"I grabbed that guy," Mark said through gritted teeth. "I punched him black in the eyes and punched him in the temple. I got the money back." A coin was placed in Bill's hand.

"Listen, boy," Mayowon said to Bill, "you don't want to judge everyone bad just because you meet a bad guy like that. There are a lot of bad guys in the world, but most of them are good people—like you, like Me. We're good guys, aren't we?"

Many years later, when Bill savored Mark's happy description again, he suddenly became suspicious: only for a while, can he catch up with that guy in time, and beat him up?

True, the carriage did not even follow the shadow of the tram, which turned the corner ahead, turned around, and came straight at the child again, at a wounded and bitter heart.And Mark's imaginative coaxing description is really a good medicine to comfort the young mind, making Bill feel that there is still justice and love in the world.

Bill didn't go to formal school, and he became a reporter, an editor, and earned a reputation in the journalism world by self-education.He and his siblings were later reunited as well.

Bill said to his newspaper colleagues: "Thank God, hardship is a good thing, and I am grateful for it. But I am more grateful to Miss Mayowon, for her anger that day, for the tears in her eyes, and the rose in her hand, Relying on these, I didn't sink, and I didn't blindly hate the world and myself to death."

Heart mark notes
We can judge a flower or a butterfly by its beauty, but we cannot judge people in society in the same way.In this complicated world, there are all kinds of people, kind people, greedy people, honest people, treacherous people, sincere people, hypocritical people... But people often only use two kinds of people to describe Divide the world, i.e. good guys and bad guys.People with good qualities and compassion are considered good people, while people with bad qualities and lack of compassion are considered bad people.

Sometimes, we may always feel that we encounter many more bad people than good people. In fact, this is an illusion. There are still many good people in the world. Otherwise, how can this society develop?The bad guys are like the weeds in the flowers, they compete with the flowers for soil and nutrients, but they can't stop the fragrance of the garden.When the gardener wakes up, sooner or later weeds cannot escape the fate of being eradicated.

(End of this chapter)