How thankful am I, that we never let them know what has been said against him; we must forget it ourselves.

谢天谢地，好在我们从来没有让两位老人家知道外界对他的议论，我们自己也不必把它放在心上。

But-and this is what I want you to practise, Felix-true politeness involves a Christian principle; it is the flower of Love, it requires that we forget ourselves really.

但是——这就是我要你练习的，菲利克斯——真正的礼貌涉及基督教的原则；它是爱的花朵，它需要我们真正忘记自己。

Politeness, dear, consists in seeming to forget ourselves for others; with many it is social cant, laid aside when personal self-interest shows its cloven-foot; a noble then becomes ignoble.

礼貌，亲爱的，在于似乎为了别人忘记了自己；对许多人来说，这是社交上的谎言，当个人利益表现出来时就被搁置一旁；一个贵族然后变得卑鄙。