◎ From ruderfinn.com

Last Friday， as I was leaving the Path Train1）， coming to work， I noticed a hard cover book under one of the benches. I was just about the last person to leave the train. I looked at the title and concluded that it was definitely a book that I would read and be happy to own. I took it， put it in my briefcase and walked away.

There were most likely some witnesses that could （or still can） attest to2） my theft.

I can fanaticize over headlines saying Ethics officer of a reputable PR firm caught stealing or \"Ethics Blogger？ A hypocrite3）！\"

Let's consider theft.

What does stealing mean？ I think that taking something that is not yours is a good definition. The book was definitely not mine， so my action of taking it could qualify in the eyes of many， and probably in your eyes as well， as theft.

But what does \"taking\" mean？ The definition is more complex and opens the door to4） many possibilities of \"what ifs\".

What if I happen to know who the owner of the book was？

I did.

What if my intention was to return it to its rightful owner？

It was and I did.

The book was a New York Public Library book！

Appearances can be deceiving and that is why we are not to judge.

As British comedian and musician Billy Connolly once said： \"Before you judge a man， walk a mile in his shoes. After that， who cares？ He's a mile away and you've got his shoes！\"

1.Path Train： Path城鐵，是連接紐約和新澤西的城際列車。Path為Port Authority Trans-Hudson （紐新航港局過哈德遜河捷運(yùn)）的簡(jiǎn)稱。

2.attest to： 為……作證

3.hypocrite [?h?p?kr?t] n. 偽君子

4.open the door to： 使成為可能；為……創(chuàng)造機(jī)會(huì)（或條件）

上周五去上班的路上，我正要走下Path城鐵時(shí)，注意到一張座椅下有一本精裝書。當(dāng)時(shí)我差不多是最后一個(gè)要下車的人。我看了眼書名，斷定這絕對(duì)是我會(huì)讀而且會(huì)很高興擁有的一本書。我拿起那本書，放進(jìn)手提包里，然后離開了。

當(dāng)時(shí)很可能有一些目擊證人能夠（或現(xiàn)在仍能夠）為我的偷竊行為作證。

我能想象出新聞?lì)^條寫著“知名公關(guān)公司的道德官行竊當(dāng)場(chǎng)被抓”，或是“道德博客博主竟是偽君子！”

我們來思考一下何為偷竊。

什么是偷竊？我覺得“拿走不屬于你的東西”是一個(gè)不錯(cuò)的定義。那本書確實(shí)不屬于我，所以我拿走它的行為在許多人眼里可以算得上是偷竊（可能在你眼里也是如此）。

但是“拿走”又是什么意思？這個(gè)詞的定義就有點(diǎn)復(fù)雜了，而且為許多“如果……將會(huì)怎樣”的可能性提供了機(jī)會(huì)。

如果我碰巧知道誰是這本書的主人將會(huì)怎樣呢？

我確實(shí)知道。

如果我的意圖是把它物歸原主將會(huì)怎樣呢？

我的意圖確實(shí)如此，而我也確實(shí)這么做了。

這本書是紐約公共圖書館的！

事情的表象可能具有欺騙性，因此我們不該妄下斷論。

正如英國(guó)喜劇演員、音樂家比利·康諾利曾說過的那樣：“評(píng)判一個(gè)人之前，你應(yīng)該先穿著他的鞋走一英里。在那之后，誰還在乎？他已經(jīng)在一英里之外，而他的鞋也已歸你了！”