词源趣谈 | ignorance is bliss 无知即福

人们有时用 ignorance is bliss 为某人的无知辩护。它出自英国诗人托马斯·格雷（Thomas Gray，1716—1771）的诗作《伊顿远眺》（Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College，1747）：

Yet ah! why should they know their fate?
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
’Tis folly to be wise.
唉！他们何苦知晓自己的命运？
忧愁从不会姗姗来迟，
快乐总是稍纵即逝。
思虑使他们的天堂塌陷。
天堂不在；无知即福，
愚笨即是聪慧。

格雷在诗中以令人深思的笔调，感叹无忧无虑的学童未来将遭受的不幸。