我清晰地記得接下來發生了什么,而那是我意料之外的。我本期待著小聰明和算術技巧能贏得掌聲,但那并沒有發生。相反,我的祖母哭泣起來。我的祖父之前一直在默默開車,把車停在了路邊,走下車來,打開了我的車門,等著我跟他下車。我惹麻煩了嗎?我的祖父是一個智慧而安靜的人。他從來沒有對我說過嚴厲的話,難道這會是第一次?還是他會讓我回到車上跟祖母道歉?我以前從未遇到過這種狀況,因而也無從知曉會有什么后果發生。我們在房車旁停下來。祖父注視著我,沉默片刻,然后輕輕地、平靜地說:"杰夫,有一天你會明白,善良比聰明更難。"
I have a vivid memory of what happened, and it was not what I expected. I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills. "Jeff, you're so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division." That's not what happened. Instead, my grandmother burst into tears. I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do. While my grandmother sat crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow. Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time? Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother. I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be. We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, "Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."