"Only for the sake of the hopeless ones have we been given hope."
——Walter Benjamin,  "Goethe's Elective Affinities," tr. by Stanley Corngold, Selected Writings, volume 1, 1913-1926 (Belknap Press, 1996), p. 356.

其他翻译：

It is only for the sake of those without hope that hope is given to us.

Hope is given only to those who no longer hope.

哪个好？

《清平乐》词/李清照
年年雪里,常插梅花醉.
挼尽梅花无好意,
赢得满衣清泪.
今年海角天涯,
萧萧两鬓生华.
看取晚来风势,
故应难看梅花.
To the Tune of Qing Ping Le
By LI Qingzhao
Tr. JOHN ZHAO Yizong
In snowfall every year，
Oft inserting plum flowers，I was in cheer.
Later,kneading them in hands,I'd no good mood,
But my dress was so wetted with my tear.
When plum trees bloom this year, I'm far away,
And hair of my temples is sparse and gray.
I see the strong gale blow in the evening;
Maybe I've no way to share them next day.

山亭夏日文/高骈（唐）
绿树阴浓夏日长，楼台倒影入池塘。
水晶帘动微风起，满架蔷薇一院香。
Pavilions in the Hills in Summer Days
By GAO Pian
Tr. JOHN ZHAO Yizhong
In summer days longer show dark shades of green trees;
The pavilions cast their shadows into the pool.
I see the crystal curtain stir and feel the breeze;
The trellis of roses release scents to th'yard cool.