Despite the bleakness Hopper's paintings depict,

they are not themselves bleak to look at –-

perhaps because they allow us as viewers

to witness an echo of our own griefs

and disappointments, and thereby

to feel less personally persecuted

and beset by them.

It is sad books that console us most

when we are sad,

and the pictures of lonely service stations

that we should hang on our walls

when there is no one to hold

or love.

霍伯 (Edward Hopper)

畫作裡描繪的淒清荒涼情境，

並不會使人在觀賞時

感到孤絕悲戚。

或許是因為賞畫人感受到

這些作品回應了

自己的哀傷與失落，

因而不再覺得只有自己一人

獨陷如此苦楚之中，

飽受挫折之痛。

在憂傷的時刻，

只有憂傷的書籍

才最能為我們療傷止痛。

在沒有人可擁懷疼愛的時候，

就應該在牆上掛一幅

寂寥的加油站照片

來作伴。

文：Alain de Botton

譯：Platero

圖：Edward Hopper,

"Automat" (1927)