害人之心不可有，但有的时候不方便表态或作为，那么装糊涂也不失为是一种办法，虽然有的时候这样做会让人觉得自己没能力，但可能却是最有效的办法。因此保持中立是一种不温不火的态度，也是一种没办法中的办法。保持中立或中立用英语表示是 neutral，对应的名词是 neutrality，表示在分歧、竞争等中不支持或帮助任何一方，相当于 impartial 或 unbiased，常与动词 remain 连用，例如：1. neutral:The peace conference would have to be held in a neutral country.和平会议必须在中立国举行。If there's an argument between my daughter and her mother, it's important that I remain neutral.如果我女儿和她母亲之间有争执，我必须保持中立。2. neutrality:We have tried to pursue a policy of neutrality.我们力行中立的政策。The Queen has maintained political neutrality throughout her reign.女王在位期间一直保持政治中立。3. impartial:As an impartial observer my analysis is supposed to be objective.作为中立的观察员，我的分析应该客观。A trial must be fair and impartial.审判必须公平且不偏不倚。4. unbiased:He admits that his newspaper was not an unbiased observer in the conflict.他承认他的报纸在冲突中并不是一个中立的观察者。We try to remain as unbiased as we can, but it is difficult.我们尽量保持中立，但这很困难。有的时候之所以要保持中立或持观望态度，是因为犹豫不决、延迟或避免做决定。犹豫不决的英文是形容词 undecided 或名词 indecision，例如： undecided:Are you still undecided about the new job?你对新工作还是犹豫不决吗？54 percent of voters were in favour, 30 percent against, and the rest were undecided.54%的选民赞成，30%的人反对，其余的人犹豫不决。indecision:A moment's indecision when you've got the ball and you could lose the game.当你拿到球时，一时的犹豫不决会让你输掉比赛。I tossed and turned all night in a frenzy of indecision.我整夜辗转反侧，犹豫不决。
习语 sit on the fence 的字面意思是“坐在围栏上”，虽然跟“中立”没有任何关系，但它被用来表示保持中立或犹豫不决等，可以意为“骑墙，持观望态度”，例如：Has he decided which offer he is going to accept or is he still sitting on the fence?他决定接受哪一个提议了吗？还是在保持中立？Either you support me or you don’t. You can’t sit on the fence all your life.你要么支持我，要么不支持。你不能观望一辈子。He tends to sit on the fence at meetings.开会时他往往持观望态度。Politicians cannot sit on the fence. People expect them to have clear views.政客们不能保持中立。人们期望他们有清晰的观点。Sit on the fence 对应的名词是 fence-sitting，且保持中立的人是 fence-sitter，例如：She was fence-sitting on the union issue until recently.直到最近，她在工会问题上还是保持中立。After weeks of fence-sitting, he finally took a position.观望了几个星期后，他终于有了一个职位。做人要随机应变，该出手时要出手，该观望时要观望，不要一成不变，学英语也是同样的道理，要边学边想，该思考时就要停下来好好思考。 词或词组辨析：frenzy 意为“疯狂，使疯狂”等
