“这是最好的时代，也是最坏的时代”出自英国作家查尔斯·狄更斯的《双城记》。原文为：
> It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness. It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being then and there.
这段话的意思是，这是一个 最好的时代，也是最坏的时代；这是一个 智慧的年代，也是一个愚蠢的年代；这是一个 信任的时期，也是一个怀疑的时期；这是一个 光明的季节，也是一个黑暗的季节；这是 希望之春，也是失望之冬；人们面前 应有尽有，也一无所有；人们正在 踏上天堂之路，也正在走向地狱之门。
