卷 七

1.什么是恶?恶是你已经见过无数次的东西。同样,每当遇到其他事情的时候,立即提醒自己:这种情形你已经司空见惯了。你会发现相同的事情无处不在,它们充斥着古代、近代、当代的全部历史,如今又充斥着我们的城市和家园。这种事情毫无新奇可言,一切都是转瞬即逝的老生常谈。



2.只有当产生原则的最初认识逐渐消失时,原则才会失去活力,只能靠你来继续煽动,使它重新燃起火焰。我完全有能力对事物产生正确的看法。掌握了这种能力,我就无需感到不安。(对于那些我无法理解的事情,我根本就不放在心上。)一旦学会它,你就可以屹立于天地之间。崭新的人生就在你的手中。你只需再次根据最初的印象和早期的视角看待事物,生活便会翻开新的篇章。



3.空洞的盛装游行,舞台剧,成群的牛羊,持矛士兵的争斗,扔向恶狗群中的骨头,撒向鱼池的面包屑,负重劳作的蚂蚁,惊慌失措、四散奔逃的老鼠,颤动的拉线木偶,这就是生活。置身其中,你必须心平气和,不带有一丝轻蔑地表明态度,但要始终意识到,雄心壮志乃是人的最大价值。



4.交谈时,要仔细留意正在说什么。行动时,要仔细留意正在做什么。对于后者,要立刻弄清做这事的意图是什么。对于前者,则要弄清说这话的含义是什么。



5.我的理解力能否胜任这项工作?如果能,我就将它作为大自然赐予我的工具运用到工作中。如果不能,我要么让位给更能胜任的人(如果我的职责允许的话),要么在助手的帮助下全力以赴,他将借助我的灵感,及时有效地为公众效力。我所做的一切,无论是凭一己之力或是和别人联手,都必须以服务公众和社会和谐为唯一宗旨。



6.多少曾经被高度赞颂的人如今已经被人遗忘,多少赞颂者自己也早已从我们的视线中消逝!



7.不要认为接受帮助是可耻的事情。你的任务是完成既定使命,犹如突围中的战士。假如因为腿瘸,你无法独自爬上城垛,有了战友的帮助,不就可以上去了吗?



8.切莫为未来而烦恼。即便以后不得不面对未来,也要用应对今天的理智武器来应对未来。



9.所有的事物互相交织一起,神圣的纽带将它们连在一起,互相孤立的事物几乎没有。万事万物相互配合,共同作用,构成了统一的宇宙。世界秩序是由多样性构成的统一体:神灵是统一体,遍及万物;所有生命是统一体;所有法律是统一体(即所有会思考的生灵所共有的理性);所有真理是统一体。正如我们所信仰的那样,要是只有一条供相同种类和理性的存在通往完美的路,那就好了。



10.每一颗微小的物质都会很快化为普遍物质的一部分,每一种因果关系都会很快再次回归到普遍理性之中,对一切事物的记忆也将很快湮灭于永恒的深渊之中。



11.对于有理性思维的人而言,符合本性的行为就是符合理性的行为。



12.是自己站起来,还是被人扶起来?



13.在由多种成分组成的某一体系中,具有理性的部分起着相同的作用,这与各肢体在有机统一体中所起的作用相仿。它们都是为了相互协作而存在。假如你经常对自己说:“我是整个复杂的理性事物的‘一肢’”,这种看法就会对你产生更强的印象。如果你认为自己仅仅是一个“局部”,那说明到目前为止你还没有从内心产生对人类的热爱,也没有体验到为他们行善的快乐。你行善只是应付差事而已,还没有把它当作是对自己有益的事情。



14.将要发生的事情,就让我这身躯可能受到影响的部分去承受吧。只要愿意,就让它们抱怨吧。至于我,只要不把它当成邪恶,我就不会觉得痛苦。而且,也没有任何东西能迫使我把它当成邪恶。



15.无论世人如何评说、如何行事,我都将保持本色。如同金块、祖母绿、紫色长袍始终坚持的那样:“任凭世人如何评说、如何行事,我仍然是一块祖母绿,保持着自己的本色。”



16.主宰我们的理性绝不会受自扰之害。例如,它绝不会引发内心的激情。如果别人能以恐惧和痛苦刺激理性,那就由他去吧。但是理性自己却绝不允许自己的判断误导自己陷入这样的情绪之中。如果可能,理性会尽量让肉体为自己操心,免受伤害。如果肉体已受伤害,那就让它说出来。可是,灵魂却毫发无伤,因为它自己就能了解恐惧和痛苦,并且能判断是否存在恐惧和痛苦。你无法强迫它做出判断。主宰我们的理性能够自给自足,除了自己为自己创造的事物之外别无他求。由于同样的原因,它不会经受干扰和阻碍,除非这些干扰和阻碍是它自身所为。



17.根据词源,幸福是“内心万能的神灵” 〔1〕 的意思,也就是指万能的理性主宰。那么,空虚的幻想,你在此有何贵干?看在神灵的份上,走开吧,就像你来时一样。我不需要你。我知道,是长期的习惯使你来到这里。我并无恶意,只是请你离开。



18.我们总是害怕变化。可是,没有变化,何来万物?还有什么是大自然更为珍视,并使其自身更为特别的呢?木柴不发生变化,你怎能洗上热水澡?食物不发生变化,你怎能汲取营养?没有变化,有用的东西从何而来?难道你看不出来,你自身也同样发生着变化,这些变化对你、对大自然同样必不可少?



19.所有的物体都要穿过普遍物质,如同出入激流一样。它们与整体相互聚合、相互协作,就像人体的各个部分彼此协作一样。多少个克律西波斯、苏格拉底、埃皮克提图已被时光淹没!不论对待什么人,处理什么事,你都要牢记这一点。



20.只有一件事困扰着我:我担心自己要做的事非人力所及,或者必须以其他某种方式去做,或者须得在将来某日去做。



21.你很快就会忘记这个世界,而这个世界也很快就会忘记你。



22.爱那些犯错或误入歧途的人是人类独有的特征。你要意识到他们是你的兄弟,意识到他们犯错是由于无知而非故意,意识到不久之后你们都将不复存在,更重要的是要意识到,由于主宰你的理智毫发无伤,你本身并没受到伤害。一旦意识到这些,爱便会油然而生。



23.大自然用普遍物质就像用蜡一样,做成了一匹小马,随即将其打碎后又做了一棵树,接着又做了一个人,然后还做成其他的东西。它们的生命周期都很短暂。至于模具本身,打碎它并不比把它拼凑起来更困难。



24.怒气冲冲的容颜完全有违本性。倘若经常如此,美貌便开始枯萎,最终消失殆尽,不复重生。你必须设法认识到这种行为并不理智。因为如果我们丧失了洞察缺点的能力,活着还有什么意义呢?



25.只消片刻工夫,大自然这个宇宙处置者便会让你看到的一切面目全非,用旧物质产生新事物,新事物而后又将产生新事物,不断更新使宇宙永葆青春。



26.当别人冒犯你的时候,你首先要想到,这是否涉及善恶问题。一旦弄清楚,惊诧和愤怒便会化作怜悯。这是因为,你对善的看法并不比他高明,或者至少和他有相似之处。在这种情况下,你显然应该原谅他。否则,从另一方面讲,你已经变得不关心这种行为是善是恶了。这样的话,那就更容易原谅别人的愚昧。



27.不要沉浸在贪婪的梦里。还是想想已经拥有的神灵的主要恩赐吧。然后再怀着感激之情想想,假如你还未拥有这些恩赐,你会多么渴望得到它们。同时也要谨记,不要因喜欢它们而过分珍视它们,以防它们一旦失去,就会打破你内心的平静。



28.归隐于心。主宰我们的理性只要求我们行为端正以获得内心的宁静,此外别无他求。



29.抛开那些异想天开的念头。不要再做激情的傀儡。将时间限制在眼前。学会按每一经历的本来面目认识它们,无论这些经历是自己的还是别人的。将感官对象按根源和内容加以分类。想想自己的最后时刻。邻人的不端留给他自己去处理。



30.集中精力关注正在说的话,全神贯注地考虑正在做的事和谁正在做。



31.树立质朴自重的光辉形象,做出对正邪范围以外的事情漠不关心的样子。热爱人类。走神灵指引的路。圣人云:“一切从法。”虽然他指的是微粒,但那又何妨?对我们而言,记住万物确实从法就足够了。尽管只有三个单词,但已经够了。



32.关于死亡:如果世界是由微粒聚合而成,死亡即是消散;如果世界是个统一体,死亡则是灭绝或蜕变。



33.关于痛苦:痛苦如果达到无法忍受的程度就会终结我们的生命;生命若是继续存在,则说明痛苦还可以忍受。高高在上远离肉体的心灵始终保持着平静,主宰我们的理性毫发无伤。至于被痛苦伤害的部分,如果可能,让它们自己表达悲伤吧。



34.关于名声:看看追逐她的那些人的心灵吧,看看他们的野心和可恶行径吧。再想想,今生今世,今天的事物很快便被明天的事物埋葬,就像一层流沙很快被另一层覆盖。



35.“如果一个人拥有伟大的思想和开阔的视野去沉思古往今来,他会把人生看作是举足轻重的大事吗?”“不,他不会。”“所以,他就不会认为死亡是件可怕的事了?”“不会。”(出自柏拉图)



36.行善举却遭诟病,这就是王子们的宿命。(出自安提泰尼)



37.遗憾的是,五官一味地听从心灵的指挥,任其处置,而心灵却不听从自己的指挥和处置。



38.“不要对事物的进程而烦恼;它们不理会你的烦恼。”



39.“让永生的神灵快乐,同样也让我们自己快乐。”



40.“人的生命犹如成熟待收的玉米,留下这个,砍倒那个。”



41.“如果上天不肯眷顾我和我那两个儿子,那必定有充分的理由。”



42.“正义和好运都与我同在。”



43.“不与痛哭的人一起流泪,脉搏的跳动也不会加快。”



44.“我可以公正地回答他:我的朋友,如果你认为一个有价值的人应当把时间花在掂量生与死的前景上,那你就错了。采取任何行动之前,他只需考虑一件事情:即他的行为是正确还是错误,他像个好人还是像个坏人。”(出自柏拉图)



45.“先生们,事情的真相是这样的。一个人一旦决定表明立场,不是因为这样做似乎对他最为有利,就是因为要服从命令。而我相信,他必然要留下来面对险境,在耻辱面前已将自己的生死或其他事情置之度外。”(出自柏拉图)



46.“我的朋友,我恳求你好好想一想,高尚和善良也许不等于让自己和朋友远离危险;好好想一想,一个纯粹的人是否应该把能活多久这样的问题从自己脑海中消除,而不是不惜一切地贪生怕死。让他把那个问题交给神灵决定吧。女人告诉我们没人能逃脱宿命,要相信她们是正确的。让他专心思考下一个问题吧:如何才能最好地度过自己的一生。”(出自柏拉图)



47.仰望环绕的群星,仿佛自己置身其中。经常想象元素的那些变化和重组的舞蹈。这种想象能涤清我们世俗生活的杂质。



48.柏拉图有句话说得精辟。他说,论述人性的人应该站在高高的瞭望塔上眺望人间百态。他会看到有关是战是和的各种集会、农业耕作、繁衍交配、离别、出生、死亡、喧嚣的法庭、人迹罕至的蛮荒之地、陌生的各色人等、欢宴、哀悼、讨价还价。观察这纷繁混杂的景象和矛盾对立所产生的和谐秩序。



49.回首往昔,看到一个个王朝兴衰更迭,你就也能预见到未来。未来的模式依旧,甚至连细枝末节也都一样,因为它不可能偏离宇宙稳健前行的步伐。因此,看待四十年后的人生和四万年后的人生,别无二致。此外,你还有什么可看的呢?



50.“凡是生于土的必定归还于土;诞生于天国的种子也将回归天国。”——即通过原子结构的瓦解和元素的扩散来实现。



51.“撇开美酒珍馐和绝色佳人,命运的潮水能逃离死亡吗?”



“神灵送来了阵阵微风,我们应该以无怨无悔的心灵摇着橹去迎接。”



52.“竞技场上的奸诈诡计越来越多。”没错,但是却看不到越来越多的公益精神、自我谦虚、临场应变、对邻居疏忽的宽容。



53.只要一个人的行为能够符合人神共有的理性,就没什么可担心的。当能够效力的机会出现,而且已经付诸的行动进展顺利并完全符合我们人的规则时,我们就不必担心会受到伤害。



54.你随时随地都有能力虔诚地接受当天发生的事情,公正地对待当天的同伴,一丝不苟地关注当天的印象,以防它们未经检验而混入你的内心世界。



55.面对能支配别人的种种本能,要做到目不斜视,心无旁骛地认准本性指给你的目标:普遍本性通过环境说话,而你自己的本性则通过使命感说话。人的行为要符合与生俱来的本性,其他造物要服务于理性生物(这和低级事物是为高级事物的利益而存在这一普遍规律相一致),而后者则是为了相互服务。因此,人的本性的首要特征是对同类怀有责任感。其次是有抵御肉体低声诱惑的义务。这是因为人的理性与智慧具有一种特定功能,那就是筑起一道藩篱,保护其运转不被那些动物般的感觉和冲动所征服。理智必须占据统治地位,决不能向束缚低头。这是天经地义的,因为本性产生理智就是为了让其统领全局,物尽其用。第三是理性生物的本性应该使其具备谨慎行事、防止欺诈的能力。让理性这一舵手坚守以上三项原则,将我们引向笔直的航程,并且坚信这一航程将会自己出现。



56.假设你今天离开人世,你的生命篇章便就此结束。从今以后,把未来的时间当成不受约束的盈余,依照本性的要求生活下去。



57.只热爱那已经编织进你命运图案的东西,还有什么比它更符合你的需要?



58.当你身处困境的时候,想想那些以愤怒、震惊、尖叫面对类似危机的人们。如今他们身在何处?无处可寻。那为何还要步他们的后尘?不如把别人的情绪留给它们的主人或仆从,而你则集中精力争取把事情向好的方向转化。这样,你就能充分利用它,把它作为劳动材料为你效劳。每一次行动,都要以自己满意为努力和动机的唯一目标。记住,促使你行动的事情本身对这二者并不重要。



59.反观自省。那里有善的源泉:不断探究,善便不断涌出。



60.无论是动还是静,你的仪态举止要坚定有力,不要歪歪扭扭。镇静得体的神态反映着内心世界。因此,全身都应该如此。不过,务必不要矫揉造作。



61.生活的艺术更像摔跤而非舞蹈,因为它同样需要站稳脚跟,以防突如其来的袭击。



62.如果渴望赢得人们的赞赏,你就要始终了解他们的性格及其做人原则的本质,研究他们的看法和动机。这样,你就不会责怪他们无心的冒犯,或者企盼得到他们的赞许。



63.有人曾说:“没有人会故意放弃真理。”正义、自制、仁慈及其他美德也是如此。没有比这些更值得常记于心间的了。它们会帮助你在人际交往中拥有更大的亲和力。



64.当你感到疼痛的时候,要及时提醒自己这并不是件丢脸的事情,而且无论是从理性还是从社会性的角度来说都无损于掌舵的理智。在多数情况下,伊壁鸠鲁的话都十分有道理。他说:“疼痛绝非是不可忍受或永无止境的,只要你记住它是有限的,并且不要任意夸大其辞。”还要记住,尽管我们还没意识到,但是很多令我们不快的事情其实在本质上跟疼痛是一回事。比如,没精打采的感觉、高烧的体温、失去食欲。每当要开口抱怨的时候,就告诉自己这么做就是在向痛苦低头。



65.如果有人做出不近人情的事情,注意不要步其后尘。



66.我们如何知晓泰格拉斯的人品也许不如苏格拉底呢?我们完全可以说,苏格拉底之死更体面,与智者的辩论更为巧妙,熬过寒冷的长夜更坚强,英勇地拒绝执行命令逮捕萨拉米斯的利昂 〔2〕 ,昂首阔步走在大街上 〔3〕 (尽管此事的真实性有待证实)。然而,真正值得思考的问题是,他的灵魂究竟怎样?他是否真如人们看到的那样待人公正,对神灵虔诚,此外别无他求?他是否真的对别人的缺点不怨恨,对别人的愚昧不苟同?他是否真的听天由命,不把命运看作反常的事情或无法忍受的苦难,也不允许肉体的经历影响自己的心灵?



67.大自然没有把心灵和肉体完全混为一谈,以至使心灵无法确定自己的边界,主宰自己的领域。尽管没有获得承认,但心灵完全可能像神灵一样神圣。这一点要时刻铭记在心。还要记住,幸福生活所需不多。你也许没有掌握辩证法或物理学,但决不能对获得自由、自尊、无私、顺应天意失去希望。



68.在不受打扰的宁静中度过余生,拒绝向胁迫屈服,哪怕全世界的要求震耳欲聋,哪怕野兽把可怜的肉体躯壳撕得粉碎。即便如此,也不能阻止心灵获得平静、正确评估周围发生的事情、及时利用得到的资源。所以,判断力会对事件说:“这就是你的本质,无论谣言怎样粉饰你。”而效劳会对机遇说:“我寻找的正是你。”此刻发生的事情往往是运用理性和兄弟情谊的绝好机会。总之,这样处事,对人或神灵都是很恰当的。因为,没有一件事情的发生是专门针对人或者神灵的。这种事情的到来,不是什么新奇棘手的难题,而是一个用得上的老朋友。



69.把生命中的每一天都当成最后一天来过。既不紧张不安、不无动于衷,也不装腔作势。这就是完美性格的写照。



70.尽管神灵能够永生,但他们不会因为要永远忍受代代世人及其不端行为而心怀不满。不仅如此,神灵甚至会竭尽所能地关怀他们。那么,没有长性的你会失去耐心吗?你自己就是罪犯中的一员呀。



71.能避免自己的罪恶而不去避免,反而徒劳地尽力避免他人的罪恶,这是多么荒唐可笑的事情。



72.无论理智与社会功能发现了什么轻率或不友善的事情,它都能合情合理地宣布其低于自身。



73.当你做了件好事使别人从中受益,为何还要像个傻瓜一样奢求更多:众人的喝彩,或者某种形式的回报?



74.没人会对接受好处感到厌倦。只是,好处要来自契合本性的行为。那么,对通过给予好处的行为来接受这样的好处,永远也不要感到厌倦。



75.普遍本性的冲动是为了创造一个井然有序的世界。由此可以断定,现在发生的一切事情必定遵循某种逻辑顺序。如若不然,那么普遍本性的冲动的首要目的,就会是非理性的目的。记住这点,将帮助你更冷静地面对很多事情。



注 释

〔1〕  这是希腊语“幸福”的意思。

〔2〕  公元前403年雅典的民主政治被推翻,继之以三十人僭主集团的恐怖统治时期。在这期间,很多无辜的人被处死。苏格拉底等五人接到要逮捕诚实的市民——萨拉米斯的利昂的命令,他坚决拒绝执行暴君的命令。

〔3〕  这是阿里斯托芬对苏格拉底的嘲笑之一(见喜剧《云》第362页)。

卷 八

1.假如有人说,自己的一生,哪怕是成人之后,一直过着哲学家的生活。那绝对是无稽之谈。记住这一点,你就不会产生自鸣得意的情绪。实际上,即使现在,哲学显然对于你和很多其他人来说仍然非常遥远。因此,你的思想还处在一种混乱状态,想赢得哲学家的头衔就更加不易了。况且,你的身份地位也时常会产生不利的影响。一旦了解了真相,你就应该抛开在人前表现的想法,满足于依照本性的要求生活。学会理解她的意志,心无旁骛。迄今为止,你一直在徒劳地漫无目的地寻找着高尚的生活。它既不存在于诡辩的逻辑中,也不存在于财富、名声、世俗的享受或其他事物中。那么,秘诀究竟在哪儿?在于遵循人的本性行事。如何才能做到?用严格的原则约束自己的冲动和行为。哪些原则?关于是非善恶的原则。比如,唯有能使人变得公正、自律、勇敢、独立的事物才是对人有益的,反之则对人有害。



2.做任何事之前先问自己:这件事对我会产生怎样的后果?我会后悔吗?我将不久于人世,一切都将被人遗忘。同时,如果这件事情适合一个有理性和社会性的人去做,而他与神灵共处同样的法律之下,夫复何求?



3.亚历山大、恺撒、庞贝与第欧根尼、赫拉克利特、苏格拉底相比,有什么不同?后面几位关注事物的根源及构成,他们的主导思想如出一辙。至于其他几位,他们有太多的烦恼,无穷的束缚!



4.你也许会伤心,但人们将一如既往地前进。



5.第一条规则是保持精神世界不受打扰。凡事都得遵守大自然的法则,很快你就消失得无影无踪,就像哈德良和奥古斯都一样。第二条规则是遇事要勇敢面对,弄清事情的本质,莫忘以成为有德之人为己任。按本性行事,不要畏缩,陈述自己认为最公正的看法,但要彬彬有礼、谦虚中肯、真心诚意。



6.普遍本性的使命是改组、变换、交换、将一种状态转化为另一种状态。变化无处不在。我们无需害怕意外,因为万物都遵循着古老的习惯,就连分配它们的方式都未改变。



7.只要在自己追求的道路上一帆风顺,本性就会觉得心满意足。对具有理性的本性而言,这意味着不赞成带有误导性或含混不清的印象,不放任非社会行为的冲动,约束所有的欲望,限制对力所能及之事的拒绝,以同等的热情迎接大自然分派给你的每个任务。这些分派的任务是大自然的一部分,如同树叶的本性是植物本性的一部分一样,只是植物的本性没有感情也没有理性,容易遭受挫折,而人的本性不但不会被挫败,还具有智慧和正义,因为它公平地赋予每个人恰当的时间、生命、因果报应、活力和经验。(虽然不能指望每个人的每一方面都绝对的公平,但大致比较起来,整体上还算公平。)



8.你不可企望自己成为学者。你能做到的是克制傲慢的态度,你能做到的是从快乐和痛苦中超脱出来,你能抵御名望的诱惑,也能对愚昧无知和忘恩负义的人耐住性子,甚至会喜欢他们。



9.不要再让任何人,包括你自己,听见你对宫廷生活破口大骂。



10.懊悔是对失去某个有利时机感到悔恨。高尚的事物总是很有用的,也必定是每个高尚的人所关注的。然而,高尚的人从来不后悔放过了享受的机会。由此可以断定,享受既不高尚也对人无益。



11.问问自己,这东西的样子这么特别,其中到底是什么?其实质、结构和内容各是什么?到底有什么功能?能存在多久?



12.当你难以摆脱睡意的时候,就提醒自己,要履行对社会的责任就是要遵从人性的法则和自己的本性,而睡觉则是我们和非理性的野兽共有的行为。再者,遵从本性才是更恰当、更合适、更令人愉快的行为方式。



13.如果有可能,养成好习惯,去发掘每种印象的本质特点,它对自我的影响,以及它对逻辑分析的反应。



14.无论遇见谁,都要先问问自己,此人的是非观是什么?如果他对快乐、痛苦及其根源的认识,对名誉和耻辱的看法,对生与死的态度,都属于某种类型,那么发现他的行为和他的信念一致时,我就不会感到惊讶或愤慨,我会告诉自己,他这么做是别无选择。



15.无花果树结出无花果,没人会觉得诧异。同理,对世间正常发生的事情,如果我们大惊小怪或者愤慨不已,则应该为此感到羞愧。要是医生发现病人发烧就大惊小怪,要是船长碰到逆风就惊诧不已,他们都应该感到脸红。



16.转变思想、听从纠正,并不意味着丧失独立性。因为这种转变是你的主动行为,是依据自己的冲动、自己的判断力和自己的思考而做出的决定。



17.假如你有选择权,为何要做这种事?如果选择权在别人手中,你又能责怪谁呢?责怪神灵吗?责怪原子微粒吗?怪谁都很荒谬。所有怪罪别人的想法都不恰当。如果有可能,就去纠正犯错误的人。如果不行,就纠正错误的行为。如果还不行,那相互指责又有什么意义呢?毫无意义的事情是不值得做的。



18.死去的并未退出这个世界。它会继续存在下去,发生变化,分解成微小的颗粒,即分解为组成宇宙和我们自身的元素。元素本身也在发生着同样的变化,但却毫无怨言。



19.任何事物,不论是一匹马还是一株藤,它们的诞生皆有使命。这并不奇怪。就连太阳神本身都会告诉你:“我来是有使命要完成。”天上其他诸神也是如此。那么,你的诞生是为着什么使命呢?是为了享乐吗?人们能容忍这种思想吗?



20.大自然始终记着一个宗旨。这个宗旨包括事物的始末及持续时间。她就像个掷球者。球向上会变得更好吗?球向下或落地之后,会变得更糟吗?泡沫聚集在一起时得到了什么?破灭之后又会失去什么?对蜡烛,道理也是一样。



21.将血肉之躯从里向外翻转过来,再看看是什么样的景象。人变老、生病、腐烂又会变成什么样子。赞扬者和被赞扬者的生命同样短暂易逝,纪念者和被纪念者也是如此。对于广博的地球而言,他们占据的不过是沧海一粟。即便如此,他们也不能彼此和睦相处。而整个地球也只是宇宙中最微不足道的一个点。



22.无论对一个物体、一种行为、一项原则,还是别人的话,你都应该全神贯注。

你觉得失望理所当然,因为你宁可坐等明日上天赐福,也不愿今天积极争取。



23.我做任何事,都是为了服务人类。发生在我身上的任何事,我都会以对神灵及普遍之源的敬意接受它。一切环环相扣的命运都出自普遍之源。



24.沐浴让你想到了什么?油垢、汗渍、尘土、油腻腻的脏水,以及所有令人作呕的东西。这就像生活的方方面面,其中每一种物质都是如此。



25.死神从露西拉身边夺走了维鲁斯,继而又带走了露西拉;从瑟孔达身边夺走了马克西姆斯,继而又带走了瑟孔达;从埃皮梯恩查努斯身边夺走了戴奥提莫斯,继而带走了埃皮梯恩查努斯;从安东尼纳斯身边夺走了福斯娜,继而带走了安东尼纳斯。这样的事情总在重演。塞勒掩埋了哈德良,自己也被后人掩埋。古代的那些显贵、那些有先见之明的人、那些骄傲的人,如今他们身在何处?机敏者如沙哈克斯、柏拉图主义者德米特里厄斯、尤德蒙,以及其他类似的人,都只活了一天,都早已作古。有的人刚走便被人遗忘,有的人则变成了传说,还有的人甚至淡出了传说。想一想,你复杂的身体有朝一日也会分解消散,维持生命的呼吸也必然会停止,或转移、转化到别处。



26.人的真正乐事是实现人的使命。人的使命不外乎善待同类、超越感官刺激、辨别表象与事实、研究普遍本性及其作用。



27.我们要面对三种关系:其一,与容纳我们的皮囊的关系;其二,与神圣的万物之源的关系;其三,与我们身边同胞的关系。



28.无论对于我们的肉体还是对于我们的灵魂,痛苦必定是邪恶。如果是前者,就由肉体自己来说吧。只是灵魂始终拒绝认为痛苦是邪恶,以此保持内心世界晴朗无霾,平静安宁。这是因为一切决定、冲动、前进或是后退的举动皆由内而发,邪恶绝不可能从外面强行侵入。



29.忘掉不切实际的幻想,经常对自己说:“只有我才能保证邪恶、贪婪和一切混乱的想法在我心中找不到容身之处,只有我才能洞悉天地万物之本质,并以与之相称的方式对待它们。”牢记这一权力,这是本性赐予你的礼物。



30.不论是在元老院讲演,还是与个别人谈话,用词都要得体,不要花哨浮夸。讲话要合乎情理,言而有益。



31.想想奥古斯都的朝廷:妻子、女儿、孩童、祖先、姐妹、阿格里帕、宗族、亲属、朋友、阿雷夫斯、米西奈斯、医护人员、祭司,整个朝廷,统统烟消云散。再看看其他已经湮灭的记录:不光是个人的毁灭,而是整个家族的覆灭,例如庞贝家族。我们在墓碑上看到这样的铭文,“此家族中的最后一位”。想想他的祖先为了死后留下一位继承人所耗费的心血。然而到头来,某人必须成为这最后一位,又一个家族覆灭了。



32.你的每一个行为,都应该为完整的人生作出贡献。如果每一行动都能做到这一点,只要它做了,你就应该感到心满意足,因为这是无法阻挡的事情。你也许会说:“受到外界的干扰。”即便如此,这些干扰也不会影响到你意图的公正、慎重、合理。“不,现实中某种行动是可以阻挡的。”也许吧,不过只要你能以良好的心态面对挫折,明智地接受出现的替代条件,就能找到同样符合前面提到的完整人生的替代办法。



33.谦逊地接受,得体地放弃。



34.你也许见过断手、断脚、身首异处的头颅。如果一个人拒绝命运的安排,脱离伙伴,或者做事只图一己私利,他就是尽其所能使自己落得这样的下场。于是,你就沦为大自然统一体的弃儿。尽管你生来就是其中的一员,但你却亲手把自己与整体割离开来。即便如此,还是有一个美好的想法:你依然有能力让自己重新回到整体。神灵从来没有如此偏爱过其他生灵,被分离之后还允许他重归整体。看神灵以自己的仁慈美化着人类:他将权力交给世人,不仅首先使他不与整体分离,而且后来一旦分离,还能重回整体,恢复以往的身份。



35.一切由理性事物构成的大自然,使每个理性生命都具备各种本领。我们从她手中得到的本领之一,便是如她一样能够转变遇到的每个阻碍或对抗,将其纳入命运的轨道,同化为自身的一部分。因此,一个理性的生命有能力将障碍转化成为己所用的材料,借以向自己的奋斗目标前进。



36.千万不要急于去想象整个人生,这样会让自己很困惑。就是说,不要把一生可能遇到的各种不幸都想个遍。相反地,每当遭遇不幸,要问问自己:“这件事中让我无法容忍、难以承受的是什么?”然后,你会发现自己羞于承认失败。还要记住,压在你心头的不是未来或过去的重负,而始终都是现在的负重。就连这份负重也有可能减轻,只要你严格限制它,并且对连这种小事都无法承受的脆弱心理采取严厉的措施。



37.潘瑟和佩尔加蒙至今还端坐在维鲁斯的墓旁吗?卡布里亚斯和戴奥梯莫斯至今还端坐在哈德良的墓旁吗?荒唐之极!就算他们还端坐在那里,死者能感觉到吗?即便能感觉到,他们会高兴吗?况且,就算死者高兴,能指望悼念者长生不老吗?他们不是一样注定要变老,并离开人世吗?到那时,悼念者都不存在了,被悼念者还能怎么样呢?这一切不过是一堆恶臭腐烂的尸体罢了。



38.圣人克里托说过:“你要是长着眼睛能看,就自己看吧。”



39.在理性生命的结构中,我没有发现植有反抗正义的道德,倒发现植有反抗享受的自制力。



40.忘掉你凭空想象痛苦的念头,这样你的自我才能立于刀枪不入的境地。“自我——那是什么?”它就是你的理性。“可是,我身上不全是理性。”也许是这样。在这种情况下,至少要让理性不给自己带来痛苦。另外,如果你的其他部分有麻烦,就让那部分自己去操心好了。



41.对于维持肉体活力的本性来说,任何感官上的挫折都是有害的,任何努力遇到的挫折也是如此。植物的本性照样会有自己的挫折与危害。同样,心灵受到的挫折也会对心灵的本性造成伤害。将这一切应用到你自己身上。痛苦或者快乐对你有影响吗?感官会注意到。在你努力的过程中,是否曾经畏缩不前?如果付出的努力只许成功不许失败,那么作为理性生命,这种挫折对你的确有害。然而,一旦你认可了普遍的必然性,你就不会受到伤害,也不会觉得沮丧。在心灵自己的领地内,没人能让它受挫。烈火、刀剑、压迫、污蔑等等都不能伤害到它。“地球,一旦成为真实的球形,便永远是球体。”



42.我从来不会有意伤害别人,更没有理由伤害自己。



43.每个人都应该有自己的幸福。对我而言,幸福就是具有健全的自我主导能力——理性,就是不躲避人类及人类的兴衰变迁,就是能够以仁慈的眼光审视并接受一切事物,并根据各自的表现分别对待。



44.充分利用今天。追求明日赞扬的人们忘记了:与耐心经受巨大考验,不比他们短寿的当代人相比,子孙后代没有任何不同。既然如此,子孙后代的评说或对你怀有的看法,对你来说有什么要紧的呢?



45.带上我,随你将我抛弃在哪里。我内心依然拥有灵性,安详而满足,只要它还能感受,并以恰当的方式行事。我的灵魂会受到折磨,堕落下去,变成一个畏首畏尾的懦弱之辈,无精打采地哀求别人。这真的有这么重要吗?真会出现这样的后果吗?



46.人类只可能经历符合自身条件的事情,如同公牛、葡萄藤、石头只会经历符合它们本性的事情一样。既然发生的事情对他们来说都习以为常、合乎自然,那有什么可抱怨的?你和他们共有的大自然绝不会让你经历无法忍受的事情。



47.假如外界的事情使你感到苦恼,那么这痛苦并非来自事情本身,而是源于你对它的判断。你有能力随时消除这种痛苦。如果痛苦的根源是你自身的性格,那就着手改变你的道德观念。有谁会阻止你呢?如果你的苦恼在于没能采取明确理智的行动准则,那为何不采取,反而妄自烦恼呢?“因为中途遇到不可逾越的障碍。”既然这样,不必担心,不作为的责任不在你。“可是,不完成这件事情,生活便失去了意义。”唉,那就愉快地永别人生吧,得体地承认失败,像其他行为不受约束的人一样走向死亡。



48.记住一旦你更高的自我回归本位,冷静地拒绝做违背自己意愿的事,它就将立于不败之地,即便这种对抗完全不合理性。那么,当它经过理性思考、慎重做出决定时,就更加不可战胜!因此,脱离了激情的心灵堪称堡垒,没有比这更坚固的堡垒可以庇护人类、抵御攻击的了。认识不到这一点就是无知;认识到了,却不寻求它的庇护,则是一种不幸。



49.对最初形成的印象一定要加以辨别。那些印象告诉你,某某人在讲你的坏话。这就是它们要传递的信息。它们没有进而说明这一信息已经对你造成伤害。我看见自己的孩子病了,我的眼睛告诉我的,但并没有表明孩子有生命危险。所以,要牢记最初的印象,不要添枝加叶,你就不会有危险。即便要加,至少也要添加对万能的普世秩序的认识,因为万物皆要遵从这一秩序。



50.你的黄瓜味道很苦?扔掉它。你走的路上有欧石南吗?那就走别的路好了。这就够了。不要进而抱怨:“世上怎么会有这种东西呢?”本性的学生只会嘲笑你,就好比在木匠或是鞋匠的铺子里挑剔人家的产品有刨花或碎屑,会遭到他们的耻笑一样。不过,至少他们还有地方放置垃圾,而大自然却没有这样的闲地方。她的方法神奇之处就在于:尽管有这种自我限制,她却能把所有破旧磨损、老而无用的东西转化成自己的一部分,再重新打造成新的产物,这样就永远不需要外部供给新鲜的原料,也不需要丢弃垃圾的地方。她自己的空间、自己的原料、自己的手艺就已经足够了。



51.行动拖拖拉拉、说话语无伦次、观点模糊不清、内心深受束缚、感情过于外露、生活没有闲暇,这些现象都应该避免。殉难、损毁、诅咒,这些怎能削弱一个人保持内心纯洁、清醒、温和、公正的能力呢?人可能会站在一泓清泉旁边破口大骂,然而泉眼中依然汩汩涌出清澈、有益于健康的泉水;他甚至会把污泥和赃物投入水中,可是泉水会很快将其溶解冲走,不留一丝污渍。何不让自己拥有长流不息的清泉呢?只要时刻以恻隐、质朴、谦逊之心守护好自己做主的权利就行。



52.一个人不懂得宇宙的本性,就不会明白自己身在何处;不懂得宇宙的意志,他就不懂得自己的本质,也不懂得宇宙的本质。让他发现不了这些道理,他甚至无法对自己的存在给出合理的解释。他们既不知道自己身在何处,也不知道自己的本质,却刻意寻找或者回避民众喧嚣的喝彩声,对这样的人,我们应该如何评价呢?



53.如果一个人一小时之内咒骂自己三次,你会希望得到这种人的夸奖吗?你愿意取悦那种对自己都不满意的人吗?几乎后悔自己做过的所有事情,这样的人能对自己满意吗?



54.你的呼吸参与空气的循环,同样让你的思维也参与圣灵的交流。有一种精神力量可供他汲取,这种力量无处不在,就如同他呼吸的空气一样。



55.人类平常的不端行为伤害不了宇宙,一个人特定的不端行为也伤害不了同胞。这种不端行为伤害不了别人,只能伤害犯过者自己。而且他只要愿意,就能从中解脱出来。



56.我邻居的意愿如同他的身体和呼吸一样,与我毫不相干。无论我们相互之间多么默契,各自仍然具有独立的权利。否则,他的不端行为便会成为我的罪恶。神灵不希望这样的事情发生,以防别人恣意毁掉我的幸福。



57.人们看到,太阳将光和热撒向四方,自己却从不枯竭。这种普照是一种自我扩展。实际上,日光之名,来源于“可扩展”一词。想要了解日光的性能,就去观察黑暗房间里从狭窄小缝中透过的光线。日光延长成一条直线,直至碰上某一固体挡住了它的去路。它便停留在那儿,既不落下,也不离开。思想也应该像阳光一样发射和扩散:永不枯竭,只是扩展自己,碰到障碍物不是一味地横冲直撞,不是绝望地离开,而是站稳立场,照亮它所停留的物体。不让日光穿过,就是自己不要日光。



58.怕死的人要么害怕失去所有的感觉,要么对新感觉有恐惧。实际上,你要么什么都感觉不到,也就没有邪恶;要么,如果你能感觉到任何新鲜事物的话,就会脱胎换骨,生命也就不会停止。



59.人为彼此而存在。所以,要么提升他们,要么就容忍他们。



60.箭矢以一种方式飞行,而思想则以另一种方式传播。即使当思想摸索着谨慎行事、从不同角度寻找解决问题的方法时,它也是径直前行,直奔目标的。



61.仔细研究一下邻居心灵的主导原则,并允许他也研究你心灵的主导原则。

卷 九

1.不义是一种罪恶。大自然创造理性生命,是要让他们相互受益,依其所值帮助同胞,而不是伤害他们。违背大自然的这一意愿,就等于对最古老的神灵行恶。不诚实也是一种罪恶,也是对这一神灵行恶。大自然是存在的本性,而存在意味着所有生灵有着同源关系。真理是这一大自然的别名,是一切真实事物的原创者。如果说蓄意撒谎是一种罪恶,因为欺骗是不义行为,那么无心的谎言也是一种罪恶,因为它是大自然的和谐曲调中一个刺耳的音符,在井然有序的宇宙中引起大逆不道的混乱。之所以说它大逆不道,是因为人允许自己陷入了与真理对立的境地,尽管不是有意为之;是因为他严重忽视了大自然赋予他的能力,因而不再能够分辨真假。

同样地,视追求快乐为善,视躲避痛苦为恶,也是一种罪恶。这必将导致世人的抱怨,说大自然对待善恶赏罚不明,因为坏人经常享有快乐和得到快乐的手段,而痛苦和带来痛苦的事情却落在好人头上。而且,人若害怕痛苦,恰恰说明他害怕命中注定的事情要发生。这种行为本身也是一种罪恶。一味追求快乐的人必然不会停止不义之举,这显然也是有罪的。不,大自然自己并未分出彼此(如果她分出彼此,她就不会让痛苦与快乐同时存在),她的追随者也应该与她志趣相投,表现出同样的中立态度。痛苦和快乐、生与死、荣誉与耻辱,都为大自然公平使用,凡是不能以同样公平的态度看待它们的人,显然也是有罪的。说到它们为大自然公平使用,我是指神灵创造的生灵一代一代都依次度过同样的经历。这正是最初感动天意的原始冲动的产物:取一些未来存在的胚芽,赋予它们自我实现、变异和延续的能力,从宇宙的开端发展成如今井然有序的体系。



2.具有高尚情操的人,宁愿离开人世也不愿说假话、两面三刀、生活奢靡、为人傲慢。可是,既然这些都已经体验腻了,下一个最好的办法便是立刻结束生命。否则的话,难道你真的铁了心要生活在邪恶之中?以往的经历还未说服你逃离瘟疫吗?受感染的心灵是一种瘟疫,它比我们周围有害健康的、混乱的气体要危险得多。作为动物,一个侵害我们的生命;而作为人,另一个侵害我们的人性。



3.不要蔑视死亡,应该微笑着迎接它,因为死亡也是大自然意志的体现。青春和暮年,成长和成熟,长牙、长胡须、生华发,怀孕生子,乃至生命季节带给我们的一切其他自然过程,都是大自然意志的体现,我们的消亡也是如此。所以,一个有思想的人绝不会以草率、急躁和不屑一顾的态度对待死亡。他会将死亡视为又一个自然进程,等候它的到来。就像等待婴儿从你妻子的子宫娩出一样,期待着弱小的灵魂从躯壳中滑出的那一刻。

不过,假如你的心灵需要更为简单的安慰,那么想一想即将告别的社会和你不必再周旋的人。没有比这更好的死亡慰籍了。并不是说你一定会讨厌他们,恰恰相反,你有责任关爱他们,以宽容之心容忍他们。但是切莫忘记,自己离开的这群人奉行的原则与自己大相径庭。或许只有一件事能留住你的生命,那就是和志趣相投者的深厚情谊。一旦你想到与格格不入的人周旋是多么的疲倦,你就会大声疾呼:“死神,快来吧,免得我也将自己忘记。”



4.犯罪者是对自己犯罪;作恶者是对自己作恶,用自己的行动使自己更坏。



5.一个人犯罪,不只是因为做了不该做的事,还常常因为没有做应该做的事。



6.只要你现在的看法基于信念,你现在的行为基于无私,你现在的性情满足于你从外界得到的一切,这就足够了。



7.忘掉幻想,克制冲动,遏制欲望,让至上的理性主宰一切。



8.有一种生命准则遍布于一切非理性的生命之中,有一种心灵准则遍布于一切理性生命之中。这如同地球形成了世间万物,又如同能看能呼吸的我们大家,都看见了同样的光,呼吸着同样的空气。



9.物以类聚。土性的东西受土吸引,水性的东西互相交流,气性的东西也是如此。因此需要设置壁垒将它们强行分开。火焰由元素燃烧而成,总是趋向天空。即便在地上,火焰也总是迫不及待地与同类相聚,以至于任何材质,只要足够干燥,都能轻易点燃,因为它只有少量成分可以阻燃。同样,普遍理性的各个组成部分也相互吸引,甚至更为强烈。由于普遍理性是天地万物中的高级存在,它渴望聚合的程度也相应地更为强烈。这种聚合的本能首先表现在非理性生物身上,比如蜜蜂群飞,牛在一起吃草,鸟儿成群筑巢,动物成双交配。由于它们都已经具有了灵魂,在这些相对高级的生命形式身上,团聚的欲望达到了强烈的程度,而这是石头或木棍所不具备的。至于理性生物,他们有政治社团、同志之谊、家庭生活、公共集会、战争期间各种条约和休战。在更高一级的秩序中,甚至相隔甚远的物体(比如繁星)也存在一定程度的统一。因此,随着事物等级的升高,即使远隔天涯的事物也能产生同胞之情。

现在来看看实际发生的情况。恰恰是我们智能生物,忘记了这种渴望统一的热情。只有在我们身上看不到汇合的潮流。尽管人可以逃跑,却仍然会被逮到,扣住不放。对他而言,大自然太过强大。留心观察,你会发现:找一块与同类无关的土,与找一个与同伴无丝毫联系的人相比,前者要快得多。



10.万物皆能结果。人类、神灵、整个宇宙,都在适当的时节结果。这种说法通常特指葡萄藤之类的东西,不过这无关紧要。理性同样能为自己和世界结出硕果,因为众多由它孕育出的美好事物身上都带有理性的印记。



11.如果有可能,就好好教导他们。如果不行,也要记着,要耐心地保持这种仁慈之心。此时就是你仁慈之心的用武之地。神灵自己也会向这种人展示仁慈,有时甚至放纵他们,在他们追求健康、财富、声望的时候,助他们一臂之力。这些你也能做到。有谁会阻止你呢?



12.努力劳作,但不要怀着受害者的心态,也不要贪图别人的同情和赞赏。而只要想着一件事:那就是无论你做还是不做都要无愧于一个有理性的公民。



13.今天,我摆脱了所有的困惑。更确切地说,我让困惑摆脱了我。因为它们并非来自外界,而是来自内心。他们就在我自己的观念里。



14.世间万物的经历都是平庸无奇的,持续时间都是短暂易逝的,内容都是污秽不堪的。无论从哪方面看,现在的情形和已经入土的历代先辈们看到的情形,都一模一样。



15.事实完全置身在外。事实就是事实,再无其他。事实对自己一无所知,也不对自己发表任何看法。那么发表看法的是谁呢?是我们的导师和主宰——理性。



16.一个具有理性和社会性的人,是不会受自己情绪的影响而变得更好或是更坏的。他只受自己意志的左右。这就像他的外在行为,无论好坏,都是意志而非情感的产物。



17.对于抛出去的石头而言,下落并非邪恶,上升也并非高尚。



18.洞悉批评者内心最深处的思想,你会明白自己最害怕什么样的批评者,并且看到他们能否批评他们自己。



19.一切皆在变化之中。你自己也在不停地转变,有的部位会腐烂。整个宇宙都是如此。



20.不要介入别人的不端行为。



21.一项活动被中断,一个冲动或想法中断或死亡,这些都没有邪恶。回想一下自己的成长历程:孩童时期、少年时期、青年时期、暮年时期,每次转变都是某种死亡。这有那么可怕吗?想想你先是在祖父抚养下,后来在母亲抚养下,再后来在父亲抚养下的生活,追溯那段岁月里发生在你身上的无数差异、变化和中断,然后问问自己:“它们有那么可怕吗?”那么,生命的停止、中断、改变也就不过如此了。



22.赶快去研究它们吧:你自己的心灵、宇宙的心灵、你邻居的心灵。研究你自己的心灵,能使其公正;研究宇宙的心灵,能使你不忘自己的根本;研究邻居的心灵,能使你弄清它是愚昧无知还是学识渊博,或许还能让你看到它与自己的相似之处。



23.作为一个单位,你有助于社会整体的完整。同样的,你的每个行为也应有助于社会生活的完整。凡是与这一社会目的无直接间接关系的行为,都会分解社会生活,破坏它的完整。有些社会公民竭力脱离大众,这种行为与分裂者的行为别无二致。



24.孩童式的拌嘴,孩童式的游戏,“微弱的气息支撑着躯体”。啊,荷马史诗中的鬼魂在现实中有了更为逼真的形象!



25.首先要找到原始成因的本性与性质,将其与成形的材质区分开来,加以研究。然后再确定其作用可能持续的时间。



26.因为你不愿让你的导师和主宰——理性——发挥应有的作用,所以你不得不承受无数的灾难。好了,别再这样了!



27.当身边的人向你发泄不满,恶毒攻击你,或者大呼小叫地伤害你时,要接近他们,洞察他们的灵魂,看看他们究竟是怎样一种人。你会发现,自己煞费苦心去赢得他们的好感是多么不明智。尽管如此,善待他们依然是你的职责,因为自然已经使他们成为你的朋友。连神灵自己都在以各种方式,托梦或靠神谕,帮助他们实现自己既定的目标。



28.上上下下 〔1〕 、一代一代,宇宙遵循亘古不变的周期循环往复。也许是普遍心灵左右着相继发生的每件事情。倘若果真如此,就接受这样的结果吧。或许,存在着一种原始的意愿,它产生了随之而来的一切。每件事情都是另一事情的起源。换句话说,事物要么是单独的个体,要么由它们构成一个不可分割的整体。倘若这个整体便是神灵,那就万事大吉。倘若这个整体是无目的的巧合,至少你不必也无目的。

不久我们都将归于尘土。然后尘土也会发生变化。再后来,这种变化中产生的物质还会不断地发生变化。一切又将各就各位,直至世界的尽头。让心灵停留在变化和改造的汹涌波涛之上,就等于懂得了要藐视世间的一切事物。



29.原始动因如同洪水中的河流,裹挟着世间万物滚滚向前。那些玩弄政治,并让自己相信是在本着哲学精神行事的小人是多么卑鄙可耻。乳臭未干的小儿,甚至还不会擦鼻涕呢!已经成年的你,又能怎么样?此时此刻,还是听从本性的要求,抓住出现的机会,别再东张西望、在意别人是否注意你。不要幻想柏拉图式的理想国出现。如果付出的一点努力结果不错,就应该感到满足,把结果看成很大的成功。谁能指望改变人们的信念?难道不改变信念就只能得到不情愿的臣服和虚假的赞同吗?没错。现在,接着来与我谈谈亚历山大、菲利普、法莱雷奥斯的德米特里吧。倘若他们果真懂得大自然的意志,并教育自己按她的意志行事,那是他们自己的事情。但是倘若他们只是做做样子,任何朝廷都无法强迫我效仿他们。哲学是一个谦逊的职业,一切崇尚简单质朴、坦诚无欺。绝不要企图引诱我故作自命不凡之状。



30.站在高处俯瞰芸芸众生:他们举行各种神秘的仪式,他们的潜水者在时而暴风骤雨,时而风平浪静的大海中穿梭,他们来往聚散,变化无常。再想想前世和来世人们的生活,甚至今天边远地区夷蛮族群的生活。总之,想想现在有那么多的人不知道你的大名,还有更多的人将很快把你忘记,那么多的人或许现在赞美你,转脸便会谩骂你。所以说,怀念、荣耀,以及其他一切,都是毫无价值的东西。



31.受到外界环境困扰时,要泰然自若;内心产生行为冲动时,要公平公正;总而言之,你的愿望和行为既要具有社会性,还要符合自己的本性。



32.很多困扰你的烦心事,其实都是无关紧要的。你既然能产生妄想,就完全能将它们消除,让自己的思想延伸到更广阔的领域,纵横驰骋在宇宙之间,冥想无尽的永恒,留心世间万物的瞬息万变,对比生死之间的短暂瞬间与生前死后的永恒万世。



33.片刻之后,你眼前的一切都将灰飞烟灭。这一过程的见证者不久也会踏上同样的旅途。所以说,最年长的祖父和夭折在襁褓之中的婴儿有什么分别呢?



34.仔细观察指导人们行动的本能,他们为之奋斗的目标,他们喜爱并看重事物的理由。总之,要勾勒出他们赤裸裸的灵魂。而他们却还在想象自己的赞美或指责具有帮助或伤害别人的力量。真是痴心妄想!



35.损失无非是一种变化,而变化是大自然的一桩乐事。按照她的布置,万事万物从世界伊始,便以现在同样的方式存在,并将和其他类似事物一样,一直到时间的尽头。你怎能说这一切都不正确,并将永远如此,你怎能说天上的神灵也无力扭转局面,世界将被迫陷于无尽的灾难之中?



36.我们大家的身体注定将要腐烂,化作水汽、泥土、骨骼和恶臭。我们所珍视的大理石无非是地球的胼胝,黄金和白银无非是地球的沉积物,我们穿的衣服不过是地球的些许毛发,珍贵的紫色无非是鱼身上的淤血,其他事物也是如此。就连维系我们生命的呼吸也一样,终究要一个接一个相继消逝。



37.受够了这种悲惨的生活方式,这些没完没了的牢骚,这些哗众取宠的鬼把戏。为何你非要如此焦虑不安?现在发生的一切并非史无前例,究竟是什么让你如此烦恼?它的形式?那就好好审视一下。它的内容?也要仔细研究一下。除了形式和内容,再无其他。虽然为时已晚,还是要让自己成为一个神灵眼中更淳朴更高尚的人。只要悟出此道,活三年和活一百年一样美好。



38.他犯罪,伤害的是他自己。不过,或许他终归没有犯罪。



39.天地万物必定出自同一智慧之源,然后各就各位形成统一的整体。这样一来,出于整体的利益,各个组成部分都不会抱怨自己的命运。如若不然,世界就只能是原子微粒,并由它们混乱地聚合与消散。因此,何必如此烦恼?告诉主宰你的理性:“怎么,你已经死了,在腐烂?这就是你发挥的作用吗?难道你已经沦落到和野兽一样的水准,和其他的兽类一起啃食牧草吗?”



40.神灵要么拥有法力,要么没有。倘若没有,为何还向他们祈祷?倘若有,与其祈求得到或分享某物,何不祈求不畏惧它、贪恋它或为它感到悲伤?显然,倘若神灵向凡人伸出援手,他们可以这样来帮助他。你也许会说:“这些都是神灵早就赋予我的能力。”既然如此,靠自己的力量成为一个不受束缚的人,而不是像奴仆和乞丐一样祈求不该拥有的东西,那不是更好吗。再者,谁告诉你神灵从不帮助我们实现能力所及的事情?像这样祈祷吧,你会看到结果的。换作他人,也许会祈求:“让我拥有这个女人。”而你应该祈祷:“让我不要渴望拥有她。”别人祈祷:“让我摆脱某某人吧。”你却祈祷:“让我不要渴望摆脱他。”别人祈求:“不要让我失去宝贵的孩子。”你不如祈求免除失去孩子的恐惧。总之,就像这样去祈祷,看看会有什么结果。



41.伊壁鸠鲁说:“我生病的时候,从不谈论肉体的不适,也不和我的客人讨论类似的话题,而是继续谈论自然哲学的原理。我着重阐述的是心灵如何既参与肉体各部位的活动又能保持自身的从容淡定,坚持追求本该拥有的美德。”他又说:“我也不给医生吹嘘自己能耐的机会。我的生活只不过是一如既往,平静而幸福。”因此,当你身体欠佳,或是处于任何困境时,要像伊壁鸠鲁那样。绝不要因为发生事情就放弃一直坚持的哲学,也不要参与那些愚昧无知、未受教化的人的无稽之谈(这是所有学派一至认同的准则)。全神贯注地完成眼前的任务,关注你为完成任务所用的工具。



42.如果有人出言不逊,冒犯了你,马上问问自己:“没有粗鲁之人,这个世界能存在吗?”不能。因此不要要求不可能的事情。那人不过是那些粗鄙之人中的一员,他们的存在对这个世界来说是必不可少的。无论何时,只要碰到无赖行径、两面三刀或者其他不端行为,就要顺着这个思路去想。你只需提醒自己,这种人必不可少,你对他的情绪便会立刻缓和下来。如果你能及时回想起大自然赋予我们应对这种缺陷的特殊才能,这对你也很有帮助。她已经给我们准备了解药:比如,以温柔对待粗鲁,还有医治其他疾病的其他良药。一般说来,你有机会使犯错者认识到自己的错误。因为每个犯错的人,都是由于缺乏正确的目标才犯错的。再说,你又受到什么损害呢?这些冒犯你的人没做任何伤害你心灵的事情;只有在心灵里,邪恶或对自身有害的东西才能成为现实。说到底,粗野之人行为粗鲁,这有什么不对或者让人吃惊的地方呢?与其责备他们倒不如责怪自己,是你自己没有预见到他们的冒犯行为。借助理性的力量,你拥有一切手段来估计到他们的行为。你自己忘记了,现在却对人家的冒犯行为感到吃惊。当你对别人背信弃义、忘恩负义的行为感到愤慨时,首先要想想自己。如果你相信了这种人的忠诚,或是好心帮助了他,而这种帮助并非毫无保留,认为这一行为本身就是最好的回报,那么,错误显然在你身上。既然帮助了别人,还指望得到什么呢?做了符合本性的事情而不求回报,这难道还不够吗?就好比眼睛能看见东西就要求报答,脚能走路也要求报答。眼睛和脚恰恰是因为各自的功能才存在,各司其职是它们的本分。同样,人生来就是为了行善,他做善事或者为公共福祉效力,只是尽了自己的本分,而且他本身也得到了补偿。



注 释

〔1〕  上上下下,即连续由火变成气,气变成水,水变成土,然后再反向循环。

卷 十

1.啊,我的灵魂,你不愿永远善良真诚,完整坦诚,比包裹着你的肉体更加清晰地呈现在人们面前?你不愿永远体验充满关爱和柔情的心灵的甜蜜?你不愿永远充实,毫不匮乏,一无所求,既不渴求给你带来享受的人和物,也不希望延长享受他们的时光,不向往任何地方或国家、怡人的气候,不与佳人为伴吗?你何时才能安于现状,心满意足,相信一切皆属于你,皆为神灵所赐,现在和将来都会与你同在?为确保这生机勃勃的完美世界的安全和福祉,它们愿意授予你这一切。这世界多么高尚、公平、美好,它赋予万物生机,支持保护它们,等到它们消亡时再将它们聚集到自己的怀抱里,让其他更多同类涌现出来。你不愿永远成为神灵和人类的伙伴,对他们无怨无悔,也不使他们对你产生不满吗?



2.注意自己特殊本性的要求,要像完全臣服于大自然主宰的人一样。履行职责,接受命运,只要它能确保不伤害你的自然本性。还应该注意自然本性的需求,一一满足它们,只要它们能确保不伤害理性的本性(理性也直接意味着社会性)。遵守这些规则,不要在其他事物上枉费精力。



3.无论发生什么事情,大自然也许已经使你具备了面对它的能力,也许没有。一旦发生不幸,只要能够承受,就不要心生怨恨,就要以大自然赐予的能力去承受它。如果它超出了你的能力,依然不要心生怨恨,因为虽然它打败了你,但它自身也将不复存在。但要记住,其实自然已经让你具备了承受一切的能力,只要你将承受不幸当成对自身有益而且是职责所在的事情,你自己就会断定,它是可以承受、可以忍受的。



4.如果有人出了差错,要温和地提醒他,指出他的错误。如果说服不了他,就责怪自己吧,或者谁也不要指责。



5.你可能遭遇的一切,从时间伊始就已为你准备就绪。在错综复杂的因果关系中,你的生命之线一直就与某个特定事件交织在一起。



6.无论宇宙是由一团混乱的微粒组成,还是自然长成,我的第一信念是,我是大自然主宰下的宇宙整体的一部分。我的第二信念是,我和同类之间有着同胞关系。只要我铭记这两点,无论这个整体分配给我什么,作为其中的一部分,我首先不会感到委屈,因为有益于整体的事物绝不可能对局部有害,而整体也不会接纳对自己无益的事物。(这也适用于每一个自然有机体;不过,宇宙的本性还具有更深一层的特征,即没有任何外因能迫使自己产生对自己有害的事物。)牢记自己是这一整体的一部分,我就会欣然接受任何可能的命运安排。其次,由于我和我的同类有着同胞关系,我不会做出任何有损于他们共同福祉的事情。相反,我会永远有意地为这些同胞着想,对他们有利的冲动就要鼓励,对他们不利的事情就要避免。这样一来,我的生活也会一帆风顺。这就如同我们想到的那些公务人员的生活那样一帆风顺。他们一贯服务于自己的同胞,并随时迎接自己的城市分派的任何使命。



7.整体的各个部分,我指的是宇宙自然包含的一切事物,迟早都会衰败。更准确地说,都会改变形态。一旦这种不可避免的改变在本质上对局部肯定有害,那么这个整体就无法继续正常运转。这是因为,这些局部始终都在形态上发生这样那样的变化,而且都在以各自的方式走向衰败。那么,是大自然有意加害自己的组成部分,使得它们不仅容易而且不可避免地受到伤害吗?或者,她对发生的一切并不知情?这两种猜测都不可信。就算我们把大自然本身完全排除在外,转而用正常的自然秩序来解释这一问题。如果我们认为这种局部的易变性很正常,同时又把这种易变看作非自然事件而感到震惊或愤恨,这种看法仍然荒谬。如果考虑到局部的变化不过是分解回它们原来的结构成分,这种看法就更加荒谬。说到底,如果分解不是组成元素的简单分解,那一定是肉体微粒转化为土的形态,精神微粒转化为气的形态,这样它们就能被普遍理性重新吸收(无论是定期被火焰吞噬,还是通过永无止境的变化周期不断更新自己)。但是记住,我们不能把这些微粒,不论是肉体的还是精神的,想象成我们出生时得到的那些微粒。我们现在整个身体结构的增加,得益于昨天或前天摄入的肉类和呼吸的空气。所以,承载这些变化的,早已不是我们母亲最初生下的身体,而是此后我们所接纳的物质。(事实上,即便我们承认出生时就带有相当多先天的易变微粒,我也不认为这会影响我上述的观点。)



8.如果你认为自己配得上这些称赞,例如善良、谦逊、真诚、敏锐、正直、高尚,就不要辜负它们。如果不小心失掉它们,要赶紧找回来。但要记住,“敏锐”就意味着能够思考鉴别出事物的细枝末节,并审慎地关注它们,“正直”意味着心甘情愿接受自然给你的一切,而“高尚”意味着理智的升华,它超越了或舒适或难受的肉体活动,也超越了极度的虚荣、死亡和其他使你分心的事物。不要辜负这些称赞,也不要热衷于别人对你的赞美,这样,你就会与众不同,你的人生也将与众不同。继续现在这种状态,被现在的生活所折磨、所玷污,那是傻瓜和懦夫的行为。就像武士在角斗场被野兽撕扯得血迹斑斑、遍体鳞伤,却仍然恳求把自己关起来,等到翌日再带着满身伤痕,被投入场中,丢给同样的獠牙和利爪。不如登上这个由形容词构成的小木筏吧,要是你能做到,就待在上面,只当被送到了福佑之岛。如果感到摇摇晃晃,控制不住自己的方向,就振作精神冲向宁静的避风港,在那儿你就能把握住自己。抑或就彻底告别人生,不在盛怒之下,而是简单、自由、低调地离开人世,这样看上去你的人生结束了,但至少人生中还有一件值得赞扬的事情。永远将这些形容词牢记在心,这会帮你记住神灵。还要牢记,神灵不愿受到恭维,而是希望有理性的万物都能像他们一样。另外还要记住,无花果树有无花果树的使命,狗有狗的使命,蜜蜂有蜜蜂的使命,人也如此。



9.日复一日,你周围尽是那些插科打诨、争吵斗嘴、胆小怯懦、散漫懒惰、卑躬屈膝的现象,这会让你忘却那些神圣的箴言。你没有深刻领会却漫不经心地丢弃了它们。你的使命要求你,在观察每件事物、进行每个行动时,不但要充分考虑环境的客观要求,还要充分运用自己的思维能力。此外,还要保持一切细节尽在掌握的自信(供备用,但绝不能忘记)。你永远不想得到一个真正诚实高贵的人所拥有的幸福吗?不想弄清每个事物最深层的本质,它在世界秩序中的位置,它自然存在的条件,它的组成结构,它的归属,以及谁有能力给予或收回它吗?



10.蜘蛛逮到苍蝇就觉得了不起。一个人捕到一只野兔,第二个人网到一条小鱼,第三个人俘获野猪、熊或是萨尔马提亚人, 〔1〕 也会自以为了不起。倘若深究一下原则性问题,这些行为岂不是与强盗无异?



11.养成习惯,定期观察宇宙的变化过程,一丝不苟地关注它,深入研究这门学问。没有比这更能提高智力的了。这是因为,当人意识到自己随时可能被迫放弃一切,离开同伴的时候,他就会抛开肉体,按照大自然的安排,以自己的行动全心全意地效力于正义事业。不再浪费精力去考虑别人会对自己说什么,想什么或做什么。能做到两件事就足矣:在日常行为中正派,对命运的安排满意。将烦心的事情、分心的事情统统搁置一边。唯一的雄心壮志就是在守法的大道上径直前行,由此成为神灵的追随者。



12.既然使命摆在你眼前,又何需猜测?只要道路清晰可见,就心怀善意大步前行,不要回头。如果不是这样,那就等待一下,听从最好的建议。倘若阻力继续出现,始终沿着正义指引的方向,尽量审慎地前进。获得正义就是无上的成功,因为人们通常会铩羽而归。



13.每天伊始都要自问:“别人正义、公正的行为对我有何影响?”没有。记住,那些人自以为是地愿意赞美或贬损别人,在生活中、睡觉时、饭桌旁也是一样。回想一下他们的所作所为,他们回避或追求的事物,他们的偷窃和掠夺行径。他们干这些时,并不是用手和脚,而是用他们最为宝贵的东西,那就是信仰的源泉、谦逊、真理、法律以及内心神灵这一宝贵财产,只要一个人想这样做。



14.面对大自然这一万物之源和归宿,一个谦顺、有教养的人会大声恳求:“如您所愿赐予,如您所愿收回。”但是在说这话时,不能哗众取宠,而要怀着纯粹的恭顺和善意。



15.如今你来日无多。那就如同置身山巅一样去度过它们吧。命运将人抛向何方并不重要,假如他无论身在何处,都将世界视为一座城市,将自己视为城市的公民。让人们有机会认识并了解一个遵循万物之法生活的纯粹的人。倘若有人看不惯,任凭他们将他除掉。这比像他们那样生活更好。



16.不要再浪费时间讨论高尚的人应该是什么样子。去做那样的人吧。



17.不断思考所有时间和所有存在,从而领悟到每个独立的事物和所有存在相比不过是一粒沙,和所有时间相比也只是紧一下螺丝的瞬间。



18.要认识一切实物的本性,观察每个事物现在还经历的变化和分解过程,已经处在其中的衰败和消散的过程,以及等待它的其他自然命运。



19.他们进餐、就寝、交媾、排泄,诸如此类。这都是一伙什么人呀!那么自以为是,那么傲慢无礼,那么专横跋扈,暴虐无道,那么目空一切,百般挑剔!刚才他们还在对那么多的人献媚拍马。为了同样的目的,用不了多久,他们还会这么做!



20.大自然创造万物众生,是为了他们的福祉,而且从他们诞生的那一刻起便已造福于他们。



21.“土地爱上了从天而降的阵雨,神圣的天国也沉浸于爱河之中。”这就是说,宇宙真的热爱创造一切事物的使命。因此,我对宇宙的回答必定是:“只要是您热爱的,我也热爱。”(这是不是跟人们通常说的某某事物“乐于发生”是同一个意思?)



22.你可以继续生活在这里,毕竟你已经非常适应这里的习俗了。你也可以移居到你自由选择的任何其他地方。再不然就一死了之,这也意味着你使命的终结。除此之外,再无别的选择。所以随遇而安吧。



23.你应该明白,无论身在何处,你都能够拥有绿色田野般的宁静。在山上、在海边、在任何你想去的地方,情况都和这里一样。《柏拉图》一书有同样的观点,他在书中说,生活在城墙之中“犹如在高山上的羊圈里给羊群挤奶”。



24.我的主宰理性对我意味着什么?此时此刻我理解它吗?我会如何使用它?它缺乏判断力吗?它是否脱离了伙伴之谊?它是否受肉体影响太深,还在回想肉体的多变与摇摆不定?



25.仆人挣脱了主人就是逃跑。对我们而言,我们的主人就是法律。因此,犯法的人就是逃犯。然而,悲伤、愤怒、恐惧都是对某种事物的排斥,这种事物不论过去,现在还是将来都是由主宰宇宙的力量来规定的。也就是说,由法来规定的。法规定,一切生灵皆有权益 〔2〕 。所以,屈服于恐惧、悲伤或愤怒,便是逃跑。



26.男人在子宫里下种之后便扬长而去。然后另一个因缘接手,开始工作,使其发育成为一个完美的婴儿。这是多么奇妙的转变!这个男子咽下食物,某种其他因缘再次接手,把食物转化成感觉、动作以及,简言之,生命、精力和其他各种各样的产物。想想这些过程是多么奇妙。观察其中发挥作用的力量,就像观察让事物向上或向下运动的力量一样。当然并非用眼睛观察,但一样能看得清晰。



27.经常回想一下,今天的生活就是以往生活的重复。你会注意到这也预示了将来要发生的事情。再看看很多戏剧和场景,它们都是如此地相似,那是因为你已经从亲身经历和过去的历史中熟悉了它们。例如,哈德良皇帝的整个朝廷,安东尼纳斯皇帝的朝廷,还有菲利普、亚历山大、克罗伊斯 〔3〕 的朝廷。演出都一样,只是演员不同罢了。



28.如果看到有人烦恼或者愤怒,就想象一下宰牲屠刀下又踢又叫的猪。如果看到另外一个人独自卧病在床,默默哀叹着我们对他的束缚。这种情形也好不到哪里去。唯有理性生命具备主动适应环境的能力,而适应本身则是世间万物必须服从的苛刻要求。



29.无论处理什么事情,每走一步都要停下来问自己:“是不是因为害怕丧失它,我才会畏惧死亡?”



30.如果别人的错误冒犯了你,就反省一下自己是否也有同样的毛病。你是不是也从财富、享受、名声以及类似的东西中受益?想到这里,你的怒气很快就会烟消云散,因为他的行为不过是重压之下的反应,否则他还能怎么做呢?或者,如果你有能力,就设法把他从压力下解救出来。



31.看见萨特隆就想起了已故的苏格拉底派学者欧迪奇和许门,看见幼发拉底河就想起埃夫蒂希翁和西尔法努斯,看见阿尔齐弗隆就想起特罗佩奥福鲁斯,看见西弗勒斯就想起克里托和色诺芬,看见自己就想起在你之前的那些帝王。所以,每个人都应该想想和自己相对应的人,然后再想想:“他们现在身在何处?”无处可寻或者无处不在。于是,你渐渐习惯将尘世的一切视为蒸汽或者虚无。而且,你还应该记住,世事一旦改变就不可挽回。既然如此,何苦还要挣扎较劲,何不以恰当得体的方式度过短暂的人生?想想你都永远拒绝了什么物质和可能,因为只要你的理性学会用适当的哲学眼光看清人生的真谛,你所经受的苦难不过是对自己理性的磨练。耐心一些,直到你对它们习以为常,就如同强健的胃能够消化吸收各种食物,或者明亮的火焰能够把投入其中的一切化作热能和烈焰一样。



32.不要让任何人有权理直气壮地指责你不守诚信或不善良。即便有人这么想,也要确保他们的想法毫无根据。这完全取决于你自己,试想谁能阻止你做一个善良诚实的人呢?如果你不能这样生活,就只能决心一死了之。因为这种情况下,即使理性本身也不允许你继续存在。



33.对你拥有的物质应该如何评价或处置才最恰当呢?不管怎样,你都有权对它们评价或处置。但是不要假装做不了主。你的这些烦恼会无休无止,直至一个人以所能得到的物质履行自己天职对你的意义,就像他的享乐对骄奢淫逸者的意义一样。(的确,我们每次按照正当的、与生俱来的本能行事,都应该看作是一种享乐,而现在这样的机会无处不在。)诚然,滚轮并不总是能够随意滚动,水不能,火不能,其他受自己本性或非理性灵魂主宰的事物也都不能。有诸多因素制约着它们。但是,心灵和理性却能跨越一切障碍,因为本性使它们具备这样的能力,而意志也促使它们这么做。想象一下,理性是如何不费吹灰之力跨越每一个障碍的,就如同火焰上窜、石头下落或者滚轮滚下斜坡一样。除此之外,别无所求。不管怎样,干扰只能影响身体(即无生命的事物),否则就不能压垮或伤害我们,除非我们抱有成见和丧失理智。如若不然,它们将危及主体。尽管纵观宇宙,我们知道,灾难的发生往往牵涉到受害者自身的某种堕落。但就人而言,只要他能正确利用逆境,我们甚至可以断言他会因祸得福,变得更高尚,更值得赞扬。总之,永远不要忘记,不能伤害城市的事情必定不能伤害城里真正的公民,不能伤害法律的事情必定不能伤害城市。我们所说的厄运并不伤害法律,因而也不能伤害城市或公民。



34.真正的原则一旦被人铭记在心,即便是最常见的事情都足以让他回想起遗憾和恐惧的无用。例如:



“人类的孩子是什么?无非是被风吹落的树叶。”



这些树叶就是你们心爱的孩子。树叶也是民众,是那些尖声喝彩、大声咒骂或者暗地讥讽的具有潜在说服力的声音。从此你的声望将落入这些树叶的手中。它们都是“春天的花朵”,大风将它们吹落,不久森林又在它们原来的地方添上新绿。短暂是每个人的标记,而你却追逐或避开它们,仿佛它们将万世永生。不久以后,你将闭上双眼,而那些送你入土的人,很快也会有人为他们流下泪水。



35.健康的眼睛能看清所有可见的物体,而不会要求只看绿色,因为那样只能说明视觉有了问题。同样,健康的听觉和嗅觉应该对各种声音和气味都很敏感,健康的胃能够接纳各种肉类,就好比碾子会碾碎任何谷物一样。同样,健康的心灵也应该对于任何事情都有所准备。“让我的孩子获得赦免吧。”或者“让我的每一个行为获得举世的赞美吧。”提出这种要求的心灵,就如同只想看见绿色的眼睛,只想吃到柔软食物的牙齿一样。



36.一个人临终前,如果有人在他床边高兴地为即将失去他而欢呼,他就是一个十分幸运的人了。就算此人品德高尚、聪明睿智,到头来就不会有人这样小声嘀咕吗?“总算摆脱了主人,我们又能自由地呼吸了!其实他对我们从来不疾言厉色,但我总觉得他背地里瞧不起我们。”德高望重者的命运尚且如此,至于我等之辈,很多朋友都有充足的理由高兴地摆脱我们!当大限来临时,想想这些吧。“那些我为之辛劳、为之祈祷和为之牵挂的亲密伙伴,竟然都盼着我离开,从而获得解脱。这就是我要告别的世界。这种情况下谁还会渴望延年益寿?”想到这些,你的离开就要轻松得多。然而,不要因此在临终前减少对他们的仁慈,要保持惯有的友好、善意和仁慈,不要把离开当成悲伤的事情,而要把你的离开就看作是灵魂轻松飘离肉体的无痛终结。从前,大自然把你和这些人连在一起,变成他们中的一员。如今,她松开了这一纽带。于是,我被松开,脱离自己的亲族,毫无抵抗,毫无强迫。死亡只是大自然的又一个方式而已。



37.对于每一个行动,不论执行者是谁,都要养成习惯问问自己:“他做这件事的目的是什么?”就从自己开始,首先要问自己这个问题。



38.要记住,主宰我们的是深藏于我们内心的神秘力量。那里有劝导,有真实的生命,也可以说有我们自己。绝不要幻想,这种力量会被外面包裹的肉体和附着的器官所困扰。它们只是附在身体上生长,就如同木匠的斧子一样只是工具罢了。失去推动或者遏制它们的介质,它们就像离开了织匠的梭子,离开了作家的笔,或者没有车夫的鞭子一样毫无用处。



注 释

〔1〕  萨尔马提亚人是位于西徐亚/斯基泰(Scythians)西部的一个多部落联盟,根据希罗多德《历史》中提到的传说,萨尔马提亚人是斯基泰人与神话中的亚马逊女战士的后裔。约在公元前5世纪从中亚细亚迁移至乌拉尔山,最终定居在俄罗斯南部、乌克兰和巴尔干东部。在罗马帝国时期,罗马的军队中曾大量雇用萨尔马提亚人作为辅助骑兵征战四方。——译者注

〔2〕  希腊语法律(nomos)应该来源于一个动词,意思是分配(nemein)。

〔3〕  亚历山大大帝是古代马其顿帝国的国王,世界古代史上著名的军事家和政治家。十八岁随父菲利普出征,二十岁继承王位。雄才大略,足智多谋,建立了版图跨越欧亚大陆的马其顿帝国。

克罗伊斯是里底亚最后一代国王,以财富甚多闻名。——译者注

卷十一

1.理性的灵魂具有以下这些特性。她会自我思考,自我分析,根据自己的意愿塑造自己,享受自己的成果(树上结的果实,和动物产子一样,是供他人享用的),无论生命在何时终结,她总能完美地完成自己的使命。而舞蹈、戏剧或是其他类似的东西则不然,一旦中途被打断,演出就不完整了。灵魂无论何时被终止,都能心满意足地完成使命,并能够宣称:“我完全主宰自己的人生。”而且,她能够随意包容整个宇宙,包括它自身的结构和外层空间,一直延伸到永远,接受并理解伟大的周期性重生,因此懂得后世子孙看到的世界并不新奇,就像我们的父辈看到的世界并不比我们现在看到的多。而且,一个年近四十的人,只要具有一些领悟力,由于事物的相似性,他实际上就已经预见到过去和将来可能发生的一切事情。最后,热爱邻居、真诚、谦虚、尊重自我甚于一切,这些都是理性的灵魂具有的优点。尊重自己甚于一切,这也是法律的特性之一。由此可以断定,理性原则和正义原则是完全一致的。



2.面对歌舞或者竞技表演的诱惑,你很快就会无动于衷了,只要你把美妙的乐曲分解成几个音节,再依次问问自己:“我抵御不了这些吗?”你会不愿意承认。对舞者的每一动作和姿态、运动员的每一表现也同样如法炮制。总之,除了美德及其内涵之外,永远记住,直奔它们的组成部分,通过拆分,就能摆脱迷恋。现在,再把这种方法运用到整个生活中去。



3.如果不管何时接到脱离肉体的命令,灵魂都能随时准备就绪,面对毁灭、消散,或是生存下去。这样的灵魂是多么幸福。不过,是否准备就绪必须取决于它自己。这绝非是像那些基督徒 〔1〕 那样因要抗命而起的念头,而是经过了严肃的深思熟虑。而且为了让人信服,不要有任何豪言壮语。



4.我做过无私的事情吗?如果有,我已经得到了回报。要时常这么想,并且坚持下去。



5.你有什么本事?善良。除非具有哲学家的洞察力,能看透宇宙的本性和人的特性,否则你又如何能够凭善良取得成功呢?



6.戏剧最初采用悲剧的形式来表现人生的变迁,以提醒我们不幸事件的发生是多么合情合理。而且,既然悲剧在舞台上能给我们带来快乐,在现实生活这一更广阔的舞台上我们就无权因为不幸事件的发生而感到悲伤。这些戏剧告诉我们,尽管人的行为会带来不可避免的后果,尽管人们会痛苦地脱口而出:“啊,西塞隆山 〔2〕 !”但是他们依然承受得起。而且,悲剧作家笔下经常能诞生一些颇有裨益的词句,特别是这些:



“如果上天不眷顾我和我那两个儿子,那必定有充足的理由。”



还有:



“不要为事情的发展进程劳神费心。”



或者:



“生命的收获与收割玉米别无二致。”



还有很多诸如此类的名言警句。



除了悲剧,还有语言犀利如学校教师的旧喜剧 〔3〕 ,它以其独特的直言不讳,无情鞭挞了人性的傲慢(第欧根尼在某种程度上也采用了同样的手法)。然而,后来的中期喜剧 〔4〕 和最终的新喜剧 〔5〕 很快就衰落为矫揉造作的摹拟剧 〔6〕 。诚然,正如我们所知,这些后来的剧作家也曾说过一些名言警句。可是,他们诗歌和戏剧的眼界和立意又有多大分量呢?



7.显然,你现在碰到的生活条件用于哲学实践再合适不过了。



8.从临近树枝上断开的树杈,必然与整棵树木分离。同样,与同伴分离的人也就脱离了整个社会。只不过,树枝是被人砍下来的,人则是出于憎恨与厌恶而疏远自己的邻居,他并不知道他同时也就脱离了整个社会。尽管如此,仰仗着创造伙伴之谊的宙斯的仁慈,我们依然有能力与邻里重修旧好,融入其中,为整体社会的融合再尽一份力量。一旦这种分离的行为经常发生,分离者就很难再回归整体并重修旧好了。一根从头到尾陪伴树木成长、一直分享树木生命的枝杈,跟砍断之后嫁接起来的枝杈,有着天壤之别。正如园丁所说,出于同一棵树,却不是出于同一灵魂。



9.虽然有人可能阻止你走理性之路,但他绝不能干扰你理智的行为。要确信他们同样不能摧毁你对他们的仁慈之心。你还要同样坚守以下两种立场:决策行事要坚定,同时对试图阻挠或者干扰你的人要温和。因他们而恼怒,与放弃自己的行动方针和被逼投降,都是极为软弱的表现。这两种情形都属于擅离职守。一种是由于缺乏勇气,另一种是由于疏远自己天生的兄弟和伙伴。



10.任何自然的表现形式都远胜于艺术,因为每一种艺术都只是对自然的模仿。至高无上的大自然,比一切凡人都更完美更全面,比他们的技艺更超群。而且,艺术只不过是以高于事物的眼光创造出的低级作品,这与大自然的手法如出一辙。从这里我们能看到正义之源,其他美德都取决于此。如果我们一心追求具有次要价值的事物,并甘心停留在上当受骗、刚愎自用、反复无常的状态,我们就永远无法获得真正的正义。



11.凡是让你苦恼或者愤怒继而想追求或者回避的事情,往往不会自己找上门,而是你主动招惹的。尽量不要对它们进行评判,这样它们就不会轻举妄动,你也就不会追求或者躲避它们了。



12.只要灵魂既不向外张扬拼命追求,也不向内收缩,既不零星地散布自己,也不凹陷垮塌下去,而是沐浴在展示世人和她本色的光辉之中,她就能保持自己完美的球形。



13.有人会嘲笑我吗?那是他的事情。我要做的事是,不做可以让他嘲笑的事情,不说可以让他嘲笑的话。他会不会恨我?那也是他的事情。我要做的事是,和所有的人友好和睦地相处,随时指出这个人错误在哪里,既不对他反唇相讥,也不故作宽容,而是像老福基翁 〔7〕 那样心胸坦荡、宽宏大量(我们姑且假设他的话不是纯粹的谎言)。这才是人应该具有的正确精神。他绝不应让神灵看到自己对自己的遭遇心怀不满或喊冤叫屈。只要你遵循正确的做人准则,随时接受大自然认为恰当的东西,就像一个尽力促进世界福祉的纯粹的人那样,邪恶又怎么可能伤害到你呢?



14.他们鄙视对方却又互相讨好。每人都想胜过对方,却在其面前表现得畏首畏尾、卑躬屈膝。



15.假如有人说:“我决心对你知无不言,言无不尽。”这话听起来多么空洞,多么虚伪。哎呀,伙计,何必如此费事?这种事情不言自明,根本无须开场白。它就写在你的额头上,回荡在你的语调里,闪耀在你的眼神里,宛如深爱的恋人只需秋波一送,对方便已心知肚明。真诚和善良自有其毋庸置疑的味道,能让遇到它的人立刻就能不由自主地意识到它的存在。伪装的直率是一把隐藏的匕首。狼一般虚情假意最为卑劣,也最应该避之而唯恐不及。真正善良、真诚、好心的人,相由心生,没人看不出来。



16.任何灵魂,只要对无关紧要的事情采取漠不关心的态度,就能够完美地过上高尚生活。为此,首先要仔细查看事物的组成因素,然后再看事物本身。你还要记住,我们对它们看法如何,它们自己毫无责任,它们并未主动接近我们,它们依然处于静止状态,是我们对它们形成看法,并把这些看法铭记在心。事实上,我们完全能够不在心中留下任何印记,至少也能够迅速删除无意留下的任何印记。你还要记住,你没有多少时间来关注这些事情,我们的赛跑马上就要开始了。如果事情不总是尽如你意,也不要觉得委屈。只要它们符合本性,就该感到欣慰,就不要提出异议。如果它们不符合本性,那就找出自己本性要求你做的事情,并且全力以赴地去做。人总有理由去寻求自己的利益。



17.思考每一个事物的起源、构成、变化、变化之后的状态;发生变化对它并无丝毫损害。



18.当你被冒犯时,首先,要听取别人的意见。牢记自己和同伴之间的亲密关系。这是公认的做法,因为我们为彼此而生。还有另一个原因,我天生就是他们的领袖,如同公羊天生就要领导羊群,公牛天生就要领导牛群。或者回到最初的法则,因为世界不仅仅是微粒,它必定要受大自然的主宰,低级事物必然要为高级事物而存在,高级事物必然要为彼此而存在。

其次,要想想他们的性格,居家就寝时的表现,尤其是他们的思维方式所施加的压力以及随之而来的自恃。正是这种自恃导致他们做出如此行径。

第三,如果他们的行为正当,你就不应该生气。反之,就只能是无心所致,无意为之。正如“无人会故意犯错”,同样无人会故意使他人得不到应得的待遇。倘若有人指责他们不公正、忘恩负义、小气吝啬,或者其他对邻居的不端行为,要观察他们是否愤怒。

第四,你自己也会以各种方式冒犯别人,跟他们毫无区别。诚然,你能够避免某些错误,但是出错总是难免的。即使出于对自己名声的顾忌或其他卑鄙的动机,你没有效仿他们的卑劣行径,情况也是如此。

第五,你没有十足的把握判定人家就是行为不端。要知道人的行为动机并非总像表现出来的那样。对别人的行为,通常还要了解很多东西才能做出正确的判断。

第六,如果你气急败坏,快要失去耐心,就告诉自己这种尘世生活是暂短的,不久我们都会长眠地下。

第七,并不是这些人的行为令我们恼火,那是他们自己的理性应该关注的事情;我们恼火的原因是我们自己给这些人的行为添加了色彩。去掉色彩、去掉所有认为他们十恶不赦的想法,怒气便会立刻烟消云散。去掉色彩有什么作用呢?想想看,至少不会使你蒙羞。因为,如果道德上蒙羞不算一种罪恶,你就会做出很多作奸犯科的事情,比如抢劫和其他种种恶行。

第八,怒气和烦恼,比让我们生气和烦恼的事情本身更有害。

第九,仁慈之心难以抗拒,只要它是出自真心,不带虚假笑容和口是心非。只要你始终以仁慈之心对待冒犯你的人,有机会就对他好言相劝,最放肆无理的行径也无法对你造成伤害。如果他要对你恶语相加,你就悄悄地把他拉到一边,对他说:“不要这样,我的孩子。我们天生不该如此。你伤害不了我,只会伤害你自己。”彬彬有礼地用平实的语言向他说明理由,告诉他连蜜蜂和其他群居动物都不会像他这样行事。但是,不要使用讽刺挖苦或者挑剔的语言,而要怀有真情实感和一颗远离怨恨的心。既不要像学校老师的那种做派,也不要想博取旁观者的仰慕。尽管有他人在场,也要仿佛只有你和他单独相处。

牢记住这九条建议,就当是缪斯女神赐予你的礼物。既然你的生命还在继续,那就学着成熟起来。在避免与人斗气时,还要小心提防谄媚者。谄媚和冒犯别人一样违背公共福祉,二者皆会导致祸害。每当怒气上冲,就这样想:发脾气绝非男子气概的表现,而温柔平和的人不仅更显得有人情味而且更具男子气概。只有这种人,而非他怒气冲冲、心怀不满的伙伴,才能证明自己的强大、勇敢和阳刚。愤怒和悲伤一样都是软弱的表现,它们只会给人带来伤害,让人屈从于失败。

此外,如果愿意,就把下面的话当作第十份礼物。这份礼物直接来自缪斯女神的上司本人。指望坏人永远不做坏事是不明智的,就等于期待不可能发生的事情发生一样。容忍他们冒犯别人,却指望他们不冒犯你,这种想法不仅荒谬而且武断。



19.灵魂的舵手有四项毛病,你必须时常留心提防,一旦发现要立即制止。你要一一对它们这样说:“这种想法毫无必要”,“这人会暗中破坏伙伴之谊”,“这不是我内心的真实想法”(记住,不说自己的真实想法是最不合时宜的事情)。还有第四条,当你想做自我批评的时候,想到“这样将证明我内心的神性曾经被迫臣服于卑鄙腐朽的肉体的粗俗想法”。



20.尽管你身体里气性和火性的微粒天生具有上冲的倾向,但仍然臣服于宇宙的法则,受制于它们所组成的机体。另一方面,你身体里水性和土性的微粒,尽管也有下沉的趋势,但是也被托住,处于一种感到不自然的状态。因此,连微粒都遵守宇宙的法则,一旦被送到某个位置,必然停留在那儿,直至解散的信号将它们再次召回。那么,你身体中只有一个部分不服从命令,在既定领域内制造摩擦,而它竟然是你的思想,这难道不令人悲哀吗?不要它做出极端的行为,只要求它符合自己的本性。但它不肯听从,反而向相反的方向奔跑。这种奔向不公、放纵、愤怒、悲伤或是恐惧的行为不就是故意背离本性吗?一旦灵魂的舵手对发生的事情感到不满,它就立刻擅离职守。它存在的目的是为了表现神圣,为了表达对神灵的崇敬,同样也是为了正义。而作为宇宙的伙伴关系的一部分,前两者必须置于正义之前。



21.如果人生没有始终如一的统一目标,它就不会保持一贯和统一。但仅有这种说法还不够,还要补充说明人生目标应该是什么。意见的统一并不体现在那些我们通常认为好的事情上,而是体现在某种特定的事物上:即那些关系到社会福祉的事情上。所以,我们给自己确定的人生目标应该是有利于同胞和社会的。无论谁指引他朝着这一方向努力,都会把这种统一贯彻到他的一切行为之中,从而实现一贯性。



22.别忘了乡下耗子遇见城里耗子的寓言 〔8〕 ,那次相见给他带去多少不安和焦虑。



23.苏格拉底的名字对于普通人而言,就是吓唬孩童的“妖怪”。



24.斯巴达人在公共场合看演出的时候,总是让客人坐在阴凉的地方,而自己随便坐哪儿都行。



25.苏格拉底曾经以这样的理由拒绝佩尔狄卡斯朝廷的邀请,他说:“我不想带着耻辱走进坟墓。”意思是,他不会接受偿还不起的恩惠。



26.以弗所人的经文有一条劝世良言,要人们经常回顾过去道德生活的典范。



27.毕达哥拉斯学派的人每天早上都要凝视上苍,以此提醒他们自己那些物体在始终如一、按时按点地履行着自己的使命,同时也让他们自己记住天空井然有序、纯净无暇、袒露无疑的质朴。毕竟,轻纱遮不住繁星。



28.想想苏格拉底,妻子披着他的毯子走后,他只能以羊皮裹身。想想朋友们看见他这副打扮都尴尬地躲着他,而他对朋友们是怎么说的。 〔9〕



29.在读书写字的时候,你只有学会遵守规则之后才会制定规则。生活中更是如此。



30.“天生奴性十足,理性与你无缘。”



31.“……我在心中朗声大笑。”



32.“他们只知道挑衅美德,并对美德恶言相向。”



33.“傻瓜才会在冬天寻找无花果;错过了时节才寻找孩子的人也是如此。”



34.埃皮克提图曾经说过:“一边亲吻孩子一边小声嗫嚅着明天也许他就会死去。”人们对他说:“这是不祥的言辞。”他回答道:“绝对不是。只是说明一种自然行为。能说收割成熟的玉米也是不祥之兆吗?”



35.“绿色葡萄,累累熟果,葡萄干。一步一个变化,不是变成其他,而是变成未来。”



36.埃皮克提图写道:“没人能剥夺你的自由意志。”



37.他还说,我们应该演化出某种恰当的制度来表示赞许。对于冲动,我们必须小心对待,使它们不断修正,摆脱自私自利,根据是非曲直秉公办事。欲望也该极度受到限制,厌恶也应该仅限于我们能够掌控的事情。



38.他还说,“这里争论的不是琐事,而是明智与荒谬的问题。”



39.苏格拉底会问:“你想要哪种人的灵魂,通情达理的还是不讲道理的?”

“通情达理的人。”

“通情达理的人是健全的,还是有病的?”

“健全的。”

“那为何不去寻找他们?”

“因为我们已经找到了。”

“既然如此,为何还要争来斗去?”



注 释

〔1〕  如果这些是原话,而非后世添加,那马可仅仅在此提到一次基督徒。但是,C. R. 海恩斯在Loeb版《沉思录》中指出,此从句与结构不符,语法也不通。只能是一个旁注,极似强塞进原文的一个注解。

〔2〕  古希腊三大悲剧作家之一索福克勒斯的作品《俄狄浦斯王》中,国王痛苦地醒悟到自己的罪过,自残的眼睛血流如注,他呼喊着:“啊,西塞隆山!西塞隆山!你为何要庇护我?为何不杀掉我?”他的母亲正是在西塞隆山里生下了他。

〔3〕  伯里克利时代三位伟大的雅典诗人被称为古希腊喜剧的三大作家,他们是:克拉提诺斯、欧波利斯、阿里斯托芬。只有阿里斯托芬的作品传世;根据历史学家格罗特的记载,若非亲眼所见,“无法想象古代喜剧对神灵、宪政、政治家、哲学家、诗人、普通公民甚至雅典妇人惊人而犀利的肆意讽刺。”

〔4〕  阿里斯托芬之后,古典戏剧遭到法律的严禁,作家们纷纷放弃昂贵的合唱队;因而为中期喜剧让出了道路(公元前400—388年)。中古时期的喜剧没有合唱队,而保留人物——士兵、守财奴、政妓——代替现实生活中的人成为讽刺对象。这一时期的主要作家据说有欧布洛斯、安提法奈斯、亚历克西斯。

〔5〕  希腊臣服于马其顿帝国之后,新喜剧兴起,是中古时期喜剧的进一步发展。政治从舞台上消失了,虚构人物的情爱纠纷成为首要的主题。这一批作家中的佼佼者是米南德,他写了近百部喜剧,公认被罗马诗人普劳图斯和特伦斯所效仿。

〔6〕  希腊和罗马正规的喜剧总是不如摹拟剧受百姓欢迎。摹拟剧是由单个演员通过肢体语言和动作来进行表演,而合唱队则担任旁白的工作。索弗龙的摹拟剧长期深受希腊人喜爱;在罗马,这种娱乐形式盛行于奥古斯都皇帝及其继任者执政时期,并最终取代了正规的戏剧。

〔7〕  福基翁是雅典的将军和政治家,被控叛国罪并被人民判处死刑。当被问到还有什么临终遗言时,他回答道:“我只想说,我不恨雅典人。”

〔8〕  马可以此来提醒哲学家不要以自己内心的平静去交换花花世界的烦躁不安。

〔9〕  没有关于这则轶事的文字记载。但是我们知道苏格拉底一直不懈地避免被他妻子的粗暴态度激怒。据第欧根尼·拉尔修,苏格拉底曾经被问到是否无法容忍妻子不断的斥责,他回答说,“你会觉得自家的鹅嘎嘎的叫声无法忍受吗?”对方回答:“当然不会,因为鹅给我下蛋,还给我孵小鹅。”苏格拉底笑了笑,“同样,我妻子也给我生儿育女呀。”马可经常要求自己同样具有好脾气,能容忍别人,他可能是借用苏格拉底的例子指出二人的相似之处。

卷十二

1.你祈求今后获得的所有祝福现在就能实现,只要你不拒绝它们。你只需彻底告别过去,将未来交给天意,设法把眼下的时间恰当地引入神圣和正义的轨道:神圣是指满怀爱心接受命运的安排,那是大自然专门为你匹配的命运;正义是指说话直截了当,真实坦诚,做事尊重法律和所有人的权利。不能允许蓄意害人、误解别人,或者诽谤他人的行为阻挠自己,也不允许肉欲成为绊脚石。受折磨的部分将会照料自己。大限临近,如果你能忘掉一切,只专注于灵魂的舵手和内心闪光的神性,如果能放下早晚会有一死的恐惧,转而担心至今未能按照本性的原则生活,你还来得及成为无愧宇宙赐予你生命的真正的人,而不是成为自己家乡的陌生人,对每天发生的事情都不知所措,就像遇到奇迹时始终不知该相信哪一个那样。



2.神灵审视着人的内心世界,剔除一层层物质的包裹、外壳和渣滓。他只通过思想,同人们心中发源于他的部分接触。你也如此这般地训练自己,能省去很多分心的事情。一个既然不在意肉体躯壳的人,还会为服饰、住宅、名声,或者生活中其他外在表现和布景而烦恼吗?



3.你由三部分构成:肉体、呼吸、心灵。前两项属于你,仅仅因为你有责任照料它们。只有最后一项才真正属于你。那么,如果你能从真正的自我,也就是说从你的理智,摒除别人的一切言行,摒除自己过去的一切言行,摒除你对未来的一切焦虑,摒除影响肉体及其伙伴呼吸的,你无法掌控的一切东西,摒除像漩涡一样在你周围打转的一切外部事物,这样,你那远离这些命中注定之事的心灵,就有能力独立生活,行正事,认天命,说真话。如果你能从自己的主宰理性中摒除一切附着物,摒除未来或过去发生的一切,像恩培多克勒所说的那样,学会当“一个自得其乐的彻头彻尾的球体”,只关心你目前的生活、现世的人生,那么你将平静仁慈、与内心的神性和谐一致地度过余生,直至大限来临。



4.我经常感到惊奇,明明人人都爱自己甚于别人,但他们却重视别人的评价甚于自己。假如神灵或是智者站在旁边,吩咐他内心有什么想法和动机就应当立刻公之于众,他肯定一天都忍受不了。因此,邻居评价在我们心目中的分量,比自我评价要重得多。



5.神灵把一切筹划得天衣无缝,如此仁慈的他唯独会忽略了这件事吗?那就是,即使那些德高望重的人,那些与神灵关系最密切的人,那些因杰出贡献和献身精神而与神灵关系密切的人,死后都不能重生,并且注定要彻底消失。不过,如果他们果真命该如此,可以肯定的是,但凡需要改变计划,神灵一定自有安排,但凡符合大自然的意志,大自然早就安排好了。如若不然(假如事实也的确不是如此),你就可以相信这件事情本不该如此。因此你肯定能看出,你提出这样无聊的问题,就是在指责神灵。如果这些问题不是极端高尚与正义,我们怎能这样把它们与神灵联系在一起呢?如果它们是极端的高尚与公正,神灵在安排宇宙时又怎能允许发生这样不公或不合情理的疏漏呢?



6.即便看起来成功无望,也要坚持练习。左手因疏于练习而在其他方面显得不够灵活,但是却能比右手更有力地抓住缰绳,这正是勤于练习的结果。



7.要冥想死神来临时自己的肉体和灵魂应该处于怎样的状态,冥想生命之短暂以及生前、死后永恒的无尽深渊,冥想物质世界的脆弱。



8.剥去事物的外壳,勘察最深层的本源;注意行为背后的动机;研究痛苦、快乐、死亡、荣耀的实质;看看人类的不安完全是咎由自取;看看麻烦绝不可能出自他人之手,麻烦和其他事物一样,都是我们主观意念的产物。



9.运用原则时,要学职业拳师,而不要学剑客。剑客放下刀剑之后,还得重新捡起来;而拳师绝不会没有手,他要做的只是攥紧拳头。



10.想想事物的构成,将其分解为内容、形式和目的。



11.神灵赐予人类的恩惠何其丰厚。只做神灵赞许的事情,接受神灵分配的一切!



12.不要因世间的秩序而责怪神灵,因为无论是有意还是无心,他们都没有做错。也不要责怪人类,他们实属无心犯过。抛开所有兴师问罪的念头。



13.对生活中发生的一切都感到震惊,这是多么荒唐可笑又稀奇古怪的事情!



14.劫数不可阻挡,规律不可侵犯,老天尚且慈悲,否则天地便沦为毫无意义、不受管束的混沌世界。如果命运无法抗拒,为何还要奋力抗争?如果上天慈悲,你要竭尽所能对得起神灵的救助。如果世界漫乱不堪,在狂风暴雨的汪洋之中,你应心存感激,因为你还拥有心灵的舵手。如果海水吞没了你,就让污水吞没你的肉体、呼吸和其他一切,但是永远无法颠覆心灵。



15.灯笼的火焰闪耀着明亮的光芒直至熄灭,而真理、智慧、正义却在你的生命湮灭之前消失在你心里吗?



16.如果感觉有人做了错事,就这样想:“我凭什么断定人家做得不对呢?”况且,即便他真的错了,难道他就不可能已经自责过吗?否则他的指甲为什么明显地抓破了自己的面容呢?指望流氓不再做坏事就好比希望无花果的汁液不带酸味,希望婴儿不啼哭,希望马儿不嘶叫,或者希望生活中其他不可避免的事情永远不发生。请问,他性格如此,怎么能做出别样的事呢?如果你觉得这太让人生气,那就改变它吧。



17.不对的事绝不要做。不是真话绝不要说。要控制自己的冲动。



18.看问题始终要看整体。找到真正给你留下印象的东西,把它解剖成原因、内容、目的、持续的时间。



19.趁着还来得及,努力发觉自己内心比本能更高尚、更神圣的东西。本能只能驱动你的情感,把你像木偶一样拉扯。那么,此时此刻它们之中到底是什么让我的理智变得阴沉暗淡?是恐惧、妒忌、欲望,还是别的什么?



20.首先,要避免随意或者漫无目的的行为。其次,要确保自己的每一个行为都只以公益为目的。



21.记住,很快你就会化作虚无,很快你眼前的一切连同生活中不可缺少的东西都将不复存在。万事万物生来都要变化、终止、消亡,这样其他事物才有可能出现。



22.万事皆出自你的主观意念,而你的主观意念则出自你自己。愿意的话就放弃它,你立刻就绕过了海岬,一切风平浪静。那是一片宁静的海洋,一个无潮的避风港。



23.无论何种行动适时地进入尾声,此时的终止对行动本身毫无损害,行动实施者也不会因此而变得更糟。所以,如果生活(无非是我们行为的总和)也适时终止,它的终止对生活毫无损害,也不会对适时终结全部行动的人产生不利影响。只是,恰当的时间和期限则由本性决定。假如不由人的本性决定,比如,年事偏高,那么就会由大自然她自己决定。大自然不断更新自己,以便让宇宙能永葆青春和活力。服务于这一整体意图的一切事物,永远会呈现一派欣欣向荣的景象。同样,生命的终结对人类无害。因为死亡不受他左右,也绝非为了追逐私利,所以死亡不会让他受辱。相反,死亡甚至可以说是件好事,因为对宇宙而言,这是件恰逢其时、有益,与其他事物都不矛盾的事情。所以,人类只要听从神灵的安排,在思想上与他保持一致,就会在神灵的推动下前行。



24.有三条忠告值得你铭记心间。第一条忠告有关行为:绝不要肆意妄为,或者做出违背正义的事情。你一定要记住,所有外部事情,无不是机缘巧合或者天意的结果。你不能指责偶然性,也不能指责天意。第二,好好思考一下世间万物的本质,从最初的种子到灵魂的产生,再到最终的回归。事物由什么物质构成,又将分解成什么物质。第三,想象一下自己突然被送入云端,将地面上人类的活动尽收眼底:置身于周围众多神灵之中,凡间的景象会令你不屑一顾。何况,无论将你托高多少次,你依然会看到同样的景象,单调而短暂。偏偏这些景象就是我们到处夸耀的东西!



25.一旦驱散你看到的景象,你就脱离了危险。那么,是谁不让你这样做呢?



26.如果你对事情感到不满,说明你已忘记:违背大自然意愿的事情是不会发生的;你的不当行为不是你自己造成的;无论过去、现在、将来,这是事物发生的唯一方式。你还忘记了同胞之间兄弟般的亲密感情,忘记了这种兄弟之情并非出自血缘关系或者人类种子,而是源于一种共同的智慧。这种智慧体现在每个人身上就是神灵,是神性的释放。你忘记了一切并非理所当然为人类所有,因为甚至包括他的孩子、他的肉体和灵魂,统统来自同一个神灵。你还忘记了,万事万物皆取决于意念,眼下正在流逝的瞬间就是人类能够拥有或失去的全部。



27.思考一下那些从不节制欲望的人和那些登上荣耀、灾难、骂名或者其他机遇之巅的人。然后想想:“他们现在身在何处?”早已灰飞烟灭,成为了传说,或许连传说都没有。好好想想那些数不胜数的例子:在自己宅邸的法比乌斯·卡特利卢斯、在自家花园的卢修斯·卢柏斯、在巴亚的斯德丁尼阿斯、在卡普里的台比留、贝利亚斯·鲁弗斯,以及一切在傲慢驱使下卖力追求事物的例子。他们的努力多么卑鄙可耻!以正义、节制和对神灵的忠诚为宗旨才符合哲学家的身份。要始终保持淳朴,因为谦恭的外表下膨胀起来的傲慢是最让人无法容忍的。



28.有人固执地问我:“你在何处见过神灵,为何对他们的存在这么肯定,还如此崇拜他们?”我的回答就是:“首先,肉眼就能看到他们 〔1〕 。其次,我也从未见过自己的灵魂,但我依然崇敬它。对神灵也是如此,我每天的经历都证明着他们的力量,所以我确信他们的存在,我崇敬他们。”



29.为了过上健康安全的生活,要培养透彻的洞察力,以发掘事物的本质、内容和根源;要全心全意地投入正义的事业,不说假话;除此之外,还要积累善行直到没有空隙和裂缝为止,这样你才能体会到生活的乐趣。



30.阳光是完整的,尽管被墙、高山和众多其他事物所阻断。物质是完整的,尽管被划分成无数不同的、各具独特性的生命机体。灵魂是完整的,尽管它按照数不胜数的不同比例分布于数不胜数的生物体内。即便是别具思维能力的灵魂,尽管看不见,同样也是完整的。一切有机体的其他部分,比如呼吸,则是物质的,不具备感知能力,彼此没有亲和性,仅仅是靠统一的引力才聚集在一起。然而,思维因其自身的特性,会自发地趋向同类并与之融合。因此,统一的本能是无法挫败的。



31.你为何要渴望延年益寿?是为了体验感官刺激、满足欲望,还是为了促进或中止成长的过程?或者为了运用说话和思维的能力?这些事情真的值得你贪恋吗?如果认为它们都不值一顾,那就坚决争取实现终极目标,即追随理性和神灵。然而你要记住,珍视这一目标,就不要有任何不满情绪,不要认为死亡夺走了你的其他一切。



32.我们每个人得到的时间,只是无限永恒之中极其微不足道的一部分。眨眼之间,它便消失在永恒之中。你所得到的物质,与全世界相比也是极其微不足道的一部分;你的灵魂,同样也是全世界灵魂中极其微不足道的一部分;你所走过的土地跟整个世界相比极其渺小。在你仔细思考这些事物时,打定主意依照自己本性的指引做事,承受自然赐予你的一切。除此之外,一切都毫无意义。



33.我灵魂的舵手如何发挥作用?一切皆源于它。其他一切,无论我能否掌控,都是累累白骨和空气。



34.一想到把快乐看作善、把痛苦看作恶的人都能做到藐视死亡,没有比这更能激发对死亡的蔑视了。



35.当人在冥冥之中注定的那个时刻发现了自己唯一的美德,他不在意自己做得太多还是太少,只要所做之事严格符合理性的要求,他凝视世界的时间长短对他已无关紧要的时候,死亡本身已不再让他感到恐惧。



36.人啊,你享有这个伟大的世界之城的公民权利,五年还是一百年,对你又有什么意义?那个城市制定的所有法律,对所有人一视同仁。那你的悲伤又从何而来?驱逐你的并非不公正的法官或者无道的暴君,而是将你带到这里的同一个大自然,就像演员被雇佣他的经理开除一样。“可是,五幕的演出我只演了三幕。”那就只演三幕好了,你的生命剧本来就只有三幕。它的落幕时刻,是由过去让你出生、现在让你死亡的人来决定的。这些决定非你所能左右。那么,微笑着上路吧,他也会微笑着送你上路的。



注 释

〔1〕  斯多葛派的学者认为群星是神性的体现。

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

TRANSLATED BY MAXWELL STANIFORTH







PENGUIN BOOKS — GREAT IDEAS

CONTENTS

Book One

Book Two

Book Three

Book Four

Book Five

Book Six

Book Seven

Book Eight

Book Nine

Book Ten

Book Eleven

Book Twelve

返回分册总目录

Book One

1. Courtesy and serenity of temper I first learnt to know from my grandfather Verus.



2. Manliness without ostentation I learnt from what I have heard and remember of my father.



3. My mother set me an example of piety and generosity, avoidance of all uncharitableness — not in actions only, but in thought as well — and a simplicity of life quite unlike the usual habits of the rich.



4. To my great-grandfather I owed the advice to dispense with the education of the schools and have good masters at home instead — and to realize that no expense should be grudged for this purpose.



5. It was my tutor who dissuaded me from patronizing Green or Blue 〔1〕 at the races, or Light or Heavy 〔2〕 in the ring; and encouraged me not to be afraid of work, to be sparing in my wants, attend to my own needs, mind my own business, and never listen to gossip.



6. Thanks to Diognetus, I learnt not to be absorbed in trivial pursuits; to be sceptical of wizards and wonderworkers with their tales of spells, exorcisms, and the like; to eschew cockfighting and other such distractions; not to resent outspokenness; to familiarize myself with philosophy, beginning with Bacchius and going on to Tandasis and Marcian; to write compositions in my early years; and to be ardent for the plank-and-skin pallet and other rigours of the Greek discipline.



7. From Rusticus I derived the notion that my character needed training and care, and that I must not allow myself to be led astray into a sophist's enthusiasm for concocting speculative treatises, edifying homilies, or imaginary sketches of The Ascetic or The Altruist. He also taught me to avoid rhetoric, poetry, and verbal conceits, affectations of dress at home, and other such lapses of taste, and to imitate the easy epistolary style of his own letter written at Sinuessa to my mother. If anyone, after falling out with me in a moment of temper, showed signs of wanting to make peace again, I was to be ready at once to meet them half-way. Also I was to be accurate in my reading, and not content with a mere general idea of the meaning; and not to let myself be too quickly convinced by a glib tongue. Through him, too, I came to know Epictetus's Dissertations, of which he gave me a copy from his library.



8. Apollonius impressed on me the need to make decisions for myself instead of depending on the hazards of chance, and never for a moment to leave reason out of sight. He also schooled me to meet spasms of acute pain, the loss of my son, and the tedium of a chronic ailment with the same unaltered composure. He himself was a living proof that the fieriest energy is not incompatible with the ability to relax. His expositions were always a model of clarity; yet he was evidently one who rated practical experience and an aptitude for teaching philosophy as the least of his accomplishments. It was he, moreover, who taught me how to accept the pretended favours of friends without either lowering my own self-respect or giving the impression of an unfeeling indifference.



9. My debts to Sextus include kindliness, how to rule a household with paternal authority, the real meaning of the Natural Life, an unselfconscious dignity, an intuitive concern for the interests of one's friends, and a good-natured patience with amateurs and visionaries. The aptness of his courtesy to each individual lent a charm to his society more potent than any flattery, yet at the same time it exacted the complete respect of all present. His manner, too, of determining and systematizing the essential rules of life was as comprehensive as it was methodical. Never displaying a sign of anger nor any kind of emotion, he was at once entirely imperturbable and yet full of kindly affection. His approval was always quietly and undemonstratively expressed, and he never paraded his encyclopaedic learning.



10. It was the critic Alexander who put me on my guard against unnecessary fault-finding. People should not be sharply corrected for bad grammar, provincialisms, or mispronunciation; it is better to suggest the proper expression by tactfully introducing it oneself in, say, one's reply to a question or one's acquiescence in their sentiments, or into a friendly discussion of the topic itself (not of the diction), or by some other suitable form of reminder.



11. To my mentor Fronto I owe the realization that malice, craftiness, and duplicity are the concomitants of absolute power; and that our patrician families tend for the most part to be lacking in the feelings of ordinary humanity.



12. Alexander the Platonist cautioned me against frequent use of the words 'I am too busy' in speech or correspondence, except in cases of real necessity; saying that no one ought to shirk the obligations due to society on the excuse of urgent affairs.



13. Catulus the Stoic counselled me never to make light of a friend's rebuke, even when unreasonable, but to do my best to restore myself to his good graces; to speak up readily in commendation of my instructors, as we read in the memoirs of Domitius and Athenodotus; and to cultivate a genuine affection for my children.



14. From my brother Severus I learnt to love my relations, to love the truth, and to love justice. Through him I came to know of Thrasea, Cato, Helvidius, Dion, and Brutus, and became acquainted with the conception of a community based on equality and freedom of speech for all, and a monarchy concerned primarily to uphold the liberty of the subject. He showed me the need for a fair and dispassionate appreciation of philosophy, an addiction to good works, open-handedness, a sanguine temper, and confidence in the affection of my friends. I remember, too, his forthrightness with those who came under his censure, and his way of leaving his friends in no doubt of his likes and dislikes, but of telling them plainly.



15. Maximus was my model for self-control, fixity of purpose, and cheerfulness under ill-health or other misfortunes. His character was an admirable combination of dignity and charm, and all the duties of his station were performed quietly and without fuss. He gave everyone the conviction that he spoke as he believed, and acted as he judged right. Bewilderment or timidity were unknown to him; he was never hasty, never dilatory; nothing found him at a loss. He indulged neither in despondency nor forced gaiety, nor had anger or jealousy any power over him. Kindliness, sympathy, and sincerity all contributed to give the impression of a rectitude that was innate rather than inculcated. Nobody was ever made by him to feel inferior, yet none could have presumed to challenge his pre-eminence. He was also the possessor of an agreeable sense of humour.



16. The qualities I admired in my father 〔3〕 were his lenience, his firm refusal to be diverted from any decision he had deliberately reached, his complete indifference to meretricious honours; his industry, perseverance, and willingness to listen to any project for the common good; the unvarying insistence that rewards must depend on merit; the expert's sense of when to tighten the reins and when to relax them; and the efforts he made to suppress pederasty.

He was aware that social life must have its claims: his friends were under no obligation to join him at his table or attend his progresses, and when they were detained by other engagements it made no difference to him. Every question that came before him in council was painstakingly and patiently examined; he was never content to dismiss it on a cursory first impression. His friendships were enduring; they were not capricious, and they were not extravagant. He was always equal to an occasion; cheerful, yet long-sighted enough to have all his dispositions unobtrusively perfected down to the last detail. He had an ever-watchful eye to the needs of the Empire, prudently conserving its resources and putting up with the criticisms that resulted. Before his gods he was not superstitious; before his fellow-men he never stooped to bid for popularity or woo the masses, but pursued his own calm and steady way, disdaining anything that savoured of the flashy or new-fangled. He accepted without either complacency or compunction such material comforts as fortune had put at his disposal; when they were to hand he would avail himself of them frankly, but when they were not he had no regrets.

Not a vestige of the casuist's quibbling, the lackey's pertness, the pedant's over-scrupulosity could be charged against him; all men recognized in him a mature and finished personality, that was impervious to flattery and entirely capable of ruling both himself and others. Moreover, he had a high respect for all genuine philosophers; and though refraining from criticism of the rest, he preferred to dispense with their guidance. In society he was affable and gracious without being fulsome. The care he took of his body was reasonable; there was no solicitous anxiety to prolong its existence, or to embellish its appearance, yet he was far from unmindful of it, and indeed looked after himself so successfully that he was seldom in need of medical attention or physic or liniments. No hint of jealousy showed in his prompt recognition of outstanding abilities, whether in public speaking, law, ethics, or any other department, and he took pains to give each man the chance of earning a reputation in his own field. Though all his actions were guided by a respect for constitutional precedent, he would never go out of his way to court public recognition of this. Again, he disliked restlessness and change, and had a rooted preference for the same places and the same pursuits. After one of his acute spasms of migraine he would lose no time in taking up his normal duties again, with new vigour and complete command of his powers. His secret and confidential files were not numerous, and the few infrequent items in them referred exclusively to matters of state. He showed good sense and restraint over the exhibition of spectacles, construction of public buildings, distribution of subsidies, and so forth, having always more in view the necessity for the measures themselves than the plaudits they evoked. His baths were not taken at inconvenient hours; he had no mania for building; he was quite uncritical of the food he ate, of the cut and colour of the garments he wore, or of the personableness of those around him. His clothes were sent up from his country seat at Lorium, and most of his things came from Lanuvium. His well-known treatment of the apologetic overseer at Tusculum was typical of his whole behaviour, for discourtesy was as foreign to his nature as harshness or bluster; he never grew heated, as the saying is, to sweating-point; it was his habit to analyse and weigh every incident, taking his time about it, calmly, methodically, decisively, and consistently. What is recorded of Socrates was no less applicable to him, that he had the ability to allow or deny himself indulgences which most people are as much incapacitated by their weakness from refusing as by their excesses from appreciating. To be thus strong enough to refrain or consent at will argues a consummate and indomitable soul — as Maximus also demonstrated on his sick-bed.



17. To the gods I owe good grandparents, good parents, a good sister, and teachers, comrades, kinsmen, and friends good almost without exception; and that I never fell out with any of them, in spite of a temperament that could very well have precipitated something of the sort, had not circumstances providentially never combined to put me to the proof. To them, too, I owe it that the responsibility of my grandfather's mistress for my upbringing was brought to an early end, and my innocence preserved; and that I was not impatient to reach manhood, but contented myself with an unhurried development. I thank heaven also that under my father the Emperor I was cured of all pomposity, and made to realize that life at court can be lived without royal escorts, robes of state, illuminations, statues, and outward splendour of that kind, but that one's manner of life can be reduced almost to the level of a private gentleman's without losing the prestige and authority needful when affairs of state require leadership. The gods, too, gave me a brother 〔4〕 whose natural qualities were a standing challenge to my own self-discipline at the same time as his deferential affection warmed my heart; and children who were neither intellectually stunted nor physically misshapen. It was the gods who set a limit to my proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, and other studies that might well have absorbed my time, had I found it less difficult to make progress. They saw to it that at the first opportunity I raised my tutors to such rank and station as I thought they had at heart, instead of putting them off with prospects of later advancement on the plea of their youth. To the gods I owe my acquaintance with Apollonius, Rusticus, and Maximus. To them, too, my vivid and recurrent visions of the true inwardness of the Natural Life; indeed, for their part, the favours, helps, and inspirations I have received leave my failure to attain this Natural Life without excuse; and if I am still far from the goal, the fault is my own for not paying heed to the reminders — nay, the virtual directions — which I have had from above.

To the gods it must be ascribed that my constitution has survived this manner of life so long; that I never got entangled with a Benedicta nor a Theodotus, and also emerged from other subsequent affairs unscathed; that although Rusticus and I frequently had our differences, I never pushed things to a point I might have regretted; and that the last years of my mother's life, before her early death, were spent with me. Furthermore, that on occasions when I thought of relieving somebody in poverty or distress, I was never told that I had not the necessary means; as also that I myself never had occasion to require similar help from another. And I must thank heaven for such a wife as mine, so submissive, so loving, and so artless; for an unfailing supply of competent tutors for my children; and for remedies prescribed for me in dreams — especially in cases of blood-spitting and vertigo, as happened at Caieta and Chrysa. Finally, that with all my addiction to philosophy I was yet preserved from either falling a prey to some sophist or spending all my time at a desk poring over textbooks and rules of logic or grinding at natural science.

For all these good things 'man needs the help of Heaven and Destiny'.

Among the Quadi, on the River Gran.



注 释

〔1〕  The colours of the rival charioteers in the Circus. Roman enthusiasm for these races was unbounded; successful drivers earned large fortunes and became popular idols.

〔2〕  In one form of gladiatorial combat (the 'Thracian') the opponents were armed with light round bucklers; in another (the 'Samnite') they carried heavy oblong shields.

〔3〕  Not his natural father Annius Verus, but the emperor Antoninus Pius, his adoptive father.

〔4〕  This was Lucius Ceionius Commodus, afterwards known as Lucius Verus. He was adopted by Antoninus Pius along with Marcus, with whom he was associated as co-emperor and whose daughter Lucilla he married. Originally a man of courage and ability, Verus degenerated into weakness and self-indulgence. As commander of the Roman armies in the Parthian war he proved indolent and incapable, and was only saved from disgrace by the skill of his generals. When he returned with his legions from the East, they carried back the seeds of a pestilence which spread with terrible effect throughout the Empire. Verus died in 169 — as some said, by the hand of a poisoner.

Book Two

1. Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness — all of them due to the offenders' ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother (not in the physical sense, but as a fellow-creature similarly endowed with reason and a share of the divine); therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading. Neither can I be angry with my brother or fall foul of him; for he and I were born to work together, like a man's two hands, feet, or eyelids, or like the upper and lower rows of his teeth. To obstruct each other is against Nature's law — and what is irritation or aversion but a form of obstruction?



2. A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all — that is myself. (Forget your books; no more hankering for them; they were no part of your equipment.) As one already on the threshold of death, think nothing of the first — of its viscid blood, its bones, its web of nerves and veins and arteries. The breath, too; what is that? A whiff of wind; and not even the same wind, but every moment puffed out and drawn in anew. But the third, the Reason, the master — on this you must concentrate. Now that your hairs are grey, let it play the part of a slave no more, twitching puppetwise at every pull of self-interest; and cease to fume at destiny by ever grumbling at today or lamenting over tomorrow.



3. The whole divine economy is pervaded by Providence. Even the vagaries of chance have their place in Nature's scheme; that is, in the intricate tapestry of the ordinances of Providence. Providence is the source from which all things flow; and allied with it is Necessity, and the welfare of the universe. You yourself are a part of that universe; and for any one of nature's parts, that which is assigned to it by the World-Nature or helps to keep it in being is good. Moreover, what keeps the whole world in being is Change: not merely change of the basic elements, but also change of the larger formations they compose. On these thoughts rest content, and ever hold them as principles. Forget your thirst for books; so that when your end comes you may not murmur, but meet it with a good grace and with unfeigned gratitude in your heart to the gods.



4. Think of your many years of procrastination; how the gods have repeatedly granted you further periods of grace, of which you have taken no advantage. It is time now to realize the nature of the universe to which you belong, and of that controlling Power whose offspring you are; and to understand that your time has a limit set to it. Use it, then, to advance your enlightenment; or it will be gone, and never in your power again.



5. Hour by hour resolve firmly, like a Roman and a man, to do what comes to hand with correct and natural dignity, and with humanity, independence, and justice. Allow your mind freedom from all other considerations. This you can do, if you will approach each action as though it were your last, dismissing the wayward thought, the emotional recoil from the commands of reason, the desire to create an impression, the admiration of self, the discontent with your lot. See how little a man needs to master, for his days to flow on in quietness and piety: he has but to observe these few counsels, and the gods will ask nothing more.



6. Wrong, wrong thou art doing to thyself, O my soul; and all too soon thou shalt have no more time to do thyself right. Man has but one life; already thine is nearing its close, yet still hast thou no eye to thine own honour, but art staking thy happiness on the souls of other men. 〔1〕



7. Are you distracted by outward cares? Then allow yourself a space of quiet, wherein you can add to your knowledge of the Good and learn to curb your restlessness. Guard also against another kind of error: the folly of those who weary their days in much business, but lack any aim on which their whole effort, nay, their whole thought, is focused.



8. You will not easily find a man coming to grief through indifference to the workings of another's soul; but for those who pay no heed to the motions of their own, unhappiness is their sure reward.



9. Remembering always what the World-Nature is, and what my own nature is, and how the one stands in respect to the other — so small a fraction of so vast a Whole — bear in mind that no man can hinder you from conforming each word and deed to that Nature of which you are a part.



10. When Theophrastus is comparing sins — so far as they are commonly acknowledged to be comparable — he affirms the philosophic truth that sins of desire are more culpable than sins of passion. For passion's revulsion from reason at least seems to bring with it a certain discomfort, and a half-felt sense of constraint; whereas sins of desire, in which pleasure predominates, indicate a more self-indulgent and womanish disposition. Both experience and philosophy, then, support the contention that a sin which is pleasurable deserves graver censure than one which is painful. In the one case the offender is like a man stung into an involuntary loss of control by some injustice; in the other, eagerness to gratify his desire moves him to do wrong of his own volition.



11. In all you do or say or think, recollect that at any time the power of withdrawal from life is in your own hands. If gods exist, you have nothing to fear in taking leave of mankind, for they will not let you come to harm. But if there are no gods, or if they have no concern with mortal affairs, what is life to me, in a world devoid of gods or devoid of Providence? Gods, however, do exist, and do concern themselves with the world of men. They have given us full power not to fall into any of the absolute evils; and if there were real evil in life's other experiences, they would have provided for that too, so that avoidance of it could lie within every man's ability. But when a thing does not worsen the man himself, how can it worsen the life he lives? The World-Nature cannot have been so ignorant as to overlook a hazard of this kind, nor, if aware of it, have been unable to devise a safeguard or a remedy. Neither want of power nor want of skill could have led Nature into the error of allowing good and evil to be visited indiscriminately on the virtuous and the sinful alike. Yet living and dying, honour and dishonour, pain and pleasure, riches and poverty, and so forth are equally the lot of good men and bad. Things like these neither elevate nor degrade; and therefore they are no more good than they are evil.



12. Our mental powers should enable us to perceive the swiftness with which all things vanish away: their bodies in the world of space, and their remembrance in the world of time. We should also observe the nature of all objects of sense — particularly such as allure us with pleasure, or affright us with pain, or are clamorously urged upon us by the voice of self-conceit — the cheapness and contemptibility of them, how sordid they are, and how quickly fading and dead. We should discern the true worth of those whose word and opinion confer reputations. We should apprehend, too, the nature of death; and that if only it be steadily contemplated, and the fancies we associate with it be mentally dissected, it will soon come to be thought of as no more than a process of nature (and only children are scared by a natural process) — or rather, something more than a mere process, a positive contribution to nature's well-being. Also we can learn how man has contact with God, and with which part of himself this is maintained, and how that part fares after its removal hence.



13. Nothing is more melancholy than to compass the whole creation, 'probing into the deeps of earth', as the poet says, and peering curiously into the secrets of others' souls, without once understanding that to hold fast to the divine spirit within, and serve it loyally, is all that is needful. Such service involves keeping it pure from passion, and from aimlessness, and from discontent with the works of gods or men; for the former of these works deserve our reverence, for their excellence; the latter our goodwill, for fraternity's sake, and at times perhaps our pity too, because of men's ignorance of good and evil — an infirmity as crippling as the inability to distinguish black from white.



14. Were you to live three thousand years, or even thirty thousand, remember that the sole life which a man can lose is that which he is living at the moment; and furthermore, that he can have no other life except the one he loses. This means that the longest life and the shortest amount to the same thing. For the passing minute is every man's equal possession, but what has once gone by is not ours. Our loss, therefore, is limited to that one fleeting instant, since no one can lose what is already past, nor yet what is still to come — for how can he be deprived of what he does not possess? So two things should be borne in mind. First, that all the cycles of creation since the beginning of time exhibit the same recurring pattern, so that it can make no difference whether you watch the identical spectacle for a hundred years, or for two hundred, or for ever. Secondly, that when the longest- and the shortest-lived of us come to die, their loss is precisely equal. For the sole thing of which any man can be deprived is the present; since this is all he owns, and nobody can lose what is not his.



15. There are obvious objections to the Cynic Monimus's statement that 'things are determined by the view taken of them'; but the value of his aphorism is equally obvious, if we admit the substance of it so far as it contains a truth.



16. For a human soul, the greatest of self-inflicted wrongs is to make itself (so far as it is able to do so) a kind of tumour or abscess on the universe; for to quarrel with circumstances is always a rebellion against Nature — and Nature includes the nature of each individual part. Another wrong, again, is to reject a fellow-creature or oppose him with malicious intent, as men do when they are angry. A third, to surrender to pleasure or pain. A fourth, to dissemble and show insincerity or falsity in word or deed. A fifth, for the soul to direct its acts and endeavours to no particular object, and waste its energies purposelessly and without due thought; for even the least of our activities ought to have some end in view — and for creatures with reason, that end is conformity with the reason and law of the primordial City and Commonwealth.



17. In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his senses a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, and his fame doubtful. In short, all that is of the body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapours; life a warfare, a brief sojourning in an alien land; and after repute, oblivion. Where, then, can man find the power to guide and guard his steps? In one thing and one alone: Philosophy. To be a philosopher is to keep unsullied and unscathed the divine spirit within him, so that it may transcend all pleasure and all pain, take nothing in hand without purpose and nothing falsely or with dissimulation, depend not on another's actions or inactions, accept each and every dispensation as coming from the same Source as itself — and last and chief, wait with a good grace for death, as no more than a simple dissolving of the elements whereof each living thing is composed. If those elements themselves take no harm from their ceaseless forming and re-forming, why look with mistrust upon the change and dissolution of the whole? It is but Nature's way; and in the ways of Nature there is no evil to be found.



注 释

〔1〕  That is, on whether others decide to approve or censure your actions.

Book Three

1. The daily wearing away of life, with its ever-shrinking remainder, is not the only thing we have to consider. For even if a man's years be prolonged, we must still take into account that it is doubtful whether his mind will continue to retain its capacity for the understanding of business, or for the contemplative effort needed to apprehend things divine and human. The onset of senility may involve no loss of respiratory or alimentary powers, or of sensations, impulses and so forth; nevertheless, the ability to make full use of his faculties, to assess correctly the demands of duty, to coordinate all the diverse problems that arise, to judge if the time has come to end his days on earth, or to make any other of the decisions that require the exercise of a practised intellect, is already on the wane. We must press on, then, in haste; not simply because every hour brings us nearer to death, but because even before then our powers of perception and comprehension begin to deteriorate.

Another thing we should remark is the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes. When a loaf of bread, for instance, is in the oven, cracks appear in it here and there; and these flaws, though not intended in the baking, have a rightness of their own, and sharpen the appetite. Figs, again, at their ripest will also crack open. When olives are on the verge of falling, the very imminence of decay adds its peculiar beauty to the fruit. So, too, the drooping head of a cornstalk, the wrinkling skin when a lion scowls, the drip of foam from a wild boar's jaws, and many more such sights, are far from beautiful if looked at by themselves; yet as the consequences of some other process of Nature, they make their own contribution to its charm and attractiveness.



2. Thus to a man of sensitiveness and sufficiently deep insight into the workings of the universe, almost everything, even if it be no more than a by-product of something else, seems to add its meed of extra pleasure. Such a man will view the grinning jaws of real lions and tigers as admiringly as he would an artist's or sculptor's imitation of them; and the eye of discretion will enable him to see the mature charm that belongs to men and women in old age, as well as the seductive bloom that is youth's. Things of this sort will not appeal to everyone; he alone who has cultivated a real intimacy with Nature and her works will be struck by them.



3. Hippocrates cured the ills of many, but himself took ill and died. The Chaldeans foretold the deaths of many, but fate caught up with them also. Alexander, Pompey, and Julius Caesar laid waste whole cities time and again, and cut down many thousands of horse and foot in battle, but the hour came when they too passed away. Heraclitus speculated endlessly on the consumption of the universe by fire, but in the end it was water that saturated his body, and he died in a dung-plaster. Democritus was destroyed by vermin; Socrates by vermin of another kind. And the moral of it all? This. You embark; you make the voyage; you reach port: step ashore, then. Into another life? There are gods everywhere, even yonder. Into final insensibility? Then you will be out of the grip of pains and pleasures, and thrall no longer to this earthen vessel, so immeasurably meaner than its attendant minister. For the one is a mind and a divinity; the other but clay and corruption.



4. Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about your neighbours, unless with a view to some mutual benefit. To wonder what so-and-so is doing and why, or what he is saying, or thinking, or scheming — in a word, anything that distracts you from fidelity to the Ruler within you — means a loss of opportunity for some other task. See then that the flow of your thoughts is kept free from idle or random fancies, particularly those of an inquisitive or uncharitable nature. A man should habituate himself to such a way of thinking that if suddenly asked, 'What is in your mind at this minute?' he could respond frankly and without hesitation; thus proving that all his thoughts were simple and kindly, as becomes a social being with no taste for the pleasures of sensual imaginings, jealousies, envies, suspicions, or any other sentiments that he would blush to acknowledge in himself. Such a man, determined here and now to aspire to the heights, is indeed a priest and minister of the gods; for he is making full use of that indwelling power which can keep a man unsullied by pleasures, proof against pain, untouched by insult, and impervious to evil. He is a competitor in the greatest of all contests, the struggle against passion's mastery; he is imbued through and through with uprightness, welcoming whole-heartedly whatever falls to his lot and rarely asking himself what others may be saying or doing or thinking except when the public interest requires it. He confines his operations to his own concerns, having his attention fixed on his own particular thread of the universal web; seeing to it that his actions are honourable, and convinced that what befalls him must be for the best — for his own directing fate is itself under a higher direction. He does not forget the brotherhood of all rational beings, nor that a concern for every man is proper to humanity; and he knows that it is not the world's opinions he should follow, but only those of men whose lives confessedly accord with Nature. As for others whose lives are not so ordered, he reminds himself constantly of the characters they exhibit daily and nightly at home and abroad, and of the sort of society they frequent; and the approval of such men, who do not even stand well in their own eyes, has no value for him.



5. In your actions let there be a willing promptitude, yet a regard for the common interest; due deliberation, yet no irresolution; and in your sentiments no pretentious over-refinement. Avoid talkativeness, avoid officiousness. The god within you should preside over a being who is virile and mature, a statesman, a Roman, and a ruler; one who has held his ground, like a soldier waiting for the signal to retire from life's battlefield and ready to welcome his relief; a man whose credit need neither be sworn to by himself nor avouched by others. Therein is the secret of cheerfulness, of depending on no help from without and needing to crave from no man the boon of tranquillity. We have to stand upright ourselves, not be set up.



6. If mortal life can offer you anything better than justice and truth, self-control and courage — that is, peace of mind in the evident conformity of your actions to the laws of reason, and peace of mind under the visitations of a destiny you cannot control — if, I say, you can discern any higher ideal, why, turn to it with your whole soul, and rejoice in the prize you have found. But if nothing seems to you better than the deity which dwells within you, directing each impulse, weighing each impression, abjuring (in the Socratic phrase) the temptations of the flesh, and avowing allegiance to the gods and compassion for mankind; if you find all else to be mean and worthless in comparison, then leave yourself no room for any rival pursuits. For if you once falter and turn aside, you will no longer be able to give unswerving loyalty to this ideal you have chosen for your own. No ambitions of a different nature can contest the title to goodness which belongs to reason and civic duty; not the world's applause, nor power, nor wealth, nor the enjoyment of pleasure. For a while there may seem to be no incongruity in these things, but very quickly they get the upper hand and sweep a man off his balance. Do you then, I would say, simply and spontaneously make your choice of the highest, and cleave to that. 'But what is best for myself is the highest,' you say? If it is best for you as a reasonable being, hold fast to it; but if as an animal merely, then say so outright, and maintain your view with becoming humility — only be very sure that you have probed the matter aright.



7. Never value the advantages derived from anything involving breach of faith, loss of self-respect, hatred, suspicion, or execration of others, insincerity, or the desire for something which has to be veiled and curtained. One whose chief regard is for his own mind, and for the divinity within him and the service of its goodness, will strike no poses, utter no complaints, and crave neither for solitude nor yet for a crowd. Best of all, his life will be free from continual pursuings and avoidings. He does not care whether his soul in its mortal frame shall be his to possess for a longer or a shorter term of years; this very moment, if it be the hour for his departure, he will step forth as readily as he performs any other act that can be done in self-respecting and orderly fashion. No other care has he in life but to keep his mind from straying into paths incompatible with those of an intelligent and social being.



8. In a mind that is disciplined and purified there is no taint of corruption, no unclean spot nor festering sore. Such a man's life fate can never snatch away unfulfilled, as it were an actor walking off in mid-performance before the play is finished. There is nothing of the lackey in him, yet nothing of the coxcomb; he neither leans on others nor holds aloof from them; and he remains answerable to no man, yet guiltless of all evasion.



9. Treat with respect the power you have to form an opinion. By it alone can the helmsman within you avoid forming opinions that are at variance with nature and with the constitution of a reasonable being. From it you may look to attain circumspection, good relations with your fellow-men, and conformity with the will of heaven.



10. Letting go all else, cling to the following few truths. Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant: all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed. This mortal life is a little thing, lived in a little corner of the earth; and little, too, is the longest fame to come — dependent as it is on a succession of fast-perishing little men who have no knowledge even of their own selves, much less of one long dead and gone.



11. To these maxims add yet another. When an object presents itself to your perception, make a mental definition or at least an outline of it, so as to discern its essential character, to pierce beyond its separate attributes to a distinct view of the naked whole, and to identify for yourself both the object itself and the elements of which it is composed, and into which it will again be resolved. Nothing so enlarges the mind as this ability to examine methodically and accurately every one of life's experiences, with an eye to determining its classification, the ends it serves, its worth to the universe, and its worth to men as the members of that supreme City in which all other cities are as households. Take, for example, the thing which is producing its impression upon me at this moment. What is it? Whereof is it composed? How long is it designed to last? What moral response does it ask of me; gentleness, fortitude, candour, good faith, sincerity, self-reliance, or some other quality? In every instance learn to say, This comes from God; or, This is one of Fate's dispensations, a strand in the complex web, a conjunction of fortuities; or again, This is the work of a man who is of the same stock and breed and brotherhood as I am, but is ignorant of what Nature requires of him. I myself, however, can plead no such ignorance, and therefore in accordance with Nature's law of brotherhood I am to deal amiably and fairly with him — though at the same time, if there be no question of good or evil involved, I must aim my shafts at the proper merits of the case.



12. If you do the task before you always adhering to strict reason with zeal and energy and yet with humanity, disregarding all lesser ends and keeping the divinity within you pure and upright, as though you were even now faced with its recall — if you hold steadily to this, staying for nothing and shrinking from nothing, only seeking in each passing action a conformity with nature and in each word and utterance a fearless truthfulness, then shall the good life be yours. And from this course no man has the power to hold you back.



13. As surgeons keep their lancets and scalpels always at hand for the sudden demands of their craft, so keep your principles constantly in readiness for the understanding of things both human and divine; never in the most trivial action forgetting how intimately the two are related. For nothing human can be done aright without reference to the divine, and conversely.



14. Mislead yourself no longer; you will never read these notebooks again now, nor the annals of bygone Romans and Greeks, nor that choice selection of writings you have put by for your old age. Press on, then, to the finish; cast away vain hopes; and if you have any regard at all for self, see to your own security while still you may.



15. They do not know all that is signified by such words as 'stealing', 'sowing', 'purchasing', 'being at peace', 'seeing one's duty': this needs a different vision from the eye's.



16. Body, soul, and mind: the body for sensation, the soul for the springs of action, the mind for principles. Yet the capacity for sensation belongs also to the stalled ox; there is no wild beast, homosexual, Nero, or Phalaris but obeys the twitchings of impulse; and even men who deny the gods, or betray their country, or perpetrate all manner of villainy behind locked doors, have minds to guide them to the clear path of duty. Seeing, then, that all else is the common heritage of such types, the good man's only singularity lies in his approving welcome to every experience the looms of fate may weave for him, his refusal to soil the divinity seated in his breast or perturb it with disorderly impressions, and his resolve to keep it in serenity and decorous obedience to God, admitting no disloyalty to truth in his speech or to justice in his actions. Though all the world mistrust him because he lives in simple, self-respecting happiness, he takes offence at none, but unswervingly treads the road onward to life's close, where duty bids him arrive in purity and peace, unreluctant to depart, in perfect and unforced unison with fate's apportionment.

Book Four

1. If the inward power that rules us be true to Nature, it will always adjust itself readily to the possibilities and opportunities offered by circumstance. It asks for no predeterminate material; in the pursuance of its aims it is willing to compromise; hindrances to its progress are merely converted into matter for its own use. It is like a bonfire mastering a heap of rubbish, which would have quenched a feeble glow; but its fiery blaze quickly assimilates the load, consumes it, and flames the higher for it.



2. Take no enterprise in hand at haphazard, or without regard to the principles governing its proper execution.



3. Men seek for seclusion in the wilderness, by the seashore, or in the mountains — a dream you have cherished only too fondly yourself. But such fancies are wholly unworthy of a philosopher, since at any moment you choose you can retire within yourself. Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul; above all, he who possesses resources in himself, which he need only contemplate to secure immediate ease of mind — the ease that is but another word for a well-ordered spirit. Avail yourself often, then, of this retirement, and so continually renew yourself. Make your rules of life brief, yet so as to embrace the fundamentals; recurrence to them will then suffice to remove all vexation, and send you back without fretting to the duties to which you must return.

After all, what is it that frets you? The vices of humanity? Remember the doctrine that all rational beings are created for one another; that toleration is a part of justice; and that men are not intentional evildoers. Think of the myriad enmities, suspicions, animosities, and conflicts that are now vanished with the dust and ashes of the men who knew them; and fret no more.

Or is it your allotted portion in the universe that chafes you? Recall once again the dilemma, 'if not a wise Providence, then a mere jumble of atoms', and consider the profusion of evidence that this world is as it were a city. Do the ills of the body afflict you? Reflect that the mind has but to detach itself and apprehend its own powers, to be no longer involved with the movements of the breath, whether they be smooth or rough. In short, recollect all you have learnt and accepted regarding pain and pleasure.

Or does the bubble reputation distract you? Keep before your eyes the swift onset of oblivion, and the abysses of eternity before us and behind; mark how hollow are the echoes of applause, how fickle and undiscerning the judgements of professed admirers, and how puny the arena of human fame. For the entire earth is but a point, and the place of our own habitation but a minute corner in it; and how many are therein who will praise you, and what sort of men are they?

Remember then to withdraw into the little field of self. Above all, never struggle or strain; but be master of yourself, and view life as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, and as a mortal. Among the truths you will do well to contemplate most frequently are these two: first, that things can never touch the soul, but stand inert outside it, so that disquiet can arise only from fancies within; and secondly, that all visible objects change in a moment, and will be no more. Think of the countless changes in which you yourself have had a part. The whole universe is change, and life itself is but what you deem it. 〔1〕



4. If the power of thought is universal among mankind, so likewise is the possession of reason, making us rational creatures. It follows, therefore, that this reason speaks no less universally to us all with its 'thou shalt' or 'thou shalt not'. So then there is a world-law; which in turn means that we are all fellow-citizens and share a common citizenship, and that the world is a single city. Is there any other common citizenship that can be claimed by all humanity? And it is from this world-polity that mind, reason, and law themselves derive. If not, whence else? As the earthy portion of me has its origin from earth, the watery from a different element, my breath from one source and my hot and fiery parts from another of their own elsewhere (for nothing comes from nothing, or can return to nothing), so too there must be an origin for the mind.



5. Death, like birth, is one of Nature's secrets; the same elements that have been combined are then dispersed. Nothing about it need give cause for shame. For beings endowed with mind it is no anomaly, nor in any way inconsistent with the plan of their creation.



6. That men of a certain type should behave as they do is inevitable. To wish it otherwise were to wish the fig-tree would not yield its juice. In any case, remember that in a very little while both you and he will be dead, and your very names will quickly be forgotten.



7. Put from you the belief that 'I have been wronged', and with it will go the feeling. Reject your sense of injury, and the injury itself disappears.



8. What does not corrupt a man himself cannot corrupt his life, nor do him any damage either outwardly or inwardly.



9. The laws of collective expediency required this to happen.



10. Whatever happens, happens rightly. Watch closely, and you will find this true. In the succession of events there is not mere sequence alone, but an order that is just and right, as from the hand of one who dispenses to all their due. Keep up your watch, then, as you have begun, and let goodness accompany your every action — goodness, that is, in the proper sense of the word. In all your operations pay heed to this.



11. Do not copy the opinions of the arrogant, or let them dictate your own, but look at things in their true light.



12. At two points hold yourself always in readiness: first, to do exclusively what reason, our king and lawgiver, shall suggest for the common weal; and secondly, to reconsider a decision if anyone present should correct you and convince you of an error of judgement. But such conviction must proceed from the assurance that justice, or the common good, or some other such interest will be served. This must be the sole consideration; not the likelihood of pleasure or popularity.



13. Have you reason? 'I have.' Then why not use it? If reason does its part, what more would you ask?



14. As a part, you inhere in the Whole. You will vanish into that which gave you birth; or rather, you will be transmuted once more into the creative Reason of the universe.



15. Many grains of incense fall on the same altar: one sooner, another later — it makes no difference.



16. You have only to revert to the teachings of your creed, and to reverence for reason, and within a week those who now class you with beasts and monkeys will be calling you a god.



17. Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours.



18. He who ignores what his neighbour is saying or doing or thinking, and cares only that his own actions should be just and godly, is greatly the gainer in time and ease. A good man does not spy around for the black spots in others, but presses unswervingly on towards his mark.



19. The man whose heart is palpitating for fame after death does not reflect that out of all those who remember him every one will himself soon be dead also, and in course of time the next generation after that, until in the end, after flaring and sinking by turns, the final spark of memory is quenched. Furthermore, even supposing that those who remember you were never to die at all, nor their memories to die either, yet what is that to you? Clearly, in your grave, nothing; and even in your lifetime, what is the good of praise — unless maybe to subserve some lesser design? Surely, then, you are making an inopportune rejection of what Nature has given you today, if all your mind is set on what men will say of you tomorrow.



20. Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself, and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise. This applies even to the more mundane forms of beauty: natural objects, for example, or works of art. What need has true beauty of anything further? Surely none; any more than law, or truth, or kindness, or modesty. Is any of these embellished by praise, or spoiled by censure? Does the emerald lose its beauty for lack of admiration? Does gold, or ivory, or purple? A lyre or a dagger, a rosebud or a sapling?



21. If souls survive after death, how has the air above us found room for them all since time began? As well ask how the earth finds room for all the bodies interred through immemorial ages. There, after a short respite, change and decay make way for other dead bodies. Similarly, souls transferred to the air exist for a while before undergoing a change and a diffusion, and are then transmuted into fire and taken back into the creative principle of the universe; and thus room is made for the reception of others. Such will be the answer of any believer in the survival of souls. Moreover, we must reckon not only the number of human corpses so buried, but also that of all the creatures daily devoured by ourselves and the other animals. What multitudes, perishing in this way, are in a manner of speaking buried in the bodies of those whose nutriment they furnish! And yet, by their assimilation into the blood and afterwards by the subsequent transmutation into the air or fire, all the needful space becomes available.

How do we discover the truth of all this? By distinguishing between the matter and the cause.



22. Never allow yourself to be swept off your feet: when an impulse stirs, see first that it will meet the claims of justice; when an impression forms, assure yourself first of its certainty.



23. O world, I am in tune with every note of thy great harmony. For me nothing is early, nothing late, if it be timely for thee. O Nature, all that thy seasons yield is fruit for me. From thee, and in thee, and to thee are all things. 'Dear city of God!' may we not cry, even as the poet cried 'Dear city of Cecrops!'



24. 'If thou wouldst know contentment, let thy deeds be few,' said the sage. Better still, limit them strictly to such as are essential, and to such as in a social being reason demands, and as it demands. This brings the contentment that comes of doing a few things and doing them well. Most of what we say and do is not necessary, and its omission would save both time and trouble. At every step, therefore, a man should ask himself, 'Is this one of the things that are superfluous?' Moreover, not idle actions only but even idle impressions ought to be suppressed; for then unnecessary action will not ensue.



25. Test for yourself your capacity for the good man's life; the life of one content with his allotted part in the universe, who seeks only to be just in his doings and charitable in his ways.



26. You have seen all that? 〔2〕 — now look at this. Your part is to be serene, to be simple. Is someone doing wrong? The wrong lies with himself. Has something befallen you? Good; then it was your portion of the universal lot, assigned to you when time began; a strand woven into your particular web, like all else that happens. Life, in a word, is short; then snatch your profit from the passing hour, by obedience to reason and just dealing. Unbend, but be temperate.



27. Either a universe that is all order, or else a farrago thrown together at random yet somehow forming a universe. But can there be some measure of order subsisting in yourself, and at the same time disorder in the greater Whole? And that, too, when oneness of feeling exists between all the parts of nature, in spite of their divergence and dispersion?



28. A black heart! A womanish, wilful heart; the heart of a brute, a beast of the field; childish, stupid, and false; a huckster's heart, a tyrant's heart.



29. If he who knows not what is in the universe is a stranger to the universe, he is no less so who knows not what takes place in it. Such a man is an exile, self-banished from the polity of reason; a sightless man, having the eyes of his understanding darkened; a pauper dependent on others, without resources of his own for his livelihood. He is an excrescence on the world, when he dissociates and dissevers himself from the laws of our common nature by refusing to accept his lot (which after all is a product of the self-same Nature which produced yourself); he is a limb lopped from the community, when he cuts his own soul adrift from the single soul of all rational things.



30. One philosopher goes shirtless; another bookless; a third, only half-clad, says, 'Bread have I none, yet still I cleave to reason.' For my part, I too have no fruit of my learning, and yet cleave to her.



31. Give your heart to the trade you have learnt, and draw refreshment from it. Let the rest of your days be spent as one who has whole-heartedly committed his all to the gods, and is thenceforth no man's master or slave.



32. Think, let us say, of the times of Vespasian; and what do you see? Men and women busy marrying, bringing up children, sickening, dying, fighting, feasting, chaffering, farming, flattering, bragging, envying, scheming, calling down curses, grumbling at fate, loving, hoarding, coveting thrones and dignities. Of all that life, not a trace survives today. Or come forward to the days of Trajan; again, it is the same; that life, too, has perished. Take a similar look at the records of other past ages and peoples; mark how one and all, after their short-lived strivings, passed away and were resolved into the elements. More especially, recall some who, within your own knowledge, have followed after vanities instead of contenting themselves with a resolute performance of the duties for which they were created. In such cases it is essential to remind ourselves that the pursuit of any object depends for its value upon the worth of the object pursued. If, then, you would avoid discouragement, never become unduly absorbed in things that are not of the first importance.



33. Expressions that were once current have gone out of use nowadays. Names, too, that were formerly household words are virtually archaisms today; Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Dentatus; or a little later, Scipio and Cato; Augustus too, and even Hadrian and Antoninus. All things fade into the storied past, and in a little while are shrouded in oblivion. Even to men whose lives were a blaze of glory this comes to pass; as for the rest, the breath is hardly out of them before, in Homer's words, they are 'lost to sight alike and hearsay'. What, after all, is immortal fame? An empty, hollow thing. To what, then, must we aspire? This, and this alone: the just thought, the unselfish act, the tongue that utters no falsehood, the temper that greets each passing event as something predestined, expected, and emanating from the One source and origin.



34. Submit yourself to Clotho 〔3〕 with a good grace, and let her spin your thread out of what material she will.



35. All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike.



36. Observe how all things are continually being born of change; teach yourself to see that Nature's highest happiness lies in changing the things that are, and forming new things after their kind. Whatever is, is in some sense the seed of what is to emerge from it. Nothing can become a philosopher less than to imagine that seed can only be something that is planted in the earth or the womb.



37. Very soon you will be dead; but even yet you are not single-minded, nor above disquiet; not yet unapprehensive of harm from without; not yet charitable to all men, nor persuaded that to do justly is the only wisdom.



38. Observe carefully what guides the actions of the wise, and what they shun or seek.



39. For you, evil comes not from the mind of another; nor yet from any of the phases and changes of your own bodily frame. Then whence? From that part of yourself which acts as your assessor of what is evil. Refuse its assessment, and all is well. Though the poor body, so closely neighbouring it, be gashed or burned, fester or mortify, let the voice of this assessor remain silent; let it pronounce nothing to be bad or good if it can happen to evil men and good men alike — for anything that comes impartially upon men, whether they observe the rules of Nature or not, can neither be hindering her purposes nor advancing them.



40. Always think of the universe as one living organism, with a single substance and a single soul; and observe how all things are submitted to the single perceptivity of this one whole, all are moved by its single impulse, and all play their part in the causation of every event that happens. Remark the intricacy of the skein, the complexity of the web.



41. 'A poor soul burdened with a corpse,' Epictetus calls you.



42. To be in process of change is not an evil, any more than to be the product of change is a good.



43. Time is a river, the resistless flow of all created things. One thing no sooner comes in sight than it is hurried past and another is borne along, only to be swept away in its turn.



44. Everything that happens is as normal and expected as the spring rose or the summer fruit; this is true of sickness, death, slander, intrigue, and all the other things that delight or trouble foolish men.



45. What follows is ever closely linked to what precedes; it is not a procession of isolated events, merely obeying the laws of sequence, but a rational continuity. Moreover, just as the things already in existence are all harmoniously coordinated, things in the act of coming into existence exhibit the same marvel of concatenation, rather than simply the bare fact of succession.



46. Always remember the dictum of Heraclitus, 'Death of earth, birth of water; death of water, birth of air; from air, fire; and so round again.' Remember also his 'wayfarer oblivious of where his road is leading', his 'men ever at odds with their own closest companion' (the controlling Reason of the universe), and his 'though they encounter this every day, they still deem it a stranger'. Again, 'we are not to act or speak like men asleep' (for indeed men in their sleep do fancy themselves to be acting and speaking), nor 'like children at their parents' word'; that is, in blind reliance on traditional maxims.



47. If a god were to tell you, 'Tomorrow, or at best the day after, you will be dead,' you would not, unless the most abject of men, be greatly solicitous whether it was to be the later day, rather than the morrow — for what is the difference between them? In the same way, do not reckon it of great moment whether it will come years and years hence, or tomorrow.



48. Remind yourself constantly of all the physicians, now dead, who used to knit their brows over their ailing patients; of all the astrologers who so solemnly predicted their clients' doom; the philosophers who expatiated so endlessly on death or immortality; the great commanders who slew their thousands; the despots who wielded powers of life and death with such terrible arrogance, as if themselves were gods who could never die; the whole cities which have perished completely, Helice, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and others without number. After that, recall one by one each of your own acquaintances; how one buried another, only to be laid low himself and buried in turn by a third, and all in so brief a space of time. Observe, in short, how transient and trivial is all mortal life; yesterday a drop of semen, tomorrow a handful of spice or ashes. Spend, therefore, these fleeting moments on earth as Nature would have you spend them, and then go to your rest with a good grace, as an olive falls in its season, with a blessing for the earth that bore it and a thanksgiving to the tree that gave it life.



49. Be like the headland against which the waves break and break: it stands firm, until presently the watery tumult around it subsides once more to rest. 'How unlucky I am, that this should have happened to me!' By no means; say rather, 'How lucky I am, that it has left me with no bitterness; unshaken by the present, and undismayed by the future.' The thing could have happened to anyone, but not everyone would have emerged unembittered. So why put the one down to misfortune, rather than the other to good fortune? Can a man call anything at all a misfortune, if it is not a contravention of his nature; and can it be a contravention of his nature if it is not against that nature's will? Well, then: you have learnt to know that will. Does this thing which has happened hinder you from being just, magnanimous, temperate, judicious, discreet, truthful, self-respecting, independent, and all else by which a man's nature comes to its fulfilment? So here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not, 'This is a misfortune,' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune.'



50. Philosophy aside, an effectual help towards disregarding death is to think of those who clung greedily to their lives. What advantage have they over those who died young? In every case, in some place at some time, the earth now covers them all; Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, and the rest, who saw so many to their graves, only to be seen to their own at last. Brief, after all, was the respite they enjoyed; dragged out in such conditions, and with such attendants, and in so wretched a body. Set no store by it, then; look at the abyss of time behind it, and the infinity yet to come. In the face of that, what more is Nestor with all his years than any three-days babe?



51. Ever run the short way; and the short way is the way of nature, with perfect soundness in each word and deed as the goal. Such an aim will give you freedom from anxiety and strife, and from all compromise and artifice.



注 释

〔1〕  Life itself is but what you deem it. Hamlet (Act Ⅱ, scene 2) says: 'There's nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.' Marcus here expresses this thought more succinctly in two Greek words, meaning literally 'life [is] opinion'.

〔2〕  The unpleasant side of some recent encounter.

〔3〕  Clotho, one of the three Fates, is she who spins the thread of men's lives; Lachesis decides their destiny; Atropos slits the thread when they must die.

Book Five

1. At day's first light have in readiness, against disinclination to leave your bed, the thought that 'I am rising for the work of man'. Must I grumble at setting out to do what I was born for, and for the sake of which I have been brought into the world? Is this the purpose of my creation, to lie here under the blankets and keep myself warm? 'Ah, but it is a great deal more pleasant!' Was it for pleasure, then, that you were born, and not for work, not for effort? Look at the plants, the sparrows, ants, spiders, bees, all busy at their own tasks, each doing his part towards a coherent world-order; and will you refuse man's share of the work, instead of being prompt to carry out Nature's bidding? 'Yes, but one must have some repose as well.' Granted; but repose has its limits set by nature, in the same way as food and drink have; and you overstep these limits, you go beyond the point of sufficiency; while on the other hand, when action is in question, you stop short of what you could well achieve.

You have no real love for yourself; if you had, you would love your nature, and your nature's will. Craftsmen who love their trade will spend themselves to the utmost in labouring at it, even going unwashed and unfed; but you hold your nature in less regard than the engraver does his engraving, the dancer his dancing, the miser his heap of silver, or the vainglorious man his moment of glory. These men, when their heart is in it, are ready to sacrifice food and sleep to the advancement of their chosen pursuit. Is the service of the community of less worth in your eyes, and does it merit less devotion?



2. O the consolation of being able to thrust aside and cast into oblivion every tiresome intrusive impression, and in a trice be utterly at peace!



3. Reserve your right to any deed or utterance that accords with nature. Do not be put off by the criticisms or comments that may follow; if there is something good to be done or said, never renounce your right to it. Those who criticize you have their own reason to guide them, and their own impulse to prompt them; you must not let your eyes stray towards them, but keep a straight course and follow your own nature and the World-Nature (and the way of these two is one).



4. I travel the roads of nature until the hour when I shall lie down and be at rest; yielding back my last breath into the air from which I have drawn it daily, and sinking down upon the earth from which my father derived the seed, my mother the blood, and my nurse the milk of my being — the earth which for so many years has furnished my daily meat and drink, and, though so grievously abused, still suffers me to tread its surface.



5. You will never be remarkable for quick-wittedness. Be it so, then; yet there are still a host of other qualities whereof you cannot say, 'I have no bent for them.' Cultivate these, then, for they are wholly within your power: sincerity, for example, and dignity; industriousness, and sobriety. Avoid grumbling; be frugal, considerate, and frank; be temperate in manner and in speech; carry yourself with authority. See how many qualities there are which could be yours at this moment. You can allege no native incapacity or inaptitude for them; and yet you choose to linger still on a less lofty plane. Furthermore, is it any lack of natural endowments that necessitates those fits of querulousness and parsimony and fulsome flattery, of railing at your ill-health, of cringing and bragging and continually veering from one mood to another? Most assuredly not; you could have rid yourself of all these long ago, and remained chargeable with nothing worse than a certain slowness and dulness of comprehension — and even this you can correct with practice, so long as you do not make light of it or take pleasure in your own obtuseness.



6. There is a type of person who, if he renders you a service, has no hesitation in claiming the credit for it. Another, though not prepared to go so far as that, will nevertheless secretly regard you as in his debt and be fully conscious of what he has done. But there is also the man who, one might almost say, has no consciousness at all of what he has done, like the vine which produces a cluster of grapes and then, having yielded its rightful fruit, looks for no more thanks than a horse that has run his race, a hound that has tracked his quarry, or a bee that has hived her honey. Like them, the man who has done one good action does not cry it aloud, but passes straight on to a second, as the vine passes on to the bearing of another summer's grapes.

'According to you, then, we should rank ourselves with things that act unconsciously?' Exactly; yet we should do so consciously; for, as the saying goes, 'awareness that his actions are social is the mark of a social being'. 'But also, surely, the wish that society itself should be equally aware of it?' True, no doubt; yet you miss the meaning of the aphorism, and so put yourself in the same class as the persons I have just described, who likewise are misled by a specious kind of reasoning. Apprehend the true significance of the saying, and you need never fear that it will betray you into omitting any social duty.



7. The Athenians pray, 'Rain, rain, dear Zeus, upon the fields and plains of Athens.' Prayers should either not be offered at all, or else be as simple and ingenuous as this.



8. Just as we say, 'Aesculapius has prescribed horseback exercise, or cold baths, or going barefoot', so in the same way does the World-Nature prescribe disease, mutilation, loss, or some other disability. In the former case, prescribing meant ordering a specific treatment, in the interests of the patient's health; similarly in the latter, certain specific occurrences are ordered, in the interests of our destiny. We may, in fact, be said to 'meet with' these misfortunes in the same sense as masons say that the squared stones in walls or pyramids 'meet with' each other when they are being fitted closely together to make the unified whole. This mutual integration is a universal principle. As a myriad bodies combine into the single Body which is the world, so a myriad causes combine into the single Cause which is destiny. Even the common people realize this when they say, 'It was brought upon him.' It was indeed brought upon him; that is, it was prescribed for him. Let us accept such things, then, as we accept the prescriptions of an Aesculapius; for they, too, have often a harsh flavour, yet we swallow them gladly in hope of health. The execution and fulfilment of Nature's decrees should be viewed in the same way as we view our bodily health: even if what befalls is unpalatable, nevertheless always receive it gladly, for it makes for the health of the universe, and even for the well-being and well-doing of Zeus himself. Had it not been for the benefit of the whole, he would never have brought it upon the individual. It is not Nature's way to bring anything upon that which is under her government, except what is specifically designed for its good. There are two reasons, then, why you should willingly accept what happens to you: first, because it happens to yourself, has been prescribed for yourself, and concerns yourself, being a strand in the tapestry of primordial causation; and secondly, because every individual dispensation is one of the causes of the prosperity, success, and even survival of That which administers the universe. To break off any particle, no matter how small, from the continuous concatenation — whether of causes or of any other elements — is to injure the whole. And each time you give way to discontent, you are causing, within your own limited ability, just such a breakage and disruption.



9. Do not be distressed, do not despond or give up in despair, if now and again practice falls short of precept. Return to the attack after each failure, and be thankful if on the whole you can acquit yourself in the majority of cases as a man should. But have a genuine liking for the discipline you return to: do not recur to your philosophy in the spirit of a schoolboy to his master, but as the sore-eyed recur to their egg-and-sponge lotion, or as others to their poultice or their douche. In this way your submission to reason will not become a matter for public display, but for private consolation. Bear in mind that, while philosophy wills only what your own nature wills, you yourself were willing something else that was at variance with nature. 'Yes, but what other thing could have been more agreeable?' — is not that the inducement wherewith pleasure seeks to beguile you? Yet consider: would not nobility of soul be more agreeable? Would not candour, simplicity, kindness, piety? Nay more; when you reflect on the precision and smoothness with which the processes of ratiocination and cognition operate, can there be anything more agreeable than the exercise of intellect?



10. As for truth, it is so veiled in obscurity that many reputable philosophers 〔1〕 assert the impossibility of reaching any certain knowledge. Even the Stoics admit that its attainment is beset with difficulties, and that all our intellectual conclusions are fallible; for where is the infallible man? Or turn from this to more material things: how transitory, how worthless are these — open to acquisition by every profligate, loose woman, and criminal. Or look at the characters of your own associates: even the most agreeable of them are difficult to put up with; and for the matter of that, it is difficult enough to put up with one's own self. In all this murk and mire, then, in all this ceaseless flow of being and time, of changes imposed and changes endured, I can think of nothing that is worth prizing highly or pursuing seriously. No; what a man must do is to nerve himself to wait quietly for his natural dissolution; and meanwhile not to chafe at its delay, but to find his sole consolation in two thoughts: first, that nothing can ever happen to us that is not in accordance with nature; and second, that power to abstain from acting against the divine spirit within me lies in my own hands, since there is no man alive who can force such disobedience upon me.



11. To what use am I now putting the powers of my soul? Examine yourself on this point at every step, and ask, 'How stands it with that part of me men call the master-part? Whose soul inhabits me at this moment? A child's, a lad's, a woman's, a tyrant's, a dumb ox's, or a wild beast's?'



12. The popular conception of 'goods' can be tested in this way. 〔2〕 If the things a man identifies in his own mind with 'goods' are such things as prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude, then, given that preconception, he will have no ears for the old jest about 'so many goods', for it will lack any point. On the other hand, if he shares the vulgar notion of what constitutes 'goods', he will readily appreciate the joker's quip, and have no difficulty in seeing its aptness. The majority do, in fact, entertain this idea of values, and they would never take offence at the witticism or refuse to hear it; indeed, we must accept it as an apt and clever observation if we take it to refer to wealth or things which conduce to luxury or prestige. So now for the test: ask yourself whether we do right to set store by things and think of them as 'goods', if our mental picture of them is such as to give meaning to the gibe that 'the owner of so many goods has no room left to ease himself'.



13. I consist of a formal element and a material. Neither of these can ever pass away into nothing, any more than either of them came into being from nothing. Consequently every part of me will one day be refashioned, by a process of transition, into some other portion of the universe; which in its turn will again be changed into yet another part, and so onward to infinity. It is the same process by which I myself was brought into existence, and my parents before me, and so backward once more to infinity. (The phrase 'infinity' may pass, even if the world be in fact administered in finite cycles.)



14. Reason, and the act of reasoning, are self-sufficient faculties, both inherently and in the method of their operation. It is from sources in themselves that they acquire their initial impetus; and they travel straight forward to their own self-appointed goals. Actions of this kind accordingly receive the name of 'straightforwardness', in reference to the undeviating line they follow.



15. Unless things pertain to a man, as man, they cannot properly be said to belong to him. They cannot be required of him; for his nature neither promises them, nor is perfected by them. Therefore they cannot represent his chief end in life, nor even the 'good' which is the means to that end. Moreover, had man's natural heritage included such things, it could not at the same time have included contempt and renunciation of them; nor would the ability to do without them have been any cause for commendation; nor, supposing them to be really good, would failure to claim a full share of them be compatible with goodness. As it is, however, the more a man deprives himself, or submits to be deprived, of such things and their like, the more he grows in goodness.



16. Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thought as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible; life in a palace is possible; therefore even in a palace a right life is possible. Or again: The purpose behind each thing's creation determines its development; the development points to its final state; the final state gives the clue to its chief advantage and good; therefore the chief good of a rational being is fellowship with his neighbours — for it has been made clear long ago that fellowship is the purpose behind our creation. (It is surely evident, is it not, that while the lower exist for the higher, the higher exist for one another? And while the animate is higher than the inanimate, the rational is higher still.)



17. To pursue the unattainable is insanity, yet the thoughtless can never refrain from doing so.



18. Nothing can happen to any man that nature has not fitted him to endure. Your neighbour's experiences are no different from your own; yet he, being either less aware of what has happened or more eager to show his mettle, stands steady and undaunted. For shame, that ignorance and vanity should prove stronger than wisdom!



19. Outward things can touch the soul not a whit; they know no way into it, they have no power to sway or move it. By itself it sways and moves itself; it has its own self-approved standards of judgement, and to them it refers every experience.



20. In one way humanity touches me very nearly, inasmuch as I am bound to do good to my fellow-creatures and bear with them. On the other hand, to the extent that individual men hamper my proper activities, humanity becomes a thing as indifferent to me as the sun, the wind, or the creatures of the wild. True, others may hinder the carrying out of certain actions; but they cannot obstruct my will, nor the disposition of my mind, since these will always safeguard themselves under reservations and adapt themselves to circumstances. The mind can circumvent all obstacles to action, and turn them to the furtherance of its main purpose, so that any impediment to its work becomes instead an auxiliary, and the barriers in its path become aids to progress.



21. In the universe, reverence that which is highest: namely, That to which all else ministers, and which gives the law to all. In like manner, too, reverence the highest in yourself: it is of one piece with the Other, since in yourself also it is that to which all the rest minister, and by which your life is directed.



22. What is not harmful to the city cannot harm the citizen. In every fancied case of harm, apply the rule, 'If the city is not harmed, I am not harmed either.' But if the city should indeed be harmed, never rage at the culprit: rather, find out at what point his vision failed him.



23. Reflect often upon the rapidity with which all existing things, or things coming into existence, sweep past us and are carried away. The great river of Being flows on without a pause; its actions for ever changing, its causes shifting endlessly, hardly a single thing standing still; while ever at hand looms infinity stretching behind and before — the abyss in which all things are lost to sight. In such conditions, surely a man were foolish to gasp and fume and fret, as though the time of his troubling could ever be of long continuance.



24. Think of the totality of all Being, and what a mite of it is yours; think of all Time, and the brief fleeting instant of it that is allotted to yourself; think of Destiny, and how puny a part of it you are.



25. Is one doing me wrong? Let himself look to that; his humours and his actions are his own. As for me, I am only receiving what the World-Nature wills me to receive, and acting as my own nature wills me to act.



26. Let no emotions of the flesh, be they of pain or pleasure, affect the supreme and sovereign portion of the soul. See that it never becomes involved with them: it must limit itself to its own domain, and keep the feelings confined to their proper sphere. If (through the sympathy which permeates any unified organism) they do spread to the mind, there need be no attempt to resist the physical sensation; only, the master-reason must refrain from adding its own assumptions of their goodness or badness.



27. Live with the gods. To live with the gods is to show them at all times a soul contented with their awards, and wholly fulfilling the will of that inward divinity, that particle of himself, which Zeus has given to every man for ruler and guide — the mind and the reason.



28. Do unsavoury armpits and bad breath make you angry? What good will it do you? Given the mouth and armpits the man has got, that condition is bound to produce those odours. 'After all, though, the fellow is endowed with reason, and he is perfectly able to understand what is offensive if he gives any thought to it.' Well and good: but you yourself are also endowed with reason; so apply your reasonableness to move him to a like reasonableness; expound, admonish. If he pays attention, you will have worked a cure, and there will be no need for passion; leave that to actors and streetwalkers.



29. It is possible to live on earth as you mean to live hereafter. But if men will not let you, then quit the house of life; though not with any feeling of ill-usage. 'The hut smokes; I move out.' No need to make a great business of it. Nevertheless, so long as nothing of the kind obliges me to depart, here I remain, my own master, and none shall hinder me from doing what I choose — and what I choose is to live the life that nature enjoins for a reasonable member of a social community.



30. The Mind of the universe is social. At all events, it has created the lower forms to serve the higher, and then linked together the higher in a mutual dependence on each other. Observe how some are subjected, others are connected, each and all are given their just due, and the more eminent among them are combined in mutual accord.



31. How have you behaved in the past to the gods, to your parents, your brothers, wife, children, teachers, tutors, friends, relatives, household? In all of these relationships, up to the present time, can you fairly echo the poet's line, 'Never a harsh word, never an injustice to a single person?' Call to mind all you have passed through, and all you have been enabled to endure. Reflect that the story of your life is over, and your service at an end; bethink you of all the fair sights you have seen, the pleasures and the pains you have spurned, the many honours disdained, the many considerations shown to the inconsiderate.



32. How comes it that souls of no proficiency nor learning are able to confound the adept and the sage? Ah, but what soul is truly both adept and sage? His alone, who has knowledge of the beginning and the end, and of that all-pervading Reason which orders the universe in its determinate cycles to the end of time.



33. In a brief while now you will be ashes or bare bones; a name, or perhaps not even a name — though even a name is no more than empty sound and reiteration. All that men set their hearts on in this life is vanity, corruption, and trash; men are like scuffling puppies, or quarrelsome children who are all smiles one moment and in tears the next. Faith and decency, justice and truth are fled 'up to Olympus from the wide-wayed earth'. What is it, then, that still keeps you here? The objects of sense are mutable and transient, the organs of sense dim and easily misled, the poor soul itself a mere vapour exhaled from the blood, 〔3〕 and the world's praise, in such conditions, a vain thing. What then? Take heart, and wait for the end, be it extinction or translation. And what, think you, is all that is needful until that hour come? Why, what else but to revere and bless the gods; to do good to men; to bear and forbear; and to remember that whatsoever lies outside the bounds of this poor flesh and breath is none of yours, nor in your power.



34. Press on steadily, keep to the straight road in your thinking and doing, and your days will ever flow on smoothly. The soul of man, like the souls of all rational creatures, has two things in common with the soul of God: it can never be thwarted from without, and its good consists in righteousness of character and action, and in confining every wish thereto.



35. If the thing be no sin of mine, nor caused by any sin of mine, and if society be no worse for it, why give it further thought? How can it harm society?



36. Do not fall a too hasty prey to first impressions. Assist those in need, so far as you are able and they deserve it; but if their fall involves nothing morally significant, you must not regard them as really injured, for that is not a good practice. Rather, in such cases be like the old fellow who pretended at his departure to beg eagerly for the slave-girl's top, 〔4〕 though knowing well that it was nothing more than a top.

When you are crying for votes on the platform, my friend, are you forgetting the ultimate worth of it all? 'I know; but these people set such store by it.' And does that justify you in sharing their folly?

No matter to what solitudes banished, I have always been a favourite of Fortune. For Fortune's favourite is the man who awards her good gifts to himself — the good gifts of a good disposition, good impulses, and good deeds.



注 释

〔1〕  The reference is to the so-called 'Sceptic' or Pyrrhonian school of philosophers, founded by Pyrrho of Elis. They maintained that our perceptions can only show us things as they appear, and not as they are, and that a suspension of judgement is therefore the only correct attitude to anything.

〔2〕  This paragraph turns on the ambiguous meaning of the word 'goods'. The man in the street understands it to signify worldly possessions, rather than those virtues of character which are the true 'goods' in life. To a philosopher, on the other hand, the word would naturally convey this latter sense; and he would accordingly be puzzled by a reference to someone 'having so many goods that he has no room to relieve himself anywhere'.

〔3〕  According to the Stoic belief, the particle of divine fire which constitutes man's soul is nourished by the blood.

〔4〕  The 'old fellow' made a kindly pretence of sharing the child's notion that its top was a precious and desirable treasure. In the same way, says Marcus, we should be sympathetic to the distress of others, even when our superior knowledge tells us that they have suffered no real harm.