《沉思录·卷三·写于卡尔农图姆》第10条
Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and besides, bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which is an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain. Short then is the time which every man lives; and small the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him who died long ago.
注释摘要
这一条里奥勒留在做两件事：丢弃，然后聚焦于当下。他先说把一切都扔掉，只握住那少数几样——他没有在这里列举那几样是什么，因为整本札记已经反复在说：理性、德性、对宇宙整体的顺应。要紧的是这个动作本身：扔掉。然后他立刻转入时间的论证。每个人只活当下这一个不可分割的点，过去已不存在，未来不确定；生命短，栖身之角小，甚至死后最绵长的声名也短，并且这声名还要靠一串一代…