《沉思录·卷四·退隐于自己的心》第24条
Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil.--But consider if it would not be better to say, Do what is necessary, and whatever the reason of the animal which is naturally social requires, and as it requires. For this brings not only the tranquillity which comes from doing well, but also that which comes from doing few things. For the greatest part of what we say and do being unnecessary, if a man takes this away, he will have more leisure and less uneasiness. Accordingly, on every occasion a man should ask himself, Is this one of the unnecessary things? Now a man should take away not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for thus superfluous acts will not follow after.
注释摘要
奥勒留在这里其实是在和一句流行的哲学格言进行辩论。那句忠告可能是某个哲学家说的，劝人若要内心平静，就该少管事、少操劳。但奥勒留立刻修正了这个说法，他提出一个更有穿透力的标准：不要只追求做事的数量少，而要追求做事的性质对。所谓对，就是做必然之事，以及做作为一个社会动物的理性所要求做的事。这里的社会动物指的正是人的本性，斯多葛派认为人天生就是理性且彼此联结的存…