《沉思录·卷四·退隐于自己的心》第46条
Always remember the saying of Heraclitus, that the death of earth is to become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death of air is to become fire, and reversely. And think too of him who forgets whither the way leads, and that men quarrel with that with which they are most constantly in communion, the reason which governs the universe; and the things which they daily meet with seem to them strange: and consider that we ought not to act and speak as if we were asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and speak; and that + we ought not, like children who learn from their parents, simply to act and speak as we have been taught. +
注释摘要
奥勒留在这里借赫拉克利特之口说出了一条斯多葛派关于变化的根本法则。元素的转化不是毁灭，而是另一种形态的诞生：土消亡时变成了水，水消亡时变成了空气，空气消亡时变成了火，反过来也一样。这种循环往复的宇宙呼吸论意味着，万物没有真正的无中生有，也没有真正的归于虚无，只有存在方式的依次递换。把这个眼光放在人身上，生与死就像土变成水那样，不再是可怕的对立面，而是同一个…