《沉思录·卷四·退隐于自己的心》第47条
If any god told thee that thou shalt die to-morrow, or certainly on the day after to-morrow, thou wouldst not care much whether it was on the third day or on the morrow, unless thou wast in the highest degree mean-spirited; for how small is the difference! So think it no great thing to die after as many years as thou canst name rather than to-morrow.
注释摘要
奥勒留在这里做了一个非常冷静、甚至有些冷酷的思想实验。他假设，如果有一位神明确告诉你，你不是明天死，就是后天死，你并不会太过在意到底是哪一天。除非你是个极其卑琐胆怯的人，否则你不会为这区区一天的差距而焦虑。原因很简单：在死亡这桩事情上，一天与另一天的差别微不足道。 这个论证的力量在于类推。既然你承认在短时间尺度上，多活一天或少活一天无关紧要，那么你就应该顺…