《沉思录·卷四·退隐于自己的心》第49条
Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it. Unhappy am I because this has happened to me? Not so, but happy am I, though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future. For such a thing as this might have happened to every man; but every man would not have continued free from pain on such an occasion. Why then is that rather a misfortune than this a good fortune? And dost thou in all cases call that a man's misfortune which is not a deviation from man's nature? And does a thing seem to thee to be a deviation from man's nature, when it is not contrary to the will of man's nature? Well, thou knowest the will of nature. Will then this which has happened prevent thee from being just, magnanimous, temperate, prudent, secure against inconsiderate opinions and falsehood; will it prevent thee from having modesty, freedom, and everything else, by the presence of which man's nature obtains all that is its own? Remember too on every occasion which leads thee to vexation to apply this principle; not that this is a misfortune, but that to bear it nobly is good fortune.
注释摘要
奥勒留在这里做了一个非常斯多葛式的思想训练。他用海岬这个形象，不是在做文学修辞，而是在展示一个推理过程。海浪不停地打上来，海岬没有逃走，也没有反击，它就站在那里，海浪自己碎掉了。他说你要像这样。这不是在鼓吹硬撑，而是在指出一个因果关系：真正伤害你的不是那件事本身，而是你心里对那件事的判断。海浪对海岬来说算不上伤害，因为海岬没有一根神经会因为被打湿而痛苦。同…