《沉思录·卷五·天未亮就起身》第4条
I go through the things which happen according to nature until I shall fall and rest, breathing out my breath into that element out of which I daily draw it in, and falling upon that earth out of which my father collected the seed, and my mother the blood, and my nurse the milk; out of which during so many years I have been supplied with food and drink; which bears me when I tread on it and abuse it for so many purposes.
注释摘要
这段文字是一篇沉静的死亡冥想。奥勒留没有哀叹，也没有抗争，而是用一套物质循环的朴素图景来安放自己的终结。在斯多葛派的宇宙论中，一切存在都由四种元素构成——土、水、气、火——宇宙万物并非凭空生灭，而是永恒的元素组合与分解。因此他在这里说死就是呼气、倒下、分解，不是湮灭，而是归还。呼出的那口气回到他每日吸入的大气里去；身体倒下，回到大地里去。而大地，他用一连串…