《沉思录·卷五·天未亮就起身》第34条
Thou canst pass thy life in an equable flow of happiness, if thou canst go by the right way, and think and act in the right way. These two things are common both to the soul of God and to the soul of man, and to the soul of every rational being: not to be hindered by another; and to hold good to consist in the disposition to justice and the practice of it, and in this to let thy desire find its termination.
注释摘要
这段话说到了一个在斯多葛伦理学里极其关键、但在后世常被误解的概念：幸福生活不是一种情绪状态的持续高涨，而是一种平稳的、不被阻断的流动。奥勒留用了 equable flow 这个意象，水流一样均匀、不受阻断。他紧接着给出了这个状态的两个前提：走正确的路，正确地思考和行动。这两者不是两件事，而是一体两面。正确思考就是正确行动的内在原则，正确行动就是正确思考的外…