《沉思录·卷六·宇宙即变化》第48条
When thou wishest to delight thyself, think of the virtues of those who live with thee; for instance, the activity of one, and the modesty of another, and the liberality of a third, and some other good quality of a fourth. For nothing delights so much as the examples of the virtues, when they are exhibited in the morals of those who live with us and present themselves in abundance, as far as is possible. Wherefore we must keep them before us.
注释摘要
这段话为心灵提供了一种几乎被忽视的愉悦之法。奥勒留在这里谈论的并非感官的快乐，也不是理智获得新知的满足，而是一种基于道德观察的内在欣喜。他给出的方法极其具体：当你想要使自己愉悦时，就去想一想与你共同生活的那些人身上具体的美德——一个人的勤勉，另一个人的谦逊，第三个人的慷慨，第四个人的某种良善品质。这句话的要义在于，他把愉悦的源泉从外部事物的获取，转移到了对…