《沉思录·卷七·痛苦与忍受》第1条
What is badness? It is that which thou hast often seen. And on the occasion of everything which happens keep this in mind, that it is that which thou hast often seen. Everywhere up and down thou wilt find the same things, with which the old histories are filled, those of the middle ages and those of our own day; with which cities and houses are filled now. There is nothing new: all things are both familiar and short-lived.
注释摘要
奥勒留一上来就问，恶是什么。但他给出的答案很特别——恶就是你常常看到的那些东西。这个说法初听很怪，似乎回避了定义。但他在做一个观察：无论你往哪里看，往上往下，你找到的都是同样的内容，古代史书里是它们，中世纪史书里是它们，今天的城市和家庭里还是它们。到此他才摊牌：“没有什么是新的，一切事物既熟悉又短暂。” 推理的骨架是这样：如果我们因为某件事愤怒或恐惧，往往…