《沉思录·卷七·痛苦与忍受》第48条
This is a fine saying of Plato: That he who is discoursing about men should look also at earthly things as if he viewed them from some higher place; should look at them in their assemblies, armies, agricultural labors, marriages, treaties, births, deaths, noise of the courts of justice, desert places, various nations of barbarians, feasts, lamentations, markets, a mixture of all things and an orderly combination of contraries.
注释摘要
奥勒留在这里画了一幅从极高处俯瞰的图景。他没有按照逻辑推演，而是直接呈现一种视角的转换：当你想象自己站在一个足以将整个人间尽收眼底的位置往下看时，那些原本显得无比紧迫、各自为政的场面—军队出征、田间耕作、婚丧嫁娶、法庭上的吵闹、市场的喧嚷—忽然被压平在同一张画面上。这种看法的关键不在于发现某种隐秘的因果规律，而在于同时看到“全体的混合”与“对立的有序结合”…