《沉思录·卷七·痛苦与忍受》第70条
The gods who are immortal are not vexed because during so long a time they must tolerate continually men such as they are and so many of them bad; and besides this, they also take care of them in all ways. But thou, who art destined to end so soon, art thou wearied of enduring the bad, and this too when thou art one of them?
注释摘要
这一段的论证是类比式的反问，推得极猛。奥勒留先摆出两个事实来形成对比：诸神不朽，时间尺度无限漫长，却从不因为身边尽是坏人且必须与之一同度过永恒岁月而恼怒，甚至反过来照管他们；而你，命数短促，却对这同样的坏人感到厌烦不耐。然后他把刀刃翻了过来，刺入读者最柔软的自我认识——你厌倦他人的恶，可你自己就是这些人中的一员。这里隐含的推理是：如果你是恶的承受者同时也是…