《沉思录·卷八·行事与本分》第20条
Nature has had regard in everything no less to the end than to the beginning and the continuance, just like the man who throws up a ball. What good is it then for the ball to be thrown up, or harm for it to come down, or even to have fallen? and what good is it to the bubble while it holds together, or what harm when it is burst? The same may be said of a light also.
注释摘要
奥勒留在这里做了一个非常简练但层次分明的类比推理。他先说宇宙自然在一切事物上对开端、过程和终结给予了同等的关照，就像一个人把球抛起来。这个比喻看似简单，其实藏着斯多葛派自然观的核心：宇宙中的每一个运动、每一个存在者的出现和消失，都不是孤立事件，而是被同一个整体秩序所贯穿的事件。扔球的人不是只在意球扔得高不高，而是把扔起、上升、停驻、下落、落到地上整个过程当…