《沉思录·卷八·行事与本分》第28条
Pain is either an evil to the body--then let the body say what it thinks of it--or to the soul; but it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquillity, and not to think that pain is an evil. For every judgment and movement and desire and aversion is within, and no evil ascends so high.
注释摘要
这一段话在做一个精密的切割：把痛一分为二，归身体的那一半还给身体，归灵魂的那一半再进一步拆解。奥勒留用的推理是析取式的——痛要么是身体的恶，要么是灵魂的恶。如果是身体的恶，那就让身体自己去承担、去叫喊，那本是身体的本分，灵魂不必替它多事。如果是灵魂的恶，那就全看灵魂自己怎么做判断。他的结论是，灵魂完全有能力不被痛所伤，因为痛要成为“恶”，必须经过灵魂的判断…