《沉思录·卷八·行事与本分》第35条
As the nature of the universal has given to every rational being all the other powers that it has, + so we have received from it this power also. For as the universal nature converts and fixes in its predestined place everything which stands in the way and opposes it, and makes such things a part of itself, so also the rational animal is able to make every hindrance its own material, and to use it for such purposes as it may have designed.
注释摘要
这一段展示的是一种令人惊叹的对应关系，它不是劝人咬牙忍耐，而是揭示了一条更大的运作法则。奥勒留在这里使用的核心概念是“宇宙自然”，也就是斯多葛体系中的 Logos，一种渗透万物、安排万物的理性力量。这段话的前半句说，这宇宙自然已经将其他一切能力给了每一个理性存在，而那“某种能力”它也同样给了我们。然后他以类比来解释这能力到底是什么：宇宙自然面对任何拦阻它、…