《沉思录·卷九·不义与虚妄》第10条
Both man and God and the universe produce fruit; at the proper seasons each produces it. But and if usage has especially fixed these terms to the vine and like things, this is nothing. Reason produces fruit both for all and for itself, and there are produced from it other things of the same kind as reason itself.
注释摘要
这一段延续了斯多葛派的宇宙生物学比喻，把整个宇宙看作一个活生生的、有目的的有机体。奥勒留在这里先确立一个大前提：人、神、宇宙都在“结出果实”。“果实”这个词在希腊文里是 karpos，本来指庄稼和树木在特定季节的产出，但奥勒留马上提醒我们，不要被日常用法困住——“如果习惯把这个词特别用在葡萄藤之类的东西上，这算不了什么”。他要做的，是把“结出果实”从农作物…