《沉思录·卷十·顺应整体》第38条
Remember that this which pulls the strings is the thing which is hidden within: this is the power of persuasion, this is life, this, if one may so say, is man. In contemplating thyself never include the vessel which surrounds thee and these instruments which are attached about it. For they are like to an axe, differing only in this, that they grow to the body. For indeed there is no more use in these parts without the cause which moves and checks them than in the weaver's shuttle, and the writer's pen, and the driver's whip.
注释摘要
这一条是奥勒留对“人究竟是什么”所做的最为锋利的解剖。他把人分成两层：里面那个“拉线者”，和被拉动的“器皿与工具”。拉线者的希腊文是hegemonikon，在斯多葛体系里指人的主宰能力，也就是理性灵魂中做出判断、发出同意、驱动行动的那个核心。奥勒留在这里给了它几个等价的命名：说服的力量、生命、甚至直接说“这就是人”。这不是修辞上的排比，而是层层锁定。说它是…