《沉思录·卷十二·此刻即全部》第3条
The things are three of which thou art composed: a little body, a little breath [life], intelligence. Of these the first two are thine, so far as it is thy duty to take care of them; but the third alone is properly thine. Therefore if thou shalt separate from thyself, that is, from thy understanding, whatever others do or say, and whatever thou hast done or said thyself, and whatever future things trouble thee because they may happen, and whatever in the body which envelops thee or in the breath [life], which is by nature associated with the body, is attached to thee independent of thy will, and whatever the external circumfluent vortex whirls round, so that the intellectual power exempt from the things of fate can live pure and free by itself, doing what is just and accepting what happens and saying the truth: if thou wilt separate, I say, from this ruling faculty the things which are attached to it by the impressions of sense, and the things of time to come and of time that is past, and wilt make thyself like Empedocles' sphere, "All round and in its joyous rest reposing;" and if thou shalt strive to live only what is really thy life, that is, the present,--then thou wilt be able to pass that portion of life which remains for thee up to the time of thy death free from perturbations, nobly, and obedient to thy own daemon [to the god that is within thee] (ii. 13, 17; iii. 5, 6; xi. 12).
注释摘要
这一段开始于一个三层划分，这种划分在斯多葛派的人类学里不算奥勒留独创，但他在这里用得特别清晰。他说人由三样东西组成：一点微不足道的身体，一点气息也就是生命，还有理智。前面两样，身体和生命，是你的，但只是在你有责任照料它们的意义上才是你的。这“照料”和“拥有”之间的区别是整个斯多葛伦理学的地基：你可以管理你的身体，关注你的健康，但身体最终会生病衰老，生命随时…