《沉思录·卷十二·此刻即全部》第4条
I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others. If then a god or a wise teacher should present himself to a man and bid him to think of nothing and to design nothing which he would not express as soon as he conceived it, he could not endure it even for a single day. So much more respect have we to what our neighbors shall think of us than to what we shall think of ourselves.
注释摘要
奥勒留在这里揭示了一个贯穿人类心理的核心悖论，这个悖论在每个人身上都清晰可见，却极少被察觉。他说，我们每个人都爱自己胜过爱世上所有其他人，这本是最自然、最强劲的驱动力。但奇怪的是，在评价这件事上，我们却把别人的看法看得比自己的看法重得多。我对自己是什么样的人、做对了什么、做错了什么的判断，本应是我最信任的声音，因为我最了解自己的动机和处境。然而事实恰好相反…