《沉思录·卷十二·此刻即全部》第32条
How small a part of the boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to every man, for it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal! And how small a part of the whole substance; and how small a part of the universal soul; and on what a small clod of the whole earth thou creepest! Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to endure that which the common nature brings.
注释摘要
他在这里做的是一个层层缩小的视野练习，目标不是让人沮丧，而是把人从虚妄的“重要性”里释放出来。思路很简单：把你的生命放到三个维度上去量——时间、物质、空间——每一次比较都得出同一个结论，就是微小，并且这种微小不是不幸，而是事实。所以“无限而不可测度的时间”里分给你的那一段，“很快就被永恒吞没”；“整个实体”里分给你的身体，只是一丁点；“宇宙灵魂”里分给你那…