【每日斯多葛】9月27日

September 27th  

WHAT WILL PROSPERITY REVEAL?

“For even peace itself will supply more reason for worry. Not even safe circumstances will bring you confidence once your mind has been shocked—once it gets in the habit of blind panic, it can’t provide for its own safety. For it doesn’t really avoid danger, it just runs away. Yet we are exposed to greater danger with our backs turned.”

—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 104.10b

There’s an old proverb that money doesn’t change people, it just makes them more of who they are. Robert Caro has written that “power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals.” In some ways, prosperity—financial and personal—is the same way.

If your mind has developed a certain cast—the habit of panicking, in Seneca’s example—then it won’t matter how good things get for you. You’re still primed for panic. Your mind will still find things to worry about, and you’ll still be miserable. Perhaps more so even, because now you have more to lose.

This is why it’s foolish to hope for good fortune. If you were to hope for one thing, you could hope for the strength of character that’s able to thrive in good fortune. Or better, work for that kind of character and confidence. Consider every action and every thought—think of them as building blocks of your indestructible character. Then work to make each one strong and significant in its own right.

9月27日  

繁荣会揭示什么？

“因为即使是和平本身，也会提供更多值得忧虑的理由。一旦你的心灵受到惊吓，即使身处安全的环境，也无法让你恢复信心——一旦它养成了盲目恐慌的习惯，就无法保障自身的安全。因为它实际上并没有避开危险，只是在逃跑。然而，当我们背对危险时，反而会暴露在更大的危险之中。”

——塞内卡，《道德书信》，104.10b

有一句古老的谚语说，金钱并不会改变一个人，它只是让这个人更加成为他原本的样子。罗伯特·卡罗曾写道：“权力不会腐化人，它会揭示人。”在某些方面，繁荣——无论是经济上的还是个人生活中的——也是如此。

如果你的心灵已经形成了某种固定的倾向——比如塞内卡所举的例子，习惯于恐慌——那么，无论你的境遇变得多么好，都不会有什么不同。你仍然随时准备陷入恐慌。你的心灵仍然会找到值得担忧的事情，你也仍然会感到痛苦。甚至可能更加痛苦，因为现在你拥有了更多可能失去的东西。

这就是为什么寄希望于好运是愚蠢的。如果你一定要有所期盼，那么你可以期盼自己拥有一种能够在顺境中蓬勃发展的坚强品格。或者更好的是，努力培养这种品格和信心。审视自己的每一个行动和每一个念头——把它们看作构筑你坚不可摧的品格的基石。然后努力让每一块基石本身都坚固而有分量。