【每日斯多葛】10月6日

October 6th

LOOKING OUT FOR EACH OTHER

"It's in keeping with Nature to show our friends affection and to celebrate their advancement, as if it were our very own. For if we don't do this, virtue, which is strengthened only by exercising our perceptions, will no longer endure in us."

—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 109.15

Watching other people succeed is one of the toughest things to do—especially if we are not doing well ourselves. In our hunter-gatherer minds, we suspect that life is a zero-sum game—that for someone to have more means that we might end up with less.

But like all parts of philosophy, empathy and selflessness are a matter of practice. As Seneca observed, it's possible to learn to "rejoice in all their successes and be moved by their every failure." This is what a virtuous person does.

They teach themselves to actively cheer for other people—even in cases where that might come at their own expense—and to put aside jealousy and possessiveness. You can do that too.

10月6日

彼此关照

"与朋友亲近，并为他们的进步而欣喜，如同那是我们自己的进步一般，这是符合自然的。因为如果我们不这样做，美德——它只有通过锻炼我们的感知才能得到强化——就不会再在我们心中长存。"

——塞涅卡,《道德书简》,109.15

看着别人成功是最难熬的事情之一——尤其是当我们自己境况不佳的时候。在我们狩猎采集者的头脑中，我们怀疑生活是一场零和游戏——别人拥有更多，就意味着我们最终可能拥有更少。

但和哲学的所有部分一样，同理心与无私也是一种练习。正如塞涅卡所观察到的，我们是可以学会"为他们所有的成功而欢欣，为他们每一次失败而动容"的。这正是有德之人所做的。

他们教自己主动为他人喝彩——即使这可能要以自己为代价——并放下嫉妒与占有欲。你也可以做到。