【每日斯多葛】10月20日

October 20th 

MARKS OF THE GOOD LIFE

“You have proof in the extent of your wanderings that you never found the art of living anywhere—not in logic, nor in wealth, fame, or in any indulgence. Nowhere. Where is it then? In doing what human nature demands. How is a person to do this? By having principles be the source of desire and action. What principles? Those to do with good and evil, indeed in the belief that there is no good for a human being except what creates justice, self-control, courage and freedom, and nothing evil except what destroys these things.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.1.(5)

What’s the meaning of life? Why was I born? Most of us struggle with these questions—sometimes when we’re young, sometimes not until we’re older. Rarely do we find much in the way of direction. But that’s simply because we miss the point. As Viktor Frankl points out in Man’s Search for Meaning, it is not our question to ask. Instead, it is we who are being asked the question. It’s our lives that are the answer.

No amount of travel or reading or clever sages can tell you what you want to know. Instead, it is you who must find the answer in your actions, in living the good life—by embodying the self-evident principles of justice, self-control, courage, freedom, and abstaining from evil.

10月20日 

美好生活的标志

“你四处寻觅的经历已经证明，你从未在任何地方找到生活的艺术——无论是在逻辑中，还是在财富、名声或任何享乐中。哪里都没有。那么，它究竟在哪里？就在于做符合人类本性要求的事情。一个人该如何做到这一点？让原则成为欲望和行动的源泉。什么原则？那些关于善与恶的原则，也就是相信：对人而言，除了能够产生正义、自制、勇气和自由的东西之外，没有其他真正的善；除了会摧毁这些品质的东西之外，没有其他真正的恶。”

——马可·奥勒留，《沉思录》，8.1.(5)

人生的意义是什么？我为什么会出生？我们大多数人都会为这些问题苦苦思索——有时是在年轻的时候，有时直到年纪渐长才开始思考。我们很少能从中找到多少明确的方向。但这只是因为我们没有抓住问题的关键。正如维克多·弗兰克尔在《活出生命的意义》中指出的，人生的意义并不是一个由我们来提出的问题。相反，是人生在向我们提出问题，而我们的生活本身就是答案。

无论你旅行多少地方、读多少书，或者请教多少聪明的智者，都没有人能够告诉你想知道的答案。相反，必须由你自己在行动中找到答案，在过一种美好生活的过程中找到答案——通过践行那些不言自明的原则：正义、自制、勇气、自由，并远离邪恶。