【每日斯多葛】10月21日

October 21st 

HEROES, HERE AND NOW

“Such behavior! People don’t want to praise their contemporaries whose lives they actually share, but hold great expectations for the praise of future generations—people they haven’t met or ever will! This is akin to being upset that past generations didn’t praise you.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.18

Alexandria, the city in Egypt, still bears the name of its founder, Alexander the Great, some 2,300 years after he set foot there. How cool would it feel to have a city named after you for so many centuries? To know that people are still saying your name?

Here’s a thought: it wouldn’t be cool. Because, like Alexander, you’ll be dead. You’ll have no idea whether your name lasted down through the centuries. No one gets to enjoy their own legacy—by definition.

Worse, think of all the horrible things Alexander did to achieve what he did. He fought pointless wars. He had a terrible temper—even killing his best friend in a drunken fight. He was ruthless and a slave to his ambition. Is he really so admirable?

Instead of wasting even a second considering the opinions of future people—people who are not even born yet—focus every bit of yourself on being the best person you can be in the present moment. On doing the right thing, right now. The distant future is irrelevant. Be good and noble and impressive now—while it still matters.

10月21日 

当下的英雄

“这样的行为真是荒谬！人们不愿赞美那些与自己生活在同一时代的人，却对未来世代的赞美抱有很大期望——那些他们从未见过、也永远不会见到的人！这就好比因为过去的世代没有赞美你而感到不快。”

——马可·奥勒留，《沉思录》，6.18

埃及的亚历山大港，至今仍以它的创建者亚历山大大帝命名，尽管距离他踏上这片土地已经过去了大约2300年。想象一下，一座城市在几个世纪之后仍以你的名字命名，那会有多酷？知道人们仍在念着你的名字，又会是什么感觉？

但换个角度想：其实一点也不酷。因为像亚历山大一样，到那时你早已死去。你根本不会知道自己的名字是否流传了几个世纪。从定义上说，没有人能够真正享受自己的身后名。

更糟的是，想想亚历山大为了取得那些成就做过多少可怕的事情。他发动了毫无意义的战争，脾气暴躁，甚至在一次酒后争斗中杀死了自己最好的朋友。他冷酷无情，又是自己野心的奴隶。这样的人真的值得我们如此敬仰吗？

与其浪费哪怕一秒钟去考虑未来之人的看法——那些甚至还没有出生的人——不如把全部精力都放在当下，努力成为此刻最好的自己。现在就去做正确的事。遥远的未来并不重要。就在此刻做一个善良、高尚、令人钦佩的人——因为只有现在，这些才真正重要。