【每日斯多葛】11月7日

November 7th

HOW TO BE POWERFUL

“Don’t trust in your reputation, money, or position, but in the strength that is yours—namely, your judgments about the things that you control and don’t control. For this alone is what makes us free and unfettered, that picks us up by the neck from the depths and lifts us eye to eye with the rich and powerful.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.26.34–35

In a scene in Steven Pressfield’s classic novel about Alexander the Great, The Virtues of War, Alexander reaches a river crossing only to be confronted by a philosopher who refuses to move. “This man has conquered the world!” one of Alexander’s men shouts. “What have you done?” The philosopher responds, with complete confidence, “I have conquered the need to conquer the world.”

We do know that Alexander did clash with Diogenes the Cynic, a philosopher known for his rejection of what society prizes and, by extension, Alexander’s self-image. Just as in Pressfield’s fictional encounter, in Diogenes’s real confrontation with Alexander, the philosopher was more powerful than the most powerful man in the world—because, unlike him, Diogenes had fewer wants. They were able to look each other in the eye and see who really had control over himself, who had achieved the self-mastery required for real and lasting power.

You can have that too. It just means focusing inward on acquiring power rather than outward. As Publilius Syrus, himself a former slave, put it: “Would you have a great empire? Rule over yourself!”

11月7日 

如何拥有真正的力量

“不要依赖你的名声、财富或地位，而要依靠真正属于你自己的力量——也就是你对哪些事情能够控制、哪些事情无法控制所作出的判断。唯有这种力量，才能使我们获得自由，不受束缚；才能将我们从人生的深渊中提起，让我们得以与富有者和权势者平视。”

——爱比克泰德，《论说集》，3.26.34–35

在史蒂文·普莱斯菲尔德描写亚历山大大帝的经典小说《战争的美德》中，有这样一个场景：亚历山大来到一处渡口，却遇见一位哲学家挡住去路，不肯让开。亚历山大的一名部下高声喝道：“这个人征服了整个世界！你又做过什么？”哲学家却胸有成竹地回答：“我征服了自己想要征服世界的欲望。”

我们确实知道，历史上的亚历山大曾与犬儒派哲学家第欧根尼发生过交锋。第欧根尼以蔑视世俗社会所珍视的一切而闻名，自然也不会认同亚历山大引以为傲的自我形象。正如普莱斯菲尔德笔下虚构的相遇一样，在历史上第欧根尼与亚历山大的真实交锋中，这位哲学家所拥有的力量，反而超过了那位世间最有权势的人。原因很简单：与亚历山大不同，第欧根尼的欲望更少。两人得以彼此平视，也因此能够看清，究竟谁才真正能够主宰自己，谁才具备获得真实而持久的力量所必需的自我约束与驾驭能力。

你同样能够拥有这种力量。关键只在于：不要一味向外追逐权力，而应转向内心，寻求对自我的掌控。正如曾经身为奴隶的古罗马作家普布利利乌斯·叙鲁斯所言：“你想拥有一个伟大的帝国吗？那就先学会统治你自己！”