【每日斯多葛】11月12日

November 12th

THE STRONG ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY

“If we judge as good and evil only the things in the power of our own choice, then there is no room left for blaming gods or being hostile to others.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.41

A sign on President Harry Truman’s desk read, THE BUCK STOPS HERE. As president, with more power and control than pretty much anyone else, he knew that, good or bad, there wasn’t anyone he could blame for stuff other than himself. There was no one to pass the buck to. The chain ended there, in the Oval Office.

As the president of our own lives—and knowing that our powers begin and end with our reasoned choice—we would do well to internalize this same attitude. We don’t control things outside that sphere, but we do control our attitudes and our responses to those events—and that’s plenty. It’s enough that we go into each and every day knowing that there is no one to pass the buck to. It ends with us.

11月12日

强者勇于承担责任

“倘若我们只将那些处于自身选择能力范围之内的事情判断为善或恶，那么我们便再没有理由责怪诸神，也没有理由对他人心怀敌意。”

——马可·奥勒留，《沉思录》，6.41

美国总统哈里·杜鲁门的办公桌上，曾摆放着一块写有“THE BUCK STOPS HERE”的牌子，意思是：“责任到此为止，不再推诿。”身为总统，杜鲁门所拥有的权力与掌控力，几乎超过任何其他人。他深知，无论事情的结果是好是坏，最终都不能把责任推卸给别人。因为再没有更高一级的人可以让他推卸责任。责任链条的终点，就在白宫的椭圆形办公室。

我们每个人，都是自己人生的总统。我们应当明白，自己的力量始于理性的选择，也止于理性的选择。因此，我们同样值得将杜鲁门的这种态度内化为自己的人生准则。对于超出自身选择范围的事情，我们无法掌控；但我们能够掌控自己对这些事情的态度，以及面对它们时所作出的回应。而这已经足够了。只要我们每天都能清醒地认识到：没有谁可以替我们承担本应由自己承担的责任，我们便已经拥有了足够的力量。责任最终由我们自己承担。