【每日斯多葛】11月14日

November 14th

YOU CHOOSE THE OUTCOME

“He was sent to prison. But the observation ‘he has suffered evil,’ is an addition coming from you.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.8.5b–6a

This is classic Stoic thinking, as you’ve gathered by now. An event itself is objective. How we describe it—that it was unfair, or it’s a great calamity, or that they did it on purpose—is on us.

Malcolm X (then Malcolm Little) went into prison a criminal, but he left as an educated, religious, and motivated man who would help in the struggle for civil rights. Did he suffer an evil? Or did he choose to make his experience a positive one?

Acceptance isn’t passive. It’s the first step in an active process toward self-improvement.

11月14日 

结果取决于你的选择

“他被送进了监狱。但如果你说‘他遭受了不幸’，那便是你自己附加上去的判断。”

——爱比克泰德，《论说集》，3.8.5b–6a

读到这里，你应该已经能够领会，这正是典型的斯多葛式思维。事件本身是客观的。至于我们如何描述它——认为它不公平，是一场巨大的灾难，或者认定别人是故意这样做的——则完全取决于我们自己的判断。

马尔科姆·X（当时名叫马尔科姆·利特尔）入狱时还是一名罪犯，但出狱时，他已经成为一个接受了良好自我教育、拥有宗教信仰、充满使命感的人，并在后来投身于争取公民权利的斗争。那么，监狱生活对他而言，究竟是一场不幸？还是他主动选择将这段经历转化成了积极的人生机遇？

接纳现实并不意味着消极被动。恰恰相反，它是主动追求自我完善的第一步。