Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
路
那天讀到有關Epictetus 的一些, 然後到網上看看. Wikipedia 如此說 -
Epictetus (Greek: Ἐπίκτητος; AD 55 – AD 135) was a Greek sage and Stoic philosopher. Philosophy, he taught, is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. [….]
That alone is in our power, which is our own work; and in this class are our opinions, impulses, desires, and aversions. What, on the contrary, is not in our power, are our bodies, possessions, glory, and power. Any delusion on this point leads to the greatest errors, misfortunes, and troubles, and to the slavery of the soul. We have no power over external things, and the good that ought to be the object of our earnest pursuit, is to be found only within ourselves. [….]
We will not be troubled at any loss, but will say to ourselves on such an occasion: "I have lost nothing that belongs to me; it was not something of mine that was torn from me, but something that was not in my power has left me." Nothing beyond the use of our opinion is properly ours. Every possession rests on opinion. What is to cry and to weep? An opinion. What is misfortune, or a quarrel, or a complaint? All these things are opinions; opinions founded on the delusion that what is not subject to our own choice can be either good or evil, which it cannot. By rejecting these opinions, and seeking good and evil in the power of choice alone, we may confidently achieve peace of mind in every condition of life.
大概, 路很多, 但目的地都一樣.