本书简介:
《沉思录》是古罗马皇帝奥勒留写给自己的书,内容大部分是他在鞍马劳顿中写成的。作品来自奥勒留对身羁宫廷的自己和自己所处混乱世界的感受,追求一种冷静而达观的生活。这部著作是斯多葛学派的一个里程碑,亦是温总理放在枕边,读了不下百遍的书。
本书原文由古希腊文而作,英文版选择比较权威的George Long的版本,中文版选择何怀宏的版本作参考。笔记中的英文释义摘自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

 作者简介:
马可•奥勒留(Marcus Aurelius,公元121—180年),著名的“帝王哲学家”,古罗马帝国皇帝,在希腊文学和拉丁文学、修辞、哲学、法律、绘画方面受过很好的教育,晚期斯多葛学派代表人物之一。奥勒留也许是西方历史上唯一的一位哲学家皇帝。他是一个比他的帝国更加完美的人,他的勤奋工作最终并没有能够挽救古罗马,但是他的《沉思录》却成为西方历史上的伟大名著。

卷三:享受那你认为是最好的东西的快乐03
 小编语:到第三卷啦!个人倒是更喜欢这一卷,你呢?

3.5 If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without thy own choice; if, I say, thou seest anything better than this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best. But if nothing appears to be better than the deity which is planted in thee, which has subjected to itself all thy appetites, and carefully examines all the impressions, and, as Socrates said, has detached itself from the persuasions of sense, and has submitted itself to the gods, and cares for mankind; if thou findest everything else smaller and of less value than this, give place to nothing else, for if thou dost once diverge and incline to it, thou wilt no longer without distraction be able to give the preference to that good thing which is thy proper possession and thy own; for it is not right that anything of any other kind, such as praise from the many, or power, or enjoyment of pleasure, should come into competition with that which is rationally and politically or practically good.

 Notes:
detach [v]
   1. to remove something from something larger; to become separated from something;
       ~ sth; ~ sth from sth; ~ (from sth)
   2. ~ yourself (from sb/sth) (formal): to leave or separate yourself from somebody/something;
   3. ~ sb/sth (technical): to send a group of soldiers, etc. away from the main group, especially to do special duties.
diverge [v]
    separate and go in different directions ~ from sth
   
be different ~(from sth)
    be or become different from what is expected, planned, etc 
~ from sth

3.6 Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains: for he who has preferred to everything intelligence and daemon and the worship of its excellence, acts no tragic part, does not  groan, will not need either solitude or much company; and, what is chief of all, he will live without either pursuing or flying from death; but whether for a longer or a shorter time he shall have the soul inclosed in the body, he cares not at all: for even if he must depart immediately, he will go as readily as if he were going to do anything else which can be done with decency and order; taking care of this only all through life, that his thoughts turn not away from anything which belongs to an intelligent animal and a member of a civil community.

 Notes:
hypocrite [n] a person who pretends to have moral standards or opinions that they do not actually have.

 看了笔记注释之后,先尝试自己翻译一下吧,参考译文见下:

中文翻译:
3.5 假如你在人类生活中发现什么比正义、真理、节制和坚忍更好的东西,一句话,发现比你自己心灵的自足更好的东西-这种自足能使你在非你选择而分派给你的条件下,按照正确的理性行事,我说,如果你看到了比这更好的东西,就以全部身心转向它,享受那你认为是最好的东西的快乐吧。然而,如果并没有什么东西比这更好,比培植在你心中的神性更好-它检视你所有的爱好,仔细考察你所有印象,并像苏格拉底所说,使自身摆脱感官的诱惑,把自身交付给神灵并关心人类;-如果你发现所有别的一切都不如它,比它价值要低,就不要给别的东西以地位吧,因为如果你一旦走上岔路、倾向于别的东西,你就将不再能够集中精力偏爱于那真正适合和属于你的善的事物了,因为,让任何别的东西-比方说众口称赞、权力或享受快乐-来同那在理性方面,在政治或实践中善的东西竞争是不对的。

3.6 不要把任何这样的事情评价为是对你有利的:即那些使你不守诺言、丧失自尊、憎恨、多疑、苛责、虚伪和欲望一切需要墙和幕的东西的事情,因为那更喜欢他自己的理性、神灵并崇拜神灵的人,他不扮演悲剧的角色,不呻吟,不需要独入或很多伙伴,最重要的是,他将在生活中不受死的诱惑也不逃避死亡,对于他的灵魂究竟在身体中寄寓多久,他是完全不关心的。因为,即便他必须马上离去,他亦将乐意地离去,就仿佛他要去做别的可以正派和体面地去做的事情一样;他在全部的生命中只关心这一点:即他的思想不要离开那属于一个理智的人、属于一个公民团体的人的一切。

回顾:《沉思录》读书笔记系列>>