原标题：5 Ancient Stoic Tactics for Modern Life
文：Jeremy Anderberg
译：清单待完成
Stoicism emerged as a philosophy, a way of life — similar to a religion, really — most famously in ancient Rome somewhere around 50-100 AD (even though it was Greeks who pioneered the thinking).
斯多葛主义（Stoicism）最初是作为一种哲学以及一种生活之道（实际上类似于宗教），大约在公元50-100年左右的古罗马时期最为出名。（尽管是希腊人率先提出了这种思想。）
Two millennia later, the philosophy is enjoying a revival of sorts, and it’s not hard to understand why.
两千年后，这种哲学经历了各式各样的复兴，不难理解其中的原因。
The primary goal of ancient Stoicism was to figure out the best way to live; as modern philosopher Lawrence Becker writes: “Its central, organizing concern is about what one ought to do or be to live well — to flourish.”
古代斯多葛主义的首要目标，乃是找出最佳的生活之道；正如当代哲学家劳伦斯·贝克尔（Lawrence Becker）指出：「斯多葛主义的核心组织要点，就是关于一个人应该做什么或者将要做什么，才能够幸福生活、茁壮成长。」（Lawrence Becker，A New Stoicism。--译注）
And this question of how to live is perhaps humanity’s most enduring — becoming especially acute in ages in which a sense of shared meaning has atrophied and every individual is left to find meaning on his own.
关于人应当如何生活的这个问题，也许是人类最永恒的难题，长久以来变得尤为尖锐，因为人类共同的意义已经萎缩，每个人都只能独自去追寻意义。
Stoicism’s answers, its fundamental tenets — what many modern writers and thinkers have deemed the “art of living” — thus feel just as relevant now as they did a couple thousand years ago.
斯多葛主义的回答呢？其基本原则--许多当代作家和思想家都认为是「生活的艺术」（art of living），其当下的意义与几千年前遥相呼应。
While we’ve covered some tenets of Stoicism on the Art of Manliness before, we’ve never laid out its more concrete practices — the tactics that lead both to personal joy and the betterment of society. It’s my aim to present five ways you can start to inject Stoicism into your life today, and begin experiencing more happiness and fulfillment.
之前我们已经介绍过斯多葛主义的一些基本原则，但尚未提出较为具体的实践措施--这种策略应当即能带来个人愉悦感，又能够造福于社会。我的目标是介绍五种斯多葛主义方法，让你在日常生活中运用，体验到更多的幸福感和满足感。
These aren’t just abstract ideas that I’ll be presenting to you. Rather, they’re based on firsthand experience. Since I first read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditationslast year, I’ve been rather intrigued by the philosophy he espoused. So I’ve studied up, read a handful of books — both ancient source material and contemporary guidebooks — and have incorporated a number of new habits into my own daily routines.
我向你展现的这些方法，并不仅仅是抽象的观点；相反，这些是基于第一手的经验。自从我去年第一次读到马库斯·奥雷利乌斯（Marcus Aurelius）的《沉思录》（Meditationslast）以来，就一直着迷于他所倡导的哲学。因此我钻研了一番，阅读了一些相关书籍（包含古代原始资料和当代阅读指南），并将学到的新习惯融入自己的日常生活中。
While there are many more practices and principles that can be gleaned and applied from Stoicism, my goal with this article is to provide those that have most impacted my own life (providing plenty of personal anecdotes to that end), and which I believe can most impact the lives of other men as well. These are things to do on a daily and weekly basis (even if some of them are more psychological in nature).
虽然在斯多葛主义中，用大量的实践和原则可供发掘和应用，但本文主要涉及的只是，那些对我自己的生活有重要影响的方法（为此有大量的个人经验加以佐证），我也相信这些方法能够影响其他人的生活，并且每日和每周都可以使用。（虽然其中有一些在本质上是更偏向于精神上的）。
While Stoicism also offers an outline of how to react and respond in a number of different situations — from anger and anxiety, to disability and death — that isn’t in the purview of this piece (though perhaps it will be in another article later on).
尽管斯多葛主义也提供了一种方法，让你能够面对不同情境时，能够做出反应和回应（从愤怒与焦虑，到无能与死亡）。这些都不在本文范围之内（也许之后会另写一篇）。
What’s especially appealing about Stoicism is that it’s what Massimo Pigliucci calls an “ecumenical philosophy.” Its precepts complement those of many other philosophies, religions, and ways of life.
斯多葛主义令人着迷之处在于，用马西莫·皮里乌奇（Massimo Pigliucci）的话来讲，这是一种「普世哲学」（ecumenical philosophy）。其训言（precepts）补充了众多其他的哲学、宗教以及生活方式。（Massimo Pigliucci，How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life。--译注）
You can practice elements of Stoicism and still pursue Christianity, Judaism, atheism, and a number of other isms or non-isms out there. It’s about finding joy, fulfillment, and tranquility, and making society a better place for everyone in it. Isn’t that something we can all get behind?
你可以一边践行斯多葛主义理念，一边仍可以追寻基督教、犹太教、无神论以及其他一些主义或虚无主义。斯多葛主义者追寻快乐、满足以及安宁，并使这个社会成为更宜居的地方。这难道不正是我们所苦苦探寻的吗？
Without further ado, I present 5 ways to make Stoicism a daily practice:
闲话少说，我提出每日践行斯多葛主义的5种方法：
① Visualize Your Life Without the Things You Love
① 消极可视化--想象一下失去所爱的生活
“He robs present ills of their power who has perceived their coming beforehand.” —Seneca
『提前预示到权利的弊端何时会发生，能够减轻其后果。』—塞内卡（Seneca）
William Irvine argues that “the single most valuable technique in the Stoics’ psychological toolkit” is a tactic he calls “negative visualization.” To fully appreciate your blessings — the immaterial and material alike — imagine your life without them.
威廉·欧文（William Irvine）认为，「斯多葛学派心理工具箱中最有价值的技巧」，乃是一种被他称之为「消极可视化」（negative visualization）的策略。要充分珍惜你的心爱之物（物质的和非物质的），想象一下没有它们的生活。（William Irvine，A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy。—译注）
For example, if you live in a tornado-prone region, imagine your house being destroyed, along with all your possessions. Obviously sort of a sad thought experiment, but chances are good that you’ll actually come to better appreciate your home, and the stuff in it, if you can really visualize what life might be like without it.
例如，如果你生活在一个龙卷风易发地带，想象一下你的房子以及所有财物都被摧毁了。当然，这显然是一个令人难过的思想实验（thought experiment），但是如果你能趁此机会，好好想象一下没有家的生活会是什么样子的，你就会愈加的珍惜自己的家财。
This practice might make it seem like Stoics are lifelong pessimists, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Stoics are in fact the ultimate optimists.
这种做法可能会使人觉得，斯多葛主义者都是终身的悲观主义者，但这绝非事实。实际上，斯多葛主义者本质上是乐观主义者。
Consider the image of a 16oz drinking glass holding 8oz of water. It’s of course either half full or half empty, right? The Stoic, though, would actually just be grateful that there was any water at all! And that there was a vessel to hold that water to boot. The Stoic takes nothing for granted.
想象一下这个画面，一个16盎司玻璃杯里装有8盎司水。这显然要么半满，要么半空，对吧？斯多葛主义者却对杯中依然有水而心怀感激；此外，还有个容器盛住了这些水。斯多葛主义者对任何事物都不习以为然。
This exercise is of course harder to practice with your loved ones, but it’s well worth it. When I drive to daycare in the afternoon to pick up my son, I briefly meditate on the fact that each day really is a gift, and that anything can happen. He might not be around tomorrow, so I better live and love and parent to my fullest, most joyful abilities today.
当然，你很难与心爱之人一起练习这种方式，但值得一试。当我下午开车前往日托中心接儿子时，我短暂地思虑了这样一个事实--即每一天都是一份恩赐，任何事情都有可能会发生。儿子可能明天就不在身边了，因此我最好还是现在就尽己可能，以最充沛的热情去生活、去热爱、去养育照料他。
Now, I’m not consumed with anxiety that my kids aren’t long for this earth (Irvine notes the important difference between contemplating and worrying). I know the odds are extremely slim of that reality. It’s more an acknowledgment that you just never know when the things and people you love might not be there anymore.
现在，我并没有因担心自己的孩子会离开人世，而感到焦虑。（威廉·欧文指出了沉思（contemplating）和担忧（worrying）之间的重要区别。）因为我知道这种可能性非常之低；这更多的只是一种设想，你永远都不知道自己的所爱之人以及心爱之物，何时会消失。
It’s truly made a difference in my mindset, general gratitude, and mostly — as perhaps to be expected in this young kids phase — my patience. Whether my toddler son is taking forever to brush his teeth, or my 1-month-old daughter decides she won’t sleep unless she’s held and rocked, I seem better able to cope when I briefly imagine a life without them.
这种方法确实影响了我的思维模式、感恩心态、以及最重要的耐心（在养育这些年幼孩子的阶段，最迫切需要的耐心）。无论是我蹒跚学步的儿子，闹着永远不要刷牙；还是一个月大的女儿，想要被抱抱摇摇，否则就不愿睡觉。短暂想象一下没有他们的生活，我似乎能够更好地应对此类情景。
It should also be noted that this exercise hasn’t made me sad or mopey as you might expect; rather, it makes me swell with gratitude for the days we are given, and I can say that I better truly appreciate all the blessings life has to offer, from my wife and kids, to the cheerful song of a bird out my window on a nice spring day.
还应当指出，这个练习并没有像你所以为的那样，令我感到悲伤或沮丧；反而因此，我愈加感激自己现有的生活，愈加珍惜生活的恩赐--从我的妻儿，到窗外的鸟儿在美好春日里的欢鸣。
As Seneca noted at the top of this section, bad things — which inevitably happen to all of us — are robbed of at least some of their power when we’ve anticipated their possibility, and consequently taken full advantage of each day, hour, and moment given us.
正如塞内卡（Seneca）在本文开头所指出的，坏事情不可避免地发生在我们所有人身上，若是我们能预测到其发生的可能性，其影响力就会大打折扣；因此我们可以充分利用好生命中的每一天、每一时及每一刻。
The grief of loss isn’t quite as acute when we can truthfully state that we squeezed every ounce of joy out of what we own and who we love when they were with us.
如果我们可以如实地表示，自己能够从已有之物、从身边所爱之人身上，汲取了每一丝的欢乐，那么失去的悲伤就不会那么严重了。
As the Reverend William Sloane Coffin said in giving a eulogy for his 24-year-old son, Alex:
正如威廉·斯隆·科芬（William Sloane Coffin）牧师在为他24岁的儿子 Alex 致悼词时所说：
“there is much by way of consolation. Because there are no rankling unanswered questions, and because Alex and I simply adored each other, the wound for me is deep, but clean. I know how lucky I am!”
「（Alex）给我们留下了极大的慰藉。因为他没有留下尚未解答的苦涩问题，因为他与我彼此敬爱；对于我来说，伤口虽很深，却是干净的。我知道自己有多么的幸运！」
② Memento Mori — Meditate on Death
② 死亡警告--沉思死亡
“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day…The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.” —Seneca
『让我们做好心理准备，好似自己已走到了生命的尽头；让我们不要再拖延了；让我们平衡好每日生活得失……那些把每一天都当做生命最后一天的人，永远都不会缺乏时间。』 --塞内卡
While related to the above point, memento mori is about meditating on your death rather than that of your loved ones. Whereas negative visualization is about imagining life without the things you love, memento mori asks you to meditate and be aware that you will not, in fact, live forever. Death comes for us all, including you, dear reader.
上述第一种方法「消极可视化」（negative visualization），指的是想象一下失去所爱的生活；而第二种方法「死亡警告」（memento mori）则要求你沉思、并意识到自己不可能永远都活着。众人皆有一死，包括你，我亲爱的读者。
We live in a pretty death-averse culture though. At large, we’re terribly afraid of it. The Stoics would argue, though, that if you’ve lived a life of purpose and meaning, you shouldn’t have any fear of something that has naturally befallen each and every human being (and every other living creature) since time immemorial.
我们生活在一个极其厌恶死亡的文化之中。总的来说，我们极度害怕死亡。不过，斯多葛学派认为，如果你过着一种有目的、有意义的生活，这种自古以来就会自然而然的降临到每一个人（及其他每一种生物）身上的命运，并不值得你去害怕。
Now, meditating on your own death is not the same as asking something like “If you knew this was your last day on Earth, what would you do?”
现在，沉思自己的死亡并不等同于问「如果你知道这是自己在世上的最后一天，你会做些什么？」
In that scenario, I’d play hooky, make my friends and family do the same, and do something memorable with them. I’d eat a ton of tasty but bad-for-you food, drink some whiskey, stay up all night, etc. Those aren’t things you can do on a daily basis, though.
在这种问题下，我会逃学旷工，也会让自己的朋友和家人这么做，我会陪他们一起做一些值得纪念的事情。我会大吃特吃美味的垃圾食物，喝点威士忌，通宵不眠等等。这些可都是你平时没法做的。
Rather, the question is more like “If you don’t wake up in the morning, would you be satisfied with how your last day was spent?” Did you engage fully at work? Did you love your family and your friends? Did you add to society’s greater good at all? Did you make virtuous decisions?
而沉思自己的死亡，更类似于问「如果你次日清晨不再醒来，那最后一天的生活令你满意吗？」
你是否全身心投入了工作？你是否热爱自己的家人及朋友？你是否给社会带来了更大的益处？你是否做出了善良的决策？
When I ask myself this question, as with the previous point, it’s not a depression- or anxiety-inducing meditation. I realize the likelihood of my dying tomorrow is very slim; I am simply countenancing the fact that it is possible. And this possibility isn’t demoralizing, but invigorating. It makes me far less likely to waste time.
我问自己这个问题，和之前第一种方法「消极可视化」一样，这种沉思并不是为了引起抑郁或焦虑。我知道自己明天就会死的可能性非常之低；我只是表示这是有可能的。这种可能性并不是令人泄气的，而是令人振奋的。因为这让我不再浪费时间了。
If I’m gone tomorrow, I’d much rather have spent time baking a loaf of bread than playing games on my phone. I’d much rather have spent time reading stories to my son at bedtime (all the words) rather than speeding through it to watch another episode of Nailed It (which is great, don’t get me wrong).
如果明天我不在了，我宁愿花时间烘烤面包，而不是在手机上玩游戏。我宁愿花时间为儿子读睡前故事，一字一字地念，而不是匆匆讲解一下，就转过去看电视剧。
As you go through the day, or just at the end of it, reflect on your activities and decisions. Both the good and the bad. If this day was your last, would you be satisfied with its outcome? What would you have done differently? How would you have changed your interactions with others? How can you use this information to make better decisions and engage in more worthwhile activities tomorrow?
当你结束这一天时，反省自己的活动以及决策，不管是好的还是坏的。如果这一天就是你的最后一天，你对这样的结果感到满意吗？如果重来，你会做出什么改变？你将如何改善自己与他人的关系？你将如何利用这些信息来做出更好的决策，并在次日参与更有价值的活动？
Make it actionable. As the Stoics themselves would have asked, what good is philosophy if there’s no impact on how we live day to day?
让这些决策具有可行性。正如斯多葛主义者本身所说的那样，如果哲学对我们的日常生活没有任何影响，那么哲学又有什么用呢？
I’ve also found it’s good to occasionally read memoirs about death and dying. One of my all-time favorite books is When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. He wrote the book as he was dying of lung cancer in his late 30s, married and with a young child. I’ve read it twice — when both of my children were just days old.
我还发现偶尔阅读关于死亡与临终的回忆录是个好主意。其中我最喜欢的书是《当呼吸化为空气》（When Breath Becomes Air），作者保罗·卡拉尼什（Paul Kalanithi）。他30多岁时身患肺癌，因而写下这本书，不久后过世，留下妻子及一个年幼的孩子。当我的两个孩子分别只有几天大时，我各自读了一遍。
He provides an unmatched perspective on what it means to not only die well, but to acknowledge its reality: “The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live.”
他提供了一个无与伦比的视角，让我们意识到，不仅仅要从容赴死，而且要意思到死亡的现实性：「死亡这个事实，令人不安。但除此之外，别无他路。」
Even in his waning months, he maintained an incredible sense of positivity: “Even if I’m dying, until I actually die, I am still living.” If the words of dying people don’t inspire you to live more fully each day, then nothing will!
即使在日渐衰弱的最后几个月里，他仍然保持着一种令人难以置信的乐观：「即使我快要死了，但是直到我真正死亡的那一刻，我依旧还生活着。」如果临终之人的话语不能警醒你去更加充实地生活，那么还有什么能够呢！
A few more good books are The Bright Hour, Dying: A Memoir, and The Last Lecture.
其他还有几本好书分别是《明亮时刻：死亡与濒死的回忆录》（The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying，作者 Nina Riggs）、《死亡: 一本回忆录》（ Dying: A Memoir，作者 Cory Taylor）以及《最后一课》（The Last Lecture，作者 Randy Pausch、Jeffrey Zaslow。--译注）。
③ Set Internal Goals and Detach Yourself From Outcomes
③ 设定内部目标，摆脱结果的束缚
“Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing; not within our power are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever is not of our own doing.” —Epictetus
『有一些事情在我们的能力范围之内，另一些则不然。在能力范围内的是观点、动机、欲望、厌恶，简而言之，就是自己能做主的；在能力范围外的是身体、财产、名誉、职位，简而言之，就是自己不能做主的。』--伊壁鸠鲁（Epictetus）
One of the pillars of Stoic philosophy is not letting circumstances outside your control disturb your equilibrium.
斯多葛哲学的主旨之一就是--不要让外部环境打破你的内在平衡。
Such externally-dictated circumstances include things we’re used to thinking of as being out of our hands, like the weather, traffic, and our health (and that of our loved ones). But it also includes things we often erroneously believe we have full personal control over, like the outcomes of contests and the success or failure of business ventures.
这种由外部决定的环境，包括我们惯常认为的不受自己控制的事情，比如天气、交通、自己以及所爱之人的健康；也包括我们经常错误地以为彻底受自己控制的事情，比如竞争的结果以及商业冒险的成败。
As a help in grasping a truth we inveterate bootstrappers often resist, Irvine gives the example of a tennis match. You might set a goal of winning the match. Seems perfectly reasonable, no? But when you really think about it, you can’t control many of the factors that determine the contest’s outcome:
我们这些崇尚白手起家的人经常抵制这个道理，因此欧文举了一个网球比赛的例子来帮助我们理解。你可以将目标设定为「赢得比赛」。听起来很合理，不是吗？但是当你仔细想想的时候，你无法控制的因素太多了，这些因素决定了比赛的结果：
The weather is poor and wind gusts aren’t favoring you; you experience equipment failure (like a broken string) that isn’t disastrous but a distraction nonetheless; your opponent is simply better prepared than you (or perhaps just better, period); you sprain an ankle part way through the match and can’t continue on. If your goal is to win, and any of these things happen, you’ll be rather upset.
天气不佳，风向不利于你；你遭遇了设备故障（网球拍上的一根绷绳断了），这虽不是灾难性质的，但也会分散你注意力；你的对手比你准备的更加充分；你在比赛中扭伤了脚踝，无法继续比赛。如果你的目标是赢得胜利，而这些事情发生了，你恐怕会相当的焦躁不安。
Recognizing that much of life is out of your control doesn’t mean giving up your sense of agency; instead, it means focusing it on the only areas where you do have full control: your own actions.
意识到生活中的大部分事情都是自己所无法控制的，这并不意味着放弃自主感；相反，这意味着将重心放在自己唯一能够完全控制的领域：自己的行为。
Instead of focusing on results — which are impacted by external circumstances outside your control — set goals strictly related to your own efforts.
与其把注意力放在你无法控制的受外部环境影响的结果上，不如将目标设定为与自己的努力程度密切相关。
Instead of setting a goal to win the match, make it a goal to prepare as best you can, practice as hard as you can, and then play to the best of your abilities. If you do those things, and still lose, there’s just nothing more you could have done, so why fret?
与其把赢得比赛当做一个目标，不如将目标设置为--尽己所能做好准备工作，努力练习，然后发挥最佳实力。如果你做了这些事情，最终还是输了，那你已别无他法，何须再烦恼呢？
Rather than setting a goal of getting the job you’re interviewing for, make it your goal to prepare well, dress right, and answer every question as best you can. If you do all that and don’t get the job, it wasn’t meant to be (or so the Stoics would argue).
与其把面试成功当作一个目标，不如将目标设置为--做好准备，着装得体，并尽己所能回答每一个问题。如果你做了所有这些事情，依然没有得到这份工作，这就是天意如此了。
Rather than setting a goal of getting a girlfriend, prioritize making yourself a good catch. Eat well, work out, have a stable job, dress nicely, and make it a goal to ask someone out X times a month until you get a yes.
与其把找到女朋友当做一个目标，不如首先努力让自己成为一个更好的人选。吃的健康，锻炼得当，工作稳定，穿着得体，并将目标设置为--每月发出 N 次邀约，直到得到同意的答复。
My own hope regarding this article shouldn’t be, and truly isn’t, that it gets shared or retweeted X number of times. I can’t control what goes viral and what doesn’t. The whims of the internet aren’t worth thinking or worrying about.
我自己对此文的期望，并不是希望它被分享或转发多少次。我无法控制什么内容能以病毒式传播，什么内容不能。网络传播的虚妄并不值得思虑和担忧。
Instead, my true goal was that I would do all the research I could, and write, organize, and edit the article to the best of my abilities so that those who read it have the best possible chance of engaging it meaningfully and putting something into practice.
相反，我真正的目标乃是--尽己所能地研究、写作、组织和编辑此文，因而，读者有极大的机会，深入地参与其中，并将其中一些内容付诸实践。
When you set goals, attach them to what you can control — your own efforts and attitude — and detach them from what you cannot — their ultimate outcome.
当你设定目标时，将目标与自己能够控制的东西联系起来--自己的努力与态度；将目标从自己不能控制的东西中解放出来--最终的结果。
④ Welcome Discomfort
④ 拥抱不适
“Nature has intermingled pleasure with necessary things — not in order that we should seek pleasure, but in order that the addition of pleasure may make the indispensable means of existence attractive to our eyes. Should it claim rights of its own, it is luxury. Let us therefore resist these faults when they are demanding entrance, because, as I have said, it is easier to deny them admittance than to make them depart.” —Seneca
『生活中，快乐与必需品总是掺杂在一起--不是为了让我们去寻求快乐，而是因为这些附带的快乐可以使不可或缺的必需品更加吸引我们。如果单独追求快乐，那就是奢侈行为。因此，当单纯的享乐来敲门时，请拒绝这些诱惑。因为正如我所说的，一开始就拒绝，总比之后让其离开要容易的多。』 ー塞内卡
One practice the Stoics famously abided was welcoming a certain degree of discomfort into their lives.
斯多葛主义者一个著名的做法是，在他们的生活中拥抱一定程度的不舒适。
They’d go without, for a time, certain pleasures — food, drink, sex. They’d immerse themselves in poor weather conditions (and with few clothes to boot). They’d eschew riches (and even praise) so as to not learn to cling to those things. They’d even deliberately subject themselves to ridicule.
在一段时期内，他们拒绝享受快乐（食物、饮料、性）。他们会将自己沉浸于恶劣的天气中（且很少穿衣物）。他们会避开财富（甚至荣耀），以免自己沉迷于这些。他们甚至故意让自己受到嘲笑。
These practices were rather contrary to the Epicurean view of things, which was to ultimately pursue pleasure. The Stoics knew, though, that in welcoming challenge, they were actually far more content and fulfilled than their Epicurean peers.
这些做法与伊壁鸠鲁主义者（Epicurean）对事物的看法相反，后者最终追求终极的快乐。然而，斯多葛主义者知道，在迎接挑战时，自己实际上要比那些享乐主义者更加的充实和满足。
To be Epicurean — one who basically just seeks the things in life that feel the best — you have to ever be experiencing pleasure. You’re basically living off constant dopamine hits.
伊壁鸠鲁主义者主要在生活中寻找令人感觉最好的东西--你必须永远体验快乐。你基本上是靠不断释放的多巴胺来维持生命的。
But, those senses get dulled after a while, and you need ever bigger and more pervasive doses to keep your pleasure sensors activated at the same level. Once you start running on the “hedonic treadmill,” real contentedness becomes frustratingly elusive.
但是，一段时间后，这些快感就会变得迟钝。为了维持这种快乐水平，你需要更强大、更持久的剂量。一旦你开始在「享乐主义跑步机」（hedonic treadmill）上奔跑时，真正的满足感就会变得虚无缥缈。
Let’s show this with a quick little thought exercise. It’s simple: you want to stay cool when it’s hot outside. It’s a natural inclination. So you turn on the AC at home to a chilly 65 degrees while it’s a sizzlingly 95 outside. Ahhh, feels nice, doesn’t it? You get used to that sense of comfort, and even pleasure of staying so cool.
让我们用一个简短的思想实验来揭示这一点。很简单：当室外炎热时，你想保持凉爽。这自然而然，无可厚非。因此你把家中的空调温度调到凉爽的华氏65度，而室外的温度却高达华氏95度。嗯，感觉很舒适，不是吗？你会习惯于这种舒适的感觉，甚至习惯于这种凉爽带来的快感。
But now, to feel comfortable, you also need to feel that cool wherever you go. You need to start your car 10 minutes early so that it cools down enough for you to be comfortable, otherwise you’ll just be miserable. You need your workplace, your favorite restaurant, heck, every establishment you enter, to be that chilled.
但是现在，为了维持这种舒适，无论走到哪里，你都需要那种凉爽感。因此你需要提前10分钟发动汽车，让车内温度降到凉爽的舒适感，否则你就会很痛苦。你需要自己的工作场所，最爱的餐馆，甚至是自己所进入的每一所建筑物，都有足够的冷气。
If, God forbid, the AC goes out, you’re royally screwed. A friend invites you to an outdoor ball game? You’ll go, but you won’t enjoy it because it’ll be too stinkin’ hot. It’s all you’ll be able to focus on.
如果运气不佳，空调坏了，你就彻底完蛋了。朋友邀请你去看户外球赛？你也许会去的，但是你没办法好好欣赏比赛，因为实在太热了。你能感觉到的只有炎热。
Consider the alternate scenario. Yes, you turn on the AC at home, but in the car, you just roll the windows down and let yourself be a little warm if it’s hot outside. Rather than work out in your refrigerator of a basement, you take a ruck outside in order to break a sweat. In some regards, you embrace being hot every now and then so that you can feel content in any situation.
考虑一下另一种场景。是的，你在家中打开空调，但是到了车上，即使室外很热，你只需把车窗摇下来，稍微忍耐一下热度。与其躲在地下室冰窖里健身，不如跑户外去出出汗。你得时不时地拥抱一下炎热天气，这样你才能在任何情况下感到满足。
AC goes out? No biggie, you can adjust. Invited to a ball game in a heat wave? Heck yes! You love baseball, and you’re happy to just be at the game, regardless of the weather. You are a tranquil man who isn’t bothered merely by what the mercury reads on the thermometer.
空调坏了？不要紧，你可以调整一下自己。天热时，被邀请参加一场球赛？当然可以！你喜欢棒球，无论天气如何，你都乐于参加比赛。你是个沉着冷静的人，不会仅仅因为温度计上的水银读数而烦恼。
Isn’t that a better way to live?
这不是更好的生活方式吗？
It’s sort of a silly and shallow example, but the principle holds for just about any pleasure in life. If your enjoyment and comfort relies too much on it, you’ll turn into a fragile, petulant curmudgeon when you don’t have it.
这虽是个简单而浅显的例子，但其中的原则适用于生活中的任何乐趣。如果你太依赖于享受和舒适，当失去时，你就会变成一个脆弱且暴躁的乖戾之人。
Irvine lays out three specific benefits of sometimes welcoming discomfort and intentionally foregoing pleasures (with an example of how a particular practice — periodically abstaining from alcohol — could play out):
欧文用「定期戒酒」这个例子来阐述，「拥抱不舒适」以及「故意放弃快乐」的三个具体的益处：
It hardens us to whatever misfortunes may come in the future. (If your health turns, and the doctor forbids you imbibing alcohol, having practiced regular periods of sobriety will help you to easily get through that period.)
这使我们能够坚强面对未来可能发生的厄运。（如果你的健康状况变糟了，医生禁止你饮酒，那么定期的练习戒酒可以帮助你轻松度过这段时期。）
The idea of those misfortunes won’t cause us anxiety, because we know we can withstand and even be content in just about any scenario. (You can look forward to a birthday party with friends where you know the booze will be flowing; you won’t be downtrodden about not being able to have any fun, because you know you can enjoy things just fine without alcohol.)
未来可能发生的厄运，将不会引起我们的焦虑，因为我们知道在任何情况下，自己都能够坦然承受，甚至于欣然接受。（你可以期待自己与朋友一起参加一个生日派对，你知道宴会上大家都会开怀畅饮；而你却不会因为无法享受到任何乐趣而感到压抑，因为你知道自己可以在没有酒精的情况下，依然享受美好的事物。）
It helps us appreciate the pleasures we do have, when we have them. (If you then receive a clean bill of health, you’ll be far more appreciative of the dram of whiskey you can enjoy with friends.)
这能够帮助我们欣赏自己已有的快乐。（如果你收到一张健康无疫证明书，你会更加珍惜自己与朋友一同享用的这些少量威士忌。）
This is one of the practices most associated with Stoicism, and there are a number of specific things you can do to welcome discomfort into your life and harden your general resolve:
这是与斯多葛主义最密切相关的一种实践，你还可以采取很多具体的措施，来拥抱生活的不舒适，并强化自己的整体决心：
Enroll in The Strenuous Life (embrace the motto of “Do Hard Things”)
参加艰苦的生活。（拥抱座右铭「挑战难事」）
Take cold showers
冷水淋浴。
Hold/try to calm a crying baby while staying completely cool
坚持/试着让哭泣的婴儿安静下来，同时自己保持冷静。
Exercise outside in inclement weather (perhaps without shirt, shoes, etc.)
在恶劣天气下运动（也可以不穿衬衫、鞋子等）。
Keep your house at a higher temp in the summer, and a lower temp in the winter (don’t freeze out your family though; be reasonable!)
让你的房子在夏天温度较高一点，冬天温度较低一点。（不要把你的家人冻僵；理智一些！）
Eat nothing but rice/beans for a week (or a month)
一周或一个月内，只吃米饭/豆类。
Fast from food completely for 24 hours once a month
每月一次24小时的彻底禁食。
Embrace challenging situations in which you aren’t comfortable (travel/vacation with your kids, go to an event you don’t want to attend, make small talk with strangers, volunteer at a soup kitchen)
拥抱那些让你感到不舒服的挑战性情境。（与自己的孩子一起去旅行/度假，去参加一个自己不想参加的活动，与陌生人闲聊，在赈济处做志愿者。)
Do manual labor around your house instead of hiring it out
为自己的房屋做一些体力活，而不是外包出去。
There are innumerable ways to embrace some semblance of discomfort in your life, and it can and will be different for each person. Find yours, and tackle it head-on. As Irvine astutely observes, “The act of forgoing pleasure can itself be pleasant.” Embrace the grind!
在生活中，你可以有无数种方式来拥抱此类的不舒适，且每一个人的方法各不相同。找到你的，然后迎面解决。正如欧文敏锐地观察到的那样，「放弃快乐这种行为本身就是一种愉悦。」拥抱磨练吧！
⑤ Vigorously Pursue Character and Virtue
⑤ 积极追求品格与美德
“Every day I reduce the number of my vices.” —Seneca
『每天我都会减少自己的恶习。』 ー塞内卡
To the Stoics, the best way to live well was to pursue virtue. William Irvine even writes: “What, then, must a person do to have what the Stoics would call a good life? Be virtuous!”
对于斯多葛主义者来说，最佳的生活方式乃是追求「美德」（virtue）。威廉·欧文（William Irvine）甚至写道：「那么，一个人如何才能拥有斯多葛主义者所称的美好生活呢？美德！」
In becoming a better person — a man of great character — we’ll naturally find fulfillment, but also make greater contributions to society as a whole in the process. How might that happen, you ask?
成为一个更好的人，一个品格高尚的人，我们自然会找到满足感，通常在此过程中也会为整个社会做出更大的贡献。那么你会问，如何才能实现呢？
If you’re committed to virtue, won’t you volunteer more? Be more likely to help a stranger in need? Won’t you take on the role of Neighborhood Watch leader or Little League coach? Will you be more likely to say “Yes!” when a favor is asked? These are all things that improve our communities, and are natural byproducts of attaining greater personal virtue and character.
如果你致力于美德，难道不愿意做更多的志愿活动吗？难道不更有可能帮助需要帮助的陌生人？难道不想成为邻里监督组织（Neighborhood Watch）的领导者或者少年棒球联合会（Little League）的教练？当有人请你帮忙时，你难道不更愿意说「好的！」？ 这些都是改善我们社区的事情，是你获得更好的个人美德和品格的副产物。
How does one become more virtuous though? How do you develop your character and exercise it in daily life? Luckily, there are a number of good options (many of which we’ve previously covered in-depth):
但如何才能变得更有美德呢？ 如何才能在日常生活中培养和锻炼自己的品格呢？幸运的是，有许多不错的选择（其中不少我们之前已经深入讨论过了）：
❉ Regularly ask yourself: “What would my best self do in this situation?”
❉ 经常问自己：『在这种情况下，我最好的自己会做些什么？』
Father James Martin brought up this idea in his book The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything and in his interview with Brett on our podcast.
詹姆斯·马丁（James Martin）神父在他的《耶稣会指南》（The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything）中提出了这个想法。
All of us have an ideal version of ourselves in our head. That version eats better, exercises more, is a little more patient with his wife and kids, doesn’t waste time at work, etc. To more consistently act in ways that align with this ideal, simply ask what your best self would do, or how that best self would decide, in any given scenario:
我们所有人在头脑中都有一个理想的自我。这个版本的自我，饮食健康，锻炼更勤，对妻儿更有耐心，在工作中不会浪费时间等等。为了向这个理想版本的自我靠齐，只需要问问自己，在任何给定的场景中，你最好的自己会做些什么或者如何做决定：
Would my best self take two minutes to floss in the morning?
我最好的自己会在早上花两分钟时间，用牙线来清洁牙齿吗？
Would my best self choose a hard-boiled egg to snack on, or a Girl Scout cookie?
我最好的自己会选择一个煮熟的鸡蛋当做点心，还是选择女童子军饼干？
Would my best self call his parents and grandparents just a little more often?
我最好的自己会时常给父母和祖父母打电话吗？
Would my best self watch porn?
我最好的自己会看色情片吗？
Would my best self write more letters to old friends as a way to stay in touch?
我最好的自己会经常给老朋友写信，以保持联系吗？
Would my best self have a little more patience with his kids’ drawn-out bedtime routines?
我最好的自己会对孩子们冗长的就寝时间，保持稍微多一点的耐心吗？
Would my best self yell and flip the bird to the guy who cut him off on the freeway?
我最好的自己是否会咆哮着竖起中指，怒对那个在高速公路上熄火的人。
Would my best self take work time to dink around with his fantasy football team?
我最好的自己会在工作时间，幻想自己在足球比赛中抽射成功吗？
Would my best self read a book on the Kindle app, or play another level of Candy Crush?
我最好的自己会在 Kindle 上阅读一本书，还是玩下一关的《糖果粉碎》游戏？
Would my best self pursue romancing his wife, or spend another conversation-less night watching TV on the couch?
我最好的自我打算与妻子浪漫一下，还是躺在沙发上看电视度度过另一个无言的夜晚？
Would my best self have yet another drink?
我最好的自己会再喝一杯酒吗？
Would my best self attend the far-away funeral of a dear friend’s parent?
我最好的自己会长途跋涉，去参加一个好友的父母的葬礼吗？
Would my best self volunteer to clean up a park on a weekend morning, or would he sleep in?
我最好的自己会在周末早上自愿去打扫公园，还是睡懒觉？
It’s such a simple question to ask, but remarkably powerful. And these aren’t just theoretical examples. Some of these are the very questions I’ve been asking myself since I read Fr. Martin’s book late last year.
这些都是简单却有力度的问题，且不仅仅停留在理论上。去年年底我读了马丁神父的书之后，一直在问自己其中的一些问题。
And while I don’t always follow-through on what I know my best self would do (particularly when it comes to Girl Scout cookies), I’ve seen enormous strides in my being able to make more virtuous decisions on a consistent basis and am slowly getting closer to that ideal.
尽管我并不总是能够坚持贯彻最好的自己（尤其是涉及到女童子军饼干时），但我知道自己能够自始至终，持之以恒的贯彻美德，并且慢慢接近理想的自我。
❉ Follow Benjamin Franklin’s virtue plan.
❉ 遵循本杰明·富兰克林的美德计划。
As a 20-year-old, Franklin set a lofty goal for himself: attain moral perfection. To do so, he developed a 13-week plan to improve himself in 13 areas or virtues. He’d particularly focus on one each week, while also keeping track of his progress with the others as well.
本杰明·富兰克林（Benjamin Franklin）在20岁时，为自己设定了一个崇高的目标：达到道德完善（moral perfection）。 为此，他制定了一个为期13周的计划，意图在13种美德中提升自己。他每周特别专注一种美德，同时跟踪记录其他美德的进展。
While Franklin never did attain perfection, over time he saw his missteps decrease, and had this to say about his program later in his life:
尽管富兰克林从未在道德上臻于至善（perfection），但是随着时间的推移，他看到自己的过失减少了。晚年时，他这样评价自己的这个计划：
“Tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”
「我一直渴望完美，却从来实现过；即使有的，也寥寥无几。然而，相较于自己从未尝试过，我通过这种努力成为了一个更好的、更幸福的人。」
❉ Ask “What good shall I do this day?”
❉ 问『我今天要做什么好事？』
Another of Franklin’s ideas on his own pursuit toward being more virtuous. Every morning he’d ask himself this question, and every evening he’d reflect with “What good have I done today?”
这是富兰克林自己追求更具有美德时的另一种方法。每天早上他都会问自己这个问题，每天晚上他都会反思「我今天做了什么好事？」。
This question will have you focus less on your pie-in-the-sky “I want to change the world” ideas, and more on doing daily kindnesses to and for your fellow humans.
这个问题会让你更少的执拗于乌托邦式的不切实际的想法--比如「我想改变这个世界」，而更多地为自己的同胞做些日常的善事。
Whether it’s writing a letter home, helping an elderly woman with her groceries, or maybe even just giving someone (your wife, a stranger, anyone!) a compliment, sometimes going smaller to change the world accomplishes much more. Read more about this idea here.
无论是写信回家，还是帮助老奶奶拎杂货包，甚至只是赞美下别人（你的妻子、陌生人，任何人！）。有时候从细微处改变这个世界，能够实现更多。
❉ Develop a code of principles.
❉ 制定一套原则法典。
How can you pursue virtue if you aren’t sure of your life’s guiding principles?
如果你不确定自己人生的指导原则（guiding principles），你将如何追求美德呢？
Massimo Pigliucci writes in How to Be a Stoic: “the question of how to live is central. How should we handle life’s challenges and vicissitudes? How should we conduct ourselves in the world and treat others?”
马西莫·皮里乌奇（Massimo Pigliucci）在《如何成为一个斯多葛主义者》（How to Be a Stoic）中写道：「我们应该如何生活？这是个非常重要的问题。我们应该如何应对生活中的挑战和变迁？我们应该如何在这个世界上管理自己以及对待他人？」
You need some sort of guide in order to best answer those questions; the answers aren’t going to come out of thin air.
为了更好地回答这些问题，你需要某些指导才行；答案不会凭空而产生。
The Stoics thought there was one universal Truth which could be discovered by contemplating the laws of Nature.
斯多葛主义者认为，通过思考自然法则（laws of Nature），你能够发现一个普遍真理（universal Truth）。
You may choose a different course of study. Whether from religious texts, philosophical ideas, or some combination thereof arrived at through your own rigorous reading and reflection (à la Winston Churchill), it should be your aim to acquire a defined set of principles and values you’ll adhere to in your daily life.
你可以选择不同的研究课程。无论是来自宗教文本、哲学理念，还是通过自己的严肃阅读和反思达成一些综合。你的目标应该是获得一套定义清晰的原则与价值观，以便在日常生活中遵循。
If you aren’t sure where to start, dig into classic religious texts. From there dive into various schools of philosophy. What resonates in your soul? What are some practices and/or spiritual disciplines your ideal self would commit to? Speaking of disciplines . . .
如果你不确定自己从哪里开始，可以钻研一下经典的宗教文本。从那里深入研究各种哲学流派。有什么能在你的灵魂中产生共鸣？你理想中的自己会践行什么样的实践和/或灵性训练？ 接下来阐述训练。
❉ Regularly practice the spiritual disciplines.
❉ 定期灵性训练。
While called “spiritual” because their original purpose was to bring the practitioner closer to God, these disciplines can be used by anyone in order to develop character and “train the soul.”
虽然被称为「灵性」（spiritual），因为最初的目的乃是让修行者更接近上帝，但是任何人都可以利用这些原则来培养品格以及训练灵魂。
From fasting, to pursuing solitude, to doing service and practicing gratitude, there are a number of disciplines that have guided and strengthened higher-purpose-minded people for thousands of years.
从禁食，到追求独处，到志愿服务，再到实践感恩等；数千年来，有许多这样的原则，引导与磨砺了那些怀有青云之志的人。
Read our series on the topic, and decide which you’d like to take up in daily, weekly, monthly, and annual cycles. You’re guaranteed to come out on the other side more centered, virtuous, and fulfilled.
阅读这个主题的相关书籍和文章，然后决定在每日、每周、每月和每年要采取的行动。当完成这些练习时，你的生活会更加有重心，更具道德感以及成就感。
Pick one of these ideas, stick with it, and see what happens. The only thing holding you back from attaining greater character and virtue is yourself. If you truly and wholeheartedly pursue the task — making it a goal to in fact get veritably drunk on virtue — you’re bound to make strides, and as noted above, you’ll improve your community at the same time.
选择其中一个方法，坚持下去，看看会发生什么。唯一阻碍你获得更好的品格及美德的人，就是你自己。如果你真的全心全意地追寻这项任务--把沉醉于美德当成一个目标--那么你一定会取得长足进步，如上所述，你同时也会改善你所处的社会。
Stoicism is a rich philosophy, but it’s not just for contemplation. Full of ancient truths, it’s got myriad modern applications. Put it into action, and practice the art of living.
斯多葛主义哲学内涵丰富，不仅仅是为了沉思（contemplation）。它亦充满了古老的真理，以及无数的现代应用。请付诸行动，实践生活的艺术（the art of living）。
参考资源：
《美好生活指南》（A Guide to the Good Life），作者 William Irvine (最好的现代指南)。
《如何成为一个斯多葛主义者》（How to Be a Stoic），作者 Massimo Pigliucci。
《每日斯多葛》（The Daily Stoic），作者 Ryan Holiday 。
《沉思录》（Meditations），作者 Marcus Aurelius。
《一封斯多葛主义者的来信》（Letters from a Stoic），作者 Seneca。
《语录》（Discourses） ，作者 Epictetus。
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