Why need we weep over parts of our life? the whole of it calls for tears: new miseries assail us before we have freed ourselves from the old ones. You, therefore, who allow them to trouble you to an unreasonable extent ought especially to restrain yourselves, and to muster all the powers of the human breast to combat your fears and your pains. Moreover, what forgetfulness of your own position and that of mankind is this? You were born a mortal, and you have given birth to mortals: yourself a weak and fragile body, liable to all diseases, can you have hoped to produce anything strong and lasting from such unstable materials? Your son has died: in other words he has reached that goal towards which those whom you regard as more fortunate than your offspring are still hastening. this is the point towards which move at different rates all the crowds which are squabbling in the law courts, sitting in the theaters, praying in the temples. Those whom you love and those whom you despise will both be made equal in the same ashes. 为什么我们需要为生活的某些部分哭泣？生活作为整体都需要眼泪：在我们摆脱旧苦难之前，新的苦难袭击我们。因此，允许它们无理地带来麻烦的你，尤其应该克制自己，并用人类体内所有的力量来对抗你的恐惧和痛苦。而且，这算什么不负责任？何种的不负责任? 你生来是凡人，你也生了凡人：你自己是一个脆而弱的身体，容易患上各种疾病，你能指望用这种不稳定的材料制造出坚固耐用的东西吗？你的儿子已经死了：换句话说，他已经达到了那些你认为比你的后代更幸运的人仍在加速实现的目标。在法庭上争吵、坐在剧院里观赏、在寺庙里祈祷的所有人群都以不同的速度朝着这一点移动。你所爱的人，你所鄙视的人，都将在同一堆灰烬中平起平坐。
为什么我们需要为生活的某些部分哭泣？生活作为整体都需要眼泪：在我们摆脱旧苦难之前，新的苦难袭击我们。因此，允许它们无理地带来麻烦的你，尤其应该克制自己，并用人类体内所有的力量来对抗你的恐惧和痛苦。而且，这算什么不负责任？何种的不负责任? 你生来是凡人，你也生了凡人：你自己是一个脆而弱的身体，容易患上各种疾病，你能指望用这种不稳定的材料制造出坚固耐用的东西吗？你的儿子已经死了：换句话说，他已经达到了那些你认为比你的后代更幸运的人仍在加速实现的目标。在法庭上争吵、坐在剧院里观赏、在寺庙里祈祷的所有人群都以不同的速度朝着这一点移动。你所爱的人，你所鄙视的人，都将在同一堆灰烬中平起平坐。