infinite romantic partners, fame, status, wealth, and luxury.

無限的浪漫伴侶、名聲、地位、財富和奢華。

They imagine a life of infinite power—being able to fulfill any desire they wish.

他們想象著一種擁有無限力量的生活--能夠滿足他們的任何願望。

But if power was all you needed to be happy, that means every wealthy business owner, a-list

但是，如果權力是你需要快樂的全部，這意味著每一個富有的企業主，A-list

celebrity, and gangster would be happy.

名人，和黑幫分子都會很高興。

But that's clearly not the case.

但情況顯然不是這樣的。

No examples are needed.

不需要實例。

In any one of these categories, you can find someone whose life is full of stress, pain,

在這些類別中的任何一個，你都可以找到一個生活中充滿壓力、痛苦的人。

and sorrow.

和悲哀。

Worldly power is not the path to happiness.

世俗的權力不是通往幸福的道路。

So what is?

那麼是什麼呢？

Power over yourself.

對自己的權力。

According to the Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, the key to happiness lies in mastering

根據古希臘哲學家伊壁鳩魯的說法，幸福的關鍵在於掌握

your own desires.

你自己的願望。

When you desire the right things, happiness is the natural byproduct.

當你渴望正確的事情時，幸福是自然的副產品。

So what are the right things?

那麼，什麼是正確的事情呢？

Epicurus divides our desires into three categories: necessary desires, luxury desires, and vain

伊壁鳩魯將我們的慾望分為三類：必要的慾望、奢侈的慾望和虛榮的慾望。

desires.

慾望。

The first category is necessary desires.

第一類是必要的慾望。

These are the desires we need to satisfy in order to survive and thrive, such as food,

這些是我們為了生存和發展而需要滿足的慾望，如食物。

water, and clothing.

水，和衣服。

The pleasure that arises from the satisfaction of these desires is long-lasting.

從這些慾望的滿足中產生的快樂是持久的。

Just think about how good it feels to no longer be hungry, thirsty, or cold.

想想看，不再飢餓、口渴或寒冷的感覺有多好。

There's a calm, lasting satisfaction that comes with gratifying necessary desires.

在滿足了必要的慾望之後，會有一種平靜、持久的滿足感。

The second category is luxury desires.

第二類是奢侈的慾望。

These desires are natural to have and feel good when they're satisfied, such as eating

這些慾望是自然產生的，並且在滿足時感覺很好，比如說吃東西

fine food and buying a really nice car, but they're ultimately unnecessary—according

享用美食和購買一輛真正的好車，但它們最終是不必要的--根據

to Epicurus—and the pleasure they bring is short-lived.

對伊壁鳩魯來說，它們帶來的快樂是短暫的。

Not only that, but they can often bring more pain than the pleasure they provide.

不僅如此，它們帶來的痛苦往往比它們提供的快樂更多。

For example, eating too much junk food can provide short-term pleasures but produce bad

例如，吃太多的垃圾食品可以提供短期的快樂，但會產生不好的影響。

long-term health effects that ruin your baseline level of happiness.

長期的健康影響，破壞了你的幸福基線水準。

The final category is vain desires.

最後一類是虛妄的慾望。

These desires are boundless and can never be truly satisfied, such as fame, power, wealth

這些慾望是無止境的，永遠無法得到真正的滿足，比如名利、權力、財富

and status.

和地位。

These desires come with a lot of stress, pain, and misery.

這些慾望伴隨著大量的壓力、痛苦和苦難。

As any YouTuber can tell you, if what you desire are views, that desire will never be

正如任何一個優酷網人可以告訴你的那樣，如果你渴望的是瀏覽量，這個願望永遠不會實現。

satisfied.

滿意。

When you begin creating content, you think that a thousand views per video will make

當你開始創建內容時，你認為每個視頻有一千次的瀏覽量會使

you happy.

你很高興。

But when you reach that and it doesn't, you think 10 000 views will make you happy.

但是，當你達到了這一點，卻沒有達到，你認為一萬個觀點會讓你高興。

Then 50 000, then 100 000, then 1 000 000 and so on.

然後是50 000，然後是100 000，然後是1 000 000，以此類推。

At some point, you realize that desire can never be truly satisfied.

在某種程度上，你意識到慾望永遠無法得到真正的滿足。

According to Epicurus, the person who desires only what is necessary will live the happiest

根據伊壁鳩魯的觀點，只追求必要的東西的人將活得最快樂。

life.

生活。

The person who wants only what is necessary is like the person who just wants a cup of

只想要必要的東西的人，就像只想要一杯咖啡的人一樣。

water to satisfy their thirst.

水來滿足他們的渴求。

Their desire is easy to satisfy and brings long-lasting satisfaction.

他們的慾望很容易滿足，並帶來長久的滿足。

The person who wants luxury is like the person who also wants flavouring in their water so

追求奢華的人就像希望在水中加入調味品的人，所以

that it'll taste good.

它的味道會很好。

It takes more work to satisfy this desire, and the pleasure it brings is short-lived.

要滿足這種慾望需要更多的工作，而它帶來的快樂是短暫的。

Also, this person becomes more fragile, because they're less likely to be able to drink

另外，這個人變得更加脆弱，因為他們不太可能喝得下酒。

just plain water now, and having plain water, as opposed to flavoured water, will now come

現在只有白水了，而且現在有白水，而不是有味道的水，就可以了。

with a certain amount of pain.

帶著一定的痛苦。

But the person who has vain desires is like the person who has a hole in their cup.

但有虛榮心的人就像杯中有洞的人。

No matter how much water is poured inside it, it will never fill up.

無論在裡面倒入多少水，它都不會被填滿。

Their desire will never be satisfied.

他們的慾望永遠不會得到滿足。

So how did this philosophy play out in Epicurus' own life?

那麼，這種哲學在伊壁鳩魯自己的生活中是如何發揮的呢？

Epicurus lived ascetically, surviving mostly on bread and water.

伊壁鳩魯的生活是苦行僧式的，主要靠麵包和水生存。

He also started one of the greatest schools in Athens called “The Garden”, where he

他還創辦了雅典最偉大的學校之一，名為 "花園"，他在那裡

taught his own doctrines.

教導他自己的學說。

People travelled from all over the world to attend and live in his school, and after he

人們從世界各地趕來參加他的學校並在那裡生活，而在他

passed away, his students were so moved and transformed by his life that they continued

他的學生們被他的生活所感動和改變，他們繼續

to run the school and teach his doctrines.

來管理學校並教授他的教義。

According to Diogenes Laertes, an Ancient Greek biographer, Epicurus was so kind that

根據古希臘傳記作家第歐根尼-拉埃特的說法，伊壁鳩魯是如此善良，以至於

he had a friend circle that was larger than some cities, and when he passed, he left things

他的朋友圈比一些城市還大，當他去世時，他留下了一些東西。

behind in his will for the children of his friends.

在他的遺囑中為他的朋友的孩子們留下了。

He was so productive that he produced more works than nearly any other philosopher at

他是如此高產，以至於他的作品幾乎比任何其他哲學家的作品都多。

the time.

的時候。

When we take all these facts into account, we get a clearer image of the type of man

當我們考慮到所有這些事實時，我們就會對這種人有一個更清晰的印象

Epicurus was.

伊壁鳩魯是。

He was kind, generous, charismatic, wise, caring, productive, and influential.

他善良、慷慨、有魅力、有智慧、有愛心、有成果、有影響力。

How many teachers can you imagine living that type of life or having that kind of influence

你能想象有多少教師過著那樣的生活，或有那樣的影響？

on their students?

對他們的學生？

And in his final moments, he wrote a letter to his friend Idomeneus saying that, essentially,

而在他最後的時刻，他給他的朋友伊多米烏斯寫了一封信，基本上是這樣說的。

even though he was suffering and about to die, he still felt joy in his heart over the

儘管他正在受苦，即將死去，但他仍然為自己的行為感到高興。

philosophical conversations they had.

他們進行的哲學對話。

He then asked his friend to keep an eye on his other friend's children.

然後他要求他的朋友留意他另一個朋友的孩子。

Even in the face of suffering and death, he remained grateful, joyous, and caring of others.

即使面對痛苦和死亡，他仍然心存感激，充滿喜悅，並關心他人。

Many of us spend our lives chasing power.

我們中的許多人一生都在追逐權力。

We want power over the world and others.

我們希望對世界和他人擁有權力。

Our desires are often unnatural and unnecessary.

我們的慾望往往是不自然的和不必要的。

We want more and more things that only leave us feeling empty and unsatisfied—stressed

我們想要越來越多的東西，但這些東西只會讓我們感到空虛和不滿足--壓力。

and sad.

和悲傷。

But Epicurus showed us that by gaining power over ourselves, by learning to control our

但伊壁鳩魯告訴我們，通過獲得對自己的權力，通過學習控制我們的

desires, by desiring only what was necessary, we could live a life of happiness and impact.

慾望，通過只渴望必要的東西，我們可以過上幸福和有影響的生活。

Just take a look at his life.

看看他的生活就知道了。

He left behind an influential legacy that is still shaping history today.

他留下了具有影響力的遺產，至今仍在影響著歷史。

His life influenced me, and maybe now, it's influencing you too.

他的生活影響了我，也許現在，它也在影響你。

But it's up to you to decide: what will

但這取決於你的決定：什麼將是

you desire?

你的願望是什麼？