Nothing, it seems, is harder for the busy person than to slow down.

對於忙碌的人來說，似乎沒有什麼比慢下來更難了。

Seneca knew this.

塞內加知道這一點。

It was as true in Rome as it is today.

這在羅馬和今天一樣真實。

And that's why he wrote with such pity about the conquerors, for whom there was never enough, about the lawyers, very well into old age, still exhausting themselves in court, arguing for clients they didn't care about, trying to win a little more money or acclaim, none of which was going to follow them into their graves, which were closer than they would have liked to think.

這就是為什麼他在書中如此憐憫征服者，因為對他們來說，永遠沒有足夠的東西；憐憫律師，因為他們年事已高，仍然在法庭上疲於奔命，為他們並不關心的客戶辯護，試圖贏得更多的金錢或讚譽，而這些都不會跟隨他們進入墳墓，他們的墳墓比他們想象的更近。

Seneca must have judged himself too for his inability to walk away earlier, when it became clear what life in Nero's service was really going to be like.

塞內加肯定也對自己進行了自我批評，因為他沒能早點離開，當他清楚地知道為尼祿效力的生活到底會是什麼樣子的時候。

Yet here we all are, equally incapable of slowing down, of stepping back, or reflecting on what is important, finding balance, of using stillness to our advantage.

然而，我們都在這裡，同樣無法放慢腳步，無法退後一步，無法反思什麼是重要的，無法找到平衡，無法利用靜止為我們帶來優勢。

At the end of his career, after he'd been pushed out of power, the French president Charles de Gaulle was asked how he spent his days.

在法國總統戴高樂被趕下臺後，在他職業生涯的末期，有人問他是如何度過每一天的。

Ask the cat, he replied.

他回答說："問貓去吧。

We play solitaire and take walks together.

我們一起玩紙牌遊戲，一起散步。

It isn't easy for a man to force himself into a discipline of idleness, but it is essential.

一個人要強迫自己遵守閒暇的紀律並不容易，但這卻是必不可少的。

Life is not work, he said.

他說，生活不是工作。

To work without stopping sends a man mad.

不停地工作會讓人發瘋。

Remember that.

記住這一點。

And to want to do so is a bad sign.

想這樣做是一個不好的徵兆。

Those of your colleagues who could not stop working were by no means the best.

你的那些無法停止工作的同事絕不是最好的。

Yes, Marx really said we ought to wear ourselves down doing what we love, but he didn't mean that literally, not fully.

是的，馬克思確實說過，我們應該在做自己喜歡的事情時讓自己疲憊不堪，但他的意思並不完全是這樣。

He meant that the time and energy we allocate to a vocation every day should be something we love, and something we give our all to in those hours.

他的意思是，我們每天分配給天職的時間和精力應該是我們所熱愛的，是我們在這些時間裡全力以赴的。

But to do more than that, to sacrifice yourself on the altar of work, that contradicts the essential stoic virtue of moderation.

但如果做得更多，在工作的祭壇上犧牲自己，那就違背了 "節制 "這一基本的斯多葛美德。

We have to know how to do nothing.

我們必須知道如何做到無為而治。

We have to know when it's time to take a break.

我們必須知道什麼時候該休息。

We have to slow down.

我們必須慢下來。

We have to seek stillness.

我們必須尋求靜止。

And those who cannot are not the best, because they have no tranquility, no perspective, and no self-control.

而不能做到這一點的人並不是最優秀的，因為他們沒有寧靜，沒有遠見，沒有自制力。