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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius · The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

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Introduction. Marcus Arnius Verus was born in Rome in eight e one hundred and
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twenty one and assumed the name of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, by which he is
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known to history, on his adoption by the Emperor to Aurelius Antoninus. He
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succeeded to the imperial throne in one hundred and sixty one and ruled till his
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death in one hundred eighty. His reign, though marked by justice and moderation
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at home, was troubled by constant warfare on the frontiers of the Empire,
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and Aurelius spent much of his later years in the uncongenial task of commanding armies
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that no longer proved irresistible against the barbarian hordes. M Aurelius was educated by
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the orator Fronto, but turned aside from rhetoric to study of the Stoic philosophy,
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of which he was the last distinguished representative. The Meditations, which he
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wrote in Greek, are among the most noteworthy expressions of this system, and
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exhibited favorably on its practical side. His own precepts he carried out with singular
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consistency, and both in his post public and his private life, he was
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in the highest degree conscientious. He and his predecessor are noted as the only
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Roman emperors who can be said to have ruled with a single eye to the
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welfare of their subjects. During his reign, Rome was visited by a severe
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pestilence, and this, with reverses suffered by his armies, threw the populace
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into a panic and led them to demand the sacrifice of the Christians, whom
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they regarded as having brought down the anger of the gods. Aurelius seems to
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have shared the panic, and his record it's stained by his sanction of the
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cruel persecution. This incident, in the career of the last and one of
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the loftiest of the pagan moralists, may be regarded as symbolic of the dying
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effort of Heathenism to check the advancing tide of Christianity. The meditations picture with
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faithfulness the mind and character of this noblest of the emperors. Simple in style
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and sincere in tone, they record for all time the height reached by pagan
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aspirations in its effort to solve the problem of conduct, and the essential agreement
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of his practice with his teaching proved that even in a palace, life may
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be led will One from my grandfather Verus, I learned good morals and the
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government of my temper. Two from the reputation and remembrance of my father,
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modesty and a manly character. Three from my mother, piety and beneficence,
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and abstinence not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts. And
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further simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the
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rich. Four from my great grandfather, not to have frequented public schools,
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and to have had good teachers at home, and to know that on such
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things a man should spend deliberally. Five form my governor, to be neither
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of the Green nor of the Blue party at the games in the circus,
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nor a partisan, either of the Parmularius or the Scutarius at the gladiator's fights.
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From him, too, I learned in endurance of labor and to want
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little, and to work with my own hands, and not to meddle with
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other people's affairs, and not to be ready to listen to slander. Six
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from Dignatus, not to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give
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credit to what was said by miracle workers and jugglers about incantations and the driving
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away of demons and such things, and not to breed quails for fighting,
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nor to give myself up passionately to such things, and to endure freedom of
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speech, and to have become intimate with philosophy, and to have been a
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hearer first of Bacchius than of Tandasus and Marcianus, and to have written dialogs
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in my youth, and to have desired a plank bed and skin, and
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whatever else of the kind belongs to the Grecian discipline. From Rusticus I received
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the impression that my character required improvement and discipline, And from him I learned
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not to be led astray to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters,
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nor to delivering little horritory orations, nor to showing myself off as a
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man who practices much discipline or does benevolent acts in order to make a display,
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and to abstain from rhetoric and poetry and fine writing, and not to
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walk about in the house in my outdoor dress, nor to do other things
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of the kind, and to write my letters with simplicity, like the letter
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which Rusticus wrote from sinuisa to my mother, and with respect to those who
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have offended me by words or done me wrong, to be easily disposed,
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to be pacified and reconciled as soon as they have shown a readiness to be
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reconciled, and to read carefully, and not to be satisfied with the superficial
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understanding of a book, nor hastily to give my assent to those who talk
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over much. And I am indebted to him for being acquainted with the discourses
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of Epictetus, which he communicated to me out of his own collection. Eight
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from Apollonius I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness of purpose, and to
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look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason,
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and to be always the same in sharp pains, on the occasion of the
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loss of a child, and in long illness, And to see clearly in
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a living example that the same man can be both most resolute and yielding and
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not peevish in giving his instruction. And to have had before my eyes a
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man who clearly considered his experience and his skill in expounding philosophical principles as the
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smallest of his merits. And from him I learned how to receive from friends
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what are esteemed favors, without being either humbled by them or letting them pass
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unnoticed. From Sextus, a benevolent disposition and the example of a family governed
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in a fatherly manner, and the idea of living conformably to nature and gravity
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without affectation, and to look carefully after the interests of friends, and to
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tolerate ignorant persons and those who form opinions without consideration. He had the power
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of readily accommodating himself to all, so that intercourse with him was more agreeable
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than any flattery. And at the same time he was most highly venerated by
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those who associated with him. And he had the faculty both of discovering and
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ordering in an intelligent and methodical way, the principles necessary for life. And
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he never showed anger or any other passion, but was entirely free from passion,
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and also most affectionate. And he could express approbation without noisy display.
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And he possessed much knowledge without ostentation. Ten From Alexander their Grammarian to refrain
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from fault finding and not in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any
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barbarous or solecistic or strange sounding expression, but dexterously to introduce the very expression
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which ought to have been used, and in the way of answer or giving
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confirmation, or joining in an inquiry about the thing itself, not about the
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word, or by some other fit suggestion. Eleven from Fronto the First,
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I learned to observe what envy and duplicity and hypocrisy are in a tyrant,
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and that generally those among us who are called patricians are rather tofficient in paternal
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affection. Twelve from Alexander the Platonic. Not frequently, nor without necessity,
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to say to any one, or to write in a letter, that I
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have no leisure, nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties required by our
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relation to those with whom we live by alleging urgent occupations. Thirteen from Catullus.
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Not to be indifferent when a friend finds fault, even if he should
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find fault without reason, but to try to restore him to his usual disposition,
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and to be ready to speak well of teachers, as it is reported
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of Demetrius an Athenodotus. And to love my children truly. Fourteen from my
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brother severus to love my kin and to love truth, and to love justice.
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And through him I learned to know Thracia, Helvidius Cato Dion Brutus,
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And from him I received the idea of a polity in which there is the
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same law for all, a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal
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freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of
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all the freedom of the governed. I learned from him also consistency and undeviating
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steadiness in my regard for philosophy, and a disposition to do good and to
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give to others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and to believe that
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I am loved by my friends. And in him I observed no concealment of
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his opinions with respect to those whom he condemned, and that his friends had
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no need to conjecture what he wished or did not wish, but it was
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quite plain. Fifteen. From Maximus I learned self government and not to be
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let aside by anything, and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as an
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illness and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and
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to do what was set before me without complaining. I observed that everybody believed
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that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that he did,
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he never had any bad intention, And he never showed amazing and surprise,
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and was never in a hurry, and never put off doing a thing,
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nor was perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise his vexation,
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nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate or suspicious.
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He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive,
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and was free from all falsehood. And he presented the appearance of a man
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who could not be diverted from right, rather than of a man who had
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been improved. I observed too that no man could ever think that he was
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despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better man. He
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had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way. Sixteen. In
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my father I observed mildness of temper and unchangeable resolution in the things which he
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had determined after due deliberation, and no vainglory in those things which men call
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honors, and a love of labor and perseverance, and a readiness to listen
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to those who had anything to propose for the common weal, an undeviating firmness
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in giving to every man according to his deserts, and a knowledge derived from
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experience of the occasions for vigorous action and for remission. And I observed that
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he had overcome all passion for joys, and he considered himself no more than
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any other citizen. And he released his friends from all obligation to sup with
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him or to attend him of a necessity when he went abroad, And those
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who failed to accompany him by reason of any urgent circumstances always found him the
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same. I observed too, his habit of careful inquiry in all matters of
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deliberation, and his persistency, and that he never stopped his investigation through being
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satisfied with appearances which first present themselves, And that his disposition was to keep
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his friends, and not to be soon tired of them, nor yet to
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be extravagant in his affection, and to be satisfied on all occasions and cheerful,
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and to foresee things a long way off, and to provide for the
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smallest without display, and to check immediately popular applause, and flattery, and
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to be ever watchful over the things which were necessary for the administration of the
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empire, and to be a good manager of the expenditure, and patiently to
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endure the blame which he got for such conduct. And he was neither superstitious
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with respect to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts or by
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trying to please them, or by flattering the populace. But he showed sobriety
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in all things, and firmness, and never any mean thoughts or action,
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nor love of novelty. And the things which conduce in any way to the
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commodity of life, and of which fortune gives an abundant supply, he used
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without arrogance and without excusing himself, so that when he had them, he
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enjoyed them without affectation, and when he had them not, he did not
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want them. No one could ever say of him that he was either a
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sophist or a home bred flippant slave or pedant. But every one acknowledged him
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to be a man ripe, perfect above flattery, able to manage his own
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and other men's affairs. Besides this, he honored those who were true,
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true philosophers, and he did not reproach those who pretended to be philosophers,
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nor yet was he easily led by them. He was also easy in conversation,
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and he made himself agreeable without any offensive affectation. He took a reasonable
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care of his body's health, not as one who was greatly attached to life,
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nor out of regard to personal appearance, nor yet in a careless way,
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but though so that through his own attention he very seldom stood in need
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of the physician's art, or of medicine, or external applications. He was
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most ready to give way without envy, to those who possessed any particular faculty,
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such as that of eloquence, or knowledge of the law, or of
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morals, or of anything else, And he gave them his help that each
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might enjoy reputation according to his deserts. And he always acted conformably to the
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institutions of his country, without showing any affectation of doing so. Further,
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he was not fond of change nor unsteady, but he loved to stay in
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the same places and to employ himself about the same things. And after his
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paroxysms of headache, he came immediately fresh and vigorous to his usual occupations.
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His secrets were not many, but very few and very rare, and these
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only about public matters. And he showed prudence and economy in exhibition of the
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public spectacles, and the construction of public buildings, his donations to the people,
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and in such things. For he was a man who looked to what
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ought to be done, not to the reputation which is got by a man's
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act. He did not take the bath at unseasonable hours. He was not
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fond of building houses, nor curious about what he eat, nor about the
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texture and color of his clothes, nor about the beauty of his slaves.
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His dress came from Laurum, his villa on the coast, and from Lnuvium.
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Generally. We know how he behaved to the toll collector at Tusculum,
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who asked his pardon, And such was all his behavior. There was in
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him nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor violent, nor as one may say,
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anything carried to the sweating point. But exams I am at all things
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severally, as if he had abundance of time, and without confusion, in
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an orderly way, vigorously and consistently, And that might be applied to him
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which is recorded of Socrates, that he was able both to abstain from and
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to enjoy those things which many are too weak to abstain from and cannot enjoy
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without excess. But to be strong enough both to bear the one and to
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be sober in the other is the mark of a man who has a perfect
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and invincible soul, such as he showed in the illness of Maximus seventeen.
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To the gods, I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents,
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a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends,
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nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods that I was
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not hurried into any offense against any of them, though I had a disposition
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which, if opportunity had offered, might have led me to do something of
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this kind. But through their favor, there never was such a concurrence of
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circumstances as put me too the trial. Further, I am thankful to the
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gods that I was not longer brought up with my grandfather's concubine, and that
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I preserved the flower of my youth, and that I did not make proof
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of my virility before the proper season, but even deferred the time that I
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was subjected to a ruler and a father who was able to take away all
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pride for me, and to bring me to the knowledge that it is possible
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for a man to live in a palace without wanting either guards or embroidered dresses,
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or torches and statues and such like show. But it is in such
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a man's power to bring himself very near to the fashion of a private person,
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without being, for this reason either meaner in thought or more remiss inaction
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with respect to the things which must be done for the public interest, in
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a manner that befits a ruler. I thank the Gods for giving me such
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a brother, who was able, by his moral character to rouse me to
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vigilance over myself, and who at the same time pleased me by his respect
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and affection, that my children have not been stupid nor deformed in body.
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That I did not make more proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, and the other
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studies in which I should perhaps have been completely engaged if I had seen that
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I was making progress in them, that I made haste to place those who
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brought me up in the station of honor which they seemed to desire, without
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putting them off with hope of my doing it some time after, because they
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were then still young. That I knew, Apollonius Rusticus Maximus, that I
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received clear and frequent impressions about living according to nature and what kind of a
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life that is, So that so far as depended on the gods and their
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gifts and help and inspirations, nothing hindered me from forthwith living according to nature,
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though I still fall short of it through my own fault and through not
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observing the admonitions of the gods. And I may almost say their direct instructions,
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that my body is held out so long in such a kind of life,
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that I never touched either Benedicta or Theodotus, and that after having fallen
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into amatory passions, I was cured. And though I was often out of
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humor with Rusticus, I never did anything of which I had occasioned to repent.
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That though it was my mother's fate to die young, she spent the
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last years of her life with me. That whenever I wished to help any
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man in his need, or on any other occasion, I was never told
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that I had not the means of doing it, and that to myself the
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same necessity never happened to receive anything from another. That I have such a
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wife, so obedient and so affectionate, and so simple, that I had
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abundance of good masters for my children, And that remedies have been shown to
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me by dreams, both others and against blood spitting and giddiness. And that
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when I had an inclination to philosophy, I did not fall into the hands
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of any sophist, And that I did not waste my time on writers of
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histories, or in the resolution of syllogisms, or occupy myself about the investigation
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of appearances in the heavens. For all these things require the help of the
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gods and fortune. Among the kidie at the granua, one begin the morning
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by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy body, the ungrateful,
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arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them
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by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I,
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who have seen the nature of the good that is beautiful, and of the
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bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong,
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that it is akin to me not only of the same blood or seed,
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but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity.
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I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can
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fix on me what is ugly. Nor can I be angry with my kinsmen,
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nor hate him, For we are made for co operation, like feet,
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like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower
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teeth. To act against one another, then is contrary to nature. And
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it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away two.
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Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and break breath,
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and the ruling part throw away thy books. No longer distract thyself.
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It is not allowed. But as if thou wist now dying, despise the
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flesh. It is blood and bones, and a network, a conjecture of
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nerves, veins and arteries. See the breath. Also, what kind of
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a thing? It is air, and not always the same, but every
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moment sent out and again sucked in the third then is the ruling part.
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Consider thus thou art an old man. No longer let this be a slave,
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no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements.
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No longer be either dissatisfied with thy present lot or shrink from the future.
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Three, All that is from the gods is full of providence. That which
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is from fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with
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the things which are ordered by providence. From thence all things flow and theirs
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Besides necessity, and that which is for the advantage of the whole universe,
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of which thou art apart, but that is good for every part of nature
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which the nature of the whole brings, and what serves to maintain this nature.
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Now the universe is preserved, as by the changes of the elements,
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so by the changes of things compounded of the elements. Let these principles be
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enough for thee Let them always be fixed opinions, but cast away the thirst
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after books, that thou mayst not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly,
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and from thy heart thankful to the gods. Four. Remember how long thou
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hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity
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from the gods, and yet dost not use it. Thou must now at
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last perceive of what universe thou art apart, and of what administrator of the
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universe. Thy existence is in a flux, and that a limit of time
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is fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing away the
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clouds from thy mind, it will go, and thou wilt go, and
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it will never return. Five. Every moment, think steadily, as a
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Roman and a man, to do what thou hast in hand, with perfect
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and simple dignity and feeling of affection and freedom and justice, and to give
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thy self relief from all other thoughts. And thou wilt give thy self relief
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if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last,
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laying aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all
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hypocrisy and self love and discontent with the portion which has been given to thee.
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Thou seest how few the things are, though which if a man lays
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hold of, he is able to live a life which flows in quiet and
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is like the existence of the gods. For the gods and their part will
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require nothing more from him who observes these things. Six. Do wrong to
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thyself, do wrong to thyself my soul, but thou wilt no longer have
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the opportunity of honoring thyself. Every man's life is sufficient, but thine is
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nearly finished. Though thy soul reverence is not its solace self, but places
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thy felicity in the souls of others. Seven do the things external which fall
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upon THEE distract thee? Give thyself time to learn something new and good,
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and cease to be world about. But then thou must also avoid being carried
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about the other way. For those too are triflers, who have wearied themselves
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in life by their activity, and yet have no object to which to direct
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every movement and, in a word, all their thoughts. Eight. Through
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not observing what is in the mind of another man has seldom been seen to
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be unhappy. But those who do not observe the movements of their own minds
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must of necessity be unhappy. Nine this thou must always bear in mind,
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what is the nature of the whole, and what is my nature? And
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how this is related to that? And what kind of a part it is
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of what kind of a whole? And that there is no one who hinders
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THEE from always doing and saying the things which are according to the nature of
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which thou art a part. Ten. Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad
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acts such a comparison, as one would make in accordance with the common notions
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of mankind, says, like a true philosopher, that the offenses which are
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committed through desire are more blameable than those which are committed through anger. For
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he who is excited by anger seems to turn away from reason with a certain
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pain and unconscious contraction. But he who offends through desire, being overpowered by
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pleasure, seems to be in a manner more intemperate and more womanish in his
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offenses. Rightly, then, and in a way worthy of philosophy, he
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said that the offense which is committed with pleasure is more blameable than that which
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is committed with pain. And on the whole, the one is more like
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a person who has been first wronged, and through pain is compelled to be
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angry, But the other is moved by his own impulse to do wrong,
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being carried toward doing something by desire. Eleven. Since it is possible that
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thou mayst depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.
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But to go away from among men, if there are gods, is
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not a thing to be afraid of. For the gods will not involve thee
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in evil. But if indeed they do not exist, or if they have
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no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to live in a
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universe devoid of gods or devoid of providence. But in truth, they do
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exist, and they do not care for human things. And they have put
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all the means in man's power to enable him not to fall into real evils.
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And as to the rest, if there was anything evil, they would
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have provided for this, also, that it should be altogether in a man's
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power not to fall into it. Now, that which does not make a
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man worse, how can it make a man's life worse? But neither through
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ignorance nor having the knowledge but not the power to guard against or correct these
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things. It is possible that the nature of the universe has overlooked them.
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Nor is it possible that has made so great a mistake, either through want
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of power or want of skill, that good and evil should happen indiscriminately to
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the good and the bad. But death, certainly, and life, honor
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and dishonor pain and pleasure, all these things equally happen to good men and
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bad being things which make us neither better nor worse. Therefore they are neither
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good nor evil. Twelve, How quickly all these things disappear in the universe,
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the bodies themselves, but in time the remembrance of them. What is
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the nature of all sensible things, and particularly those which attract with the bit
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of pleasure, or terrify by pain, or are noised about by vapory fame?
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How worthless and contemptible, and sordid, and perishable and dead they are.
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All this it is the part of the intellectual faculty to observe. To
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observe too, who these are, whose opinions and voices give reputation, What
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death is, and the fact that if a man looks at it in himself,
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and by the abstractive power reflection resolves into their parts all the things which
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present themselves to the imagination in it, he will then consider it to be
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nothing else than an operation of nature. And if anyone is afraid of an
26:10
operation of nature, he is a child. This, however, is not
26:14
only an operation of nature, but it is also a thing which conduces to
26:18
the purposes of nature. To observe too, how man comes near to the
26:22
deity, and by what part of him, and when this part of man
26:26
is so disposed. Thirteen. Nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses
26:33
everything in a round and pries into things beneath the earth, as the poet
26:37
says, and seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbors,
26:41
without perceiving that. It is sufficient to attend to the demon within him and
26:45
to reverence it sincerely. And reverence of the demon consists in keeping it pure
26:51
from passion and thoughtlessness and dissatisfaction with what comes from gods and men. For
26:56
the things from gods merit veneration for their excellence, and the things for men
27:02
should be dear to us by reason of kinship, and sometimes even in a
27:06
manner, they move our pity by reason of men's ignorance of good and bad,
27:11
this defect being not less than that which deprives us of the power of
27:15
distinguishing things that are white and black. Fourteen. Though thou shouldst be going
27:21
to live three thousand years and as many times ten thousand years, still remember
27:26
that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor
27:30
lives any other than this which he now loses. The longest and shortest are
27:34
thus brought to the same. For the present is the same to all,
27:38
though that which perishes is not the same. And so that which is lost
27:42
appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose either the past
27:47
or the future. For what a man has not, how can anyone take
27:51
this from him? These two things, than thou must bear in mind.
27:55
The one that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round in
27:59
a circle, and that it makes no difference whether a man shall see the
28:02
same things during a hundred years or two hundred or an infinite time. And
28:07
the second that the longest liver, and he who will die soonest, lose
28:11
just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man
28:15
can be deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which
28:19
he has, and that a man cannot lose a thing if he has it
28:22
not. Fifteen, Remember that all is opinion, for what was said by
28:29
the cynic monomous is manifest and manifest. Two is the use of what was
28:33
said, if a man receives what may be got out of it, as
28:37
far as it is true. Sixteen. The soul of man does violence to
28:41
itself, first of all, when it becomes as absess and, as it
28:45
were, a tumor on the universe, so far as it can for to
28:48
be vexed at anything which happens is a separation of ourselves from nature, in
28:53
some part of which the natures of all other things are contained. In the
28:57
next place, the soul does violence to itself when it turns away from any
29:02
man, or even moves towards him with the intention of injuring, such as
29:06
are the souls of those who are angry. In the third place, the
29:10
soul does violence to itself when it is overpowered by pleasure or by pain.
29:15
Fourthly, when it plays a part and does or says anything insincerely and untruly.
29:22
Fifthly, when it allows any act of its own and any movement to
29:25
be without an aim, and does anything thoughtlessly and without considering what it is.
29:30
Being right that even the smallest things be done with reference to an end.
29:34
And the end of rational animals is to follow the reason and the law
29:38
of the most ancient city and polity seen. Of human life, the time
29:45
is a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the perception
29:49
dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to putre faction, and
29:53
the soul of a world and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing
29:59
devoid of judgment, and to say all in a word, everything which belongs
30:03
to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a
30:07
dream and vapor, and life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, And
30:12
after fame is oblivion. What then, is that which is able to conduct
30:18
a man? One thing, and only one philosophy? But this consists in
30:22
keeping the demon within a man, free from violence and unharmed, superior to
30:26
pains and pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet falsely and with
30:32
hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man's doing, or not doing anything,
30:37
And besides, accepting all that happens and all that is allotted as coming
30:41
from thence, wherever it is from, whence he himself came, and finally
30:47
waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution
30:51
of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is
30:56
no harm to the elements themselves, and each continually changing into another, why
31:00
should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements,
31:04
for it is according to nature, and nothing is evil which is according
31:08
to nature. This in carnuntum we ought to consider not only that our life
31:17
is daily wasting away, and a smaller part of it is left. But
31:21
another thing also must be taken into the account, that if a man should
31:23
live longer, it is quite quite uncertain whether the understanding will still continue sufficient
31:29
for the comprehension of things and retain the power of contemplation, which strives to
31:33
acquire the knowledge of the divine and the human. For if he shall begin
31:38
to fall into dottage, perspiration and nutrition, and imagination and appetite, and
31:44
whatever else there is of the kind, will not fail. But the power
31:48
of making use of ourselves and filling up the measure of our duty, and
31:52
clearly separating all appearances, and considering whether a man should now depart from life
31:57
and whatever else of the kind absolute requires a disciplined reason. All this is
32:01
already extinguished. We must make haste, then, not only because we are
32:07
daily nearer to death, but also because the conception of things and the understanding
32:10
of them cease. First two, we are to observe also that even the
32:16
things which follow after the things which are reduced, according to nature, contains
32:21
something pleasing and attractive. For instance, when bread is baked, some parts
32:25
are split the surface. And these parts, which thus open and have a
32:30
certain fashion contrary to the purpose of the baker's art, are beautiful in a
32:34
manner, and in a peculiar way, excite a desire for eating. And
32:38
again, figs, when they are quite ripe, gape open, and in
32:43
the ripe olives. The very circumstance that their being near to rottenness adds a
32:46
peculiar beauty to the fruit, and the ears of corn bending down, and
32:52
the lion's eyebrows, and the foam which flows from the mouth of wild balls,
32:57
and many other things. Though they are far from being beautiful, if
33:00
a man should examine them severally, still, because they are consequent upon the
33:06
things which are formed by nature, help to adorn them, and they please
33:10
the mind, so that if a man should have a feeling and a deeper
33:15
insight with respect to the things which are produced in the universe, there is
33:20
hardly one of those which follow by way of consequence, which will not seem
33:24
to him to be in a manner disposed so as to give pleasure. And
33:29
so he will see even the real gaping jaws of wild beasts, with no
33:34
less pleasure than those which painters and sculptors show by imitation. And in an
33:39
old woman and an old man, he will be able to see a certain
33:43
maturity and comeliness, and the attractive loveliness of young persons. He will be
33:47
able to look on with chaste eyes. And many such things will present themselves,
33:52
not pleasing to every man, but to him only who has become truly
33:57
familiar with nature and her works. Three Hippocrates, after curing many diseases,
34:04
himself, fell sick and died. The chalde foretold them deaths of many,
34:08
and then fate caught them too. Alexander and Pompeius and Caius Caesar, after
34:15
so often completely destroying whole cities and in battle cutting to pieces many tens of
34:21
thousands of cavalry and infantry, themselves too, at last departed from life.
34:27
Heraclitius, after so many speculations on the conflagration of the universe, was filled
34:32
with water internally and dyed, smeared all over with mud, and lis destroyed.
34:38
Democritus and other lies killed Socrates. What means all this, thou hast
34:44
embarked, thou hast made the voyage. Thou art come to shore, get
34:49
out, if indeed to another life. There is no want of gods,
34:52
not even there, but it to state without sensation, thou wilt cease to
34:58
be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel,
35:01
which is as much inferior as that which serves it is superior. For
35:07
the one is intelligence and deity, the other is earth and corruption. Four.
35:15
Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others when thou
35:20
dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility, For thou losest
35:24
the opportunity of doing something else. When thou hast such thoughts as these,
35:30
what is such a person doing and why? And what is he saying?
35:34
And what is he thinking of? And what is he contriving? And whatever
35:37
else of the kind makes us wander away from the observation of our own ruling
35:40
power. We ought, then to check in the series of our thoughts everything
35:45
that is without a purpose and useless, but most of all the overcurious feeling
35:51
and the malignant. And a man should use himself to think of those things
35:54
only about which if one should suddenly ask what hast thou now in thy thought
36:00
thoughts with perfect openness, thou mightest immediately answer this or that, so that
36:05
from thy words it should be plain that everything in THEE is simple and benevolent,
36:08
and such as befits a social animal, one that cares not for thoughts
36:13
about pleasure or sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or envy and
36:17
suspicion, or anything else for which thou wouldst blush if thou shouldst say that
36:22
thou hadst it in thy mind. For the man who is such and no
36:28
longer delays being among the number of the best, is like a priest and
36:31
minister of the gods, using too the deity which is planted within him,
36:37
which makes the man uncontaminated by pleasure, unharmed by any pain, untouched by
36:42
any insult, feeling no wrong, a fighter in the noblest fight, one
36:46
who cannot be overpowered by any passion, died deep with justice, excepting with
36:52
all his soul everything which happens and is assigned to him as his position,
36:55
and not even nor yet without great necessity, and for the general interest,
37:00
imagining what another says or does or thinks, for it is only what belongs
37:07
to himself that he makes the matter for his activity. And he constantly thinks
37:13
of that which is allotted to himself out of the sum total of things,
37:16
And he makes his own act fair, and he is persuaded that his own
37:21
portion is good, for the lot which is a sign to each man,
37:24
is carried along with him, and carries him along with it. And he
37:28
remembers also that every rational animal is his kinsman, and that to care for
37:32
all men is according to man's nature. And the man should hold on to
37:37
the opinion not of all, but of those only who confessedly live according to
37:42
nature. But as to those who live not so, he always bears in
37:45
mind what kind of men they are, both at home and from home,
37:49
both by night and by day, and what they are, and with what
37:53
men they live and impure life. Accordingly, he does not value at all
37:58
the praise which comes from such men, since they are not even satisfied with
38:01
themselves. Five labor not unwillingly, nor without regard to common interest, nor
38:09
without due consideration, nor with destruction, nor let studied ornaments set off their
38:15
thoughts, and be not either a man of many words or busy about too
38:20
many things. And further, let the deity which is in THEE be the
38:23
guardian of a living being, manly and of ripe age, and engaged in
38:29
matter political, and a roman and a ruler who has taken his post like
38:32
a man waiting for the signal which summons him from life, and ready to
38:37
go, having need neither of oath nor of any man's testimony. Be cheerful
38:43
also, and seek not external help, nor the tranquility which others give.
38:47
A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others. Six,
38:54
If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, to tempress,
39:00
temperance, fortitude, and in a word, anything better than thy own
39:04
mind's self satisfaction in the things which it enables THEE to do according to right
39:08
reason, and in the condition that is assigned to THEE without thy own choice.
39:14
If I say thou seest anything better than this, turn to it with
39:17
all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best.
39:22
But if nothing appears to be better than the deity which is planted in
39:25
THEE, which is subjected to itself all thy appetites, and carefully examines all
39:30
the impressions, and, as Socrates said, has detached itself from the persuasions
39:36
of sense, and has submitted itself to the gods and cares for mankind.
39:40
If thou findest everything else smaller and of less value than this, give place
39:45
to nothing else. For if thou dost once diverge and incline to it,
39:50
thou wilt no longer, without distraction, be able to give the preference to
39:53
that good thing, which is thy proper possession and thy own. For it
39:58
is not right that anything of an any other kind, such as praise from
40:02
the many, or power, or enjoyment of pleasure, should come into competition
40:07
with that which is rationally and politically or practically good. All these things,
40:14
even though they may seem to adapt themselves to the better things, in a
40:17
small degree, obtain the superiority all at once, and carry us away.
40:22
But do thou, I say, simply and freely choose the better, and
40:27
hold to it. But that which is useful is better? Well, then
40:32
if it is only useful to THEE as a rational being, keep to it.
40:37
But if it is only useful to THEE as an animal, say so,
40:39
and maintain thy judgment without arrogance. Only take care that thou makest the
40:44
inquiry by a sure method. Seven. Never value anything as profitable to thyself,
40:52
which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self,
40:57
respect, to hate, any man to expect, curse to act, the
41:00
hypocrite to desire anything which needs walls and curtains. For he who has preferred
41:07
to everything else his own intelligence and demon and the worship of its excellence,
41:13
acts no tragic part, does not groan, will not need either solitude or
41:16
much company. And what is chief of all, he will live without either
41:22
pursuing or flying from death. But whether for a longer or shorter time,
41:27
he shall have the soul enclosed in the body. He cares not at all,
41:31
for even if he must depart immediately, he will go as readily as
41:35
if he were going to do anything else which can be done with decency and
41:38
order. Taking care of this only all through life, that his thoughts turn
41:45
not away from anything which belongs to an intelligent animal and a member of a
41:49
civil community. Eight, In the mind of one who is chastened and purified,
41:55
that wilt find no corrupt matter, no impurity, nor any so skinned
42:00
over, nor is his life incomplete when fate overtakes him, as one may
42:05
say of an actor who leaves the stage before ending and finishing the play.
42:09
Besides, there is in him nothing servile, nor affected, nor too closely
42:14
bound to other things, nor yet detached from other things, nothing worthy of
42:20
blame, nothing which seeks a hiding place. Nine reverence the faculty which produces
42:27
opinion. On this faculty, it entirely depends whether there shall exist, in
42:30
thy ruling part any opinion inconsistent with nature and the constitution of the rational animal.
42:37
And this faculty promises freedom from hasty judgment, and friendship towards men,
42:42
and obedience to the gods. Ten. Throwing away, then all things hold
42:47
to these only which are few. And besides, bear in mind that every
42:52
man lives only his present time, which is an indivisible point, and that
42:57
all the rest of his life is either past or it is unsafe uncertain.
43:00
Short, then is the time which every man lives, and small the nook
43:05
of the earth where he lives. And short too, the longest posthumous fame.
43:08
And even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings, who
43:13
will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him
43:16
who died long ago. Eleven to the aids which have been mentioned, let
43:22
this one still be added. Make for thyself a definition or description of the
43:27
thing which is presented to THEE, so as to see distinctly what kind of
43:30
a thing it is, in its substance, in its nudency, in its
43:35
complete entirety, And tell thyself its proper name, and the names of the
43:39
things of which it has been compounded and into which it will be resolved.
43:45
For nothing is so productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine
43:49
methodically and truly every object which is presented to THEE in life, and always
43:53
to look at things so as to see at the same time what kind of
43:58
universe this is, and what kind of use everything performs in it, and
44:01
what value everything has with reference to the whole, and what with reference to
44:06
man who is a citizen of the highest city, of which all other cities
44:09
are like families. What each thing is, and of what it is composed,
44:15
And how long it is the nature of this thing to endure, which
44:17
now makes an impression on me? And what virtue I have need of with
44:22
respect to it, such as gentleness, manliness, truth, fidelity, simplicity,
44:29
contentment, and the rest. Wherefore, on every occasion a man should
44:34
say, this comes from God, and this is according to the appointment and
44:38
spinning of the threat of destiny, and such like coincidence and chance. And
44:43
this is from one of the same stock, and a kinsman and partner,
44:46
one who knows not, however, what it is according to his nature.
44:51
But I know for this reason I behave towards him according to the natural law
44:55
of fellowship, with benevolence and justice. At the same time time, however,
45:00
in things indifferent, I attempt to ascertain the value of each twelve.
45:07
If thou workest at that which is before THEE, following right reasons, seriously,
45:12
vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract THEE, but keeping
45:15
thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to give it back
45:20
immediately. If thou holdest to this expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied
45:25
with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word
45:30
and sound which thou utterest, thou would live happy. And there is no
45:34
man who is able to prevent this Thirteen. As physicians have always their instruments
45:42
and knives ready for cases which suddenly require their skill. So do thou have
45:45
principles ready for the understanding of things divine and human, and doing everything,
45:51
even the smallest, with a recollection of the bond which unites the divine and
45:54
human to one another. For neither wilt thou do anything worse which pertains to
46:00
man, without at the same time having a reference to things divine, nor
46:05
the contrary. Fourteen no longer wonder at hazard. For neither wilt thou read
46:10
thy own memoirs, nor the acts of the ancient Romans and the Hellens,
46:15
and the selections from books which thou wast reserving for thy old age. Hasten
46:21
then to the end which thou hast before thee and throwing away idle hopes,
46:25
come to thy own aid, if thou carest at all for thyself, while
46:30
it is in thy power. Fifteen They know not how many things are signified
46:37
by the words stealing, sowing, buying, keeping quiet, seeing what ought
46:42
to be done, For this is not affected by the eyes, but by
46:45
another kind of vision. Sixteen Body soul. Intelligence to the body, belongs
46:52
sensations to the soul, appetites to the intelligence. Principles to receive the impression
47:00
of forms by means of appearances belongs even to animals. To be pulled by
47:05
the strings of desires belongs both to wild beasts and to men who have made
47:09
themselves into women, and to a phalaris and a nero. And to have
47:15
the intelligence that guides to the things which appear suitable belongs also to those who
47:20
do not believe in the gods. And to betray their country and do their
47:23
impure deeds when they have shut the doors. If then everything else is common
47:30
to all that I have mentioned, there remains that which is peculiar. To
47:35
the good man to be pleased and content with what happens, and with the
47:39
thread which is spun for him, and not to do far the divinity which
47:43
is planted in his breast, nor disturb it by a crowd of images,
47:46
but to preserve it tranquil, following it obediently as a god, neither saying
47:51
anything contrary to the truth, nor doing anything contrary to justice. And if
47:57
all men refuse to believe that he lives as simple, modest and contented life,
48:01
he is neither angry with any of them, nor does he deviate from
48:05
the way which leads to the end of life to which a man ought to
48:08
come, pure trenquil, ready to depart, and without any compulsion, perfectly
48:13
reconciled to his lot. That which rules within, when it is according to
48:20
nature, is so affected with respect to the events which happen that it always
48:25
easily adapts itself to that which is possible and is presented to it. For
48:30
it requires no definite material, But it moves towards its purpose under certain conditions,
48:36
however, and it makes a material for itself out of that which opposes
48:39
it. As fire lays hold of what falls into it, but which a
48:45
small light would have been extinguished. But when the fire is strong, it
48:50
soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped on it, and consumes it,
48:53
and rises higher by means of this very material. Let no act to
49:00
be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to the perfect principles of
49:05
art. Men seek retreats for themselves houses in the country, sea shores,
49:12
and the mountains. And thou, too, art, wont to desire such
49:15
things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort
49:20
of men, For it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire
49:24
into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom than from trouble
49:30
does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within
49:35
him such thoughts that by looking into them, he is immediately in perfect tranquility.
49:40
And I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the
49:44
mind. Constantly, then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself,
49:50
and let thy principles be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as thou
49:54
shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to cleanse the soul completely, and
50:00
to send thee back free from all discontent with the things to which thou returnest.
50:06
For with what art thou discontented with the badness of men? Recall to
50:12
thy mind this conclusion that rational animals exist for one another, and that to
50:17
endure is a part of justice, and that men do wrong involuntarily. And
50:22
consider how many, already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, hatred, and
50:29
fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced to ashes, and be quiet at
50:35
last. But perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that which is assigned to thee out
50:40
of the universe, Recall to thy recollection this alternative, either there is providence
50:49
or atoms fortuitous concurrence of things. Or remember the arguments by which it has
50:53
been proved that the world is a kind of political community. And be quiet
50:59
at last, But perhaps corporeal things will still fasten upon thee. Consider then
51:07
further that the mind mingles not with the breath, whether moving gently or violently,
51:12
when it has once drawn itself apart and discovered its own power. And
51:16
think also of all that thou hast heard and assented to about pain and pleasure.
51:22
And be quiet at last. But perhaps the desire of the thing called
51:27
fame will torment thee. See how soon everything is forgotten. And look at
51:32
the chaos of infinite time on each side of the present, and the emptiness
51:37
of applause, and the changeableness and want of judgment in those who pretend to
51:43
give praise, and the narrowness of the space within which it is circumscribed.
51:49
And be quiet at last, For the whole earth is a point, And
51:52
how small a nook in it is this thy dwelling place, And how few
51:58
are there in it? And what kind of people are they who will praise
52:00
thee? This then remains. Remember to retire into this little territory of thy
52:07
own. And above all, do not distract or strain thyself, but be
52:15
free at look and things as a man, as a human being, as
52:21
a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand,
52:27
to which thou shalt return, let there be these which are too.
52:31
One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and
52:36
remain immovable. But our perturbations come only from the opinion, which is within.
52:42
The Other is that all these things which thou seest change immediately and will
52:47
no longer be, And constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou
52:52
hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation, life is opinion. If our
53:00
intellectual part is common, the reason, also in respect of which we are
53:06
rational beings, is common. If this is so, common also is the
53:10
reason which commands us what to do and what not to do. If this
53:15
is so, there is a common law. Also. If this is so,
53:21
we are fellow citizens. If this is so, we are members of
53:24
some political community. If this is so, the world is in a manner
53:30
a state. For of what other common political community? Will anyone say that
53:35
the whole human race are members and from thence, from this common political community
53:40
comes also our very intellectual faculty and reasoning faculty, and our capacity for law.
53:47
Or whence do they come? For as my earthly part is a portion
53:52
given to me from certain earth, and that which is watery from another element,
53:58
and that which is hot and fiery from so some peculiar source. For
54:01
nothing comes out of that which is nothing, as nothing also returns to non
54:05
existence, So also the intellectual part comes from some source. Death is such
54:12
as generation is a mystery of nature, a composition out of the same elements,
54:17
and a decomposition into the same, and altogether not a thing of which
54:22
any man should be ashamed. For it is not contrary to the nature of
54:27
a reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason of our constitution. It
54:34
is natural that these things should be done by such persons. It is a
54:38
matter of necessity. And if a man will not have it, so he
54:43
will not allow the fig tree to have juice. But by all means,
54:47
bear this in mind, that within a very short time both thou and he
54:52
will be dead, and soon not even your names will be left behind.
54:58
Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint I have
55:02
been harmed, take away the complaint I have been harmed, and the harm
55:07
is taken away. That which does not make a man worse than he was
55:13
also does not make his life worse, nor does it harm him, either
55:16
from without or from within the nature of that which is universally useful has been
55:24
compelled to do this. Consider that everything which happens happens justly, and if
55:31
thou observest carefully, thou wilt find it to be so. I do not
55:37
say only with respect to the continuity of the series of things, but with
55:42
respect to what is just, and as if it were done by one who
55:45
assigns to each thing its value. Observe then that thou hast begun, And
55:51
whatever thou doest, do it in conjunction with this, the being good and
55:57
in the sense in which a man is properly understood to be good. Keep
56:00
to this in every action. Do not have such an opinion of things as
56:06
he has who does THEE wrong, or such as he wishes THEE to have,
56:09
but look at them as they are in truth. A man should always
56:15
have these two rules in readiness, the one to do only whatever the reason
56:20
of the ruling and legislating faculty may suggest for the use of men the other
56:25
to change thy opinion, if there is any one at hand who sets THEE
56:29
right and moves THEE from any opinion. But this change of opinion must proceed
56:34
only from a certain persuasion, as of what is just, or of common
56:37
advantage, and the like, not because it appears pleasant or brings reputation.
56:45
Hast thou reason I have? Why then dost not thou use it? For
56:51
if this does its own work, what else dost thou wish? Thou hast
56:55
existed as a part. Thou shalt disappear in that which produced THEE, but
57:00
rather thou shalt be received back into its seminal principle by transmutation. Many grains
57:08
of frankincense on the same altar, one falls before, another falls after,
57:15
but it makes no difference. Within ten days, Thou wilt seem a God
57:21
to those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape. If thou
57:24
wilt return to thy principles and to worship of reason, do not act as
57:30
if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over THEE,
57:36
while thou livest, while it is in thy power be good, how much
57:43
trouble he avoids, who does not look to see what his neighbor says,
57:46
or does, or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that
57:51
it may be just and pure. Or, as Agathon says, look not
57:55
round at the depraved morals of others, but run straight along the line without
58:00
deviating from it. He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not
58:06
consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon,
58:12
that again also they who have succeeded them, until the whole remembrance shall
58:15
have been extinguished, as it is transmitted through men who foolishly admire and perish.
58:22
Suppose that those who will remember are even immortal, and that the remembrance
58:27
will be immortal. What then is this to thee? And I say not
58:31
what is it to the dead? But what is it to the living?
58:35
What is praise, except indeed, so far as it has a certain utility,
58:40
For thou now rejects, rejectest unseasonably the gift of nature, clinging to
58:45
something else. Everything which is in it any way beautiful, is beautiful in
58:51
itself, and terminates in itself. Not having praise as a part of itself,
58:57
neither worse then nor better is a thing made by being praised? I
59:01
affirm this also the things which are called beautiful by the vulgar, for example,
59:07
material things and works of art. That which is really beautiful has no
59:10
need of anything, not more than law, not more than truth, not
59:15
more than benevolence or modesty. Which of these things is beautiful because it is
59:21
praised or spoiled by being blamed? Is such a thing as an emerald made
59:27
worse than it was if it is not praised? Or gold, ivory,
59:31
purple, a lyre, a little knife, a flower, a shrub.
59:36
If souls continue to exist, how does the air contain them from eternity?
59:40
But how does the earth contain the bodies of those who have been buried from
59:45
times so remote? For as here, the mutation of these bodies after a
59:50
certain continuance, whatever it may be, and their dissolution make room for other
59:53
dead bodies. So the souls which are removed into the air after subsisting for
59:59
some time, are transmuted and diffuse, and assume a fiery nature by being
1:00:04
received into the seminal intelligence of the universe, and in this way make room
1:00:09
for the fresh souls which come to dwell there. And this is the answer
1:00:13
which a man might give on the hypothesis of souls continuing to exist. But
1:00:19
we must not only think of the number of bodies which are thus buried,
1:00:22
but also of the number of animals which are daily eaten by us and the
1:00:27
other animals. For what a number is consumed, and thus in a manner
1:00:31
buried in the bodies of those who feed on them. And nevertheless this earth
1:00:36
receives them by reason of the changes of these bodies into blood, and the
1:00:42
transformations into the aerial are the fiery element. What is the investigation into the
1:00:49
truth of the matter, the division into that which is material and that which
1:00:53
is the cause of form the formal. Do not be whirled about, but
1:00:59
in every movement have respect to justice, and on the occasion of every impression,
1:01:05
maintain the faculty of comprehension or understanding. Everything harmonizes with me, which
1:01:10
is harmonious to THEE O universe. Nothing for me is too early nor too
1:01:16
late, which is in due time for THEE. Everything is fruit to me
1:01:21
which Thy seasons bring O Nature from THEE. Are all things in THEE,
1:01:27
are all things to THEE. All things return, the poet says, dear
1:01:31
city of sea crops, And wilt not thou say, dear city of Zeus,
1:01:38
occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be
1:01:43
tranquil, But consider if it would not be better to say, do what
1:01:47
is necessary and whatever the reason of the animal, which is naturally social requires,
1:01:52
and as it requires, for this brings not only the tranquility which comes
1:01:58
from doing well, but also that which comes from doing few things. For
1:02:02
the greatest part of what we say and do being unnecessary. If a man
1:02:07
takes this away, he will have more leisure and less uneasiness. Accordingly,
1:02:13
on every occasion a man should ask himself, is this one of the unnecessary
1:02:16
things? Now a man should take away not only unnecessary acts, but also
1:02:22
unnecessary thoughts, For thus superfluous acts will not follow. After Try how the
1:02:29
life of a good man suits thee, the life of him who is satisfied
1:02:32
with his portion out of the whole, and satisfied with his own just acts
1:02:37
and benevolent disposition. Hast thou seen those things? Look also at these.
1:02:45
Do not disturb thyself, make thyself all simplicity. Does any one do wrong?
1:02:52
It is to himself that he does wrong. Has anything happened to THEE?
1:02:57
Well out of the universe from the beginning, Everything which happens has been
1:03:01
apportioned and spun out to THEE. In a word, thy life is short.
1:03:07
Thou must turn to profit the present by the aid of reason and justice.
1:03:13
Be sober in thy relaxation. Either it is a well arranged universe or
1:03:19
a chaos huddled together, but still a universe. But can a certain order
1:03:23
subsist in thee and disorder in all? And this too, when all things
1:03:30
are so separated and diffused and sympathetic. A black character, a womanish character,
1:03:37
a stubborn character, bestial, childish, annual, stupid, counterfeit,
1:03:44
scurreless, fraudulent, tyrannical. If he is a stranger to the universe who
1:03:51
does not know what is in it, no less is he a stranger who
1:03:54
does not know what is going on in it. He is a runaway who
1:03:59
flies from social reason. He is blind who shuts the eyes of the understanding.
1:04:04
He is poor who has need of another, and has not from himself
1:04:09
all things which are useful for life. He is an absess on the universe
1:04:14
who withdraws and separates himself from the reason of a common nature through being displeased
1:04:18
with the things which happened. For the same nature produces this, and has
1:04:24
produced thee too. He is a piece rent asunder from the state, who
1:04:28
tears his own soul from that of reasonable animals, which is one the one
1:04:33
is a philosopher without a tunic, and the other without a book. Here
1:04:39
is another half naked bread. I have not, he says, and I
1:04:43
abide by reason. And I do not get the means of living out of
1:04:47
my learning, and I abide by my reason. Love the art, poor
1:04:55
as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be content with it
1:04:59
and pastor the rest of life, like one who has entrusted to the Gods
1:05:02
with his whole soul all that he has, making himself neither the tyrant nor
1:05:08
the slave of any man. Consider, for example, the times of Vespasian.
1:05:15
Thou wilt see all these things people marrying, bringing up children, sick,
1:05:20
dying, warring, feasting, trafficking, cultivating the ground, flattering,
1:05:25
obstinately, arrogant, suspecting, plotting, wishing for some to die, grumbling
1:05:30
about the present, loving, heaping up treasure, desiring consulship, kingly power.
1:05:35
Well, then that life of these people no longer exists at all.
1:05:41
Again removed to the time of Trajan, again all is the same. Their
1:05:45
life too is gone. In like Mannerview, also the other epics of time
1:05:50
and of whole nations, And see how many, after great efforts, soon
1:05:55
fell and were resolved into the elements. But chiefly thou should think of those
1:06:00
whom thou hast thyself known, distracting themselves about idle things, neglecting to do
1:06:05
what was in accordance with their proper constitution, and to hold firmly to this
1:06:11
and to be content with it. And herein it is necessary to remember that
1:06:15
the attention given to everything has its proper value in proportion. For thus thou
1:06:21
wilt not be dissatisfied if thou appliest thyself to smaller matters no further than is
1:06:27
fit. The words which were formerly familiar are now antiquated. So also the
1:06:32
names of those who were famed of old are now in a manner antiquated.
1:06:38
Camillus, Caso, Vlasis, Leonardus, and a little after also Scipio and
1:06:43
Cato. Then Augustus, then also Hadrianus and Antoninus. For all things soon
1:06:48
pass away and become a mere tale, and complete oblivion soon buries them.
1:06:55
And I say this of those who have shown in a wondrous way for the
1:06:59
rest. As soon as they have breathed out their breath, they are gone,
1:07:02
and no man speaks of them. And to conclude the matter, what
1:07:06
is even an eternal remembrance? A mere nothing? What then, is that
1:07:14
about which we ought to employ our serious pains? This one thing thoughts just
1:07:19
and act social, and words which never lie, And a disposition which gladly
1:07:25
accepts all that happens as necessary, as usual, as flowing from a principle
1:07:30
and a source of the same kind. Willingly give thyself up to clotho one
1:07:38
of the fates, allowing her to spin thy thread into whatever things she pleases.
1:07:45
Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which
1:07:49
is remembered. Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom
1:07:57
thyself to consider that the nature of the universe loves nothing so much as to
1:08:00
change the things which are, and to make new things like them. For
1:08:04
everything that exists is, in a manner the seed of that which will be.
1:08:10
But thou art thinking only of seeds which are cast into the earth or
1:08:14
into a womb. But this is a very vulgar notion. Thou wilt soon
1:08:18
die, and thou art not yet simple, not free from perturbations, not
1:08:24
without suspicion of being hurt by external things, nor kindly disposed toward all.
1:08:29
Nor dost thou yet place wisdom only in acting justly. Examine men's ruling principles,
1:08:36
even those of the wise, What kind of things they avoid, and
1:08:41
what kind they pursue. What is evil to THEE does not subsist in the
1:08:46
ruling principle of another, nor yet in any turning and mutation of thy corporeal
1:08:51
covering. Where is it, then it is in that part of THEE in
1:08:58
which subsists the power of forema opinions about evils. Let this power then not
1:09:02
form such opinions, and all is well. And if that which is nearest
1:09:08
to it the poor body is cut, burnt, filled with matter and rottenness,
1:09:15
nevertheless, let the part which forms opinions about these things be quiet.
1:09:19
That is, let it judge that nothing is either bad or good which can
1:09:24
happen equally to the bad man, and the good for that which happens equally
1:09:29
to him who lives contrary to nature, and to him who lives according to
1:09:32
nature, is neither according to nature nor contrary to nature. Constantly regard the
1:09:40
universe as one living being, having one substance in one soul, and observe
1:09:45
how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living
1:09:50
being, and how all things act with one movement, and how all things
1:09:57
are the cooperative causes of all things which exist. Observed too, the continuous
1:10:01
spinning of the thread and the contexture of the web. Thou art a little
1:10:08
soul bearing about a corpse, as if a tectus used to say, it
1:10:13
is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to
1:10:15
subsist in consequence of change. Time is like a river made up of the
1:10:21
events which happened, and a violent stream. For as soon as a thing
1:10:27
has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place,
1:10:30
and this will be carried away. To Everything which happens is as familiar
1:10:36
and well known as the rose in spring and the fruit in summer. For
1:10:41
such is disease and death, and calumny and treachery, and whatever else delights
1:10:45
fools or vexes them in the series of things. Those which follow are always
1:10:50
aptly fitted to those which have gone before. For this series is not like
1:10:56
a mere enumeration of disjointed things, which only has a necessary sequence, but
1:11:01
it is a rational connection. And as all existing things are arranged together harmoniously,
1:11:09
so that things which come into existence exhibit no mere succession, but a
1:11:13
certain wonderful relationship. Always remember the saying of Heraclitis, that the death of
1:11:19
earth is to become water, and the death of water is to become air,
1:11:24
and the death of air is to become fire. And reversely, and
1:11:29
think too of him who forgets whither the way leads, And that men quarrel
1:11:32
with that with which they are most constantly in communion, the reason which governs
1:11:38
the universe, and the things which they daily meet with, seems to them
1:11:43
strange. And consider that we ought not to act and speak as if we
1:11:47
were asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and speak, And
1:11:51
that we ought not, like children who learn from their parents, simply to
1:11:57
act and speak as we have been taught. If any God told THEE that
1:12:02
thou shalt die tomorrow, or certainly on the day after tomorrow, thou wouldst
1:12:08
not care much, whether it was on the third day or on the morrow,
1:12:12
unless thou wast in the highest degree mean spirited, For how small is
1:12:15
the difference? So think it is no great thing to die after as many
1:12:19
years as thou canst name, rather than tomorrow. Think continually how many physicians
1:12:27
are dead after often contracting their eyebrows over the sick. And how many astrologers
1:12:32
after predicting with great pretensions the deaths of others. And how many philosophers after
1:12:38
endless discourses on death or immortality, how many heroes after killing thousands, and
1:12:45
how many tyrants who have used their power over men's lives with terrible insolence,
1:12:48
as if they were immortal. And how many cities are entirely dead, so
1:12:55
to speak Helus and Pompeii and Herculaneum and others in num. Add to the
1:13:01
reckoning, all whom thou hast known, one after another, one man after
1:13:08
bearing another has been laid out dead, and another buries him, and all
1:13:12
this in a short time. To conclude, always observe how ephemeral and worthless
1:13:18
human things are. And what was yesterday a little mucus tomorrow will be a
1:13:23
mummy or ashes pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature,
1:13:30
and end thy journey in content, just as in olive falls off when it
1:13:33
is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thinking the tree on which
1:13:39
it grew be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it
1:13:45
stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it. Unhappy am I
1:13:51
because this has happened to me? Not so? But happy am I though
1:13:57
this has happened to me, because I can hear you free from pain,
1:14:00
neither crust by the present nor fearing the future. For such a thing as
1:14:05
this might have happened to every man. But every man would not have continued
1:14:10
free from pain on such an occasion. Why then, is that rather a
1:14:15
misfortune than this a good fortune? And dost thou in all cases call that
1:14:20
a man's misfortune, which is not a deviation from man's nature. And does
1:14:26
a thing seem to THEE to be a deviation from man's nature when it is
1:14:30
not contrary to the will of man's nature, Well thou knowest the will of
1:14:34
nature will, then this which has happened prevent THEE from being just magnanimous,
1:14:41
temperate, prudent, secure, against inconsidered opinions and falsehoods, will prevent THEE
1:14:47
from having modesty, freedom, and everything else by the presence of which man's
1:14:53
nature obtains all that is its own. Remember, too, and every occasion
1:14:59
which lea leads THEE to vexation, to apply this principle, not that this
1:15:03
is a misfortune, but that to bear it nobly is a good fortune.
1:15:09
It is a vulgar, but still a useful help towards contempt of death.
1:15:13
To pass in review, those who have tenaciously stuck to life, what more
1:15:16
than have they gained than those who have died early? Certainly they lie in
1:15:23
their tombs somewhere at last, Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus Lepidus, or anyone
1:15:30
else like them, who have carried out many to be buried, and then
1:15:33
were carried out themselves. Altogether, the interval is small between birth and death.
1:15:40
And consider with how much trouble, and in company with what sort of
1:15:44
people, and in what a feeble body this interval is laboriously passed. Do
1:15:48
not then consider life a thing of any value? For look to the immensity
1:15:54
of time behind THEE, and to the time which is before THEE, another
1:15:58
boundless space in this in infinity, Then what is the difference between him who
1:16:02
lives three days and him who lives three generations? Always run the short way,
1:16:09
and the short way is the natural. Accordingly, say and do everything
1:16:13
in conformity with the soundest reason for such a purpose, freese a man from
1:16:17
trouble and warfare and all artifice and ostentatious. This way in the morning,
1:16:26
when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present, I am rising to
1:16:32
the work of a human being. Why then, am I dissatisfied? If
1:16:38
I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I
1:16:42
was brought into the world? Or have I been made for this? To
1:16:46
lie in the bedclothes and keep myself warm? But this is more pleasant?
1:16:53
Dost thou exist then to take thy pleasure, and not at all for action
1:16:58
or exertion. Dost thou not see the little plants, the little birds,
1:17:03
the ants, the spiders, the bees, working together to put in order
1:17:09
their several parts of the universe. And art thou unwilling to do the work
1:17:14
of a human being? And dost thou not make haste to do that which
1:17:17
is according to thy nature? But it is necessary to take rest also it
1:17:25
is necessary. However, Nature has fixed bounds to this too. She has
1:17:30
fixed bounds both to eating and drinking. And yet thou goest beyond these bounds,
1:17:36
beyond what is sufficient. Yet in thy acts it is not so.
1:17:43
But thou stoppest short of what thou canst do. So thou lovest not thyself.
1:17:48
For if thou didst, thou wouldst love thy nature and her will.
1:17:55
But those who love their several arts exhaust themselves in working at them, unwashed
1:18:00
and without food. But thou valuest thine own nature less than the turner values
1:18:08
the turning art, or the dancer, the dancing art or, the lover
1:18:12
of money values his money, or the vainglorious man his little glory. And
1:18:17
such men, when they have a violent affection to a thing, choose neither
1:18:24
to eat nor to sleep, rather than to perfect the things which they care
1:18:29
for. But are the acts which concern society more vile in thy eyes and
1:18:34
less worthy of thy labor. How easy it is to repel and to wipe
1:18:42
away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all
1:18:48
tranquility, judge every word and deed which are according to nature, to be
1:18:56
fit for THEE, and be not diverted by the blame which follows from any
1:19:01
people, nor by their words. But if a thing is good to be
1:19:06
done or said, do not consider it unworthy of THEE. For those persons
1:19:13
have their peculiar leading principle, and follow their peculiar movement, which things do
1:19:19
not thou regard, but go straight on, following thy own nature and the
1:19:26
common nature. And the way of both is one. I go through the
1:19:31
things which happen according to nature, and I shall fall and rest, breathing
1:19:38
out my breath into that element out of which I daily draw it in,
1:19:43
and falling upon that earth, out of which my father collected the seed,
1:19:47
and my mother the blood, and my nurse the milk, out of which,
1:19:53
during so many years I have been supplied with food and drink, which
1:19:59
bears me when when I tread on it and abuse it for so many purposes.
1:20:04
Thou sayest men cannot admire the sharpness of thy wits. Be it so.
1:20:11
But there are many other things of which thou canst not say I am
1:20:15
not formed for them by nature. Show those qualities, then, which are
1:20:20
altogether in Thy power, sincerity, gravity, endurance of labor, aversion to
1:20:29
pleasure, contentment with thy portion, and with few things, benevolence, frankness,
1:20:38
no love of superfluity, freedom from trifling magnanimity. Dost thou not see
1:20:45
how many qualities thou art immediately able to exhibit, in which there is no
1:20:49
excuse of natural incapacity and unfitness, And yet thou still remainest voluntarily below the
1:20:58
mark or art Thou compelled through being defectively furnished by nature, to murmur,
1:21:04
and to be stingy, and to flatter, and to find fault with thy
1:21:10
poor body, and to try to please men, and to make great display,
1:21:15
and to be restless in thy mind. No by the gods, but
1:21:20
thou mightest have been delivered from these things long ago only if in truth thou
1:21:28
canst be charged with being rather slow and dull of comprehension. Thou must exert
1:21:34
thyself about this, also, not neglecting it, nor yet taking pleasure in
1:21:41
thy dullness. One man, when he has done a service to another,
1:21:47
is ready to set it down to his account as a favor conferred. Another
1:21:53
is not ready to do this, but still in his own mind he thinks
1:21:58
of the man as his debtor, and he knows what he has done.
1:22:01
A third, in a manner does not even know what he has done.
1:22:06
But he is like a vine which has produced grapes, and seeks for nothing
1:22:11
more after it has once produced its proper fruit, as a horse when he
1:22:16
has run, a dog when he has tracked the game, a bee when
1:22:21
it has made the honey. So a man, when he has done a
1:22:26
good act, does not call out for others to come and see, but
1:22:30
he goes on to another act, as a vine goes on to produce again
1:22:35
the grapes in season. Must a man then be one of these who,
1:22:42
in a manner, act thus without observing it? Yes, but this very
1:22:47
thing is necessary, the observation of what a man is doing. For it
1:22:53
may be said it is characteristic of the social animal to perceive that he is
1:22:59
working in social manner, and indeed to wish that his social partner also should
1:23:04
perceive it. It is true what thou sayest, but thou dost not rightly
1:23:11
understand what is now said, And for this reason thou wilt become one of
1:23:16
those of whom I spoke before, For even they are misled by a certain
1:23:21
show of reason. But if thou wilt choose to understand the meaning of what
1:23:27
is said, do not fear that for this reason thou wilt omit any social
1:23:32
act. A prayer of the Athenians rain rain O Dearsius down on the plowed
1:23:45
fields of the Athenians and on the plains. In truth, we ought not
1:23:49
to pray at all, or we ought to pray in this simple and noble
1:23:55
fashion. Just as we must understand when it is said that Esculapius prescribed to
1:24:02
this man horse exercise, or bathing in cold water, or going without shoes,
1:24:09
so we must understand it when it is said that the nature of the
1:24:14
universe prescribed to this man disease or mutilation, or lass, or anything else
1:24:20
of the kind. For in the first case, prescribed means something like this,
1:24:28
he prescribed this for this man as a thing adapted to procure health.
1:24:33
And in the second case, it means that which happens to or suits every
1:24:40
man, is fixed in a manner for him suitably to his destiny. For
1:24:45
this is what we mean when we say that things are suitable to us,
1:24:50
as the workmen say of squared stones in walls or the pyramids, that they
1:24:56
are suitable when they fit them to one another in some way kind of connection.
1:25:01
For there is altogether one fitness, harmony. And as the universe is
1:25:08
made up out of all bodies to be such a body as it is,
1:25:14
so out of all existing causes, necessity destiny is made up to be such
1:25:20
a cause as it is. And even those who are completely ignorant understand what
1:25:27
I mean, for they say it necessity Destiny brought this to such a person.
1:25:35
This then was brought, and this was prescribed to him. Let us
1:25:41
then receive these things, as well as those which Esculopius prescribes. Many as
1:25:46
a matter of course, even among his prescriptions are disagreeable, but we accept
1:25:53
them in the hope of health. Let the perfecting and accomplishment of the things
1:26:00
which the common nature judges to be good be judged by thee to be of
1:26:04
the same kind as thy health. And so accept everything which happens, even
1:26:12
if it seemed disagreeable, because it leads to this to the health of the
1:26:16
universe, and to the prosperity and felicity of Zeus the universe. For he
1:26:24
would not have brought on any man what he has brought if it were not
1:26:29
useful. For the whole. Neither does the nature of anything, whatever it
1:26:33
may be, cause anything which is not suitable to that which is directed by
1:26:40
it. For two reasons, then it is right to be content with that
1:26:45
which happens to THEE. The one because it was done for THEE, and
1:26:50
prescribed for THEE, and in a manner had reference to THEE originally from the
1:26:57
most ancient causes, spun with THEE thy destiny. And the other because even
1:27:02
that which comes severely to every man is to the power which administers the universe
1:27:09
a cause of felicity and perfection, nay, even of its very continuance.
1:27:15
For the integrity of the whole is mutilated. If thou cuttest off anything whatever
1:27:21
from the conjunction and the continuity, either of the parts or of the causes,
1:27:28
and thou dost cut off as far as it is in thy power,
1:27:31
when thou art dissatisfied, and in a manner triest to put anything out of
1:27:38
the way, be not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor dissatisfied if thou dost
1:27:45
not succeed in doing everything according to right principles. But when thou hast failed,
1:27:53
return back again and be content. If the greater part of what thou
1:27:58
doest is consists with man's nature and love. This to which thou returnest,
1:28:04
And do not return to philosophy as if she were a master, But act
1:28:10
like those who have sore eyes, and apply a bit of sponge and egg,
1:28:15
or as another applies a plaster or drenching with water. For thus thou
1:28:21
wilt not fail to obey reason, and thou wilt repose in it. And
1:28:27
remember that philosophy requires only the things which thy nature requires. But thou wouldst
1:28:32
have something else which is not according to nature. It may be objected,
1:28:39
why what is more agreeable than this which I am doing? But is not
1:28:44
this the very reason why pleasure deceives us? And consider if magnanimity, freedom,
1:28:50
simplicity, equanimity, piety are not more agreeable, For what is more
1:28:58
agreeable than wisdom itself? When thou thinkest of the security and the happy course
1:29:02
of all things which depend on the faculty of understanding and knowledge, things are
1:29:11
in such a kind of envelopment that they have seemed to philosophers, not a
1:29:15
few, nor those common philosophers altogether unintelligible, nay even to the stoics themselves.
1:29:23
They seem difficult to understand, and all our assent is changeable. For
1:29:29
where is the man who never changes carry thy thoughts? Then to the objects
1:29:34
themselves, and consider how short lived they are and worthless, and that they
1:29:40
may be in the possession of a filthy wretch, or a whore or a
1:29:44
robber. Then turn to the morals of those who live with thee. And
1:29:49
it is hardly possible to endure even the most agreeable of them, to say
1:29:54
nothing of the man being hardly able to endure himself such darkness, then,
1:30:00
and dirt, and in so constant a flux, both of substance and of
1:30:05
time, and of motion and of things moved. What there is worth being
1:30:12
highly prized, or even an object of serious pursuit, I cannot imagine.
1:30:18
But on the contrary, it is a man's duty to comfort himself and to
1:30:24
wait for the natural dissolution, and not to be vexed at the delay,
1:30:29
but to rest in these principles only, the one that nothing will happen to
1:30:34
me which is not conformable to the nature of the universe, and the other
1:30:41
that it is in my power never to act contrary to my God and demon.
1:30:46
For there is no man who will compel me to do this? About
1:30:53
what am I now employing my own soul? On every occasion I must ask
1:30:58
myself this question and inquire, what have I now in this part of me
1:31:03
which they call the ruling principle? And whose soul have I now that of
1:31:10
a child, or of a young man, or of a feeble woman,
1:31:15
or of a tyrant, or of a domestic animal, or of a wild
1:31:20
beast. What kind of things those are which appear good to the many?
1:31:27
We may learn even from this, For if any man should conceive certain things
1:31:31
as being really good, such as prudence, temperance, justice, fortitude,
1:31:39
he would not, after having first conceived these, endure to listen to anything
1:31:44
which should not be in harmony with what is really good. But if a
1:31:48
man has first conceived as good the things which appear to the many to be
1:31:54
good, he will listen and readily receive as very applicable that which was said
1:32:00
by the comic writer. Thus even the many perceive the difference, For were
1:32:05
it not so, this saying would not offend and would not be rejected in
1:32:10
the first case, While we receive it when it is said of wealth and
1:32:15
of the means which further luxury and fame, as said fitly and wittily,
1:32:21
go on then and ask if we should value and think those things to be
1:32:26
good to which, after their first conception in the mind the words of the
1:32:30
comic writer might be aptly applied. That he who has them through pure abundance
1:32:38
has not a place to ease himself in I am composed of the formal and
1:32:45
the material, and neither of them will perish into non existence, as neither
1:32:50
of them came into existence. Out of non existence. Every part of me,
1:32:57
then will be reduced by change into some part of the universe, and
1:33:01
that again will change into another part of the universe, and so on forever.
1:33:09
And by consequence of such a change, I too exist, and those
1:33:13
who begot me, and so on forever in the other direction. For nothing
1:33:18
hinders us from saying so, even if the universe is administered according to definite
1:33:25
periods of revolution. Reason and the reasoning art philosophy are powers which are sufficient
1:33:33
for themselves and for their own works. They move, then, from a
1:33:39
first principle, which is their own, and they make their way to the
1:33:43
end which is proposed to them. And this is the reason why such acts
1:33:47
are named catorthosais or right acts, which word signifies that they proceed by the
1:33:56
right road. None of these they ought to be called a man's, which
1:34:01
do not belong to a man as man. They are not required of a
1:34:06
man, nor does man's nature promise them, nor are they the means of
1:34:12
man's nature attaining its end. Neither, then, does the end of man
1:34:17
lie in these things. Nor yet that which aids to the accomplishment of this
1:34:23
end. And that which aids toward this end is that which is good.
1:34:28
Besides, if any of these things did belong to man, it would not
1:34:32
be right for a man to despise them and to set himself against them.
1:34:38
Nor would a man be worthy of praise who showed that he did not want
1:34:42
these things, Nor would he who stinted himself in any of them be good,
1:34:47
if indeed these things were good. But now the more of these things
1:34:51
a man deprives himself of, or of other things like them, or even
1:34:57
when he is deprived of any of them, more patiently he endures the loss,
1:35:02
just in the same degree he is a better man. Such as are
1:35:08
thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind. For
1:35:14
the soul is dyed by the thoughts. Die it then with a continuous series
1:35:19
of such thoughts as these, for instance, that where a man can live
1:35:26
there, he can also live well. But he must live in a palace.
1:35:30
Well, then he can also live well in a palace. And again,
1:35:34
consider that for whatever purpose each thing has been constituted, for this it
1:35:41
has been constituted, And toward this it is carried. And its end is
1:35:45
in that toward which it is carried. And where the end is, there
1:35:51
also is the advantage and the good of each thing. Now, the good
1:35:57
for the reasonable animal is society. For that we are made for society has
1:36:01
been shown above. Is it not plain that the inferior exists for the sake
1:36:08
of the superior. But the things which have life are superior to those which
1:36:13
have not life, And of those which have life, the superior are those
1:36:17
which have reason to seek. What is impossible is madness, and it is
1:36:24
impossible that the bad should not do something of this kind. Nothing happens to
1:36:30
any man which he is not formed by nature to bear. The same things
1:36:35
happen to another, And either because he does not see that they have happened,
1:36:41
or because he would show a great spirit, he is firm and remains
1:36:45
unharmed. It is a shame, then, that ignorance and conceit should be
1:36:49
stronger than wisdom. Things themselves touch not the soul, not in the least
1:36:58
degree, nor have they admission to the soul. Nor can they turn or
1:37:02
move the soul. But the soul turns and moves itself alone, And whatever
1:37:09
judgments it may think proper to make such, it makes for itself the things
1:37:14
which present themselves to it. In one respect, man is the nearest thing
1:37:19
to me, so far as I must do good to men and endure them.
1:37:26
But so far as some men make themselves obstacles to my proper acts,
1:37:30
man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no less than
1:37:34
the sun, or wind, or a wild beast. Now it is true
1:37:40
that these may impede my action, but they are no impediments to my effects
1:37:45
and disposition, which have the power of acting conditionally and changing. For the
1:37:51
mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid, and so
1:37:58
that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to enact, And that which
1:38:02
is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road. Reverence that which
1:38:10
is best in the universe. And this is that which makes use of all
1:38:15
things and directs all things. And in like manner also reverence that which is
1:38:21
best in thyself. And this is of the same kind as that for in
1:38:27
thyself. Also that which makes use of everything else is this, and thy
1:38:32
life is directed by this. That which does no harm to the state does
1:38:40
no harm to the citizen. In the case of every appearance of harm,
1:38:45
apply this rule. If the state is not harmed by this, neither am
1:38:49
I harmed. But if the state is harmed, thou must not be angry
1:38:55
with him who does harm to the state. Show him where his irs is.
1:39:01
Often think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear, both
1:39:06
the things which are and the things which are produced. For substance is like
1:39:13
a river in a continual flow, And the activities of things are in constant
1:39:17
change, and the causes work in infinite varieties, and there is hardly anything
1:39:24
which stands still. And consider this which is near to thee, this boundless
1:39:30
abyss of the past and of the future, in which all things disappear.
1:39:34
How then, is he not a fool who is puffed up with such things
1:39:39
or plagued about them, or makes himself miserable, for they vex him only
1:39:44
for a time, and a short time. Think of the universal substance of
1:39:50
which thou hast a very small portion, and of universal time, of which
1:39:57
a short and indivisible interval has been a sign to thee, and of that
1:40:01
which is fixed by destiny, And how small a part of it thou art
1:40:08
does another do me wrong? Let him look to it. He has his
1:40:13
own disposition, his own activity. I now have what the universal nature wills
1:40:18
me to have, and I do what my nature now wills me to do.
1:40:26
Let the part of thy soul, which leads and governs, be undisturbed
1:40:30
by the movements in the flesh, whether of pleasure or of pain, and
1:40:34
let it not unite with them, but let it circumscribe itself, and limit
1:40:40
those effects to their parts. But when these effects rise up to the mind
1:40:45
by virtue of that other sympathy that naturally exists in a body which is all
1:40:50
one, then thou must not strive to resist the sensation, for it is
1:40:56
natural. But let not the ruling part of it self add to the sensation
1:41:01
the opinion that it is either good or bad. Live with the gods,
1:41:09
and he does live with the gods, who constantly shows to them that his
1:41:13
own soul is satisfied with that which is assigned to him, and that it
1:41:17
does all that the demon wishes, which Zeus have given to every man for
1:41:23
his guardian and guide a portion of himself. And this is every man's understanding
1:41:30
and reason. Art thou angry with him whose armpits stink? Art thou angry
1:41:36
with him whose mouth smells foul? What good will this anger do thee?
1:41:43
He has such a mouth, he has such armpits. It is necessary that
1:41:47
such an emanation must come from such things. But the man has reason,
1:41:54
it will be said, And he is able if he takes pains to discover
1:41:58
wherein he offend. I wish THEE well of thy discovery. Well, then
1:42:03
an thou hast reason by thy rational faculty, stir up his rational faculty,
1:42:10
show him his error, admonish him, for if he listens, thou wilt
1:42:15
cure him. And there is no need of anger. As thou intendest to
1:42:21
live when thou art gone out, so it is in thy power to live
1:42:27
here. But if men do not permit THEE, then get away out of
1:42:30
life. Yet so as if thou wert suffering no harm, the house is
1:42:36
smoky, and I quit it. Why dost thou think that this is any
1:42:42
trouble? But so long as nothing of the kind drives me out, I
1:42:46
remain am free, and no man shall hinder me from doing what I choose,
1:42:53
And I choose to do what is according to the nature of the rational
1:42:57
and social animal. The intelligence of the universe is social. Accordingly, it
1:43:03
has made the inferior things for the sake of the superior, and it has
1:43:09
fitted the superior to one another. Thou seest how it has subordinated, coordinated,
1:43:15
and assigned to everything its proper portion, and has brought together into conquerd
1:43:20
with one another the things which are the best. How hast thou behaved hitherto
1:43:28
to the gods, thy parents, brethren, children, teachers, to those
1:43:33
who looked after thy infancy, to thy friends, kinsfolk, to thy slaves.
1:43:40
Consider if thou hast hitherto behaved to all in such a way that this
1:43:45
may be said of THEE never has wronged a man in deed or word,
1:43:51
And call to recollection both how many things thou hast passed through, and how
1:43:57
many things thou hast been able to endure, and that the history of thy
1:44:01
life is now complete, and thy service is ended. And how many beautiful
1:44:06
things thou hast seen, and how many pleasures and pains thou hast despised,
1:44:13
and how many things called honorable thou hast spurned, And to how many ill
1:44:18
minded folks thou hast shown a kind disposition? Why do unskilled and ignorant souls
1:44:27
disturb him who has skill and knowledge? What soul then has skill and knowledge,
1:44:32
that which knows beginning and end, and knows the reason, which pervades
1:44:38
all substance, and through all time by fixed periods, administers the universe.
1:44:45
Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes or a skeleton, and either
1:44:50
a name or not even a name. But name is sound and echo.
1:44:56
And the things which are much valued in life are empty, in rotten and
1:45:00
trifling, and like little dogs biting one another, and little children quarreling,
1:45:05
laughing, and then straightway weeping. But fidelity and modesty, and justice and
1:45:12
truth are fled up to Olympus from the widespread earth. What then is there
1:45:19
which still detains thee here? If the objects of sense are easily changed and
1:45:25
never stand still, and the organs of perception, are dull and easily receive
1:45:30
false impressions, and the poor soul itself is an exhalation from blood. But
1:45:35
to have good repute amid such a world as this is an empty thing,
1:45:41
Why then dost thou not wait in tranquility for thy end, whether it is
1:45:45
extinction or removal to another state? And until that time comes? What is
1:45:51
sufficient? Why what else then, to venerate the gods and bless them,
1:45:59
and to do good to men, and to practice tolerance and self restraint.
1:46:04
But as to everything which is beyond the limits of the poor flesh and breath,
1:46:10
to remember that this is neither thine nor in thy power. Thou canst
1:46:15
pass thy life in an equable flow of happiness. If thou canst go by
1:46:20
the right way, and think and act in the right way. These two
1:46:27
things are common both to the soul of God and to the soul of man,
1:46:32
and to the soul of every rational being. Not to be hindered by
1:46:36
another, and to hold good, to consist in the disposition to justice and
1:46:43
the practice of it, and in this to let thy desire find its termination.
1:46:50
If this is neither my own badness nor an effect of my own badness,
1:46:56
and the commonwealth is not endured. Why am I troubled about it?
1:47:01
And what is the harm to the commonwealth? Do not be carried along inconsiderately
1:47:09
by the appearance of things, but give help to all according to thy ability
1:47:14
and their fitness. And if they should have sustained loss in matters which are
1:47:18
indifferent, do not imagine this to be a damage, for it is a
1:47:25
bad habit. But as the old man, when he went away, asked
1:47:30
back his foster child's top, remembering that it was a top, so do
1:47:35
thou in this case. Also when thou art calling out on the rostra,
1:47:42
hast thou forgotten man? What these things are? Yes? But they are
1:47:47
objects of great concern to these people? Wilt thou too, then be made
1:47:53
a fool for these things? I was once a fortunate man, but I
1:47:59
lost it. I know not how. But fortune it means that a man
1:48:03
has a signed to himself a good fortune. And a good fortune is good
1:48:10
disposition of the soul, good emotions, good actions. The substance of the
1:48:16
universe is obedient and compliant, and the reason which governs it has in itself
1:48:20
no cause for doing evil, for it has no malice, nor does it
1:48:24
do evil to anything, nor is anything harmed by it. But all things
1:48:29
are made and perfected according to this reason. Let it make no difference to
1:48:34
THEE whether thou art cold or warm, if thou art doing thy duty,
1:48:39
and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied with sleep, and whether ill spoken or
1:48:44
praised, and whether dying or doing something else, For it is one of
1:48:48
the acts of this life, this act by which we die. It is
1:48:51
sufficient, then in this act also to do well what we have in hand
1:48:59
look with. Then let neither the peculiar quality of anything, nor its value
1:49:03
escape THEE. All existing things soon change, and they will either be reduced
1:49:10
to vapor if indeed all substance is won, or they will be dispersed the
1:49:16
reason which governance knows what its own disposition is, and what it does,
1:49:20
and on what material it works. The best way of avenging thyself is not
1:49:28
to become like the wrongdoer. Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it,
1:49:33
in passing from one social act to another social act. Thinking of God.
1:49:41
The ruling principle is that which rouses and turns itself, and while it
1:49:45
makes itself such as it is and such as it wills to be. It
1:49:48
also makes everything which happens to appear itself to be such as it wills.
1:49:55
In conformity to the nature of the universe, every single thing is accomplished.
1:50:00
For certainly it is not in conformity to any other nature that each thing is
1:50:03
accomplished. Either a nature which externally comprehends this, or a nature which is
1:50:10
comprehended within this nature, or a nature external and independent of this. The
1:50:18
universe is either a confusion and a mutual involution of things and a dispersion,
1:50:24
or it is unity and order and providence. If then it is the former,
1:50:29
Why do I desire to tarry in a fortuitous combination of things in such
1:50:32
a disorder? And why do I care about anything else than how I shall
1:50:36
at last become earth? And why am I disturbed? For the dispersion of
1:50:41
my elements will happen whatever I do. But if the other supposition is true,
1:50:45
I venerate, and I am firm, and I trust in him who
1:50:48
governs. When thou hast been compelled by circumstances to be disturbed in a manner,
1:50:57
quickly return to thyself, and do not continue out of two mins longer
1:51:00
than the compulsion lasts, for thou wilt have more mastery over the harmony by
1:51:04
continually recurring to it. If thou hadst a stepmother and a mother at the
1:51:12
same time, thou wouldst be dutiful to thy stepmother, but thou wouldst constantly
1:51:16
return to thy mother. Let the court and philosophy now be to thee stepmother
1:51:21
and mother. Return to philosophy frequently, and repose in her through whom.
1:51:27
What thou meetest with in the court appears to THEE tolerable, and thou appearest
1:51:30
tolerable in the court. When we have meat before us, in such eatables,
1:51:39
we receive the impression that this is the dead body of a fish,
1:51:43
and this is the dead body of a bird, or of a pig,
1:51:46
And again that this pillernian is only a little grape juice, and this purple
1:51:50
robe some sheep's wool dyed with the blood of a shellfish. Such then are
1:51:56
these impressions, and they reach the things themselves and penetrate them, and so
1:52:00
we see what kind of things they are. Just in the same way ought
1:52:04
we to act all through life. And where there are things which appear most
1:52:08
worthy of our approbation, we ought to lay them bare, and look at
1:52:12
their worthlessness, and strip them of all the words by which they are exalted.
1:52:16
For outward show is a wonderful perverter of the reason. And when thou
1:52:21
art most sure that thou art employed about things worth thy pains, it is
1:52:26
then that it cheats thee most. Consider then, what Crates says of Xenocrates
1:52:31
himself. Most of the things which the multitude admire are referred to objects of
1:52:39
the most general kind, those which are held together by cohesion or natural organization,
1:52:44
such as stones, wood, fig trees, vines, olives. But
1:52:48
those which are admired by men who are a little more reasonable are referred to
1:52:51
the things which are held together by a living principle, as flocks herds.
1:52:58
Those which are admired by men men who are still more instructed, are the
1:53:01
things which are held together by a rational soul. Not, however, a
1:53:06
universal soul irrational so far as it is a soul skilled in some art or
1:53:12
expert in some other way, or simply rational so far as it possesses a
1:53:16
number of slaves. But he who values a rational soul a sole, universal
1:53:21
and fitted for political life, regards nothing else except this, and above all
1:53:28
things he keeps his soul in a condition and inactively conformable to reason and social
1:53:33
life, and he cooperates to this end with those who are of the same
1:53:38
kind as himself. Some things are hurrying into existence, others are hurrying out
1:53:45
of it. And of that which is coming into existence, part is already
1:53:48
extinguished. Motions and changes are continually renewing the world, such as the uninterrupted
1:53:55
course of time is always renewing, the infinite duration of ages in this flow
1:54:00
stream, then, on which there is no abiding, What is there of
1:54:03
the things which hurry by, on which a man would set a high price.
1:54:08
It would be just as if a man should fall in love with one
1:54:11
of the sparrows which fly by, but it is already passed out of sight.
1:54:15
Something of this kind is the very life of every man, Like the
1:54:19
exhalation of the blood and the respiration of the air, such as it is
1:54:25
to once have drawn in the air and to have given it back, which
1:54:29
we do every moment. Just the same is it with the whole respiratory power
1:54:33
which thou didst receive at thy birth yesterday and the day before, to give
1:54:39
it back to the elemental from which thou didst first draw it. Neither is
1:54:45
transpiration as in plants, a thing to be valued, nor respiration as in
1:54:49
domesticated animals and wild beasts, Nor the receiving of impressions by the appearances of
1:54:55
things, nor being moved by desires as puppets by strings, nor assembling in
1:55:00
herds, nor being nourished by food, For this is just like the act
1:55:04
of separating, imparting with the useless part of the food. What then,
1:55:10
is worth being valued to be received with clapping of hands? No, neither
1:55:15
must we value the clapping of tongues, for the praise which comes from the
1:55:17
many is the clapping of tongues. Suppose then, that thou hast given up
1:55:25
this worthless thing called fame. What remains that is worth valuing? This,
1:55:30
in my opinion, to move thyself and to restrain thyself in conformity to thy
1:55:33
proper constitution, to which end both all employments and arts lead. For every
1:55:39
art aims at this, that the thing which has been made should be adapted
1:55:43
to the work for which it has been made. In Both the vine planner
1:55:46
who looks after the vine, and the horse breaker and he who trains the
1:55:50
dog seeks this end. But the education and the teaching of youth aim at
1:55:57
something in this, then is the value of the education in the teaching.
1:56:01
And if this is well, thou wilt not seek anything else. Wilt thou
1:56:05
not cease to value many other things too? Then thou wilt neither be free
1:56:10
nor sufficient for thy own happiness, nor without passion for of necessity. Thou
1:56:15
must be envious, jealous, and suspicious of those who can take away those
1:56:18
things, and plot against those who have that which is valued by thee of
1:56:25
necessity. A man must be altogether in a state of perturbation who wants any
1:56:30
of these things, And besides he must often find fault with the gods.
1:56:34
But to reverence and honor thy own mind will make thee content with thyself and
1:56:40
in harmony with society, and agreement with the gods. That is, praising
1:56:44
all that they give and have ordered. Above below all around are the movements
1:56:51
of the elements. But the motion of virtue is in none of these.
1:56:57
It is something more divine and advancing. By a way hardly observed, it
1:57:00
goes happily on its road. How strangely men act. They will not praise
1:57:06
those who are living at the same time and living with themselves but to be
1:57:12
themselves praised by posterity, by those whom they have never seen or will ever
1:57:15
see. This they set much value on. But this is very much the
1:57:19
same as if thou shouldest be grieved because those who have lived before THEE did
1:57:25
not praise THEE. If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself,
1:57:31
do not think that it is impossible for man. But if anything is possible
1:57:35
for man and conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by
1:57:40
thyself too. In the gymnastic exercises, suppose that a man has torn thee
1:57:45
with his nails, and by dashing against thy head, has inflicted a wound.
1:57:50
Well, we neither show any signs of vexation, nor are we offended,
1:57:56
nor do we suspect him afterward as a treacherous fellow. And yet we
1:58:00
are on our guard against him, not however, as an enemy, nor
1:58:02
with suspicion, but we quietly get out of his way. Something like this,
1:58:08
Let their behavior be in all other parts of life. Let us overlook
1:58:12
many things in those who are like antagonists in the gymnasium. For it is
1:58:16
in our power, as I said, to get out of the way and
1:58:19
to have no suspicion or hatred. If a man is able to convince me
1:58:27
and show me that he do not think or act right, I will gladly
1:58:30
change. For I seek the truth by which no man was ever injured.
1:58:34
But he is injured who abides in his error and ignorance. I do my
1:58:41
duty. Other things trouble me not, for they are either things without life,
1:58:45
or things without reason, or things that have rambled and know not the
1:58:48
way. As to the animals, which have no reason, and generally all
1:58:54
things and objects, do thou, since thou hast reason and they have none,
1:58:58
make use of them with the generous and liberal spirit. But towards human
1:59:02
beings, as they have reason, behave in a social spirit. And on
1:59:06
all occasions call on the gods. And do not perplex thyself about the length
1:59:11
of time in which thou shalt do this. For even three hours so spent
1:59:15
are sufficient. Alexander the Macedonian and his groom by death were brought to the
1:59:23
same state, for either they were received among the same seminole principles of the
1:59:27
universe, or they were alike dispersed among the atoms. Consider how many things
1:59:33
in the same indivisible time take place in each of us things which concern the
1:59:38
body and things which concern the soul. And so that will not wonder if
1:59:43
many more things, or rather all things which come into existence in that which
1:59:46
is the one in all which we call cosmos, exist in it. At
1:59:50
the same time, if any man should propose to THEE the question how the
1:59:57
name Antoninus is written, wouldst thou, with the straining of the voice,
2:00:00
utter each letter? What then if they grow angry, wilt thou grow angry
2:00:04
too? Wilt thou not go on with composure and number every letter? Just
2:00:11
so? Then is this life? Also? Remember that every duty is made
2:00:15
up of certain parts. These, it is thy duty to observe, and,
2:00:18
without being disturbed or showing anger towards those who are angry with THEE,
2:00:23
to go on thy way and finish that which is set before THEE. How
2:00:30
cool it is not to allow men to strive after the things which appear to
2:00:32
them to be suitable to thy nature and profitable. Yet in a manner thou
2:00:38
dost not allow them to do this when thou art vexed, because they do
2:00:42
wrong, For they are certainly moved towards the things which they suppose them to
2:00:45
be suitable to their nature and profitable to them. But it is not so.
2:00:50
Teach them then, and show them without being angry. Death is the
2:00:57
cessation of the impression through the senses, and of the pulling of the strings
2:01:01
which move the appetites, and of the discursive movements of the thoughts, and
2:01:05
of the service to the flesh. It is a shame for the soul to
2:01:12
be the first to give way in this life, when thy body does not
2:01:15
give way. Take care that thou art not made into a caesar, that
2:01:21
thou art not dyed with this die, for such things happen. Keep thyself,
2:01:26
then, simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation,
2:01:30
a friend of justice, a worshiper of the gods, kind, affectionate,
2:01:34
strenuous in all proper acts. Strive to continue to be such as philosophy.
2:01:41
Wish to make thee reverence the gods and help men. Short is life.
2:01:46
There is only one fruit in this treened life, a pious disposition and social
2:01:51
acts. Do everything as a disciple of Antoninus. Remember his constancy in every
2:01:58
act which was conformedlerable to reason, and his evenness in all things, and
2:02:02
his piety, and the serenity of his countenance and his sweetness, and his
2:02:08
disregard of empty fame, and his efforts to understand things, and how he
2:02:12
would never let anything pass without having first most carefuably examined it and clearly understood
2:02:17
it, And how he bore with those who blamed him unjustly without blaming them
2:02:23
in return, and how he did nothing in a hurry, and how we
2:02:26
listened not to calumnies, and how exact an examiner of manners and actions he
2:02:30
was, and not given to reproach people, nor timid, nor suspicious,
2:02:35
nor esophist, and with how little he was satisfied, such as lodging,
2:02:42
bed dress, food servants, and how laborious and patient, and how he
2:02:47
was able, on account of his sparing diet, to hold out to the
2:02:50
evening without even requiring to relieve himself by any evacuations except at the usual hour,
2:02:59
and with his firmness uniformity in his friendships, and how we tolerated freedom
2:03:02
of speech and those who opposed his opinions, and the pleasure that he had
2:03:08
when any man showed him anything better, and how religious he was without superstition.
2:03:13
Imitate all this, that thou mayst have as good as conscious when thy
2:03:16
last hour comes, as he had return to thy sober senses, and call
2:03:25
thyself back, when thou hast roused thyself from sleep, and hast perceived that
2:03:30
they were only dreams which troubled thee. Now in the waking hours, look
2:03:33
at these the things about thee, as thou didst look at those the dreams.
2:03:40
I consist of a little body and soul. Now to this little body
2:03:44
all things are indifferent. For it is not able to perceive differences, but
2:03:47
to the understanding those things only are indifferent, which are not the works of
2:03:51
its own activity. But whatever things are the works of its own activity,
2:03:57
all these things are in its power. Of these, however, only those
2:04:00
which are done with reference to the present. For as to the future and
2:04:03
the past activities of the mind, even these are for the present indifferent.
2:04:11
Neither the labor which the hand does, nor that of the foot, is
2:04:15
contrary to nature, so long as the foot does the foots work in the
2:04:18
hand the hands. So then, neither to a man, as a man
2:04:24
is his labor contrary to nature, as long as he does the things of
2:04:27
a man. But if the labor is not contrary to his nature, neither
2:04:30
is it an evil to him, how many pleasures have been enjoyed by robbers,
2:04:36
patricides, tyrants. Dost thou not see how the handicraftsmen accommodate themselves up
2:04:45
to a certain point, to those which are not skilled in their craft.
2:04:47
Nevertheless, they cling to the reason the principles of their art, and do
2:04:51
not endure to depart from it. Is it not strange if the architect and
2:04:56
the physicians shall have more respect to the reason the principles of their own arts,
2:05:00
than man to his own reason, which is common to him. In
2:05:02
the gods, Asia Europe are corners of the universe. All the sea a
2:05:11
drop in the universe, Athos a little clod in the universe. All the
2:05:15
present time is a point in eternity. All things are little changeable, perishable.
2:05:21
All things come from, thence, from that universal ruling power, either
2:05:27
directly proceeding or by way of sequence. And accordingly, the lions, gaping
2:05:31
jaws, and that which is poisonous, and every harmful thing as a thorn
2:05:35
as mud, are after products of the grand and beautiful. Do not imagine,
2:05:41
then, that they are of another kind from that which thou dost venerate,
2:05:45
but form a just opinion of the source of all. He who has
2:05:49
seen present things, has seen all, both everything which has taken place from
2:05:54
all eternity, and everything which will be for time without end. For all
2:05:59
things are of one kin and of one form. Frequently consider the connection of
2:06:06
all things in the universe and their relation to one another. For in a
2:06:11
manner, all things are implicated with one another, and all in this way
2:06:14
are friendly to one another. For one thing comes in order after another,
2:06:18
and this is by virtue of the active movement and mutual composition, and the
2:06:24
unity of the substance. Adapt thyself to the things with which thy lot has
2:06:30
been cast, and the men among whom thou hast receive thy portion, love
2:06:33
them. But do it truly. Every instrument to vessel, if it does
2:06:42
that for which it has been made, is well. And yet he who
2:06:45
made it is not there. But in all things which are held together by
2:06:49
nature, there is within, and there abides in them the power which made
2:06:54
them. Wherefore, the more it is fit to reverence this power, and
2:06:59
to think that, if thou dost live and act according to its will,
2:07:01
everything in thee is in conformity to intelligence. And thus also in the universe,
2:07:06
the things which belong to it are in conformity to intelligence. Whatever of
2:07:13
the things which are not within thy power thou shalt suppose to be good for
2:07:16
thee or evil. It must of necessity be that if such a bad thing
2:07:23
be fal thee, or the loss of such a good thing, thou wilt
2:07:26
blame the gods and hate men too, those who are the cause of the
2:07:30
misfortune or the loss, or those who are suspected of being likely to be
2:07:33
the cause. And indeed we do much injustice because we make a difference between
2:07:39
those things, because we do not regard these things as indifferent. But if
2:07:45
we judge only those things which are in our power to be good or bad,
2:07:48
there remains no reason either for finding fault with God or standing in a
2:07:53
hostile attitude to man. We are all working together to one end, some
2:08:00
with knowledge and design, and others without knowing what they do as men,
2:08:03
also when they are asleep. Of whom it is Heraclius I think who says
2:08:09
that there are laborers and co operators in the things which take place in the
2:08:11
universe. But men cooperate after different fashions, and even those co operate abundantly
2:08:18
who find fault with what happens and those who try to oppose it and to
2:08:22
hinder it. For the universe has need even of such men as these.
2:08:26
It remains then for THEE to understand among what kind of workmen thou placest thyself.
2:08:31
For he who rules all things will certainly make a right use of THEE,
2:08:35
and he will receive THEE among some part of the co operators and of
2:08:41
those whose labors conduce to one end. But be not thou such a part
2:08:46
as the mean and ridiculous verse in the play which Prysippus speaks of. Does
2:08:52
the sun undertake to do the work of the rain, or Asculapius the work
2:08:56
of the fruit bearer? And how is it with respect to each of the
2:09:01
stars? Are they not different? And yet they work together to the same
2:09:05
end. If the gods have determined about me and about the things which must
2:09:11
happen to me, they have determined well, For it is not easy even
2:09:16
to imagine a deity without forethought. And as to doing me harm, why
2:09:20
should they have any desire towards that? For what advantage would result to them
2:09:24
from this or to the whole which is the special object of their providence.
2:09:30
But if they have not determined about me individually. They have certainly determined about
2:09:33
the whole at least, and the things which happen by way of sequence in
2:09:37
this general arrangement I ought to accept with pleasure and to be content with them.
2:09:43
But if they determine about nothing, which it is wicked to believe,
2:09:46
or if we do believe it, let us neither sacrifice, nor pray,
2:09:50
nor swear by them, nor do anything else which we do, as if
2:09:54
the gods were present and lived with us. But if however, the gods
2:09:58
determined about none of them things which concern us, I am able to determine
2:10:03
about myself, And I can acquire about that which is useful, and that
2:10:07
is useful to every man, which is conformable to his own constitution in nature.
2:10:11
But my nature is rational and social. In my city and country,
2:10:16
as far as I a Mantoninus, is Rome. But so far as I
2:10:20
am a man, it is the world. The things, then, which
2:10:24
are useful to these cities are alone useful to me. Whatever happens to every
2:10:31
man, this is for the interest of the universal. This might be sufficient,
2:10:37
But further thou wilt observe this also is a general truth. If thou
2:10:41
dost observe that whatever is profitable to any man is profitable also to other men.
2:10:46
But let the word profitable be taken here in the common sense as set
2:10:50
of things of the middle kind, neither good nor bad, as it happens
2:10:56
to thee in the amphitheater. In such places that the continual site of the
2:11:01
same things and the uniformity make the spectacle wearisome. So it is in the
2:11:05
whole of life. For all things above below are the same, and from
2:11:11
the same. How long, then think continually that all kinds of men,
2:11:18
and all kinds of pursuits, and of all nations are dead, so that
2:11:22
thy thoughts come down even to Pelistian and Phoebus an Oregonian. Now turn thy
2:11:30
thoughts to the other kinds of men. To that place, then we must
2:11:33
remove where there are so many great orators, so many noble philosophers, Heraclitus,
2:11:39
Pythagreas, Socrates, so many heroes of former days, and so many
2:11:43
generals after them in tyrants. Besides these, Eudoxus, Hipparchus, Archimedes,
2:11:50
and other men of acute natural talents, great minds, lovers of labor,
2:11:56
versatile, confident mockers, even of the perishable and effemorable life of man as
2:12:01
Manipius, and such as are like him. As to all these, consider
2:12:05
that they have long been in the dust. What harm, then is this
2:12:09
to them? And what to those whose names are altogether unknown? One thing
2:12:16
here is worth a great deal to pass thy life in truth and justice,
2:12:20
with a benevolent disposition, even to liars and unjust men. Thou art not
2:12:28
dissatisfied, I suppose because thou weighest only so many leader, and not three
2:12:33
hundred. Be not dissatisfied, then that thou must live only so many years,
2:12:37
and not more. For as thou art satisfied with the amount of substance
2:12:43
which has been assigned to thee, so be content with the time. Let
2:12:50
us try to persuade them, but act even against their will, when the
2:12:54
principles of justice lead that way. If however, any man using four stands
2:13:00
in thy way, betake thyself to contentment and tranquility, and at the same
2:13:05
time employ the hindrance toward the exercise of some other virtue. And remember that
2:13:09
thy attempt was with a reservation that thou didst not desire to do impossibilities.
2:13:16
What then, didst thou desire some such effort as this, that thou attainest
2:13:20
thy object, if the things to which thou wist move are accomplished. He
2:13:28
who loves fame considers another man's activity to be his own good, and he
2:13:33
who loves pleasure his own sensations. But he who has understanding considers his own
2:13:39
acts to be his own good. It is in our power to have no
2:13:43
opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul, for
2:13:48
things themselves have no natural power to form our judgments. Accustom thyself to attend
2:13:56
carefully to what is said by another, And as much as it is possible,
2:14:00
bee in the speaker's mind, that which is not good for the swarm,
2:14:05
neither is it good for the bee. If sailors abuse the helmsman or
2:14:13
the sick the doctor, would they listen to anybody else? And how could
2:14:16
the helmsman secure the safety of those in the ship, or the doctor health
2:14:20
of those whom he attends. How many, together with whom I came into
2:14:28
the world, are already gone out of it. To the jaundiced, honey
2:14:35
tastes bitter, and to those bitten by mad dogs, water causes fear.
2:14:39
And to little children the ball is a fine thing. Why then, am
2:14:43
I angry? Dost thou think that a false opinion has less power than the
2:14:46
bile in the jaundice or the poison in him who is bitten by a mad
2:14:50
dog. No man will hinder thee from living. According to the reason of
2:14:56
that nature, nothing will happen to them country to the reason of the universal
2:15:01
nature. What kind of people are those whom men wish to please? And
2:15:09
for what objects and by what kinds of acts? How soon time will cover
2:15:15
all things? And how many it is covered already? What is badness?
2:15:22
It is that which thou hast often seen, and on the occasion of everything
2:15:26
which happens, keep this in mind, that it is that which thou hast
2:15:31
often seen. Everywhere up and down thou wilt find the same things with which
2:15:37
the old histories are filled, those of the Middle Ages, and those of
2:15:41
our own day, with which cities and houses are filled. Now there is
2:15:46
nothing new. All things are both familiar and short lived. Two. How
2:15:52
can our principles become dead unless the impressions thought which correspond to them are extinguished?
2:16:01
But it is in thy power continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame.
2:16:07
I can have that opinion about anything which I ought to have if I
2:16:11
can, why am I disturbed? The things which are external to my mind
2:16:16
have no relation at all to my mind. Let this be the state of
2:16:20
thy effects, and thou standest erect to recover thy life is in thy power.
2:16:26
Look at things again as thou didst use to look at them, For
2:16:31
in this consists the recovery of thy life. Three. The idle business of
2:16:37
show plays on the stage, flocks of sheep, herds, exercises with spears,
2:16:45
a bone to cast to little dogs, a bit of bread into fish
2:16:48
ponds, laborings of ants and burden, carrying, runnings about of frightened little
2:16:56
mice, puppets pulled by strings, all alike. It is thy duty,
2:17:01
then, in the midst of such things, to show good humor, and
2:17:05
not a proud air. To understand, however, that every man is worth
2:17:09
just so much as the things are worth about which he busies himself. Four.
2:17:16
In discourse, thou must attend to what is said, and in every
2:17:20
movement thou must observe what is doing. And in the one thou shouldst see
2:17:26
immediately to what end it refers. But in the other, watch carefully what
2:17:31
is the thing signified? Five is my understanding sufficient for this or not.
2:17:39
If it is sufficient, I use it for the work as an instrument given
2:17:43
by the universal nature. But if it is not sufficient, then either I
2:17:48
retire from the work and give way to him who is able to do it
2:17:50
better, unless there be some reason why I ought not to do so,
2:17:56
or I do it as well as I can, taking to help me the
2:17:58
man who who, with the aid of my ruling principle, can do what
2:18:03
is now fit and useful for the general good. For whatsoever, either by
2:18:09
myself or with another, I can do, ought to be directed to this
2:18:13
only to that which is useful and well suited to society. Six. How
2:18:20
many, after being celebrated by fame, have been given up to oblivion,
2:18:26
And how many who have celebrated the fame of others have long been dead.
2:18:31
Seven. Be not ashamed to be helped, for it is thy business to
2:18:37
do thy duty like a soldier in the assault on a town. How then,
2:18:43
if being lame, thou canst not mount up on the battlements alone,
2:18:46
but with the help of another, it is possible. Eight. Let not
2:18:54
future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it shall
2:18:58
be necessary having with thee the same reason which now thou usest for present things.
2:19:05
Nine, All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is
2:19:11
holy. And there is hardly anything unconnected with any other thing, for things
2:19:16
have been coordinated, and they combine to form the same universe order. For
2:19:22
there is one universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades
2:19:26
all things, and one substance, and one law, one common reason in
2:19:33
all intelligent animals, and one truth. If indeed there is also one perfection
2:19:39
for all animals which are of the same stock and participate in the same reason.
2:19:46
Ten. Everything material soon disappears in the substance of the whole, and
2:19:50
everything formal causal is very soon taken back into the universal reason, and the
2:19:58
memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time. Eleven to the rational animal,
2:20:05
the same act is according to nature and according to reason. Twelve,
2:20:11
be thou erect, or be made erect. Thirteen. Just as it is
2:20:18
with the members in those bodies which are united in one, so it is
2:20:22
with rational beings which exist separate, for they have been constituted for one co
2:20:28
operation. And the perception of this will be more apparent to THEE if thou
2:20:33
often sayest to thyself that I am a member of the system of rational beings.
2:20:39
But if thou sayest that thou art a part, thou dost not yet
2:20:43
love men from thy heart. Beneficence does not yet delight thee. For its
2:20:48
own sake, Thou still doest it barely as a thing of propriety, and
2:20:54
not yet as doing good to thyself. Fourteen. Let there fall externally what
2:21:01
will on the parts which can feel the effects of this fall. For those
2:21:07
parts which have felt, will complain if they choose. But I, unless
2:21:13
I think that what has happened is an evil, am not injured. And
2:21:16
it is in my power not to think so. Fifteen. Whatever any one
2:21:24
does or says, I must be good, just as if the gold,
2:21:28
or the emerald or the purple were always saying this, Whatever any one does
2:21:33
or says, I must be emerald and keep my color. Sixteen. The
2:21:39
ruling faculty does not disturb itself, I mean, does not frighten itself or
2:21:45
cause itself pain. But if any one else can frighten or paint it,
2:21:48
let him do so. For the faculty itself will not, by its own
2:21:52
opinion, turn into such ways. Let the body itself, take care if
2:21:58
it can, that it suffer nothing, and let it speak if it suffers.
2:22:03
But the soul itself, that which is subject to fear to pain,
2:22:09
which has completely the power of forming an opinion about these things, will suffer
2:22:13
nothing, for it will never deviate into such a judgment. The leading principle
2:22:18
in itself wants nothing unless it makes a want for itself, And therefore it
2:22:24
is both free from perturbation and unimpeded, if it does not disturb and impede
2:22:30
itself. Seventeen You daemonia, happiness is a good demon or a good thing?
2:22:39
What then art thou doing here? O imagination? Go away? I
2:22:46
entreat thee by the gods as thou didst come, For I want thee not,
2:22:52
but thou art come according to thy old fashion. I am not angry
2:22:56
with thee. Only go away. Eighteen Is any man afraid of change?
2:23:05
Why? What can take place without change? What then, is more pleasing
2:23:11
or more suitable to the universal nature? And canst thou take a bath unless
2:23:16
the wood undergoes a change? And canst thou be nourished unless the food undergoes
2:23:22
a change? And can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change.
2:23:28
Dost thou not see, then, that for thyself also to change is just
2:23:31
the same and equally necessary for the universal nature. Nineteen Through the universal substance,
2:23:41
as through a furious torrent, all bodies are carried, being, by
2:23:45
their nature united with and co operating with the whole, as the parts of
2:23:50
our body with one another. How many a Chrysippus, how many a Socrates,
2:23:56
how many an Epictectus, as time already swallowed up, and let the
2:24:00
same thought occur to THEE with reference to every man and thing. Twenty one.
2:24:07
Thing only troubles me lest I should do something which the constitution of man
2:24:13
does not allow, or in the way which it does not allow, or
2:24:18
what it does not allow. Now twenty one, near is thy forgetfulness of
2:24:24
all things, and near the forgetfulness of THEE by all twenty two it is
2:24:31
peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong. And this happens if
2:24:37
when they do wrong, it occurs to THEE that they are kinsmen, and
2:24:41
that they do wrong through ignorance and unintentionally, and that soon both of you
2:24:46
will die, and above all that the wrong doer has done THEE no harm.
2:24:52
For he has not made thy ruling faculty worse than it was before.
2:24:56
Twenty three The universe versal nature, out of the universal substance, as if
2:25:03
it were wax, now molds a horse, And when it has broken this
2:25:07
up, it uses the material for a tree, then for a man,
2:25:13
then for something else. And each of these things subsists for a very short
2:25:18
time. But it is no hardship for the vessel to be broken up,
2:25:22
just as there was none in its being fastened together. Twenty four A scowling
2:25:28
look is altogether unnatural when it is often assumed the result is that all comeliness
2:25:37
dies away, and at last is so completely extinguished that it cannot be again
2:25:41
lighted up at all. Try to conclude from this very fact that it is
2:25:46
contrary to reason. For if even the perception of doing wrong shall depart,
2:25:52
what reason is therefore living any longer. Twenty five Nature, which governs the
2:26:00
whole, will soon change all things which thou seest, and thou, of
2:26:03
their substance, will make other things, and again other things from the substance
2:26:07
of them, in order that the world may ever be new. Twenty six.
2:26:16
When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what opinion
2:26:20
about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this,
2:26:26
thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither wonder nor be angry. For
2:26:33
either thou thyself thinkest the same thing to be good that he does, or
2:26:37
another thing of the same kind. It is thy duty then to pardon him.
2:26:43
But if thou dost not think such things to be good or evil,
2:26:48
thou wilt more readily be well disposed to him who is in error. Twenty
2:26:54
seven. Think not so much of what thou hast, not as of what
2:27:00
thou hast, but of the things which thou hast select the best, and
2:27:05
then reflect how eagerly they would have been sought if thou hadst them not.
2:27:11
At the same time, however, take care that thou dost not, through
2:27:16
being so pleased with them, accustom thyself to overvalue them, so as to
2:27:20
be disturbed, if ever, thou shouldst not have them. Twenty eight.
2:27:26
Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that it
2:27:33
is content with itself when it does what is just, and so secures tranquility.
2:27:39
Twenty nine. Wipe out the imagination, stop the pulling of the strings,
2:27:46
confine thyself to the present. Understand well what happens either to thee or
2:27:52
to another. Divide and distribute every object into the causal, formal, and
2:28:00
the material. Think of thy last hour. Let the wrong which is done
2:28:05
by a man stay there where the wrong was done. Thirty Direct thy attention
2:28:13
to what is said. Let thy understanding enter into the things that are doing
2:28:18
and the things which do them. Thirty one adorn thyself with simplicity and modesty,
2:28:26
and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love
2:28:31
mankind follow God. The poet says that law rules all, and it is
2:28:39
enough to remember that law rules all. Thirty two about death, whether it
2:28:48
is a dispersion or a resolution into atoms or annihilation, it is either extinction
2:28:54
or change. Thirty three about pain. The pain which is intolerable carries us
2:29:03
off, But that which lasts a long time is tolerable. And the mind
2:29:09
maintains its own tranquility by retiring into itself. And the ruling faculty is not
2:29:13
made worse. But the parts which are harmed by pain, let them,
2:29:18
if they can give their opinion about it. Thirty four about fame, look
2:29:26
at the minds those who seek fame. Observe what they are, and what
2:29:31
kind of things they avoid, and what kind of things they pursue. And
2:29:35
consider that as the heaps of sand piled on one another hide the former sands,
2:29:41
so in life, the events which go before are soon covered by those
2:29:46
which come after. Thirty five from Plato. The man who has an elevated
2:29:54
mind and takes a view of all time and of all substance, dost thou
2:30:00
suppose it possible for him to think that human life is anything great. It
2:30:05
is not possible, he said. Such a man then will think that death
2:30:09
also is no evil, certainly not thirty six from Antistheni's it is royal to
2:30:16
do good and to be abused. Thirty seven. It is a base thing
2:30:24
for the countenance to be obedient and to regulate and compose itself as the mind
2:30:28
commands, and for the mind not to be regulated and composed by itself.
2:30:37
Thirty eight. It is not right to vex ourselves at things, for they
2:30:41
care not about it. Thirty nine. To the immortal gods and us give
2:30:50
joy. Forty Life must be reaped like the ripe ears of corn. One
2:30:58
man is born another day forty one If gods care not for me and for
2:31:05
my children. There is a reason for it forty two. For the good
2:31:15
is with me and the just forty three. No joining others in their wailing,
2:31:24
no violent emotion forty four from Plato. But I would make this man
2:31:31
a sufficient answer. Which is this? Thou sayest not well if thou thinkest
2:31:37
that a man who is good for anything at all ought to compute the hazard
2:31:41
of life or death, and should not rather look to this only in all
2:31:46
that he does, whether he is doing what is just or unjust, and
2:31:50
the works of a good or a bad man forty five. For thus it
2:31:58
is men of Athens in truth. Wherever a man has placed himself thinking it
2:32:05
the best place for him, or has been placed by a commander, there,
2:32:09
in my opinion, he ought to stay and to abide the hazard,
2:32:13
taking nothing into the reckoning, either death or anything else before the baseness of
2:32:20
deserting his post. Forty six. But my good friend, reflect whether that
2:32:26
which is noble and good is not something different from saving and being saved for
2:32:33
as to a man living such or such a time, at least one who
2:32:39
is really a man, consider if this is not a thing to be dismissed
2:32:43
from the thoughts, and there must be no love of life. But as
2:32:46
to these matters, a man must entrust them to the deity, and believe
2:32:50
that what the women say, that no man can escape his destiny. The
2:32:56
next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.
2:33:03
Forty seven. Look round at the courses of the stars, as if
2:33:09
thou worst going along with them, and constantly consider the changes of the elements
2:33:13
into one another. For such thoughts purge away the filth of the tyrene life.
2:33:20
Forty eight. This is a fine saying of Plato, that he who
2:33:26
is discoursing about men should look also at earthly things, as if he viewed
2:33:31
them from some higher place. Should look at them in their assemblies, armies,
2:33:37
agricultural labors, marriages, treaties, births, deaths, noise of the
2:33:45
courts of justice, desert places, various nations of barbarians, feasts, lamentations,
2:33:52
markets, a mixture of all things, and an orderly combination of contraries.
2:34:01
Forty nine. Consider the past, such great changes of political supremacies.
2:34:07
Thou mayst foresee also the things which will be, for they will certainly be
2:34:13
of like form, and it is not possible that they should deviate from the
2:34:16
order of the things which take place now. Accordingly, to have contemplated human
2:34:22
life forty years is the same as to have contemplated it for ten thousand years.
2:34:28
For what more wilt thou see fifty that which has grown from the earth
2:34:35
to the earth, but that which has sprung from heavenly seed back to the
2:34:41
heavenly realme's returns. This is either a dissolution of the mutual involution of the
2:34:48
atoms, or a similar dispersion of the insancient elements. Fifty one. With
2:34:54
food and drinks and cunning magic arts turning the channel's to escape from death the
2:35:01
breeze which Heaven has sent, we must endure and toil without complaining. Fifty
2:35:09
two. Another baby may be more expert in casting his opponent, but he
2:35:16
is not more social, nor more modest, nor better disciplined to meet all
2:35:20
that happens, nor more considerate with respect to the faults of his neighbors.
2:35:26
Fifty three. Where any work can be done conformably to the reason which is
2:35:31
common to gods and men, there we have nothing to fear. For.
2:35:35
Where we are able to get prophets by means of the activity which is successful
2:35:41
and proceeds according to our constitution. There no harm is to be suspected.
2:35:48
Fifty four. Everywhere and at all times, it is in thy power piously
2:35:54
to acquiesce in thy present condition, and to behave justly to those who are
2:36:00
about THEE, and to exert thy skill upon thy present thoughts, that nothing
2:36:05
shall steal into them without being well examined. Fifty five. Do not look
2:36:11
around THEE to discover other men's ruling principles, but look straight to this to
2:36:16
what nature leads THEE, both the universal nature through the things which happen to
2:36:22
THEE, and thy own nature through the acts which must be done by THEE.
2:36:26
But every being ought to do that which is according to its constitution,
2:36:31
and all other things have been constituted for the sake of rational beings, just
2:36:37
as among irrational things, the inferior for the sake of the superior, but
2:36:41
the rational for the sake of one another. The prime principle, then,
2:36:46
in man's constitution, is the social, and the second is not to yield
2:36:52
to the persuasions of the body, For it is the peculiar office of the
2:36:56
rational and intelligent motion to circle conscribe itself, and never to be overpowered either
2:37:03
by the motion of the senses or of the appetites. For both our animal.
2:37:09
But the intelligent motion claims superiority and does not permit itself to be overpowered
2:37:15
by the others, and with good reason, for it is formed by nature
2:37:20
to use all of them. The third thing in the rational constitution is freedom
2:37:24
from error and from deception. Let then the ruling principle, holding fast to
2:37:31
these things, go straight on, and it has what is its own.
2:37:37
Fifty six. Consider thyself to be dead, and to have completed thy life
2:37:43
up to the present time, and live according to nature the remainder which is
2:37:48
allowed to thee. Fifty seven Love that only which happens to thee and is
2:37:56
spun with the thread of thy destiny, For what is more suitable. Fifty
2:38:03
Eight In everything which happens, Keep before thy eyes those to whom the same
2:38:09
things happened, and how they were vexed and treated them as strange things,
2:38:13
and found fault with them. And now where are they nowhere? Why then
2:38:20
dost thou too choose to act in the same way? And why dost thou
2:38:24
not leave these agitations which are foreign to nature? And those who cause them,
2:38:31
and those who are moved by them. And why art thou not altogether
2:38:35
intent upon the right way of making use of the things which happen to THEE?
2:38:39
For then thou wilt use them well, and they will be a material
2:38:43
for THEE to work on. Only attend to thyself and resolve to be a
2:38:48
good man in every act which thou doest, and remember fifty nine look within.
2:38:58
Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up if
2:39:03
thou wilt ever dig sixty The body ought to be compact and to show no
2:39:11
irregularity, either in motion or attitude. For what the mind shows in the
2:39:16
face, by maintaining in it the expression of intelligence and propriety that ought to
2:39:22
be required also in the whole body. But all these things should be observed
2:39:26
without affectation. Sixty one. The art of life is more like the wrestler's
2:39:35
art than the dancers, in respect of this, that it should stand ready
2:39:39
and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected. Sixty two. Constantly
2:39:46
observe who those are whose approbation thou wishest to have, and what ruling principles
2:39:54
they possess. For then thou wilt neither blame those who offend involuntarily, nor
2:40:00
wilt thou want their approbation, if thou lookest to the sources of their opinions
2:40:05
and appetites. Sixty Three Every soul, the philosopher says, is involuntarily deprived
2:40:13
of truth. Consequently, in the same way it is deprived of justice,
2:40:20
and temperance, and benevolence, and everything of the kind. It is most
2:40:24
necessary to bear this constantly in mind, for thus thou wilt be more gentle
2:40:30
towards all sixty Four. In every pain, let this thought be present,
2:40:37
that there is no dishonor in it. Nor does it make the governing intelligence
2:40:41
worse, for it does not damage the intelligence, either so far as the
2:40:46
intelligence is rational, or so far as it is social. Indeed, in
2:40:52
the case of most pains, let this remark of Epicurus aid thee that pain
2:40:58
is neither intolerable nor everlasting, if thou bearest in mind that it has limits,
2:41:03
and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. And remember this too,
2:41:09
that we do not perceive that many things which are disagreeable to us are
2:41:15
the same as pain, such as excessive drowsiness and the being scorched by heat,
2:41:22
and the having no appetite. When then thou art discontented about any of
2:41:28
these things, say to thyself that thou art yielding to pain. Sixty five,
2:41:37
take care not to feel towards the inhuman as they feel towards men.
2:41:41
Sixty six. How do we know if Telogus was not superior in character to
2:41:46
Socrates? For it is not enough that Socrates dies the more noble death,
2:41:52
and disputed more skillfully with the Sophists, and pass the night in the cold
2:41:58
with more endurance, and that when he was bid to arrest Leon of Salamis,
2:42:03
he considered it more noble to refuse, and that he walked in a
2:42:07
swaggering way in the streets. Though as to this fact one may have great
2:42:13
doubts if it was true. But we ought to inquire what kind of a
2:42:18
soul it was that Socrates possessed, and if he was able to be content
2:42:22
with being just towards men and pious towards the gods, neither idly vexed on
2:42:30
account of men's villainy, nor yet making himself a slave to any man's ignorance,
2:42:35
nor receiving as strange anything that fell to his share out of the universal,
2:42:41
nor enduring it as intolerable, nor allowing his understanding to sympathize with the
2:42:48
effects of the miserable flesh. Sixty seven. Nature has not so mingled the
2:42:56
intelligence with the composition of the body, has not to have allowed THEE the
2:43:01
power of circumscribing thyself and of bringing under subjection to thyself all that is that
2:43:07
is thy own. For it is very possible to be a divine man and
2:43:13
to be recognized as such by no one. Always bear this in mind,
2:43:18
And another thing too, that very little, indeed is necessary for living a
2:43:22
happy life. And because thou hast despaired of becoming a dialectician and skilled in
2:43:30
the knowledge of nature, do not, for this reason renounce the hope of
2:43:33
being both free and modest, and social and obedient to God. Sixty eight.
2:43:41
It is in thy power to live free from all compulsion, in the
2:43:43
greatest tranquility of mind, even if all the world cry out against THEE as
2:43:48
much as they choose, and even if wild beasts tear in pieces the members
2:43:54
of this needed matter which has grown around THEE. For what hinders the mind
2:43:58
in the men of all this from maintaining itself in tranquility, and in a
2:44:03
just judgment of all surrounding things, and in a ready use of the objects
2:44:09
which are presented to it, so that the judgment may say, to the
2:44:13
thing which falls under its observation, this thou art in substance, though in
2:44:18
men's opinion thou mayst appear to be of a different kind, and the use
2:44:24
shall say, to that which falls under the hand, Thou art the thing
2:44:28
that I was seeking for to me, that which presents itself is always a
2:44:33
material for virtue, both rational and political, and in a word, for
2:44:39
the exercise of art which belongs to Man or God. For everything which happens
2:44:46
has a relationship either to God or man, and is neither new nor difficult
2:44:52
to handle, but usual and apt matter to work on. Sixty nine.
2:44:58
The profect of moral character consists in this, in passing every day as the
2:45:03
last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid, nor playing the hypocrite.
2:45:11
Seventy The gods who are immortal are not vexed, because during so long
2:45:18
a time they must tolerate continually men as such as they are, and so
2:45:24
many of them bad. And besides this, they also take care of them
2:45:28
in all ways. But thou, who art destined to end so soon,
2:45:33
art thou wearied of enduring the bad? And this too when thou art one
2:45:39
of them. Seventy one. It is a ridiculous thing for a man not
2:45:45
to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly
2:45:50
from other men's badness, which is impossible. Seventy two. Whatever the rational
2:45:58
and political thing faculty finds to be neither intelligent nor social, it properly judges
2:46:05
to be inferior to itself. Seventy three. When thou hast done a good
2:46:11
act and another hast received it, why dost thou still look for a third
2:46:16
thing? Besides these as fools do, either to have the reputation of having
2:46:22
done a good act or to obtain a return. Seventy four. No man
2:46:31
is tired of receiving what is useful, but it is useful to act according
2:46:35
to nature. Do not then be tired of receiving what is useful by doing
2:46:39
it to others? Seventy five. The nature of the all moved to make
2:46:46
the universe. But now either everything that takes place comes by way of consequence
2:46:52
or continuity, or even the chief things towards which the ruling power of the
2:46:58
universe directs its own mood, are governed by no rational principle. If this
2:47:03
is remembered, it will make THEE more tranquil in many things. Note one,
2:47:11
the end of this section is unintelligible. This reflection also tends to the
2:47:18
removal of the desire of empty fame. That it is no longer in thy
2:47:22
power to have lived the whole of thy life, or at least thy life
2:47:26
from thy youth upwards, like a philosopher. But both to many others and
2:47:31
to thyself. It is plain that thou art far from philosophy. Thou hast
2:47:37
fallen into disorder them, so that it is no longer easy for THEE to
2:47:41
get the reputation of a philosopher, and thy plan of life also opposes it.
2:47:48
If then thou hast truly seen where the matter lies, throw away the
2:47:52
thought how thou shalt seem to others and be content? If thou shalt live
2:47:58
the rest of thy life life in such wise as thy nature wills, observe
2:48:05
then what it wills, and let nothing else distract thee. But thou hast
2:48:09
had experience of many wanderings without having found happiness anywhere, not in syllogisms,
2:48:16
nor in wealth, nor in reputation, nor in enjoyment, nor anywhere where
2:48:24
is it then in doing what man's nature requires? How then shall a man
2:48:31
do this? If he has principles from which come his effects and his acts.
2:48:37
What principles those which relate to good and bad? The belief that there
2:48:43
is nothing good for man which does not make him just, temperate, manly
2:48:48
free, and that there is nothing bad which does not do the contrary to
2:48:54
what has been mentioned on the occasion of every act, Ask thyself, how
2:49:01
is this with respect to me? Shall I repent of it a little time?
2:49:07
And I am dead and all is gone? What more do I seek?
2:49:13
If what I am doing now is the work of an intelligent, living
2:49:16
being and a social being, and one who is under the same law with
2:49:20
God. Alexander and Chaus and Pompeius, what are they in comparison with Diogenes
2:49:31
and Heraclitus and Socrates. For they were acquainted with things and their causes,
2:49:39
forms and their matter, and the ruling principles of these men were the same
2:49:45
or conformable to their pursuits. But as to the others, how many things
2:49:50
had they to care for, and to how many things were they slaves,
2:50:00
Consider that men will do the same things. Nevertheless, even though thou shouldst
2:50:05
burst, this is the chief thing. Be not perturbed, for all things
2:50:16
are according to the nature of the Universal, And in a little time thou
2:50:20
wilt be nobody and nowhere, like Hadrianus and Augustus in the next place,
2:50:28
Having fixed thy eyes steadily on thy business, look at it, and at
2:50:33
the same time, remembering that it is thy duty to be a good man,
2:50:37
and what man's nature demands, do that without turning aside, and speak
2:50:45
as it seems to thee most just. Only let it be with a good
2:50:50
disposition, and with modesty, and without hypocrisy. The nature of the universal
2:51:01
has this work to do, to remove to that place the things which are
2:51:05
in this, to change them, to take them away hence, and to
2:51:11
carry them there. All things are changed, yet we need not fear anything
2:51:16
new. All things are familiar to us, but the distribution of them still
2:51:22
remains the same. Every nature is contented with itself when it goes on its
2:51:31
way well, and irrational nature goes on its way well when in its thoughts
2:51:37
it assents to nothing false or uncertain, and when it directs its movements to
2:51:43
social acts only, and when it confines its desires and aversions to the things
2:51:48
which are in its power, and when it is satisfied with everything that is
2:51:54
assigned to it by the common nature. For of this common nature, every
2:52:00
particular nature is a part, as the nature of the leaf is a part
2:52:03
of the nature of the plant, except that in the plant, the nature
2:52:09
of the leaf is part of a nature which has not perception or reason,
2:52:13
and is subject to be impeded. But the nature of man is part of
2:52:18
a nature which is not subject to impediments, and is intelligent and just,
2:52:24
since it gives to everything in equal portions and according to its worth times substance,
2:52:31
cause, form, activity, and incident. But examined not to discover
2:52:39
that any one thing compared with any other single thing, is equal in all
2:52:43
respects. But by taking all the parts together of one thing and comparing them
2:52:50
with all the parts together of another, thou hast not leisure or ability to
2:53:00
read. But thou hast leisure or ability to check arrogance. Thou hast leisure
2:53:05
to be superior to pleasure and pain. Thou hast leisure to be superior to
2:53:11
love, of fame, and not to be vexed at stupid and ungrateful people,
2:53:18
nay even to care for them. Let no man any longer hear thee
2:53:26
finding fault with the court life or with thy own repentance is a kind of
2:53:37
self reproof for having neglected something useful. But that which is good must be
2:53:43
something useful, and the perfect good man should look after it. But no
2:53:48
such man would ever repent of having refused any sensual pleasure. Pleasure, then,
2:53:54
is neither good nor useful this thing? What is it in itself in
2:54:05
its own constitution? What is its substance and material, and what its causal
2:54:11
nature or form? And what is it doing in the world? And how
2:54:18
long does it subsist? When thou risest from sleep with reluctance, remember that
2:54:28
it is according to thy constitution and according to human nature to perform social acts.
2:54:35
But sleeping is common also to irrational animals. But that which is according
2:54:41
to each individual's nature is also more peculiarly its own, and more suitable to
2:54:46
its nature, and indeed also more agreeable. Constantly, and if it be
2:54:56
possible, on the occasion of every impression on the soul, apply to it
2:55:03
the principles of physic, of ethic, of dialectic. Whatever a man thou
2:55:11
meetest with, immediately say to thyself, what opinions has this man about,
2:55:18
good and bad? For it with respect to pleasure and pain, and the
2:55:22
causes of each, and with respect to famine and ignominy, death and life.
2:55:28
He has such and such opinions. It will seem nothing wonderful or strange
2:55:33
to me if he does such and such things, and I shall bear in
2:55:39
mind that he is compelled to do so. Remember that, as it is
2:55:46
a shame to be surprised if the fig tree produces figs, so it is
2:55:52
to be surprised if the world produces such and such things of which it is
2:55:56
productive. And for the position and the helmsman, it is a shame to
2:56:03
be surprised if a man has a fever, or if the wind if unfavorable.
2:56:13
Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error,
2:56:18
is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error,
2:56:22
For it is thy own the activity which is exerted according to thy own movement
2:56:28
and judgment, and indeed according to thy own understanding, too. If a
2:56:37
thing is in thy own power, Why dost thou do it? But if
2:56:41
it is in the power of another home, dost thou blame the atoms chance
2:56:48
or the gods? Both are foolish. Thou must blame nobody. For if
2:56:54
thou canst correct, what is the cause? But if thou canst not do
2:57:00
this, correct at least the thing itself. But if thou canst not do
2:57:05
even this, of what use it to thee to find fault? For nothing
2:57:11
should be done without a purpose. That which has died falls not out of
2:57:20
the universe. If it stays here, it also changes here and is dissolved
2:57:26
into its proper parts, which are elements of the universe and of thyself.
2:57:31
And these two change, and they murmur, Not everything exists for some end?
2:57:41
A horse of mine? Why dost thou wonder? Even the Sun will
2:57:46
say I am for some purpose, and the rest of the gods will say
2:57:50
the same. For what purpose? Then art thou to enjoy pleasure? See?
2:57:58
If common sense allows this, Nature has had regard in everything, no
2:58:05
less to the end than to the beginning and the continuance. Just like the
2:58:11
man who throws up the ball, What good is it, then for the
2:58:15
ball to be thrown up or harmed for it to come down, or even
2:58:20
to have fallen. And what good is it to the bubble while it holds
2:58:24
together, or what harm when it is burst? The same may be said
2:58:28
of a light. Also, turn it the body inside out, and see
2:58:37
what kind of thing it is, and when it has grown old, what
2:58:41
kind of thing it becomes, And when it is diseased short lived? Are
2:58:46
both the praiser and the praised, and the rememberer and the remembered, And
2:58:54
all this in a nook of this part of the world. And not even
2:58:58
here do all agree, know not anyone with himself, and the whole earth
2:59:03
too is a point attend to the matter which is before thee, whether it
2:59:13
is an opinion or an act or a word. Thou sufferest this justly,
2:59:20
for thou choosest rather to become good tomorrow than to be good today. Am
2:59:28
I doing anything? I do it with reference to the good of mankind?
2:59:35
Does anything happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the Gods
2:59:41
and the source of all things from which all that happens is derived, such
2:59:50
as bathing appears to THEE, oil, sweat, dirt, fill the water,
2:59:56
all things disgusting so is every part of life and everything. Lucilla saw
3:00:05
Verus die, and then Lucilla died. Secunda saw Maximus die, and then
3:00:13
Secunda died. Epitecanus saw Diotimus die, and then Epiicanus died. Antoninus saw
3:00:24
Faustina die, and then Antoninus died, such as everything. Kaylor saw Hadrianas
3:00:31
die, and then Kaylor died. And those sharp witted men, either seers
3:00:37
or men inflated with pride, where are they? For instance, the sharp
3:00:43
witted men Charex and Demetrius the Platonist, and you, Diamond, and anyone
3:00:50
else like them, all ephemeral, dead long ago, Some indeed have not
3:00:58
been remembered even for a short time, And others have become the heroes of
3:01:03
fables, and again others have disappeared, even from fables. Remember this,
3:01:09
then, that this little compound thyself must either be dissolved, or thy poor
3:01:16
breath must be extinguished, or be removed and placed elsewhere. It is satisfaction
3:01:26
to a man to do the proper works of a man. Now, it
3:01:30
is a proper work of a man to be benevolent to his own kind,
3:01:35
to despise the movements of the senses, to form a just judgment of plausible
3:01:39
appearances, and to take a survey of the nature of the universe and of
3:01:45
the things which happen in it. There are three relations between THEE and other
3:01:54
things, the one to the body which surrounds THEE, the other to the
3:02:00
divine cause from which all things come to all, and the third to those
3:02:05
who live with THEE. Pain is either an evil to the body, then
3:02:13
let the body say what it thinks of it, or to the soul.
3:02:18
But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and
3:02:24
tranquility, and not to think that pain is an evil. For every judgment
3:02:30
and movement and desire and aversion is within, and no evil as sense so
3:02:35
high, wipe out thy imaginations by often saying to thyself, now, it
3:02:45
is in my power to let no badness be in this soul, nor desire,
3:02:50
nor any perturbation at all. But looking at all things, I see
3:02:56
what is their nature, and I use each according to its value. Remember
3:03:01
this power which thou hast from nature. Speak both in the Senate and to
3:03:11
every man, whoever he may be, appropriately, not with any affectation,
3:03:18
use plain discourse. Augustus court wife daughter, descendants, ancestors. Sister Agrippa
3:03:33
Kinsman intimates friends areas machinas, physicians, and sacrificing priests. The whole court
3:03:43
is dead. Then turn to the rest, not considering the death of a
3:03:48
single man, but of a whole race, as of the Pompeii, and
3:03:52
that which is inscribed on the tombs, the last of his race. Then
3:03:58
consider what trouble thee before them have had that they might leave a successor,
3:04:03
And then that of necessity someone must be the last. Again, here consider
3:04:11
the death of a whole race. It is thy duty to order thy life
3:04:20
well in every single act, And if every act does its duty as far
3:04:24
as is possible, be content, and no one is able to hinder thee,
3:04:30
so that each act shall not do its duty. But something external will
3:04:35
stand in the way. Nothing will stand in the way of thy acting justly
3:04:41
and soberly and considerately. But perhaps some other active power will be hindered well.
3:04:48
But by acquiescing in the hindrance, and by being content to transfer thy
3:04:52
efforts to that which is allowed, another opportunity of action is immediately put before
3:04:58
them in place of that which was hindered, And one will adapt itself to
3:05:05
this ordering of which we are speaking, receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance,
3:05:16
and be ready to let it go. If thou didst ever see a hand
3:05:24
cut off, or a foot or a head lying anywhere apart from the rest
3:05:28
of the body, Which does a man make himself as far as he can,
3:05:33
who is not content with what happens, and separates himself from others,
3:05:39
or does anything unsocial? Suppose that thou hast detached thyself from the natural unity,
3:05:48
for thou wast made by nature apart. But now thou hast cut thyself
3:05:52
off. Yet here there is this beautiful provision that it is in thy power
3:06:00
again to unite thyself. God has allowed this to no other part, after
3:06:05
it has been separated and cut asunder, to come together again. But consider
3:06:11
the kindness by which he has distinguished man. For he has put it in
3:06:16
his power not to be separated at all from the Universal. And when he
3:06:20
has been separated, he has allowed him to return and to be united,
3:06:26
and to resume his place as a part. As the nature of the Universal
3:06:35
has given to every rational being all the other powers that it has, so
3:06:39
we have received from it this power also, for as the universal nature converts
3:06:46
and fixes in its predestined place everything which stands in the way and opposes it,
3:06:52
and makes such things a part of itself. So also the rational animal
3:06:58
is able to make every hit drance its own material, and to use it
3:07:03
for such purposes as it may have designed. Do not disturb thyself by thinking
3:07:13
of the whole of thy life. Let not thy thoughts at once embrace all
3:07:18
the various troubles which thou mayst expect to befall thee. But on every occasion
3:07:24
ask thyself, what is there in this which is intolerable and past bearing?
3:07:30
For thou wilt be ashamed to confess In the next place, Remember that neither
3:07:35
the future nor the past pains THEE, but only the present. But this
3:07:41
is reduced to a very little if thou only circumscribest it and chidest thy mind,
3:07:46
if it is unable to hold out against even this. Does Panthea or
3:07:56
Pergamus now sit by the tomb of Vera? Does Charius or Diomitus sit by
3:08:03
the tomb of Hadrianus? That would be ridiculous. Well, suppose they did
3:08:09
sit there, would the dead be conscious of it? And if the dead
3:08:13
were conscious, would they be pleased. And if they were pleased, would
3:08:18
that make them immortal? Was it not in the order of destiny that these
3:08:24
persons should first become old women and old men, and then die? What
3:08:30
then would those do after these were dead? All this is foul smell and
3:08:35
blood in a bag. If thou canst see, sharp, look and judge
3:08:43
wisely, says the philosopher in the Constitution of the rational animal, I see
3:08:50
no virtue which is opposed to justice. But I see a virtue which is
3:08:54
opposed to love of pleasure, and that is temperance. If thou takest awigh
3:09:05
thy opinion about that which appears to give thee pain, now thyself standest in
3:09:11
perfect security. Who is this self the reason? But I am not reason?
3:09:18
Be it? So Let then the reason itself not trouble itself. But
3:09:24
if any other part of these suffers, let it have its own opinion about
3:09:28
itself. Hindrance to the perceptions of sense is an evil to the animal nature.
3:09:37
Hindrance to the movements desires is equally an evil to the animal nature.
3:09:45
And something else also is equally an impediment and evil to the constitution of plants.
3:09:52
So then that which is a hindrance to the intelligence is an evil to
3:09:56
the intelligent nature. All these things to thyself. Does pain or sensuous pleasure
3:10:03
affect THEE? The senses will look to that as any obstacle opposed THEE in
3:10:09
thy efforts toward an object. If indeed thou wast making this effort absolutely unconditionally
3:10:18
or without any reservation, certainly this obstacle isn't evil to THEE considered as a
3:10:24
rational animal. But if thou takest into consideration the usual course of things,
3:10:30
thou hast not yet been injured or even impeded. The things, however,
3:10:35
which are proper to the understanding, no other man is used to impede.
3:10:41
For neither fire, nor iron, nor tyrant, nor purse touches it in
3:10:46
any way. When it has been made a sphere, it continues a sphere.
3:10:58
It is not fit that I should give myself pain, or I have
3:11:03
never intentionally given pain even to another. Different things delight different people. But
3:11:13
it is my delight to keep the ruling faculty sound, without turning either from
3:11:18
any man or from any of the things which happen to men, but looking
3:11:22
at and receiving all with welcome eyes, and using everything according to its nature.
3:11:33
See that thou secure this present time to thyself. For those who rather
3:11:37
pursue posthumous fame, do not consider that the men of after time will be
3:11:43
exactly such as these whom they cannot bear now, and both are mortal.
3:11:50
And what is it in any way to the if these men of after time
3:11:54
utter this or that sound, or have this or that opinion about thee Take
3:12:03
me and cast me where thou wilt, For there I shall keep my divine
3:12:07
part tranquil, that is content, if it can feel and act comfortably to
3:12:11
its proper constitution. Is this change of place sufficient reason why man my soul
3:12:20
should be unhappy and worse than it was depressed and expanded, shrinking affrighted.
3:12:26
And what wilt thou find which is sufficient reason for this? Nothing can happen
3:12:33
to any man which is not human accident, nor to an ox which is
3:12:39
not according to the nature of an ox, nor to vine which is not
3:12:43
according to the nature of a vine, nor to a stone which is not
3:12:46
proper to a stone. If then there happens to each thing both what is
3:12:52
usual and natural, Why shouldst thou complain? For the common nature brings nothing
3:12:58
which may not be borne by If thou art pain by any external thing,
3:13:07
it is not this that disturbs THEE, but by thy own judgment about it.
3:13:11
And it is in thy power to wipe out disjudgment. Now. But
3:13:16
if anything in thy own disposition gives THEE pain, who hinders THEE from correcting
3:13:20
thy opinion? And even if thou art pain because thou art not doing some
3:13:26
particular thing which seems to THEE to be right, why dost thou not rather
3:13:31
act than complain? But some insuperable obstacle is in the way. Do not
3:13:37
be grieved then, for the cause of its not being done depends not on
3:13:41
THEE. But it is not worthwhile to live if this cannot be done.
3:13:48
Take thy departure, then from life contentedly, just as he dies, who
3:13:52
is in full activity and well pleased to with the things which are obstacles.
3:14:01
Remember that the ruling faculty is invincible. When self collected, it is satisfied
3:14:07
with itself if it does nothing which it does not choose to do, even
3:14:11
if it resists from mere obstinacy, what then will it be when it forms
3:14:18
a judgment about anything, aided by reason and deliberately. Therefore, the mind
3:14:24
which is freedom from passions, is a citadel. For man has nothing more
3:14:28
secure to which he can fly for refuge and for the future to be inexpungible.
3:14:35
He then, who has not seen this, is an ignorant man.
3:14:39
But he who has seen it and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy.
3:14:48
Say nothing more to thyself than what the first appearances report. Suppose that
3:14:52
it has been reported to THEE that a certain person speaks ill of THEE.
3:14:58
This has been reported, Or that thou hast been injured, this has not
3:15:01
been reported. I see that my child is sick, I do see,
3:15:07
but that he is in danger I do not see. Thus, then,
3:15:11
always abide by the permanent appearances, and add nothing thyself from within. And
3:15:16
when nothing happens to THEE, or rather add something like a man who knows
3:15:22
everything that happens in the world. A cucumber is bitter, throw it away.
3:15:31
There are briars in the road, turn aside from them. This is
3:15:35
enough. Do not add? And why were such things made in the world?
3:15:41
For thou wilt be ridiculed by a man who is acquainted with nature,
3:15:45
as thou wi'st be ridiculed by a carpenter, and a shoemaker, if thou
3:15:48
didst find fault, because thou seest in their workshops savings and cuttings from which
3:15:54
they make, And yet they have places into which they can throw these shavings
3:15:58
and cuttings. And the universal nature has no external space. But the wondrous
3:16:03
part of her art is that though she has circumscribed herself everything within her which
3:16:09
appears to decay and to grow old, and to be useless, she changes
3:16:15
into herself and again makes new things from these very same, so that she
3:16:20
requires neither substance from without, nor wants a place into which she may cast
3:16:26
that which delays. She is content then with her own space, and her
3:16:31
own matter, and her own heart. Neither in thy actions be sluggish,
3:16:39
nor in thy conversation without method, nor wandering in thy thoughts, nor let
3:16:46
there be in thy soul inward contention or external effusion, nor in life be
3:16:52
so busy as to leave no pleasure. Suppose that men kill thee, cut
3:16:58
thee in pieces, curse thee, What then can these things do to prevent
3:17:05
thy mind from remaining pure wise sober? Just for instance, if a man
3:17:11
should stand by olympid pure spring and curse it the spring never ceases setting up
3:17:16
potable water, and if he should cast clay into it or filth, it
3:17:22
will speedily disperse them and wash them out, and will not be at all
3:17:26
polluted. How then, shalt thou possess a perpetual fountain and not a mere
3:17:31
wall. By forming thyself hourly to freedom, conjoin with contentment, simplicity,
3:17:37
and modesty. He who does not know what the world is does not know
3:17:46
where he is. And he who does not know for what purpose the world
3:17:52
exists does not know who he is nor what the world is. But he
3:17:58
who has failed in any of these things could not even say for what purpose
3:18:03
he exists himself. What then dost thou think of him who avoids or seeks
3:18:09
the praise of those who applaud of men who know not either where they are
3:18:13
or who they are? Dost thou wish to be praised by a man who
3:18:20
curses himself thrice every hour? Wouldst thou wish to please a man who does
3:18:24
not please himself? Does a man please himself who repents of nearly everything that
3:18:31
he does? No longer let thy breathing only act in contact with the air
3:18:39
which surrounds thee, But let thy intelligence also now be in harmony with the
3:18:45
intelligence which embraces all things. For the intelligent power is no less diffused in
3:18:50
all parts, and pervades all things from him who is willing to draw it
3:18:54
to him, than the aerial power for him who is able to respire it.
3:19:03
Generally, wickedness does no harm at all to the universe, and particularly
3:19:07
the wickedness of one man does no harm or another. It is only harmful
3:19:13
to him who has it in his power to be released from it, as
3:19:16
soon as he shall choose to my own free will, The free will of
3:19:24
my neighbor is just as indifferent as his poor health and flesh. For though
3:19:30
we are made especially for the sake of one another, still the ruling power
3:19:35
of each of us has its own office, For otherwise my neighbour's wickedness would
3:19:39
be my harm, which God has not willed, in order that my unhappiness
3:19:45
might not depend on another. The son appears to be poured down, and
3:19:54
in all directions, indeed it is diffused, Yet it is not diffused,
3:20:00
for this diffusion is extension. Accordingly, its rays are called extensions Greek,
3:20:05
because they are extended Greek. But one may judge what kind of a thing
3:20:11
array is if he looks at the night's light passing through a narrow opening into
3:20:16
a darkened room. For it is extended in a right line, and as
3:20:22
it were, is divided when it meets with any solid body which stands in
3:20:26
the way and intercepts the air beyond. But there the light remains fixed and
3:20:31
does not glide or fall. Such then ought to be the outpouring and affection
3:20:35
of the understanding, and it should in no way be an effusion, but
3:20:41
an extension. And it should make no violent or impetuous collision with the obstacles
3:20:46
which are in its way, or yet fall down, but be fixed and
3:20:52
enlightened that which receives it. For a body will deprive itself of the illumination
3:20:58
if it does not admit it. He who fears death either fears the loss
3:21:05
of sensation or a different kind of sensation. But if thou shalt have no
3:21:11
sensation, neither will thou feel any harm. And if thou shalt acquire another
3:21:16
kind of sensation, thou wilt be a kind of living being who will not
3:21:22
cease. Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them, then,
3:21:31
or bear with them in one way. An arrow moves in another way
3:21:37
the mind. The mind, indeed, both when it exercises caution and when
3:21:43
it is employed about iniquity, moves straight onward, not the less, and
3:21:50
to its object, enter into every man's ruling faculty, and also let every
3:21:58
other man enter in. He who acts unjustly acts impiously. For since the
3:22:07
universal nature has made rational animals for the sake of one another, to help
3:22:11
one another according to their deserts, but in no way to injure one another,
3:22:16
he who transgresses her will is clearly guilty of impiety towards the highest divinity.
3:22:24
And he too, who lies, is guilty of impiety to the same
3:22:28
divinity. For the universal nature is the nature of things that are, and
3:22:33
things that are have a relation to all things that come into existence. And
3:22:41
further, this universal nature is named truth, and is the prime cause of
3:22:46
all things that are true. He, then, who lies intentionally, is
3:22:52
guilty of impiety inasmuch as he acts unjustly by deceiving. And he who also
3:23:01
lies unintentionally inasmuch as he is at variance with the universal nature, and inasmuch
3:23:07
as he disturbs the order by fighting against the nature of the world. For
3:23:13
he fights against it, who is moved of himself to that which is contrary
3:23:16
to truth, for he had received powers from nature through the neglect of which
3:23:22
he is not able now to distinguish falsehood from truth. And indeed, he
3:23:26
who pursues pleasure as good and avoids pain as evil, is guilty of impiety,
3:23:33
for of necessity. Such a man must often find fault with the universal
3:23:39
nature, alleging that it assigns things to the bad and the good, contrary
3:23:43
to their deserts, because frequently the bad are in the enjoyment of pleasure and
3:23:48
possess the things which procure pleasure. But the good have pain for their share,
3:23:54
and the things which cause pain. And further, he who is afraid
3:23:58
of pain will sometimes also be afraid of some things which will happen in the
3:24:03
world. And even this is impiety. And he who pursues pleasure will not
3:24:09
abstain from injustice. And this is plainly impiety. Now with respect to the
3:24:15
things toward which the universal nature is equally affected, for it would not have
3:24:20
made both unless it was equally affected towards both. Towards these, they who
3:24:26
wish to follow nature should be of the same mind with it, and equally
3:24:31
affected with respect to pain, then and pleasure, or death, and life,
3:24:37
or honor, and dishonor which the universal nature employs equally. Whoever is
3:24:43
not equally affected is manifestly acting impiously. And I say that the universal nature
3:24:50
employs them equally, instead of saying that they are. They happen alike to
3:24:56
those who are produced in continuous series, and to those who come after them,
3:25:01
by virtue of a certain original movement of providence, according to which it
3:25:07
moved from a certain being to this ordering of things, having conceived certain principles
3:25:13
of the things which were to be, and having determined powers productive of beings
3:25:18
and of changes, and of such like successions. It would be a man's
3:25:26
happiest lot to depart from mankind without having had any taste of lying and hypocrisy
3:25:33
and luxury and pride. However, to breathe out one's life when a man
3:25:37
has had enough of these things is the next best voyage, As the saying
3:25:41
is hast thou determined to abide with vice, and has not experience yet induced
3:25:50
thee to fly from this pestilence, For the destruction of the understanding is a
3:25:54
pestilence much more indeed than any such corruption and change of this atmosphere which surrounds
3:26:01
us. For this corruption is a pestilence of animals, so far as they
3:26:05
are animals, but the other is a pestilence of men, so far as
3:26:11
they are men. Do not despise death, but be well content with it,
3:26:20
since this too is one of those things which nature wills for, such
3:26:24
as it is to be young, and to grow old, and to increase,
3:26:28
and to reach maturity, and to have teeth and beard and gray hairs,
3:26:33
and to beget and be pregnant, and to bring forth, and all
3:26:39
the other natural operations which the seasons of thy life bring. Such also is
3:26:45
dissolution. This, then, is consistent with the character of a reflecting man,
3:26:50
to be neither careless, nor impatient, nor contemptuous with respect to death,
3:26:56
but to wait for it as one of the operations of nature. As
3:27:01
thou now waitest for the time when the child shall come out of thy wife's
3:27:05
womb, so be ready for the time when thy soul shall fall out of
3:27:09
this envelope. But if thou requirest also a vulgar kind of comfort which shall
3:27:16
reach thy heart, thou wilt be made best reconciled to death by observing the
3:27:22
objects from which thou art going to be removed, and the morals of those
3:27:26
with whom thy soul will no longer be mingled. For it is no way
3:27:31
right to be offended with men, but it is thy duty to care for
3:27:35
them and to bear with them gently, And yet to remember that thy departure
3:27:41
will be not from men who have the same principles as thyself. For this
3:27:46
is the only thing, if there be any which could draw us the contrary
3:27:52
way and attach us to life, to be permitted to live with those who
3:27:56
have the same principles as ourselves. But now thou seest how great is the
3:28:03
trouble arising from the discordance of those who live together, So that thou mayst
3:28:09
say, come quick, o death, lest perchance I too should forget myself.
3:28:18
He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly acts
3:28:26
unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad. He often acts unjustly who
3:28:35
does not do a certain thing, not only he who does a certain thing.
3:28:43
Thy present opinion founded on understanding, and thy present conduct directed to social
3:28:50
good, and thy present disposition of contentment with everything which happens. That is
3:28:58
enough wipe out imagination, check desire, extinguish appetite, keep the ruling faculty
3:29:11
in its own power. Among the animals which have not reason, one life
3:29:20
is distributed, but among reasonable animals, one intelligent soul is distributed. Just
3:29:26
as there is one earth of all things which are of an earthly nature,
3:29:31
and we see by one light and breathe one air, all of us that
3:29:35
have the faculty of vision, and all that have life, All things which
3:29:46
participate in anything which is common to them, all move towards that which is
3:29:50
of the same kind with themselves. Everything which is earthly turns toward the earth.
3:29:58
Everything which is liquid flow together, and everything which is of an aerial
3:30:03
kind does the same, so that they require something to keep them asunder.
3:30:07
And the application of force. Fire indeed moves upwards on account of the elemental
3:30:15
fire. But it is so ready to be kindled together with all the fire
3:30:18
which is here, that even every substance which is somewhat dry is easily ignited,
3:30:26
because there is less mingled with it of that which is a hindrance to
3:30:30
ignition. Accordingly than everything also which participates in the common intelligent nature, moves
3:30:37
in like manner towards that which is of the same kind with itself, or
3:30:41
moves even more. For so much as it is superior in comparison with all
3:30:48
other things in the same degree, also it is more ready to mingle with
3:30:52
and to be refused with, that which is akin to it. Accordingly,
3:30:58
among animals devoid of reason, we find swarms of bees, and herds of
3:31:01
cattle, and the nurture of young birds, and in a manner loves.
3:31:07
For even in animals there are souls, and that power which brings them together
3:31:13
is seen to exert itself in the superior degree, and in such a way
3:31:16
as never has been observed in plants, or in stones, or in trees.
3:31:22
But in rational animals there are political communities, and friendships and families,
3:31:28
and meetings of people, and in wars, treaties and armistices. But in
3:31:33
the things which are still superior, even though they are separated from one another,
3:31:39
unity in a manner exists, as in the stars. Thus the ascent
3:31:43
to the higher degree is able to produce a sympathy even in things which are
3:31:48
separated. See then what now takes place, For only intelligent animals have now
3:31:56
forgotten this mutual desire and inclination, and in them alone the property of flowing
3:32:01
together is not seen. But still, though men strive to avoid this union,
3:32:07
they are caught and held by it, for their nature is too strong
3:32:11
for them. And thou wilt see what I say, if thou only observest,
3:32:18
sooner than will one find anything earthy which comes in contact with no earthy
3:32:22
thing than a man altogether separated from other men. Both man and God and
3:32:33
the universe produce fruit at the proper seasons each produces it. But if usage
3:32:39
has especially fixed these terms to the vine, and like things, this is
3:32:45
nothing. Reason produces fruit both for all and for itself, and there are
3:32:50
produced from it other things of the same kind as reason itself. If thou
3:33:01
art able correct by teaching those who do wrong, But if thou canst not
3:33:05
remember that indulgence is given to THEE for this purpose, and the gods too
3:33:11
are indulgent to such persons, and for some purposes they even help them to
3:33:16
get health, wealth, reputation. So kind they are, and it is
3:33:22
in thy power also. Or say, who hinders thee labor not as one
3:33:31
who is wretched, nor yet as one who would be pitied or admired,
3:33:37
but direct thy will to one thing, only to put thyself in motion and
3:33:41
to check thyself, as the social reason requires. To day, I have
3:33:50
got out of all trouble, or rather I have cast out all trouble,
3:33:54
for it was not outside but within. And in my opinions, all things
3:34:03
are the same, familiar, inexperience and ephemeral in time, and worthless in
3:34:09
the matter. Everything now is just as it was in the time of those
3:34:16
whom we have buried. Things stand outside of us, themselves by themselves,
3:34:26
neither knowing aught of themselves, nor expressing any judgment. What is it,
3:34:31
then, which does judge about them? The ruling faculty, not in passivity,
3:34:43
but in activity, lie the evil and the good of the rational social
3:34:46
animal, just as his virtue and his vice lie not in passivity but in
3:34:52
activity. For the stone which has been thrown up, it is no evil
3:35:01
to come down, nor indeed any good to have been carried up. Penetrate
3:35:11
inwards into men's leading principles. And thou wilt see what judges thou art afraid
3:35:16
of, and what kind of judges they are of themselves. All things are
3:35:24
changing, and thou thyself art in continuous mutation, and in a manner in
3:35:31
continuous destruction, and the whole universe too, it is thy duty to leave
3:35:41
another man's wrongful act there where it is termination of activity, cessation from movement
3:35:52
and opinion. And in a sense, their death is no evil. Turn
3:35:58
thy thoughts now to the considerate of thy life, thy life as a child,
3:36:03
as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age. For in these
3:36:07
also every change was a death. Is anything to fear? Turn thy thoughts
3:36:15
now to thy life under thy grandfather, then to thy life under thy mother,
3:36:20
then to thy life under thy father. As thou findest many other differences
3:36:26
and changes in terminations, ask thyself, is this anything to fear? In
3:36:33
like manner? Then neither are the termination and cessation and change of thy whole
3:36:39
life a thing to be afraid of. Hasten to examine thy own ruling faculty,
3:36:48
and that of the universe, and that of thy neighbor, Thy own,
3:36:52
that thou mayest make it just, and that of the universe, that
3:36:56
thou mayst remember of what thou art upon art, and that of thy neighbor,
3:37:01
that thou mayest know whether he has acted ignorantly or with knowledge, And
3:37:07
that thou mayest also consider that his ruling faculty is akin to thine, as
3:37:16
thou art thyself a component part of a social system. So let every act
3:37:24
of thine be a component part of social life. Whatever act of thine then
3:37:28
has no reference, either immediately or remotely to a social end, this tears
3:37:35
asunder thy life and does not allow it to be one, and is of
3:37:39
the nature of a mutiny. Just as when in a popular assembly a man
3:37:46
acting by himself stands apart from the general agreement, quarrels of little children and
3:37:54
their sports, and poor spirits caring about dead bodies. Such ething, and
3:38:01
so what is exhibited in the representation of the mansions of the dead strikes our
3:38:07
eyes more clearly. Examine into the quality of the form of an object,
3:38:16
and detach it altogether from its material part, and then contemplate it. Then
3:38:22
determine the time the longest which a thing of this peculiar form is naturally made
3:38:30
to endure. Thou hast endured infinite troubles through not being contented with thy ruling
3:38:41
faculty when it does the things which it is constituted by nature to do.
3:38:48
But enough of this, when another blames thee or hates THEE. Or when
3:38:56
men say about THEE anything injurious, approach their poor souls. Penetrate within,
3:39:05
and see what kind of men they are. Thou wilt discover that there is
3:39:09
no reason to take any trouble that these men may have this or that opinion
3:39:15
about THEE. However, thou must be well disposed towards them, for by
3:39:20
nature they are friends, and the gods too aid them in all ways,
3:39:26
by dreams, by signs, toward the attainment of those things on which they
3:39:31
set a value. The periodic movements of the universe are the same, up
3:39:43
and down from age to age. And either the universal intelligence puts itself in
3:39:48
motion for every separate effect, and if this is so, be thou content
3:39:54
with that which is the result of its activity, Or it puts itself in
3:39:58
motion once, and everything else comes by way of sequence in a manner.
3:40:03
Or indivisible elements are the origin of all things. In a word, if
3:40:09
there is a God, all is well, and if chance rules do not
3:40:13
thou also be governed by it. Soon will the earth cover us all?
3:40:20
Then the earth too will change, and the things also which result from change
3:40:26
will continue to change forever. And these again forever. For if a man
3:40:31
reflects on the changes in transformations which follow one another, like wave after wave,
3:40:37
and their rapidity, he will despise everything which is perishable. The universal
3:40:48
cause is like a winter torrent. It carries everything along with it. But
3:40:54
how worthless are all these poor people who are engaged in matters political, and,
3:40:58
as they suppose our playing the philosopher, all are drivellers. Well,
3:41:05
then, man, do what nature now requires. Set thyself in motion if
3:41:11
it is in thy power, and do not look about thee to see if
3:41:15
anyone will observe it, nor yet expect Plato's republic. But be content if
3:41:20
the smallest thing goes on, well, and consider such an event to be
3:41:24
no small matter. For who can change men's opinions? And without a change
3:41:30
of opinions, what else is there than the slavery of men who groan while
3:41:35
they pretend to obey. Come now and tell me of Alexander and Philippus and
3:41:41
Demetrius and Philarum. They themselves shall judge whether they discovered what the common nature
3:41:46
required and trained themselves accordingly. But if they acted like tragedy heroes, no
3:41:54
one has condemned me to imitate them. Simple and modest is the work ofhilosophy.
3:42:01
Draw me not aside to insolence and pride. Look down from above on
3:42:09
the countless herds of men and their countless solemnities, and the infinity varied voyagings
3:42:16
into storms and calms, and the differences among those who are born, who
3:42:22
live together and die. And consider too the life lived by others in olden
3:42:26
time, and the life of those who will live after THEE, and the
3:42:31
life now lived among barbaroused nations. And how many know not even thy name,
3:42:37
and how many will soon forget it, And how they who perhaps now
3:42:43
are praising THEE will very soon blame THEE. And that neither a posthumous name
3:42:48
is of any value, nor reputation, nor anything else. Let there be
3:42:58
freedom from perturbations with respect to the things which come from the external cause.
3:43:05
And let there be justice in the things done by virtue of the internal cause.
3:43:09
That is, let there be movement and action terminating in this in social
3:43:15
acts, for this is according to thy nature. Thou canst remove out of
3:43:26
the way many useless things among those which disturb THEE, for they lie entirely
3:43:31
in thy opinion. And thou wilt then gain for thyself ample space by comprehending
3:43:37
the whole universe in thy mind, and by contemplating the eternity of time and
3:43:43
observing the rapid change of every several things. How short is the time from
3:43:48
birth to dissolution, and the illimitable time before birth, as well as the
3:43:54
equally boundless time after dissolution. All that thou seest will quickly perish, and
3:44:05
those who have been spectators of its dissolution will very soon perish too. And
3:44:11
he who dies at the extremest old age will be brought into the same condition
3:44:16
with him who died prematurely. What are these men's leading principles? And about
3:44:26
what kind of things are they busy? And for what kind of reasons do
3:44:31
they love and honor? Imagine that thou seest their poor souls laid bare when
3:44:37
they think that they do harm by their blame or good by their praise.
3:44:43
What an idea loss? Is nothing else than change? But the universal nature
3:44:52
delights in change, and in obedience to her. All things are now done
3:44:56
well, and from eternity have been done in like form, and will be
3:45:01
done to such time without end. What then, dost thou say that all
3:45:07
things have been and all things always will be bad, and that no power
3:45:11
has ever been found in so many gods to rectify these things. But the
3:45:16
world has been condemned to be bound in never ceasing evil, the rottenness of
3:45:26
the matter which is the foundation of everything, water, dust, bones,
3:45:31
filth, or again marble, rocks, the callosities of the earth, and
3:45:37
gold and silver, and sediments and garments. Only bits of hair and purple
3:45:45
dye, blood and everything else is of the same kind. And that which
3:45:50
is of the nature of breath is also another thing of the same kind.
3:45:54
Changing from this to that. Enough of this wretched life and murmurings and apish
3:46:03
tricks. Why art thou disturbed? What is there new in this? What
3:46:09
unsettles thee? Is it the form of the thing? Look at it?
3:46:15
Or is it the matter? Look at it? But besides these there is
3:46:20
nothing Toward the gods. Then now become at last more simple and better.
3:46:26
It is the same whether we examine these things for a hundred years or three.
3:46:35
If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But
3:46:39
perhaps he has not done wrong either. All things proceed from one intelligent source
3:46:50
and come together as in one body, and the part ought not to find
3:46:54
fault with what is done for the benefit of the whole, or there are
3:46:58
only atoms and nothing else than mixture and dispersion. Why then, art thou
3:47:05
disturbed, say to the ruling faculty, Art thou dead, Art thou corrupted?
3:47:11
Art thou playing the hypocrite? Art thou become a beast? Dost thou
3:47:15
herd and feed with the rest. Either the gods have no power, or
3:47:24
they have power. If then they have no power, why dost thou pray
3:47:30
to them? But if they have power, why dost thou not pray for
3:47:33
them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou
3:47:37
fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest, or
3:47:43
not being pained at anything, rather than pray that any of these things should
3:47:48
not happen or happen. For certainly, if they can cooperate with men,
3:47:52
they can cooperate for these purposes. But perhaps thou wilt say, the gods
3:47:58
have placed them in thy power. Well, then is it not better to
3:48:03
use what is in thy power like a free man than to desire in a
3:48:07
slavish and abject way what is not in thy power? And who has told
3:48:13
thee that the gods do not aid us even in the things which are in
3:48:16
our power. Begin then to pray for such things, and thou wilt see
3:48:22
one man praise? Thus, how shall I be able to lie with that
3:48:26
woman? Do thou praise? Thus? How shall I not desire to lie
3:48:31
with her? Another? Praise? Thus? How shall I be released from
3:48:35
this? Another praise? How shall I not desire to be released another?
3:48:41
Thus? How shall I not lose my little son? Thou? Thus?
3:48:46
How shall I not be afraid to lose him? In turn? Turn thy
3:48:52
prayers this way and see what comes? Epicurus says, in my sickness,
3:49:03
my conversation was not about my bodily sufferings, Nor says he, did I
3:49:07
talk on such subjects to those who visited me. But I continued to discourse
3:49:13
on the nature of things as before, keeping to this main point, how
3:49:18
the mind, while participating in such movements as go on in the poor flesh,
3:49:24
shall be free from perturbations and maintain its proper good. Nor did I,
3:49:31
he says, give the physicians an opportunity of putting on solemn looks as
3:49:35
if they were doing something great. But my life went on well and happily,
3:49:39
do then the same that he did, both in sickness, if thou
3:49:43
art sick, and in any other circumstances. For never to desert philosophy in
3:49:48
any events that may befall us, nor to hold trifling talk, either with
3:49:54
an ignorant man or with one unacquainted with nature, is a principle of all
3:49:58
schools of philosophy. But to be intent only on that which thou art now
3:50:05
doing, and on the instrument by which thou dost it. When thou art
3:50:16
offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately ask thyself, is it possible then,
3:50:22
that shameless men should not be in the world? It is not possible.
3:50:28
Do then, require what is impossible, For this man also is one
3:50:35
of those shameless men who must, of necessity be in the world. Let
3:50:41
the same considerations be present to thy mind in the case of the nave and
3:50:46
the faithless man, and of every man who does wrong in any way.
3:50:50
For at the same time that thou dost remind thyself that it is impossible that
3:50:54
such kind of men should not exist, thou wilt become more kindly disposed toward
3:51:00
everyone individually. It is useful to perceive this too immediately when the occasion arises
3:51:07
that virtue Nature has given to man to oppose to every wrongful act. For
3:51:13
she has given to man as an antidote against the stupid man mildness, and
3:51:18
against another kind of man some other power. And in all cases it is
3:51:24
possible for THEE to correct thy teaching the man who is gone astray, For
3:51:30
every man who errs misses his object that has gone astray. Besides, wherein
3:51:35
hast thou been injured? For thou wilt find that no one among those against
3:51:39
whom thou art irritated, has done anything by which thy mind could be made
3:51:46
worse. But that which is evil to THEE and harmful has its foundation only
3:51:50
in the mind. And what harm is done, or what is there strange?
3:51:56
If the man who has not been instructed does the acts of an unsay
3:52:00
instructed man, Consider whether thou shouldst not rather blame thyself, because thou didst
3:52:05
not expect such a man to err in such a way. But thou hast
3:52:09
means given THEE by thy reason to suppose that it was likely that he would
3:52:15
commit this error. And yet thou hast forgotten and art amazed that he has
3:52:20
ered. But most of all, when thou blamest him as a father or
3:52:24
ungrateful, turn thyself, for the fault is manifestly thy own, whether thou
3:52:31
didst trust that a man who had such a disposition would keep his promise,
3:52:37
or when conferring thy kindness, thou didst not confer it absolutely, nor yet
3:52:41
in such a way as to have received from thy very act all a profit.
3:52:46
For what more dost thou want when thou hast done a man of service?
3:52:52
Art thou not content that thou hast done something comfortable to thy nature?
3:52:58
And dost thou seek to be paid for it, just as if the eye
3:53:01
demanded a recompense for seeing, or the feet for walking. For as these
3:53:07
members are formed for a particular purpose, and by working according to their several
3:53:13
constitutions, obtain what is their own, so also as man is formed by
3:53:18
nature to acts of benevolence. When he has done anything benevolent or in any
3:53:24
other way conducive to the common interest, he has acted conformably to his constitution,
3:53:30
and he gets what is his own. Wilt thou, then my soul
3:53:35
never be good and simple and one and naked, more manifest than the body
3:53:39
which surrounds THEE. Wilt thou never enjoy an affection and contented disposition. Wilt
3:53:46
thou never be full and without a want of any kind, longing for nothing
3:53:50
more, nor desiring anything either animate or inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasures,
3:53:54
nor yet desiring time wherein thou shalt have longer enjoyment, or place,
3:53:58
or pleasant climate, or society of men with whom thou mayst live in harmony.
3:54:03
But wilt thou be satisfied with thy present condition and pleased with all that
3:54:07
is about THEE? And wilt thou convince thyself that thou hast everything, and
3:54:13
that it comes from the Gods, that everything is well for THEE, and
3:54:16
will be well whatever shall please them, and whatever they shall give for the
3:54:20
conservation of perfect living being, the good and just and beautiful, which generates
3:54:24
and holds together all things, and contains and embraces all things which are dissolved
3:54:30
for the production of other like things. Wilt thou never be such that thou
3:54:33
shalt so dwell in community with gods and men, as neither to find fault
3:54:37
with them at all, nor to be condemned by them. Two observe what
3:54:43
thy nature requires so far as thou art governed by nature, only then do
3:54:50
it and accept it. If thy nature, so far as thou art a
3:54:54
living being, shall not be made worse by it, And next thou must
3:54:58
observe what require, so far as thou art a living being, And all
3:55:03
this thou mayest allow thyself. If thy nature, so far as thou art
3:55:07
a rational animal, shall not be made worse by it, but the rational
3:55:11
animal is consequently also a political animal. Use these rules, then, and
3:55:16
trouble thyself about nothing else. Three. Everything which happens either happens in such
3:55:26
wise as thou art formed by nature to bear it, or as thou art
3:55:31
not formed by nature to bear it. If then it happens to thee in
3:55:35
such a way as thou art formed by nature to bear it, do not
3:55:37
complain, but bear it as thou art formed by nature to bear it.
3:55:41
But if it happens in such wives as thou art not formed by nature to
3:55:45
bear it, do not complain, for it will perish after it has consumed
3:55:48
thee. Remember, however, that thou art formed by nature to bear everything,
3:55:54
with respect to which it depends on thy own opinion to make it endurable.
3:55:58
And tolerable by thinking that as either thy interest or thy duty to do
3:56:01
this. Four. If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly and show
3:56:07
him as error. But if thou art not able, blame thyself, or
3:56:11
blame not even thyself. Five. Whatever may happen to THEE, it was
3:56:20
prepared for THEE from all eternity, And the implication of causes was from eternity
3:56:26
spinning the thread of thy being and of that which is incident to it.
3:56:31
Six. Whether the universe is a concourse of atoms or nature is a system,
3:56:37
let this first be established that I am part of the whole which is
3:56:41
governed by nature. Next, I am in a manner intimately related to the
3:56:45
parts which are of the same kind with myself. For remembering this, inasmuch
3:56:50
as I am a part, I shall be discontented with none of the things
3:56:54
which are assigned to me out of the hole, For nothing is injurious to
3:56:58
the part, if it is for the advantage of the whole. For the
3:57:01
whole contains nothing which is not for its advantage. And all natures indeed have
3:57:05
this common principle. But the nature of the universe has this principle. Besides
3:57:11
that it cannot be compelled, even by any external cause, to generate anything
3:57:15
harmful to itself. By remembering, then that I am part of such a
3:57:20
whole, I shall be content with everything that happens. And inasmuch as I
3:57:24
am in a manner intimately related to the parts which are of the same kind
3:57:26
with myself, I shall do nothing onsocial. But I shall rather direct myself
3:57:31
to the things which are of the same kind with myself, And I shall
3:57:35
turn all my efforts to the common interest and divert them from the contrary.
3:57:39
Now, if these things are done so, life must flow on happily,
3:57:43
just as thou mayst observed that the life of a citizen is happy who continues
3:57:48
a course of action which is advantageous to his fellow citizens, and is content
3:57:52
with whatever the state may assign to him. Seven the parts of the whole,
3:58:01
everything I mean, which is naturally comprehended in the universe, must of
3:58:05
necessity perish. But let this be understood in this sense that they must undergo
3:58:11
change. But if this is naturally both an evil and a necessity for the
3:58:16
parts, the whole would not continue to exist in a good condition, the
3:58:20
parts being subject to change and constituted so as to perish in various ways.
3:58:26
For whether did Nature herself designed to do evil to the things which are parts
3:58:30
of herself, and to make them subject to evil, and of necessity fall
3:58:33
into evil, or have such results happen without her knowing it. Both these
3:58:39
suppositions indeed are incredible. But if a man should ever drop the term nature
3:58:43
as an efficient power, and should speak of these things as natural, even
3:58:48
then it would be ridiculous to affirm at the same time that the parts of
3:58:52
the whole are in their nature subject to change, and at the same time
3:58:54
to be surprised or vexed, as if something were happening contrary to nature,
3:59:00
particularly as the dissolution of things into those things of which each thing is composed.
3:59:05
For there is either a dispersion of the elements out of which everything has
3:59:09
been compounded, or a change from the solid to the earthy, and from
3:59:13
the airy to the aerial, so that these parts are taken back into the
3:59:16
universal. Reason whether this, at certain periods is consumed by fire or renewed
3:59:20
by eternal changes. And do not imagine that the solid and the airy part
3:59:26
belonged to thee from time of generation. For all this received its accression only
3:59:31
yesterday and the day before. As one may say, from the food and
3:59:35
the air which is inspired this, then, which have received the accression,
3:59:39
changes not that which thy mother brought forth. But suppose that this which thy
3:59:43
mother brought forward implicates THEE very much with the other part, which has the
3:59:48
peculiar quality of change. This is nothing, in fact in the way of
3:59:52
objection to what is said. Eight. When thou hast assumed th names good,
4:00:00
modest, true, rational, a man of equanimity and magnanimous, take
4:00:03
care thou dost not change these names, And if thou should lose them,
4:00:07
quickly return to them. And remember that the term rational was intended to signify
4:00:13
a discriminating attention to every several thing and freedom from negligence. And that equanimity
4:00:20
is the voluntary acceptance of the things which are assigned to THEE by the common
4:00:22
nature, and that magnanimity is the elevation of the intelligent part above the pleasurable
4:00:28
or painful sensations of the flesh, and above that poor thing called fame and
4:00:33
death at all such things. If then thou maintainest thyself in the possession of
4:00:39
these names, without desiring to be called by these names by others, thou
4:00:43
wilt be another person, and wilt enter onto another life, for to continue
4:00:48
to be such as thou hast hitherto been, and to be torn in pieces
4:00:52
and defiled in such a life, as the character of a very stupid man
4:00:56
and one over fond of his life, like those half devoured fighters with wild
4:01:01
beasts, who, though covered with wounds and gore, are still entreat to
4:01:03
be kept to the following day, though they will be exposed in the same
4:01:07
state to the same claws and bites. Therefore, fix thyself in the possession
4:01:13
of these few names. And if thou art able to abide in them,
4:01:16
abide as if thou hast removed to certain islands of the happy. But if
4:01:22
thou shalt perceive that thou fallst out of them, and dost not maintain thy
4:01:26
hold, go courageously into some nook where thou shalt maintain them, or even
4:01:31
depart at once from life, not in passion, but with simplicity and freedom
4:01:35
and modesty, after doing this one laudable thing, at least in thy life,
4:01:39
to have gone out of it. Thus, in order, however,
4:01:43
to the remembrance of these names, it will greatly help thee. If thou
4:01:48
rememberest the gods, and that they wish not to be flattered, but wish
4:01:52
all reasonable beings to be made like themselves. And if thou rememberest that which
4:01:56
does the work of a fig tree as a fig tree, and that which
4:02:00
does the work of a dog is a dog, And that which does the
4:02:03
work of a bee is a bee. And that which does the work of
4:02:07
man is a man. Nine Mimi wore astonishment, torp or slavery will daily
4:02:16
wipe out those holy principles of thine. How many things, without studying nature
4:02:22
dost thou imagine, and how many dost now neglect? But it is thy
4:02:26
duty so to look on and so to do everything, that at the same
4:02:31
time the power of dealing with circumstances is perfect, and the contempt of a
4:02:35
faculty is exercised, and the confidence which comes from the knowledge of each several
4:02:39
thing is maintained without showing it by yet not concealed. For when wilt thou
4:02:46
enjoy simplicity, when gravity, and when the knowledge of every several thing,
4:02:52
both what is in substance and what place it has in the universe, and
4:02:54
how long it is formed to exist, and of what things it is compounded,
4:02:58
and to whom it can belong, and who are able both to give
4:03:01
it and take it away. Ten A spider is proud when it has caught
4:03:11
a fly, and another when he has caught a poor hair, and another
4:03:15
when he has taken the little fish in the net, and another when he
4:03:18
has taken wild boares, and another when he has taken bears, and another
4:03:24
when he has taken Sarmatians are not these robbers, if thou examinest their opinions.
4:03:31
Eleven, acquire the contemplative way of seeing how all things change into one
4:03:37
another, and constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself about this part of
4:03:41
philosophy. For nothing is so much adapted to produced magnanimity. Such a man
4:03:48
has put off the body, and he sees that he must, no one
4:03:52
knows how soon, go away from among men and leave everything here. He
4:03:56
gives himself up entirely to just doing. In all his actions, and in
4:04:01
everything else that happens. He resigns himself to the universal nature. But as
4:04:05
to what any man shall say or thinking about him, or do against him,
4:04:09
he never even thinks of it, being himself contented with these two things,
4:04:13
with acting justly in what he now does, and being satisfied with what
4:04:18
is now assigned to him. And he lays aside all distracting and busy pursuits,
4:04:24
and desires nothing else than to accomplish the straight course through the law,
4:04:28
and by accomplishing the straight course, to follow God. Twelve What need is
4:04:37
there of suspicious fear? Since it is thy power to inquire what ought to
4:04:39
be done? And if thou seest clear, go by this way content without
4:04:45
turning back. But if thou dost not see clear, stop and take the
4:04:50
best advisers. But if any other things oppose THEE, go on according to
4:04:54
thy powers, with due consideration, keeping to that which appears to be just.
4:05:00
For it is best to reach this object. And if thou dost fail,
4:05:03
let thy failure be in attempting this. He who follows reason in all
4:05:07
things is both tranquil and active at the same time, and also cheerful and
4:05:11
collected. Thirteen. Inquire of thyself, as soon as thou wakest from sleep
4:05:22
whether it will make any difference to THEE. If another does what is just
4:05:24
and right, it will make no difference. Thou hast not forgotten I suppose
4:05:31
that those who assume arrogant errors and bestowing their praise or blame on others,
4:05:35
are such as they are at bed and at board, And thou hast not
4:05:39
forgotten what they do, and what they avoid, and what they pursue,
4:05:41
and how they steal, and how they rob, not with hands and feet,
4:05:46
but with their most valuable part, by means of which there is produced
4:05:50
when a man chooses fidelity, modesty, truth, law, a good demon,
4:05:54
and happiness. Fourteen to her who gives and takes back all to nature,
4:06:03
the man who is instructed and modest says, give what thou wilt,
4:06:07
take back what thou wilt. And he says this not proudly, but obediently,
4:06:11
and well pleased with her. Fifteen Short is the little which remains to
4:06:18
thee of life. Live as on a mountain, For it makes no difference
4:06:24
whether a man lives there or here, if he lives everywhere in the world
4:06:26
as an estate. Let men see, Let them know a real man who
4:06:31
lives according to nature. If they cannot endure him, let them kill him,
4:06:37
for that is better than to live like this. Sixteen. No longer
4:06:45
talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be,
4:06:48
but be such Seventeen Constantly contemplate the whole of time and the whole of
4:06:56
substance, And consider that all individual things as the substance, as a grain
4:07:00
of a fig and as to time the turning of a gimblet. Eighteen.
4:07:07
Look at everything that exists, and observe that it is already in dissolution and
4:07:11
in change, and as it were, puture, faction or dispersion, or
4:07:16
that everything is so constituted by nature as to die. Nineteen. Consider what
4:07:24
men are when they are eating, sleeping, generating, easing themselves, and
4:07:28
so forth. Then what kind of men they are when they are imperious and
4:07:31
arrogant, or angry and scolding from their elevated place. But a short time
4:07:37
ago to how many they were slaves and for what things? And after a
4:07:41
little time, consider in what a condition they will be. Twenty That is
4:07:48
for the good of each thing, which the universal nature brings to each,
4:07:52
and it is for its good at the time when nature brings it. Twenty
4:07:58
One The earth loves a shower, and the solemn ather their loves, and
4:08:05
the universe loves to make whatever it is about to be. I say,
4:08:09
then, to the universe that I love as thou lovest, And is not
4:08:13
this too said, that this or that loves is wont to be produced?
4:08:18
Twenty two. Either thou livest here and hast already accustomed thyself to it,
4:08:26
or thou art going away and this was on thy own will, or thou
4:08:31
art dying and hast discharged thy duty. But besides these things there is nothing
4:08:37
be of good cheer. Then twenty three let this always be plain to thee
4:08:45
that this piece of land is like any other, and that all things here
4:08:48
are the same with things on top of a mountain, or on the seashore,
4:08:52
or wherever thou choosest to be. For thou wilt find just what Plato
4:08:56
says, dwelling within the walls of a city as in a shape reports fold
4:09:00
on a mountain. Twenty four What is my ruling faculty now to me?
4:09:09
And of what nature am I now making it? And for what purpose am
4:09:11
I now using it? Is it void of understanding? Is it loosed and
4:09:16
rent asunder from social life? Is it melted into and mixed with the poor
4:09:20
flesh so as to move together with it? Twenty five He who flies from
4:09:28
his master is a runaway. But the law is master, and he who
4:09:31
breaks the law is a runaway. And he also who is grieved or angry
4:09:37
or afraid, is dissatisfied because something has been, or is or shall be,
4:09:41
of the things which are appointed by Him who rules all things. And
4:09:43
he is law and assigns to every man what is fit. He then,
4:09:48
who fears, or is grieved or is angry, is a runaway. Twenty
4:09:54
six. A man deposits seat in a womb, and go go away,
4:10:01
And then another cause takes it and labors on it and makes a child.
4:10:05
What a thing from such a material? Again, the child passes food down
4:10:11
the throat, and then another cause takes it and makes it perception and motion,
4:10:15
and in fine life, and strength and other things. How many and
4:10:18
how strange. Observe then, the things which are produced in such a hidden
4:10:22
way, and see the power, just as we see the power which carries
4:10:26
things downwards and upwards, not with the eyes, but still know less plainly.
4:10:33
Twenty seven. Constantly consider how all things such as they now are,
4:10:39
and time past also were, and consider that they will be the same again,
4:10:43
and place before thy eyes entire dramas and stages of the same form.
4:10:46
Whatever thou hast learned from thy experience or from older history. For example,
4:10:52
the whole court of Hadrianus, and the whole court of Antoninus, and the
4:10:56
whole court of Philippus Alexander Croysis, For all those were dramas such as we
4:11:01
see now, only with different actors. Twenty eight. Imagine every man who
4:11:07
is grieved at anything or discontented to be like a pig which is sacrificed,
4:11:11
and kicks and screams like this pig. Also is he who on has bed
4:11:16
and silence laments the bonds in which we are held. And consider that only
4:11:20
to the rational animal is it given to follow voluntarily what happens. But simply
4:11:24
to follow is a necessity imposed on all twenty nine severally on the occasion of
4:11:33
everything, that thou dost pause and ask thyself if death is a dreadful thing,
4:11:37
because it deprives thee of this thirty when thou art defended at any man's
4:11:45
fault, forwith turn to thyself and reflect in what like manner thou dost air
4:11:48
thyself, For example, in thinking that money is a good thing, or
4:11:52
pleasure, or a bit of reputation, and the like. For by attending
4:11:56
to this thou wilt quickly forget thy anger. Consideration also is added that the
4:12:01
man is compelled, for what else could he do? Or if thou art
4:12:05
able, take away from him the compulsion Thirty one. When thou hast seen
4:12:13
Satron the Socratic, think of you Tichis or Hymen. And when thou hast
4:12:18
seen Euphrates, think of Utikion or Sylvanus. And when thou hast seen Alciphron,
4:12:24
think of Troepophorus. And when thou has seen Xenophon, think of Credo
4:12:28
of Severus. And when thou hast looked on thyself, think of any other
4:12:33
Caesar. And in the case of everyone, do in like manner? Then
4:12:39
let this thought be in thy mind. Where then are those men nowhere?
4:12:46
Or nobody knows where? For thus continuously thou wilt look at human things as
4:12:52
smoke and nothing at all, especially if thou reflectest at the same time that
4:12:56
what has once changed will never exist again in the infinite duration of time.
4:13:01
But thou, in what a brief space of time is thy existence? And
4:13:07
why art thou not content to pass through this short time in an orderly way?
4:13:11
What matter an opportunity for thy activity? Art thou avoiding For what else
4:13:16
are all these things except exercises For the reason, when it has viewed carefully
4:13:20
and by examination into their nature, the things which happen in life persevere then,
4:13:26
until thou shalt have made these things thy own, as the stomach,
4:13:31
which is strengthened, makes all things its own, as the blazing fire makes
4:13:35
flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it. Thirty two.
4:13:46
Let it not be in any man's power to say truly of THEE that thou
4:13:50
art not simple, or that thou art not good. But let him be
4:13:54
a liar whoever shall think anything of this kind about THEE. And this is
4:13:58
altogether in thy power. For who is he that shall hinder THEE from being
4:14:03
good and simple? Do thou only determined to live no longer unless thou shalt
4:14:07
be such, For neither does reason allow THEE to live if thou art not
4:14:13
such. Thirty three what is that which adds to this material our life?
4:14:22
Can be done or said in a way most conformable to reason. For whatever
4:14:26
this may be, it is in thy power to do it or say it.
4:14:30
And do not make excuses that thou art hindered. Thou wilt not cease
4:14:35
to lament till thy mind is in such a condition that what luxury is to
4:14:39
those who enjoy pleasure, such shall be to THEE in the matter which is
4:14:41
subjected and presented to THEE the doing of things which are conformable to man's constitution.
4:14:48
For a man ought to consider as an enjoyment everything which is in his
4:14:52
power to do, according to his own nature, and it is an his
4:15:00
power everywhere. Now it is not given to a cylinder to move everywhere by
4:15:05
its own motion, nor yet water, nor to fire, nor to anything
4:15:09
else which is governed by nature of an irrational soul. For the things which
4:15:13
check them and stand in the way are many. But intelligence and reason are
4:15:18
able to go through everything that opposes them, and in such manner as they
4:15:22
are formed by nature, and as they choose place before thy eyes this facility
4:15:28
with which the reason will be carried through all things as fire, upwards as
4:15:33
a stone, downwards as a cylinder, down an inclined surface, and seek
4:15:37
nothing further, For all other obstacles either affect the body only, which is
4:15:43
a dead thing, or except through opinion and the yielding of the reason itself,
4:15:48
they do not crush nor do any harm of any kind, for if
4:15:50
they did, he who felt it would immediately become bad. Now, in
4:15:56
the case of all things which have a certain constitution, whatever harm may happy
4:16:00
to any of them, that which is so effective becomes consequently worse. But
4:16:07
in the like case a man becomes both better, if one may say so,
4:16:11
and more worthy of praise, by making a right use of these accidents.
4:16:15
And finally, remember that nothing harms him who is really a citizen which
4:16:21
does not harm the state, Nor yet does anything harm to state, which
4:16:25
does not harm law. And of these things which are called misfortunes, not
4:16:29
one harms law. What then does not harm law does not harm either state
4:16:34
or citizen. Thirty four. To him who is penetrated by true principles,
4:16:42
even the briefest precept is sufficient, and any common precept to remind him that
4:16:48
he should be free from grief and fair. For example, leaves some of
4:16:55
the wind scatters on the ground, so is the race of men. Leaves
4:17:00
also are thy children. And leaves too are they who cry out as if
4:17:04
they were worthy of credit and bestowed their praise, or on the contrary,
4:17:08
curse or secretly blame and sneer. And leaves and like manner are those who
4:17:12
shall receive and transmit a man's famed aftertimes. For all such things as these
4:17:18
quote are produced in the season of spring end quote, as the poet says,
4:17:26
but the wind cast them down. Then the forest produces other leaves in
4:17:30
their places. But a brief existence is common to all things. And yet
4:17:33
thou avoidest and pursuest all things as if they would be eternal. A little
4:17:38
time, and thou shalt close thy eyes, And him who has attended thee
4:17:42
to thy grave another soon will lament thirty five. The healthy eye ought to
4:17:53
see all visible things, and not to say I wish for green things,
4:17:57
for this is the condition of a these die. And the healthy hearing and
4:18:02
smelling ought to be ready to perceive all that can be heard and smelled.
4:18:06
And the healthy stomach ought to be with respect to all food, just as
4:18:10
the meal with respect to all things which it is formed to grind. And
4:18:14
accordingly, the healthy understanding ought to be prepared for everything which happens. But
4:18:18
that which says, let my dear children live, and let all men praise
4:18:22
whatever I may do, is an eye which seeks for green things, or
4:18:27
teeth which seek for soft things. Thirty six. There is no man so
4:18:37
fortunate that there shall not be by him when he is dying. Some who
4:18:41
were pleased with what is going to happen, suppose that he was a good
4:18:45
and wise man. Will there not be at last someone to say to himself,
4:18:51
let us at last breathe freely being relieved from this schoolmaster. It is
4:18:56
true that he was harsh to none of us, but I perceive that he
4:19:00
tacitly condemns us. This is what is said of a good man. But
4:19:06
in our own case, how many other things are there for which there are
4:19:08
many who whish to get rid of us? Thou wilt consider this, then,
4:19:12
when thou art dying, and thou wilt depart more contentedly by reflecting.
4:19:17
Thus, I am going away from such a life in which even my associates,
4:19:22
in behalf of whom I have striven so much, prayed and cared themselves,
4:19:26
wished me to depart, hoping per chance to get some little advantage by
4:19:30
it. Why then, should a man cling to a longer stay here.
4:19:37
Do not, however, for this reason, go away less kindly disposed to
4:19:41
them, but preserving thy own character and friendly and benevolent, and mild,
4:19:45
and on the other hand, not as if thou wast torn away, but
4:19:48
as a man who dies a quiet death. The poor soul is easily separated
4:19:55
from the body. Such also ought thy departure from men to be. For
4:19:59
nature you united THEE to them and associated thee. But does she now dissolve
4:20:03
the union? Well, I am separated as from kinsmen, not however,
4:20:10
dragged resisting, but without compulsion. For this too is one of the things
4:20:15
according to nature. Thirty seven. Accustom thyself, as much as possible,
4:20:25
on the occasion of anything being done by any person, to inquire with thyself,
4:20:30
for what object is this man doing this? But begin with thyself and
4:20:36
examine thyself first. Thirty eight Remember that this which pulls the strings is the
4:20:45
thing which is hidden within. This is the power of persuasion, This is
4:20:49
life. This, if one may say so, is man. In contemplating
4:20:55
thyself. Never include the vessel which surrounds thee, and these instruments were attached
4:21:00
about it. For they are like to enacts, differing only in this that
4:21:06
they grow to the body. For indeed, there is no more use in
4:21:10
these parts without the cause which moves and checks them, than in the weaver's
4:21:14
shuttle, and the writer's pen and the driver's whip. These are the properties
4:21:21
of the rational soul. It sees itself, analyzes itself, and makes itself,
4:21:26
such as it chooses the fruit which it bears itself enjoys for the fruit
4:21:33
of plants, and that in animals, which corresponds to fruits others in joy.
4:21:37
It obtains its own end wherever the lumit of life may be fixed,
4:21:42
not as in a dance and in a play, and in such like things,
4:21:47
where the whole action is incomplete, if anything cuts it short, but
4:21:52
in every part, and wherever it may be stopped, it makes what has
4:21:56
been set before it full and completes, so that it can say, I
4:22:00
have what is my own. In further, it traverses the whole universe and
4:22:07
the surrounding vacuum, and surveys its form, and it extends itself into the
4:22:11
infinity of time, and embraces and comprehends the periodical renovation of all things.
4:22:18
And it comprehends that those who come after us will see nothing new, nor
4:22:23
have those before us seen anything more. But in a manner, he who
4:22:29
is forty years old, if he has any understanding at all has seen by
4:22:33
virtue of the uniformity that prevails all things which have been in all that will
4:22:37
be. This too is a property of the rational soul, love of one's
4:22:44
neighbor, and truth and modesty, and to value nothing more than itself,
4:22:49
which is also the property of law. Thus, then right reason differs not
4:22:55
at all from the reason of justice. Thou wilt set little value on pleasing
4:23:02
song and dancing in the pancratium. If thou wilt distribute the melody of the
4:23:07
voice into its several sounds, and ask thyself as to each, if thou
4:23:11
art mastered by this, for thou wilt be prevented by shame from confessing it.
4:23:18
And in the matter of dancing, if at each movement and attitude thou
4:23:22
wilt do the same, and the like also in the matter of the pancratium.
4:23:26
In all things, then, except virtue and the acts of virtue,
4:23:30
remember to apply thyself to their several parts, and by this division, to
4:23:36
come to value them little. And apply this rule also to thy whole life.
4:23:42
What a soul that is, which is ready, if at any moment
4:23:47
it must be separated from the body and ready to be extinguished or dispersed or
4:23:52
continue to exist, But so that this readiness comes from a man's own judgment,
4:23:59
not from mere obbost tendency, as with the Christians, but considerately and
4:24:03
with dignity, and in a way to persuade another without tragic show. Have
4:24:11
I done something for the general interest? Well, then I have had my
4:24:17
reward. Let this always be present to thy mind, and never stop doing
4:24:22
such good. What is thy art to be good? And how is this
4:24:27
accomplished? Well? Except by general principles, some about the nature of the
4:24:33
universe, and others about the proper constitution of man. At first, tragedies
4:24:41
were brought on the stage as means of reminding men of the things which happen
4:24:45
to them, and that it is according to nature for things to happen so,
4:24:51
and that if you are delighted with what is shown on the stage,
4:24:53
you should not be troubled with that which takes place on the larger stage.
4:24:59
For you see that the these things must be accomplished thus, and that even
4:25:03
they bear them who cry out o sytheroon. And indeed, some things are
4:25:07
said well by the dramatic writers, of which kind is the following, especially
4:25:14
me and my children. If the God's neglect. This has its reason too,
4:25:19
And again we must not chafe and fret at that which happens, and
4:25:26
life's harvest reap like the wheat's fruitful ear, and other things of the same
4:25:33
kind. After tragedy, the old comedy was introduced, which had a magisterial
4:25:40
freedom of speech, and by its very plainness of speaking, was useful in
4:25:44
reminding men to beware of insolence. And for this purpose too, Diogenes used
4:25:49
to take from these writers. But as to the middle comedy which came next,
4:25:55
observe what it was, and again for what object the new comedy was
4:25:59
entranting, which gradually sunk down into a mere mimic artifice. That some good
4:26:04
things are said, even by these writers, everybody knows, but the whole
4:26:10
plan of such poetry and dramaturgy, to what end does it look? How
4:26:17
plain does it appear? That there is not another condition of life so well
4:26:22
suited for philosophizing as this, in which thou now happenest to be a branch
4:26:29
cut off from the adjacent branch, must of necessity be cut off from the
4:26:33
whole tree. Also so to a man, when he is separated from another
4:26:37
man has fallen off from the whole social community. Now, as to a
4:26:42
branch, another cuts it off. But a man by his own act separates
4:26:48
himself from his neighbor when he hates him and turns away from him, and
4:26:52
he does not know that he has at the same time cut himself off from
4:26:56
the whole social system. Yet he has this privilege, certainly from zeus,
4:27:00
who frame society, for it is in our power to grow again to that
4:27:04
which is near to us, and again to become a part which helps us
4:27:08
to make up the whole. However, if it often happens this kind of
4:27:12
separation, it makes it difficult for that which detaches itself to be brought to
4:27:18
unity and to be restored to its former condition. Finally, the branch,
4:27:23
which from the first grew together with the tree and has continued to have one
4:27:27
life with it, is not like that which, after being cut off,
4:27:32
is then ingrafted. For this is something like what the gardeners mean when they
4:27:36
say that it grows with the rest of the tree, but that it has
4:27:40
not the same mind with it as those who try to stand in thy way.
4:27:47
When thou art proceeding according to right reason, will not be able to
4:27:51
turn THEE aside from thy proper action. So neither let them drive THEE from
4:27:55
Thy benevolent feelings towards them, but be on thy guard equally, and matters
4:28:00
not only in the matter of steady judgment and action, but also in the
4:28:04
matter of gentleness towards those who try to hinder or otherwise trouble THEE. For
4:28:10
this is also a weakness to be vexed at them, as well as to
4:28:14
be diverted from Thy course of action, and to give way through fear.
4:28:18
For both are equally deserters from their post, the man who does it through
4:28:22
fear and the man who is alienated from him, who is by nature a
4:28:26
kinsman and a friend. There is no nature which is inferior to art,
4:28:33
for the arts imitate the natures of things. But if this is so,
4:28:37
that nature, which is the most perfect and the most comprehensive of all natures,
4:28:42
cannot fall short of the skill of art. Now all arts do the
4:28:48
inferior things for the sake of the superior. Therefore the universal nature does so
4:28:52
too, And indeed, hence is the origin of justice, and in justice
4:28:59
the other virtues have their foundation. For justice will not be observed if we
4:29:04
either care for middle things things indifferent, or are easily deceived and careless and
4:29:11
changeable. If the things do not come to THEE, the pursuits and avoidances
4:29:18
of which disturb THEE still in a manner, Thou goest to them. Let
4:29:23
then thy judgment about them be at rest, and they will remain quiet,
4:29:29
and thou wilt not be seen either pursuing or avoiding. The spherical form of
4:29:36
the soul maintains its figure when it is neither extended toward any object, nor
4:29:41
contracted inwards, nor dispersed, nor sinkst down, but is illuminated by light
4:29:48
by which it sees the truth, the truth of all things, and the
4:29:52
truth that is in itself. Suppose any man shall despise me, let him
4:30:00
look to that himself. But I will look to this, that I be
4:30:03
not discovered doing or saying anything deserving of contempt. Shall any man hate me,
4:30:11
let him look to it. But I will be mild and benevolent towards
4:30:15
every man, and ready to show even him his mistake, not reproachfully,
4:30:21
nor yet as making a display of my endurance, but nobly and honestly,
4:30:26
like the great Phocion, Unless indeed he only assumed it for the interior parts
4:30:32
ought to be such, and a man ought to be seen by the gods,
4:30:36
neither dissatisfied with anything nor complaining, For what evil is it to thee?
4:30:41
If thou art now doing what is agreeable to thy own nature, and
4:30:45
art satisfied with that which, at this moment is suitable to the nature of
4:30:49
the universe, since thou art human, being placed at thy post in order
4:30:55
that what is for the common advantage may be done in some way. Men
4:31:00
despise one another and flatter one another, and men wish to raise themselves above
4:31:06
one another and crouch before one another. How unsound and insincere is he who
4:31:15
says I have determined to deal with THEE in a fair way? What art
4:31:19
thou doing? Man? There is no occasion to give this notice. It
4:31:22
will soon show itself by acts. The voice ought to be plainly written on
4:31:27
the forehead. Such as a man's character is, he immediately shows it in
4:31:33
his eyes, just as he who is beloved forthwith reads everything in the eyes
4:31:37
of lovers. The man who is honest and good ought to be exactly like
4:31:41
a man who smells strong, so that the bystander, as soon as he
4:31:45
comes near him must smell, whether he choose or not. But the affectation
4:31:51
of simplicity is like a crooked stick. Nothing is more disgraceful than a wolfish
4:31:56
friendship. Avoid this most of all. The good and simple and benevolence.
4:32:02
Show all these things in the eyes, and there is no mistaking as to
4:32:08
living in the best way. This power is in the soul if it be
4:32:14
indifferent to things which are indifferent, And it will be indifferent if it looks
4:32:18
on each of these things separately and altogether, and if it remembers that not
4:32:22
one of them produces in us an opinion about itself, nor comes to us.
4:32:27
But these things remain immovable, And it is we ourselves who produce the
4:32:33
judgments about them, And as we may say, write them in ourselves,
4:32:37
it being in our power not to write them, and it being in our
4:32:41
power if perchance these judgments have imperceptibly got a mission to our minds, to
4:32:47
wipe them out. And if we remember also that such attention will only be
4:32:52
for a short time, and then life will be at an end. Besides,
4:32:57
what trouble is there at all in doing this thing? For if these
4:33:00
things are according to nature, rejoice in them, and they will be easy
4:33:04
to THEE. But if contrary to nature, seek what is conformable to thy
4:33:10
own nature, and stride towards this, even if it bring no reputation.
4:33:15
For every man is allowed to seek his own good. Consider whence each thing
4:33:22
is come, and of what it consists, and into what it changes,
4:33:26
in what kind of a thing it will be when it is changed, and
4:33:30
that it will sustain no harm. If any have offended against THEE, consider
4:33:37
first what is my relation to men? And that we are made for one
4:33:42
another. And in another respect, I was made to be said over them
4:33:48
as a ram over the flock, or a bull over the herd. But
4:33:52
examine the matter from first principles. From this, if all things are not
4:33:56
mere atoms, it is nature which orders all things. If this is so,
4:34:02
the inferior things exist for the sake of the superior, in these for
4:34:06
the sake of one another. Second, consider what kind of man they are
4:34:11
at table, in bed, and so forth, and particularly under what compulsions,
4:34:15
in respective opinions they are, And as to their acts, consider with
4:34:21
what pride they do what they do. Third, that if men do rightly
4:34:26
what they do, we ought not to be displeased. But if they do
4:34:30
not right, it is plain that they do so involuntarily and in ignorance.
4:34:36
For as every soul is unwillingly deprived of the truth, so also it is
4:34:41
unwillingly deprived of the power of behaving to each man according to his deserts.
4:34:47
Accordingly, men are pained when they are called unjust, ungrateful, and greedy,
4:34:52
and in a word, wrongdoers to their neighbors. Fourth, consider that
4:34:56
thou also doest many things wrong, and that thou art a man like others.
4:35:02
And even if thou dost abstain from certain faults, still thou hast the
4:35:06
disposition to commit them, though, either through cowardice or concern about reputation,
4:35:11
or some such mean motive, thou dost abstain from such faults. Fifth,
4:35:17
consider that thou dost not even understand whether men are doing wrong or not,
4:35:21
For many things are done with a certain reference to circumstances, And in short,
4:35:26
a man must learn a great deal to enable him to pass a correct
4:35:30
judgment on another man's acts. Sixth, consider when thou art much vexed or
4:35:37
grieved, that man's life is only a moment, and after a short time
4:35:41
we are all laid out dead. Seventh, that it is not men's acts
4:35:48
which disturb us, for those acts have their foundation in men's ruling principles.
4:35:53
But it is our own opinions which disturb us. Take away these opinions,
4:35:59
then, and resolved to dismiss thy judgment about an act as if it were
4:36:03
something grievous, and thy anger is gone, How then shall I take away
4:36:08
these opinions by reflecting that no wrongful act of another brings shame on thee.
4:36:15
For nless that which is shameful is alone bad, Thou also must of necessity
4:36:18
do many things wrong, and become a robber and everything else. Eighth,
4:36:26
consider how much more pain is brought on us by the anger and vexation caused
4:36:30
by such acts than by the acts themselves at which we are angry and vexed.
4:36:37
Ninth, consider that a good disposition is invincible if it be genuine and
4:36:42
not an affected smile in acting Apart, For what will the most violent man
4:36:48
do to THEE if thou continuest to be of a kind disposition towards him,
4:36:52
And if, as opportunity offers, thou gently admonishest him and calmly correctest his
4:36:57
errors at the very time when he is trying to do THEE harm, saying,
4:37:00
not so, my child, we are constituted by nature for something else.
4:37:06
I shall certainly not be injured. But thou art injuring thyself, my
4:37:10
child, and show him with gentle tact and by general principles, that this
4:37:15
is so, and that even bees do not do as he does, nor
4:37:18
any animals which are formed by nature to be gregarious. And thou must not
4:37:23
do this, neither with any double meaning, nor in the way of reproach,
4:37:29
but affectionately and without any rancor in thy soul. And not as if
4:37:33
thou were lecturing him, nor yet that any bystander may admire, but either
4:37:38
when he is alone and if others are present. Remember these nine rules as
4:37:45
if thou hast received them as a gift from the muses, and begin at
4:37:48
last to be a man while thou livest. But thou must equally avoid flattering
4:37:55
men and being vexed at them, for both are unsocial and lead to harm.
4:38:00
And let this truth be present to THEE in the excitement of anger,
4:38:03
that to be moved by passion is not manly, but that mildness and gentleness,
4:38:08
as they are more agreeable to human nature, so also are they more
4:38:12
manly. And he who possesses these qualities possesses strength, nerves, and courage,
4:38:19
and not the man who is subject to fits of passion and discontent.
4:38:23
For in the same degree in which a man's mind is nearer to freedom from
4:38:27
all passion, in the same degree also is it nearer to strength. And
4:38:33
as the sense of pain is a characteristic of weakness, so also is anger.
4:38:37
For he who yields to pain and he who yields to anger, both
4:38:42
are wounded, and both submit. But if thou wilt receive also a tenth
4:38:49
present from the leader of the muses, Apollo. And it is this that
4:38:55
to expect bad men not to do wrong as madness, for he who expects
4:38:59
this desires an impossibility. But to allow men to behave so to others,
4:39:04
to expect them not to do thee any wrong is irrational and tyrannical. There
4:39:12
are four principal aberrations of the superior faculty, against which thou shouldst be constantly
4:39:18
on thy guard, And when thou hadst detected them, thou shouldst wipe them
4:39:22
out, and say, on each occasion. Thus this thought is not necessary
4:39:27
this tends to destroy social union. This which thou art going to say,
4:39:32
comes not from the real thoughts, for thou shouldst consider it among the most
4:39:36
absurd of things, for a man not to speak from his real thoughts.
4:39:41
But the fourth is when thou shalt reproach thyself for anything, For this is
4:39:45
an evidence of the diviner part within thee being overpowered and yielding to the less
4:39:49
honorable and to the perishable part the body, and to its gross pleasures.
4:39:59
Thy part and all the fiery parts which are mingled in thee, though by
4:40:03
nature they have an upward tendency, still in obedience to the disposition of the
4:40:07
universe, they are overpowered here in the compound mass the body, and also
4:40:14
the whole of the earthy part in the In the watery, though their tendency
4:40:18
is downwards, still are raised up and occupy a position which is not the
4:40:22
natural one. In this manner, then the elemental parts obey the Universal.
4:40:27
For when they have been fixed in any place, perforce, they remain there
4:40:30
until again the Universal shall sound the signal for dissolution. Is it not then,
4:40:37
strange that thy intelligent part only should be disobedient and discontented with its own
4:40:41
place, and yet no force is imposed on it, but only those things
4:40:47
which are conformable to its nature. Still it does not submit, but is
4:40:52
carried in the opposite direction, for the movement toward injustice and in temperance into
4:40:57
anger and grief and fear, as nothing else than the act of one who
4:41:02
deviates from nature. And also when the ruling faculty is discontented with anything that
4:41:07
happens, then two it deserts its post. For it is constituted for piety
4:41:12
and reverence towards the gods, no less than for justice. For these qualities
4:41:18
also are comprehended under the generic term of contentment with the constitution of things,
4:41:23
and indeed they are prior to acts of justice. He who has not one
4:41:30
and always the same object in life cannot be one and the same all through
4:41:34
his life. But what I have said is not enough unless this also has
4:41:38
added what this object ought to be. For as there is not the same
4:41:44
opinion about all the things which, in some way or other are considered by
4:41:48
the majority to be good, but only about some certain things, that is,
4:41:52
things which concern the common interest, so also we ought to propose to
4:41:56
ourselves an object which shall be of a common kind, social and political.
4:42:02
For he who directs all his own efforts to this object will make all his
4:42:06
acts alike, and thus will always be the same. Think of the country
4:42:14
mouse and of the town mouse, and of the alarm and trepidation of the
4:42:18
town mouse. Socrates used to call the opinions of the many by the name
4:42:26
of leym e bugbears to frighten children. The Lacedaemonians, at their public spectacles
4:42:33
used to set seats in the shade for strangers, but themselves sat down anywhere.
4:42:41
Socrates excused himself to Perdicus for not going to him, saying, it
4:42:47
is because I would not perish by the worst of all ends, that is,
4:42:51
I would not receive a favor and then be unable to return it.
4:42:57
In the writings of the Ephesians there was this precept constantly to think of someone
4:43:03
of the men of former times who practice virtue. The Pythagoreans bid us in
4:43:10
the morning, look to the heavens, that we may be reminded of those
4:43:15
bodies which continually do the same things and in the same manner perform their work,
4:43:19
and also be reminded of their purity and nudity, For there is no
4:43:23
veil over a star. Consider what a man's Socrates was when he dressed himself
4:43:32
in a skin, after Xanthipi had taken his cloak and gone out, And
4:43:37
what Socrates said to his friends, who are ashamed of him and drew back
4:43:41
from him when they saw him dress. Thus, neither in writing nor in
4:43:47
reading wilt thou be able to lay down rules for others, before thou shalt
4:43:51
have learned to obey rules thyself. Much more is this so in life a
4:43:57
slave thou art. Free speech is not for thee and my heart laughed within
4:44:07
Odyssey nine four thirteen. And virtue they will curse speaking harsh words aeseod works
4:44:15
in Days one eighty four. To look for the fig in winter is a
4:44:19
madman's act. Such is he who looks for his child when is no longer
4:44:23
allowed Epictetus three twenty four eighty seven. When a man kisses his child,
4:44:32
said Epictetus, he should whisper to himself tomorrow perchance thou wilt die. But
4:44:38
those are words of bad omen. No word is a word of bad omen,
4:44:42
said Epictetus, which expresses any work of nature, or if it is
4:44:48
so, it is also a word of bad omen. To speak of the
4:44:51
ears of corn being reaped Epictetus three twenty four eighty eight. The unripe grape,
4:45:00
the ripe bunch, the dried grape. All our changes not into nothing,
4:45:06
but into something which exists not yet Epictetus three twenty four. No man
4:45:15
can rob us of our free will Epictetus three twenty two one o five.
4:45:22
Epictetus also said, a man must discover an art or rules. With respect
4:45:27
to giving his assent, and in respect to his movements, he must be
4:45:33
careful that they be made, with regard to circumstances, that they be consistent
4:45:37
with social interests that they have. Regard to the value of the object,
4:45:41
And as to sensual desire, he should altogether keep away from it, and
4:45:47
as to avoidance, he should not show it with respect to any of the
4:45:49
things which are not in our power. The dispute, then, he said,
4:45:56
is not about any common matter, but about being mad or not.
4:46:04
Socrates used to say, what do you want souls of rational men or irrational
4:46:10
souls of rational men? Of what rational men sound or unsound sound? Why
4:46:15
then do you not seek for them because we have them? Why then do
4:46:19
you fight and quarrel all those things at which thou wishest to arrive by a
4:46:26
secuitous road, Thou canst have now if thou dost not refuse them to thyself.
4:46:33
And this means, if thou wilt take no notice of all the past,
4:46:38
and trust the future to providence, and direct the present only conformably to
4:46:45
piety and justice conformably to piety, that thou mayst be content with the lot
4:46:51
which is assigned to THEE, for Nature designed it for THEE in THEE,
4:46:56
for it conformably to justice. That thou mayst always speak the truth freely and
4:47:02
without disguise, and do the things which are agreeable to law and according to
4:47:07
the worth of each. And let neither another man's wickedness hinder THEE, nor
4:47:12
opinion, nor voice, nor yet the sensations of the poor flesh which has
4:47:18
grown about THEE. For the passive part will look to this. If then,
4:47:23
whatever the time may be, when thou shalt be near to thy departure,
4:47:27
neglecting everything else, thou shalt respect only thy ruling faculty and the divinity
4:47:33
within THEE. And if thou shalt be afraid, not because thou must sometimes
4:47:40
cease to live, but if thou shalt fear never to have begun to live
4:47:45
according to nature, then thou wilt be a man worthy of the universe which
4:47:49
has produced thee. And thou wilt cease to be a stranger in thy native
4:47:55
land, and to wonder at things which happened daily, as if there were
4:47:59
something unexpected, and to be dependent on this or that. God sees the
4:48:07
minds of all men bared of the material vesture and rind and impurities. For
4:48:14
with his intellectual part alone he touches the intelligence only which has flowed and been
4:48:19
derived from himself into these bodies. And if thou also usest thyself to do
4:48:26
this, thou wilt rid thyself of thy much trouble. For he who regards
4:48:30
not the poor flesh which envelops him surely will not trouble himself by looking after
4:48:37
raiment and dwelling, and fame, and such like externals. And show the
4:48:45
things are three of which thou art composed, a little body, a little
4:48:49
breath, intelligence. Of these the first who are thine, so far as
4:48:55
it is thy duty to take care of them, but the third alone is
4:48:59
properly thine. Therefore, if thou shalt separate from thyself, that is,
4:49:04
from thy understanding, whatever others do or say, and whatever thou hast done
4:49:11
or said thyself, and whatever future things trouble THEE because they may happen.
4:49:17
And whatever in the body which envelops THEE, or in the breath which is
4:49:21
by nature associated with the body, is attached to THEE independent of thy will,
4:49:26
and whatever the external circumfluent vortex whirls round. So that the intellectual power,
4:49:33
exempt from the things of fate, can live pure and free by itself,
4:49:38
doing what is just and accepting what happens, and saying the truth.
4:49:44
If thou wilt separate, I say, from this ruling faculty the things which
4:49:48
are attached to it by the impressions of sense, and the things of time
4:49:52
to come and of time that is past, and wilt make thyself like in
4:49:57
Pedocles, a sphere all round and in its joyous rest reposing. And if
4:50:03
thou shalt strive to live only what is really thy life, that is the
4:50:08
present, then thou wilt be able to pass that portion of life which remains
4:50:15
for THEE up to the time of thy death, free from perturbations, nobly
4:50:19
and obedient to the God that is within THEE. I have often wondered how
4:50:26
it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men,
4:50:30
but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion
4:50:36
of others. If then, a god or a wise teacher should present himself
4:50:41
to a man and bid him to think of nothing, and to design nothing,
4:50:45
which he would not express as soon as he conceived it, he could
4:50:48
not endure it even for a single day. So much more respect have we
4:50:53
to what our neighbors shall think of us than to what we shall think of
4:50:57
ourselves. How can it be that the gods, after having arranged all things
4:51:06
well and benevolently for mankind, have overlooked this alone, that some men,
4:51:11
and very good men, and men, who, as we may say,
4:51:17
have had most communion with the Divinity, and through pious acts and religious observances,
4:51:22
have been most intimate with the Divinity, when they have once died,
4:51:27
should never exist again, but should be completely extinguished. But if this is
4:51:33
so, be assured that if it ought to have been otherwise, the gods
4:51:38
would have done it, or if it were just, it would also be
4:51:42
possible, And if it were according to nature, nature would have had it
4:51:48
so. But because it is not so. If in fact it is not
4:51:52
so, be thou convinced that it ought not to have been so. For
4:51:57
thou seest even of thyself, that in this inquiry thou art disputing with the
4:52:03
deity. And we should not thus dispute with the gods unless they are most
4:52:07
excellent and most just. But if this is so, they would not have
4:52:12
allowed anything in the ordering of the universe to be neglected unjustly and irrationally.
4:52:21
Practice thyself even in the things which thou despairest of accomplishing. For even the
4:52:26
left hand, which is ineffectual for all other things, for want of practice,
4:52:32
holds the bridle more vigorously than the right hand, for it has been
4:52:37
practiced in this. Consider in what condition, both in body and soul,
4:52:45
a man should be when he is overtaken by death. And consider the shortness
4:52:51
of life, the boundless abyss of time past and future, the feebleness of
4:52:56
all matter. Contemplate the formative principles of things, bear of their coverings,
4:53:06
the purposes of actions. Consider what pain is, what pleasure is, and
4:53:11
death and fame? Who is to himself the cause of his uneasiness? How
4:53:17
no man is hindered by another, that everything is opinion. In the application
4:53:25
of thy principles, thou must be like the pancratist, not like the gladiator.
4:53:32
For the gladiator lets fall the sword which he uses and is killed,
4:53:37
but the other always has his hand and needs to do nothing else than use
4:53:41
it. See what things are in themselves, dividing them into matter, form,
4:53:51
and purpose. What a power. Man has to do nothing except what
4:53:59
God will prove, and to accept all that God may give him. With
4:54:07
respect to that which happens conformably to nature, we ought to blame neither gods,
4:54:12
for they do nothing wrong, either voluntarily or involuntarily, nor men,
4:54:18
for they do nothing wrong except involuntarily. Consequently, we should blame nobody.
4:54:26
How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything which happens
4:54:33
in life. Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a
4:54:41
kind providence, or a confusion without a purpose and without a director. If
4:54:48
then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist? But if there
4:54:53
is a providence which allows itself to be propitiated, make thyself worthy of the
4:54:59
help of the Divinity. But if there is a confusion without a governor,
4:55:03
be content that in such a tempest thou hast in thyself a certain ruling intelligence.
4:55:11
And even if the tempest carry thee away, let it carry away the
4:55:15
poor flesh, the poor breath, everything else, for the intelligence, at
4:55:21
least it will not carry away. Does the light of the lamp shine without
4:55:29
losing its splendor until it is extinguished? And shall the truth which is in
4:55:33
thee, and justice and temperance be extinguished before thy death. When a man
4:55:42
has presented the appearance of having done wrong, say, how then do I
4:55:48
know if this is a wrongful act? And even if he has done wrong,
4:55:52
how do I know that he has not condemned himself? And so this
4:55:56
is like tearing his own face. Consider that he who would not have the
4:56:02
bad man do wrong is like the man who would not have the fig tree
4:56:06
to bear, juice in the figs, and infants to cry, and the
4:56:10
horse to neigh, and whatever else must of necessity be. For what must
4:56:15
a man do who has such a character, If then thou art irritable cure
4:56:22
this man's disposition. If it is not right, do not do it.
4:56:29
If it is not true, do not say it. In everything, always
4:56:36
observe what the thing is which produces for thee in appearance, and resolve it
4:56:41
by dividing it into the formal, the material, the purpose, and the
4:56:47
time within which it must end. Perceive at last that thou hast in thee
4:56:55
something better and more divine than the things which cause the various effects. And,
4:57:00
as it were, pull THEE by the strings. What is there now
4:57:06
in my mind? Is it fear or suspicion, or desire or anything of
4:57:11
the kind. First, do nothing inconsiderately nor without a purpose. Second,
4:57:21
make thy acts refer to nothing else than to a social end. Consider that
4:57:30
before long thou wilt be nobody and nowhere, nor will any of the things
4:57:36
exist which thou now seest, nor any of those who are now living.
4:57:41
For all things are formed by nature to change and be turned, and to
4:57:47
perish in order that other things, in continuous succession may exist. Consider that
4:57:56
everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power. Take away, then,
4:58:03
when thou choosest thy opinion, and like a mariner who has doubled the
4:58:07
promontory, thou wilt find calm, everything stable, and a waveless bay.
4:58:17
Any one activity, wherever it may be, when it has ceased at its
4:58:21
proper time, suffers no evil because it has ceased. Nor he who has
4:58:26
done this act does he suffer any evil, for this reason that the act
4:58:32
has ceased in like manner. Then the whole which consists of all the acts,
4:58:37
which is our life, if it cease at its proper time, suffers
4:58:42
no evil for this reason that it has ceased. Nor he who has terminated
4:58:48
this series at the proper time has he been ill dealt with. But the
4:58:52
proper time in the limit, nature fixes, sometimes, as in old age,
4:58:57
the peculiar nature of man, but always the universal nature, by the
4:59:03
change of whose parts the whole universe continues, ever young and perfect, And
4:59:08
everything which is useful to the universal is always good and in season. Therefore,
4:59:15
the termination of life for every man is no evil, because neither is
4:59:21
it shameful, since it is both independent of the will and not opposed to
4:59:26
the general interest. But it is good since it is seasonable and profitable,
4:59:32
too incongruent with the universal. For thus too he is moved by the deity,
4:59:37
who is moved in the same manner with the deity, and moved towards
4:59:41
the same things. In his mind. These three principles, thou must have
4:59:49
in readiness. And the things which thou doest do nothing either inconsiderately or otherwise,
4:59:57
as justice herself would act. But with respect to what may happen to
5:00:02
THEE from without, consider that it happens either by chance or according to providence.
5:00:08
And thou must neither blame chance nor accuse providence. Second, consider what
5:00:15
every being is, from the seed to the time of its receiving a soul,
5:00:21
and from the reception of a soul to the giving back of the same,
5:00:25
And of what things every being is compounded, and into what things it
5:00:30
is resolved. Third, if thou shouldst suddenly be raised up above the earth,
5:00:36
and shouldst look down on human beings and observe the variety of them,
5:00:41
how great it is? And at the same time also shouldst see at a
5:00:45
glance how great is the number of beings who dwell all around in the air
5:00:48
in the ether. Consider that as often as thou shouldst be raised up,
5:00:53
thou wouldst see the same things. Sameness of form and shortness of duration.
5:01:00
Are these things to be proud of? Cast away? Opinion thou art saved?
5:01:08
Who then hinders THEE from casting it away? When thou art troubled about
5:01:15
anything. Thou hast forgotten this, that all things happen according to the universal
5:01:22
nature, and forgotten this that a man's wrongful act is nothing to thee.
5:01:27
And further, thou hast forgotten this, that everything which happens always happens so,
5:01:33
and will happen so, and now happen so everywhere. Forgotten this too,
5:01:41
how close is the kinship between a man and the whole human race,
5:01:45
For it is a community not of a little blood or seed, but of
5:01:48
intelligence. And thou hast forgotten this too, that every man's intelligence is a
5:01:56
god, and is an efflux of the deity. And forgotten this that nothing
5:02:02
is a man's own, but that his child, in his body, and
5:02:06
his very soul came from the deity. Forgotten this that everything is opinion.
5:02:11
And lastly thou hast forgotten that every man lives the present time only and loses
5:02:18
only. This constantly, bring to thy recollection those who have complained greatly about
5:02:26
anything, those who have been most conspicuous by the greatest fame or misfortunes,
5:02:33
or enmities, or fortunes of any kind. Then think where are they all?
5:02:37
Now? Smoke and ash and a tale were not even a tale,
5:02:44
And let there be present to thy mind also everything of this sort, how
5:02:48
Fabius Catalinus lived in the country, and Lucius Lupus in his gardens, and
5:02:53
certain Eus at by e I, and Tiberius at Caprie, and Rufus at
5:03:00
Velia, and in fine Think of the eager pursuit of anything conjoined with pride,
5:03:07
and how worthless everything is after which men violently strain, And how much
5:03:14
more philosophical it is for a man, in the opportunities presented to him,
5:03:18
to show himself just, temperate, obedient to the gods, and to do
5:03:23
this with all simplicity. For the pride, which is proud of its want
5:03:27
of pride, is the most intolerable of all. To those who ask,
5:03:37
where hast thou seen the gods? Or how dost thou comprehend that they exist
5:03:41
and so worshipest them? I answer, in the first place, they may
5:03:45
be seen even with the eyes. In the second place, neither have I
5:03:51
seen even my own soul, and yet I honor it. Thus, then,
5:03:56
with respect to the gods, from what I constantly act experience of their
5:04:00
power. From this I comprehend that they exist, and I venerate them.
5:04:08
The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it
5:04:14
is itself, what is its material? What the formal part? With all
5:04:19
thy soul, to do justice and to say the truth. What remains except
5:04:25
to enjoy life by joining one good thing to another, so as not to
5:04:30
leave even the smallest intervals between. There is one light of the sun,
5:04:37
though it is interrupted by walls, mountains, and other things infinite. There
5:04:42
is one common substance, though it is distributed among countless bodies, which have
5:04:48
their several qualities. There is one soul, though it is distributed among infinite
5:04:55
natures and individual circumscriptions. There is one in intelligent soul, though it seems
5:05:02
to be divided now in the things which have been mentioned. All the other
5:05:07
parts, such as those which are err and matter, are without sensation and
5:05:11
have no fellowship. And yet even these parts the intelligent principle holds together,
5:05:18
and the gravitation towards the same. But intellect, in a peculiar manner,
5:05:23
tends to that which is of the same kin and combines with it, and
5:05:27
the feeling for communion is not interrupted. What dost thou wish to continue to
5:05:34
exist? Well, dost thou wish to have sensation, movement, growth,
5:05:41
and then again to cease, to grow, To use thy speech to think,
5:05:47
what is there of all these things which seems to THEE worth desiring?
5:05:52
But if it is easy to set little value on all these things, turn
5:05:56
to that which remains, which is to follow reason in God. But it
5:06:03
is inconsistent with honoring reason in God to be troubled, because by death a
5:06:07
man will be deprived of the other things. How small a part of the
5:06:14
boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to every man, for it is very soon
5:06:19
swallowed up in the eternal. And how small a part of the whole substance,
5:06:25
and how small a part of the universal soul, And on what a
5:06:29
small claw of the whole earth thou creepest. Reflecting on all this, consider
5:06:34
nothing to be great except to act as Thy nature leads thee, and to
5:06:40
endure that which the common nature brings. How does the ruling faculty make use
5:06:47
of itself? For all lies in this, But everything else, whether it
5:06:52
is in the power of Thy will or not, is only lifeless ashes and
5:06:57
smoke. This reflection is most adapted to move us to contempt of death.
5:07:04
That even those who think pleasure to be a good, and pain and evil
5:07:10
still have despised it. The man to whom that only is good, which
5:07:17
comes in due season, and to whom it is the same thing, whether
5:07:21
he has done more or fewer acts conformable to right reason, and to whom
5:07:26
it makes no difference whether he contemplates the world for a longer or a shorter
5:07:30
time. For this man, neither is death a terrible thing. Man,
5:07:38
thou hast been a citizen in this great state the world. What difference does
5:07:44
it make to thee whether for five years or three? For that which is
5:07:48
conformable to the laws is just for all. Where is the hardship? Then?
5:07:55
If no tyrant, nor yet an unjust judge sends THEE away from the
5:07:59
state, but nature who brought THEE into it, the same as if a
5:08:03
praetor who is employed an actor dismisses him from the stage. But I have
5:08:08
not finished the five acts, but only three of them, thou sayest well,
5:08:14
But in life the three acts are the whole drama. For what shall
5:08:18
be a complete drama is determined by him who was once the cause of its
5:08:22
composition and now of its dissolution. But thou art the cause of neither depart
5:08:30
then satisfied. For he also who releases thee is satisfied. Marcus Antoninus was
5:08:38
born at rome A d. One twenty one on the twenty sixth of April.
5:08:45
His father, Anius Verus, died while he was praetor. His mother
5:08:48
was Domitia Culvilla, also named Lucilla the emperor Titus. Antoninus Pius married Anea
5:08:56
Galeria Faustina, the sister of Aneas vie Varus, and was consequently the uncle
5:09:02
of Marcus Antoninus. When Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pious and declared him his successor in
5:09:08
the empire, Antoninus Pius adopted both Lucius Saionius Commodus, the son of Elius
5:09:15
Caesar, and Marcus Antoninus, whose original name was Marcus Anius Verus. Antoninus
5:09:22
then took the name of Marcus Elius Aurelius Verus, to which was added the
5:09:27
title of Caesar in eighty one thirty nine. The name Elius belonged to Hadrian's
5:09:33
family, and Aurelius was the name of Antoninus Pious. When Marcus Antoninus became
5:09:38
Augustus, he dropped the name of Verus and took the name of Antoninus.
5:09:44
Accordingly, He is generally named Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, or simply Marcus Antoninus.
5:09:51
The youth was most carefully brought up. He thinks the gods that he had
5:09:55
good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, good teacher, good associates,
5:10:00
good kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good. He had the happy fortune
5:10:06
to witness the example of his uncle and adoptive father, Antonius Pious, and
5:10:11
he has recorded in his work the virtues of this excellent man and prudent ruler.
5:10:17
Like many young Romans, he tried his hand at poetry and studied rhetoric.
5:10:21
Herodes Atticus and Marcus Cornelius Fronto were his teachers and eloquence. There are
5:10:26
extant letters between Fronto and Marcus which show the great affection of the pupil for
5:10:32
the master, and the master's great hopes of his industrious pupil. Footnote Marcus
5:10:38
Cornelia e Fontonis Rouli KUII, Berlin, eighteen sixteen. There are a few
5:10:44
letters between Fronto and Antoninus Pious. In footnote Marcus Antoninus mentions Fronto among those
5:10:52
to whom he was indebted for his education. When he was eleven years old,
5:10:57
he assumed the dress of philosophers, something plain and coarse, became a
5:11:02
hard student, and lived a most laborious, abstemious life, even so far
5:11:07
as to injure his health. Finally, he abandoned poetry and rhetoric for philosophy,
5:11:12
and he attached himself to the sect the Stoics. But he did not
5:11:18
neglect the study of law, which was a useful preparation for the high place
5:11:22
which he was designed to fill. His teacher was Lucius Velocianus Micianus, a
5:11:27
distinguished jurist. We must suppose that he learned the Roman discipline of arms,
5:11:33
which was a necessary part of the education of a man who afterwards led his
5:11:37
troops to battle against a warlike race. Antoninus has recorded in his first book
5:11:45
the names of his teachers and the obligations which he owed to each of them.
5:11:48
The way in which he speaks of what he learned from them might seem
5:11:52
to savor of vanity or self praise if we look carelessly at the way in
5:11:56
which he has expressed himself. But if anyone drove cause this conclusion, he
5:12:00
will be mistaken. Antoninus means to commemorate the merits of his several teachers.
5:12:06
What they taught and what a people might learn from them. Besides, this
5:12:10
book, like the eleven other books, was for his own use, and
5:12:14
if we may trust the note at the end of the first book, it
5:12:17
was written during one of Marcus Antoninus's campaigns against the Quadi, at a time
5:12:22
when the commemoration of the virtues of his illustrious teachers might remind him of their
5:12:26
lessons and the practical uses which he might derive from them. Among his teachers
5:12:33
of philosophy was Sextus of Karinea, a grandson of Plutarch. What he learned
5:12:38
from this excellent man is told by himself. His favorite teacher was Quintus Junius
5:12:44
Rusticus, a philosopher and also a man of practical good sense in public affairs.
5:12:49
Rusticus was the adviser of Antoninus after he became emperor. Young men who
5:12:55
are destined for high places are not often fortunate in those who are about them,
5:13:00
their companions and teachers. And I do not know any example of a
5:13:03
young prince having had an education which can be compared with that of Marcus Antoninus.
5:13:10
Such a body of teachers, distinguished by their requirements and their character,
5:13:14
will hardly be collected again. And as to the pupil. We have not
5:13:18
had one like him since Hadrian died in July a d. One thirty eight
5:13:25
and was succeeded by Antoninus Pious. Marcus Antoninus married Faustina, his cousin,
5:13:30
the daughter of Pious, probably about a d. One forty six, for
5:13:36
he had a daughter born in one forty seven. He received from his adoptive
5:13:40
father the title of Caesar, and was associated with him in the administration of
5:13:45
the state. The father and the adopted son lived together in perfect friendship and
5:13:49
confidence. Antoninus was a dutiful son, and the emperor Pious loved and esteemed
5:13:56
him. Antoninus Pious died in Mark March eighty one sixty one. The Senate,
5:14:03
it is said, urged Marcus Antoninus to take the sole administration of the
5:14:07
empire, but he associated with himself the other adopted son of Pious, Lucius
5:14:11
Sianius Commidus, who was generally called Lucius Verus. Thus Rome for the first
5:14:18
time had two emperors. Verus was an indolent man of pleasure and unworthy of
5:14:22
his station. Antoninus, however, bore with him, and it is said
5:14:27
that Verus had enough sense to pay his colleague the respect due to his character.
5:14:32
A virtuous emperor and a LUs partner lived together in peace, and their
5:14:36
alliance was strengthened by Antoninus giving to Varius for wife his daughter Lucilla. The
5:14:42
reign of Antoninus was first troubled by a Parthian war, in which Verus was
5:14:47
sent to command, but he did nothing, and the success that was obtained
5:14:51
by the Romans in Armenia and on the Euphrates and Tigris was due to his
5:14:55
generals. This Parthian war ended in AD one sixty five. Aurelius and Verus
5:15:02
had a triumph eighty one sixty six for the victories in the east. A
5:15:07
pestilence followed, which carried off great numbers in Rome and Italy and spread to
5:15:11
the west of Europe. The north of Italy was also threatened by the rude
5:15:17
people beyond the Alps, from the borders of Gallia to the eastern side of
5:15:21
the Hadriatic. These barbarians attempted to break into Italy, as the Germanic nations
5:15:26
had attempted near three hundred years before, and the rest of the life of
5:15:30
Antoninus, with some intervals, was employed in driving back the invaders. In
5:15:34
one sixty nine, Veris suddenly died, and Antoninus administered the state alone.
5:15:41
During the German Wars, Antoninus resided for three years on the Danube a carnuntum.
5:15:48
The Marcomanni were driven out of Pannonia and almost destroyed in their retreat across
5:15:52
the Danube, and in eighty one seventy four the emperor gained a great victory
5:15:56
over the Quadi. In eight one seventy one, a Vidius Cassius, a
5:16:02
brave and skillful Roman commander who was at the head of the troops in Asia,
5:16:06
revolted and declared himself Augustus. But Cassius was assassinated by some of his
5:16:11
officers, and so the rebellion came to an end. Antoninus showed his humanity
5:16:18
by his treatment of the family and the partisans of Cassius, and his letter
5:16:22
to the Senate, in which he recommends mercy is extant. Antoninus set out
5:16:26
for the East on hearing of Cassius's revolt. Though he appears to have returned
5:16:32
to Rome in eighty one seventy four, he went back to prosecute the war
5:16:36
against the Germans, and it is probable that he marched direct to the east
5:16:41
from the German war. His wife Faustina, who accompanied him into Asia,
5:16:45
died suddenly at the foot of the Taurus, to the great grief of her
5:16:49
husband. Capatilinus, who has written the life of Antoninus and also dion Cassius,
5:16:56
accused the empress of scandalous infidelity to her husband and of abominable lewdness.
5:17:02
But Capitulinus says that Antoninus either knew it not or pretended not to know it.
5:17:07
Nothing is so common as such malicious reports in all ages, and the
5:17:11
history of imperial Rome is full of them. Antoninus loved his wife, and
5:17:18
he says that she was obedient, affectionate, and simple. The same scandal
5:17:22
had been spread about Faustina's mother, the wife of Antoninus Pious, and yet
5:17:26
he too was perfectly satisfied with his wife. Antoninus Pious says after her death
5:17:33
in a letter to Fronto, that he would rather have lived in exile with
5:17:37
his wife than in his palace at Rome without her. There are not many
5:17:41
men who would give their wives a better character than these two emperors, Capitulinus
5:17:47
wrote in the time of Diocletian. He may have intended to tell the truth,
5:17:52
but he is a poor, feeble biographer. Dion Cassius, the most
5:17:56
malignant of historians, always reports, and perhaps he believed any scandal against anybody.
5:18:03
Antoninus continued his journey to Syria and Egypt, and on his return to
5:18:08
Italy, through Athens, he was initiated into the Elusinian mysteries. It was
5:18:14
the practice of the emperor to conform to the established rites of the age and
5:18:18
to perform religious ceremonies with due solemnity. We cannot conclude from this that he
5:18:23
was a superstitious man, though we might perhaps do so if his book did
5:18:27
not show that he was not. But this is only one among many instances
5:18:33
that a ruler's public acts do not always prove his real opinions. A prudent
5:18:37
governor will not roughly oppose even the superstitions of his people, and though he
5:18:42
may wish that they were wiser, he will know that he cannot make them
5:18:45
so by offending their prejudices. Antoninus and his son Commidus entered Rome and triumph
5:18:52
perhaps for some German victories, on the twenty third of December eighty one seventy
5:18:57
six. In the following year, Commodists was associated with his father in the
5:19:02
empire and took the name of Augustus. This year eighty one seventy seven is
5:19:07
memorable in ecclesiastical history. Adialus and others were put to death at Lyon for
5:19:14
their adherence to the Christian religion. The evidence of this persecution is a letter
5:19:18
preserved by Eusebius. The letter is from the Christians of Vienna and Logdunum in
5:19:22
Gallia, Vienne and Lyon to their Christian brethren in Asia and Phrygia, and
5:19:29
it is preserved perhaps nearly entire It contains a very particular description of the tortures
5:19:34
inflicted on the Christians in Gallia, and it states that while the persecution was
5:19:40
going on, Adeleus, a Christian and a Roman citizen, was loudly demanded
5:19:45
by the populace and brought into the amphitheater, but the governor ordered him to
5:19:48
be reserved with the rest who were in prison until he had received instructions from
5:19:53
the Emperor. Many had been tortured before the governor thought of applying to Antoninus.
5:20:00
The Imperial rescript says the letter was that the Christian should be punished,
5:20:03
but if they would deny their faith, they must be released. On this
5:20:07
the work began again the Christians who were Roman citizens were beheaded, the rest
5:20:12
exposed to the wild beasts in the amphitheater. Some modern writers in ecclesiastical history,
5:20:18
when they used this letter, say nothing of the wonderful stories of the
5:20:22
martyr's sufferings. Sanctus, as the letter says, was burnt with plates of
5:20:27
hot iron till his body was one sore and he had lost all human form.
5:20:33
But on being put to the rack, he recovered his former appearance under
5:20:37
the torture, which was thus a cure instead of a punishment. He was
5:20:41
afterwards torn by beasts and placed on an iron chair and roasted. He died
5:20:45
at last. The letter is one piece of evidence. The writer, whoever
5:20:51
he was, that wrote in the name of the Gallic Christians, is our
5:20:55
evidence both for the ordinary and the extraordinary circumstances of the story, and we
5:21:00
cannot accept his evidence for one part and reject the other. We often receive
5:21:04
small evidence as a proof of a thing which we believe to be within the
5:21:08
limits of probability or possibility, and we reject exactly the same evidence when the
5:21:14
thing to which it refers appears very improbable or impossible. But this is a
5:21:19
false method of inquiry, though it is followed by some modern writers who select
5:21:25
what they like from a story and reject the rest of the evidence, or
5:21:27
if they do not reject it, they dishonestly suppress it. A man can
5:21:32
only act consistently by accepting all this letter or rejecting it all, and we
5:21:37
cannot blame him for either. But he who rejects it may still admit that
5:21:41
such a letter may be founded on real facts, and he would make this
5:21:45
admission as the most probable way of accounting for the existence of the letter.
5:21:49
But if, as he would suppose, the writer has stated some things falsely,
5:21:53
he cannot tell what part of his story is worthy of credit. The
5:21:57
war on the northern front here appears to have been uninterrupted during the visit of
5:22:02
Antoninus to the east, and on his return the Emperor again left Rome to
5:22:07
oppose the barbarians. The Germanic people were defeated in a great battle a d
5:22:11
One seventy nine. During this campaign, the emperor was seized with some contigious
5:22:17
malady, of which he died in the camp at Sermium meet Ravitz on the
5:22:21
Sava in Lower Pannonia, but at Vendabena Vienna. According to other authorities.
5:22:26
On the seventeenth March a d. One eighty, in the fifty ninth year
5:22:30
of his age, his son Commodus was with him. The body or the
5:22:36
ashes, probably the emperor, were carried to Rome, and he received the
5:22:40
honor of deification. Those who could afford it had his statue or bust,
5:22:45
and when Captalinus wrote, many people still had statues of Antoninus. Among the
5:22:49
deopinatus or household deities. He was, in a manner made a saint.
5:22:55
Commodists erected to the memory of his father. The Antonine Column, which is
5:23:00
now in the Piazza Colonna at Rome. The bas reliefs, which are placed
5:23:03
in a spiral line round the shaft, commemorate the victories of Antoninus over the
5:23:08
Marcomanni and the Quadi, and the miraculous shower of rain which refreshed the Roman
5:23:12
soldiers and discomfited their enemies. The statue of Antoninus was placed on the capitol
5:23:18
of the column, but it was removed at some time unknown, and a
5:23:22
bronze statue of Saint Paul was put in the place by Pope Sixtus the fifth.
5:23:26
The historical evidence for the times of Antoninus is very defective, and some
5:23:32
of that which remains is not credible. The most curious is the story about
5:23:37
the miracle, which happened in eighty one seventy four during the war with the
5:23:41
Quadi. The Roman army was in danger of perishing by thirst, but a
5:23:45
sudden storm drenched them with rain while it discharged fire and hail on their enemies,
5:23:52
and the Romans gained a great victory. All the authorities which speak of
5:23:56
the battles speak also of the miracle. The Gentile writers assigned it to their
5:24:00
gods, and the Christians to the intercession of the Christian legion in the Emperor's
5:24:04
army. To confirm the Christian statement, it is added that the Emperor gave
5:24:08
the title of thundering to this legion. But Dasier and others who maintain the
5:24:12
Christian report of the miracle admit that this title of thundering or lightning was not
5:24:18
given to this legion because the Quadi were struck with lightning, but because there
5:24:22
was a figure of lightning on their shields, and that this title of the
5:24:26
legion existed in the time of Augustus. Scalager also had observed that the legion
5:24:30
was called Thundering before the reign of Antoninus. We can learn this from Dion
5:24:36
Cassius, who enumerates all the legions of Augustus's time. The name thundering or
5:24:41
lightning also occurs on an inscription of the reign of Trajan, which was found
5:24:45
at Trieste. Eusebius, when he relates the miracle, quotes A. Paullinarius,
5:24:51
Bishop of Hierapolis, as authority for this name being given to the legion
5:24:55
Melatini by the Emperor, in consequence of the success which he had obtained through
5:24:59
theirs prayers, from which we may estimate the value of Pollinarius's testimony. Eusebius
5:25:04
does not say in what book of Apollinarius the statement occurs. Dion says that
5:25:10
the Thundering Legion was stationed in Cappadocia in the time of Augustus Vllasius also observes
5:25:15
that in the Notitia of the Imperium Romanum, there is mentioned under the Commander
5:25:19
of Armenia the prefectura of the twelfth legion named Thundering Melatini, and this position
5:25:26
in Armenia will agree with what Dion says of its position in Cappadocia. Accordingly,
5:25:30
Vllasius concludes that Melatinia was not the name of the legion, but of
5:25:34
the town in which it was stationed. Melatini was also the name of the
5:25:40
district in which this town was situated. The legions did not, he says,
5:25:44
take their name from the place where they were on duty, but from
5:25:47
the country in which they were raised, and therefore what Eusebius says about the
5:25:51
Melatini does not seem probable to him. Yet Vllasius, on the authority of
5:25:56
Apollinarius and Tertulian, believe that the miracle was worked through the prayers of the
5:26:00
Christian soldiers in the Emperor's army. Refinus does not give the name of Melatini
5:26:04
to this legion, says Villasius, and probably he purposely omitted it because he
5:26:10
knew that Melatini was the name of a town in Armenia Minor, where the
5:26:14
legion was stationed. In his time, the Emperor, it is said,
5:26:18
made a report of his victory to the Senate, which we may believe,
5:26:22
for such was the practice. But we do not know what he said in
5:26:25
his letter, for it is not extant. Dosier assumes that the emperor's letter
5:26:30
was purposely destroyed by the Senate or the enemies of Christianity, that so honorable
5:26:34
a testimony to the Christians and their religion might not be perpetuated. The critic
5:26:40
has, however, not seen that he contradicts when he tells us purport of
5:26:44
the letter, for he says that it was destroyed and even Eusebius could not
5:26:48
find it. But there does exist a letter in Greek addressed by Antoninus to
5:26:52
the Roman people and the sacred Senate after this memorable victory. It is sometimes
5:26:57
printed after Justin's first apon Pology, but is totally unconnected with the apologies.
5:27:03
This letter is one of the most stupid forgeries of the men which exist,
5:27:07
and it cannot be possibly founded even on the genuine report of Antoninus to the
5:27:11
Senate. If it were genuine, it would free the emperor from the charge
5:27:14
of persecuting men because they are Christians. For he says in this false letter
5:27:18
that if a man accused another only of being a Christian, and the accused
5:27:22
confess, and there is nothing else against him, he must be set free.
5:27:26
With this monstrous edition made by man inconceivably ignorant, that the informer must
5:27:32
be burnt alive during the time of Antoninus Pious. In Marcus Antininus there appeared
5:27:38
the first Apology of Justinus, and under Marcus Antoninus the Oration of Tatian against
5:27:44
the Greeks, which was a fierce attack on the established religions. The address
5:27:48
of Athanagaris to Marcus Antoninus on behalf of the Christians, and the apology of
5:27:53
Malito, bishop of Sardes, also addressed to the Emperor, and that of
5:27:57
a Pollinarius. The first Apology of Justinus is addressed to Titus Antoninus Pious and
5:28:04
his two adopted sons, Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Verus, but we do not
5:28:10
know whether they read it. Footnote. Aurotius says that Justinus the philosopher presented
5:28:15
to Antoninus Pious his work in defense of the Christian religion and made him merciful
5:28:21
to the Christians. In footnote. The second Apology of Justinus is entitled to
5:28:26
the Roman Senate, but this superscription is from some copyist. In the first
5:28:32
chapter, Justinus addresses the Romans. In the second chapter he speaks of an
5:28:37
affair that had recently happened in the time of Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Verus,
5:28:41
as it seems, and he also directly addresses the emperor, saying of a
5:28:45
certain woman quote she addressed a petition to thee the Emperor, and thou didst
5:28:51
grant the petition. In other passages, the writer addresses the two emperors,
5:28:56
from which we must conclude that the apology was direct to them. Eusebius states
5:29:02
that the Second Apology was addressed to the successor of Antoninus Pious, and he
5:29:07
names him Antoninus Verus, meaning Marcus Antoninus. In one passage of the Second
5:29:11
Apology, Justinus or the writer, whoever he may be, says that even
5:29:17
men who followed the Stoic doctrines, when they ordered their lives according to ethical
5:29:21
reason, were hated and murdered, such as Heraclitusmusonius in his own times and
5:29:26
others. For all, those who in any way labor to live according to
5:29:30
reason and avoided wickedness were always hated, and this was the effect of the
5:29:34
work of demons. Justinus himself is said to have been put to death at
5:29:40
Rome because he refused to sacrifice to the gods. It cannot have been in
5:29:45
the reign of Hadrian, as one authority states, nor in the time of
5:29:48
Antoninus pious if the second Apology was written in the time of Marcus Antoninus,
5:29:53
and there is evidence that this event took place under Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Verus,
5:29:57
when Rusticus was pre effect to the city. The persecution in which Polycarps
5:30:03
suffered at Smyrna belongs to the time of Marcus Antoninus. The evidence for it
5:30:08
is the letter of the Church of Smyrna to the churches of Philomelium and the
5:30:12
other Christian churches, and it is preserved by Eusebius. But the critics do
5:30:18
not agree about the time of Polycarp's death, differing in the two extremes to
5:30:22
the amount of twelve years. The circumstances of Polycarp's martyrdom were accompanied by miracles,
5:30:27
one of which Eusebius has omitted, but it appears in the oldest Latin
5:30:32
version of the letter, which Usher published, and it is supposed that this
5:30:34
version was made not long after the time of Eusebius. The notice at the
5:30:40
end of the letter states that it was transcribed by Caius from the copy of
5:30:42
Ireneus, the disciple of Polycarp, then transcribed by Socrates at Corinth quote after
5:30:49
which I Pioneus again wrote it out from the copy above mentioned, having searched
5:30:53
it out by the revelation of Polycarp, who directed it to me et cetera.
5:31:00
The story of Polycarp's martyrdom is embellished with miraculous circumstances, which some modern
5:31:06
writers on ecclesiastical history take the liberty of omitting. Footnote Conyer's Middleton An Inquiry
5:31:11
into the Miraculous Powers, etc. Page one, twenty six, Middleton says
5:31:17
that Eusebius omitted to mention the dove which flew out of Polycarp's body, and
5:31:22
Dodwell and Archbishop Wake have done the same. Wake says, I am so
5:31:26
little a friend to such miracles that I thought it better with Eusebius to omit
5:31:30
that circumstance than to mention it from Bishop Basher's manuscript. Which manuscript, however,
5:31:37
says Middleton, he afterwards declares to be so well attested that we need
5:31:42
not any further assurance of the truth of it in footnote. In order to
5:31:48
form a proper notion of the condition of the Christians under Marcus Antoninus, we
5:31:52
must go back to Trajan's time, when the younger Pliny was governor of Bathinia.
5:31:57
The Christians were numerous in those parts, and the worshippers of the old
5:32:00
religion were falling off. The temples were deserted, the festivals neglected, and
5:32:06
there were no purchasers of victims for sacrifice. Those who were interested in the
5:32:11
maintenance of the old religion thus found that their prophets were in danger. Christians
5:32:15
of both sexes and of all ages were brought before the governor, who did
5:32:19
not know what to do with them. He could come to know their conclusion
5:32:22
in this that those who confess to be Christians and presevered in their religion ought
5:32:27
to be punished, if for nothing else for their invincible obstinacy. He found
5:32:33
no crimes proved against the Christians, and he could only characterize their religion as
5:32:37
a depraved and extravagant superstition, which might be stopped if the people are allowed
5:32:41
the opportunity of recanting. Pliny wrote this in a letter to Trajan. Footnote.
5:32:47
The Martyrium ignatia E, first published in Latin by Archbishop Usher, is
5:32:52
the chief evidence for the circumstances of Ignatius's death. In footnote in the time
5:32:57
of Hadrian, it was no life longer possible for the Roman government to overlook
5:33:03
the great increase of the Christians in the hostility of the common sword to them.
5:33:07
If the governors and the provinces were willing to let them alone, they
5:33:10
could not resist the fanaticism of the Heathen community, who looked on the Christians
5:33:15
as atheists. The Jews, too, who were settled all over the Roman
5:33:18
Empire, were as hostile to the Christians as the Gentiles were. Footnote we
5:33:23
have the evidence of justiness to this effect. Quote the Christians are attacked by
5:33:29
the Jews as if they were men of a different race, and are persecuted
5:33:32
by the Greeks, and those who hate them cannot give the reason of their
5:33:36
enmity in footnote. With the time of Hadrian began the Christian apologies, which
5:33:42
show plainly what the popular feeling towards the Christians then. Was a rescript of
5:33:48
Hadrian to Minucius Fondanas, the proconsul of Asia, which stands at the end
5:33:52
of Justine's first apology, instructs the governor that innocent people must not be troubled,
5:33:57
and false accusers must not be allowed to extort money from them. The
5:34:02
charges against the Christians must be made in due form, and no attention must
5:34:06
be paid to popular clamors. When Christians were regularly prosecuted and convicted of illegal
5:34:11
acts, they must be punished according to their deserts, and false accusers also
5:34:15
must be punished. Footnote and in Eusebius, Erosius says that Hadrian sentthus rescript
5:34:22
to Manusius Fandanus, proconsul of Asia, after being instructed in books written on
5:34:26
the Christian religion by Quadratus, a disciple of the Apostles, and Aristides and
5:34:33
Athenian, an honest and wise man, and Serenus Grenaeus. In the Greek
5:34:37
text of Hadrian's rescript there is mentioned Sereneus Grenianus, the predecessor of Minusius Vandanas
5:34:45
in the government of Asia. This rescript of Hadrian has clearly been added to
5:34:48
the apology by some editor. In footnote, Antonius Pious is said to have
5:34:55
published rescripts to the same effect. The terms of Hadrian's rescript seem very favorable
5:35:00
to the Christians, But if we understand it in this sense that they are
5:35:04
only to be punished like other people for illegal acts, it would have no
5:35:07
meaning, for that could have been done without asking the emperor's advice. The
5:35:12
real purpose of the rescript is that Christians must be punished if they persisted in
5:35:15
their belief and would not prove their renunciation of it by acknowledging the Heathen religion.
5:35:22
This was Trajan's rule, and we have no reason for supposing that Hadrian
5:35:26
granted more to the Christians than Trajan did. There is also printed at the
5:35:30
end of Justin's first Apology a rescript of Antoninus Pious to the Commune of Asia,
5:35:37
and it is also an Eusebius. The date of the rescript is the
5:35:40
third consulship of Antoninus Pious. The rescript declares that the Christians, for they
5:35:45
are meant, though the name Christians does not occur in the rescript, were
5:35:48
not to be disturbed unless they were attempting something against the Roman rule, and
5:35:53
no man was to be punished simply for being a Christian. But this rescript
5:35:57
is spurious. Any man and moderately acquainted with Roman history will see by the
5:36:03
style and tenor that it is a clumsy forgery. In the time of Marcus
5:36:08
Antoninus, the opposition between the old and the new belief was still stronger,
5:36:14
and the adherents of the Heathen religion urged those in authority to a more regular
5:36:18
resistance to the invasions of the Christian faith. Melito, in his apology to
5:36:22
Marcus Antoninus, represents the Christians of Asia as persecuted under new imperial orders shameless
5:36:30
informers. He says, men who are greedy after the property of others use
5:36:33
these orders as a means of robbing those who were doing no harm. He
5:36:38
doubts if a just emperor could have ordered anything so unjust, and if the
5:36:42
last order was really not from the emperor. The Christians entreat him not to
5:36:47
give them up to their enemies. We conclude from this that there were at
5:36:51
least imperial rescripts or constitutions of Marcus Antoninus, which are made the foundations of
5:36:56
these persecutions. The fact of being a Christian was now a crime and punished
5:37:00
unless the accused denied their religion. Then come the persecutions at Smyrna, which
5:37:07
some modern critics place in eighty one sixty seven, ten years before the persecution
5:37:11
of Lyon. The governors of the provinces under Marcus Antoninus might have found enough
5:37:17
even in Trajan's rescript to warrant them in punishing Christians and the fanaticism of the
5:37:22
people would drive them to persecution even if they were unwilling. But besides the
5:37:27
fact of the Christians rejecting all the Heathen ceremonies, we must not forget that
5:37:32
they plainly maintained that all the Heathen religions were false. The Christians thus declared
5:37:37
war against the Heathen rites, and it is hardly necessary to observe that this
5:37:41
was a declaration of hostility against the Roman government, which tolerated all the various
5:37:47
forms of superstition that existed in the Empire, and could not consistently tolerate another
5:37:52
religion which declared that all the rest are false, and all the splendid ceremonies
5:37:56
of the Empire only a worship of devils. If we had a true ecclesiastical
5:38:02
history, we should know how the Roman empires attempted to check the new religion,
5:38:07
how they enforced their principle of finally punishing Christians simply as Christians, which
5:38:11
Justin in his apology affirms that they did. And I have no doubt that
5:38:15
he tells the truth. How far popular clamor and riots went in this matter,
5:38:21
and how far many fanatical and ignorant Christians for there were many such contributed
5:38:26
to excite the fanaticism on the other side and to embedter the quarrel between the
5:38:30
Roman government and the new religion. Our extant ecclesiastical histories are manifestly falsified,
5:38:37
and what truth they contain is grossly exaggerated. But the fact is certain that
5:38:41
in the time of Marcus Antoninus, the Heathen populations were an open hostility to
5:38:45
the Christians, and that under Antoninus's rule men were put to death because they
5:38:51
were Christians. Eusebius, in the preface to his fifth book, remarks that
5:38:56
in the seventeenth year of Antoninus's reign, in some parts of the world,
5:39:00
persecution of the Christians became more violent, and that it proceeded from the populace
5:39:03
in the cities. And he adds, in his usual style of exaggeration,
5:39:08
that we may infer from what took place in a single nation, that myriads
5:39:12
of martyrs are made in the habitable earth. The nation which he alludes to
5:39:17
is Gallia. And he then proceeds to give the letter the churches of Vienna
5:39:21
in Lagdunum. It is probable that he's assigned the true cause of the persecutions
5:39:26
the fanaticism of the populace, and that both governors and emperor had a great
5:39:30
deal of trouble with these disturbances. How far Marcus was cognizant to these cruel
5:39:34
proceedings we do not know, for the historical records of his reign are very
5:39:38
defective. He did not make the rule against the Christians, for Trajan did
5:39:42
that. And if we admit that he would have been willing to let the
5:39:45
Christians alone, we cannot affirm that it was in his power, for it
5:39:49
would be a great mistake to suppose that Antinninius had the unlimited authority which some
5:39:53
modern sovereigns have had. His power was limited by certain constitutional forms by the
5:40:00
Senate, and by the precedence of his predecessors. We cannot admit that such
5:40:04
a man was an active persecutor, for there is no evidence that he was,
5:40:08
though it is certain that he had no good opinion of the Christians,
5:40:11
as appears from his own words. Footnote except that of Erosius, who says
5:40:17
that during the Parthian War there were grievous persecutions of the Christians in Asia and
5:40:22
Gallia under the orders of Marcus pricepto Ayus and quote many were crowned with a
5:40:27
martyrdom of saints unquote in footnote. But he knew nothing of them except their
5:40:34
hostility to the Roman religion, and he probably thought that they were dangerous to
5:40:38
the state, notwithstanding the profession's false or true of some of the apologists.
5:40:45
So much I have said, because it would be unfair not to state all
5:40:48
that can be urged against a man whom his contemporaries and subsequent ages venerated as
5:40:53
a model of virtue and benevolence. If I admitted the genuineness of some doctor
5:41:00
doumens, he would be altogether clear from the charge of even allowing any persecutions.
5:41:04
But as I seek the truth and am sure that they are false,
5:41:07
I leave him to bear whatever blame is his due. Footnote. Doctor F.
5:41:12
C. Bauer, in his work entitled does christinetum mundi christly kakirka derdry
5:41:18
erston yo hunderta, et cetera, has examined this question with great good sense
5:41:23
and fairness, and I believe he has stated the truth as near as our
5:41:26
authorities enable us to reach it. In footnote, I add that it is
5:41:33
quite certain that Antoninus did not derive any of his ethical principles from a religion
5:41:37
of which he knew nothing footnote. In the digest there is the following excerpt
5:41:42
from Modestinus quote seek KUIs ali kuit fekeret kuo lewis hominoma nima separstiona namenus terrerinter
5:41:53
d u s marcus hu yasmada homenas in insulam relegas. There is no doubt
5:42:03
that the Emperor's Reflections or his meditations as they are generally named, is a
5:42:08
genuine work. In the first book he speaks of himself, his family,
5:42:12
and his teachers, and in other books he mentions himself. Soueidis notices the
5:42:18
work of Antoninus in twelve Books, which he names the conduct of his own
5:42:22
life, and he cites the book under several words in his dictionary, giving
5:42:26
the emperor's name, but not the title of the work. There are also
5:42:30
passages cited by Suidas from Antoninus without mention of the emperor's name. The true
5:42:36
title of the work is unknown. Zylander, who published the first edition of
5:42:41
this book with a Latin version, used a manuscript which contained the twelve books,
5:42:45
but it is not known where the manuscript is now. The only other
5:42:49
complete manuscript which is known to exist, is in the Vatican Library, but
5:42:55
it has no titles in no inscriptions. Of the several books, the eleventh
5:42:59
only has the in sscription marked with an asterisk. The other Vatican manuscripts in
5:43:03
the three Florentine contain only excerpts from the Emperor's book. All the titles of
5:43:08
the Excerps nearly agree with that which Silander prefixed to his edition. This title
5:43:14
has been used by all subsequent editors. We cannot tell whether Antoninus divided his
5:43:18
work into books or somebody else did it. If the inscriptions at the end
5:43:22
of the first and second books are genuine, he may have made the division
5:43:26
himself. It is plain that the emperor wrote down his thoughts or reflections as
5:43:30
the occasions arose, and since they were intended for his own use, it
5:43:36
is no improbable conjecture that he left a complete copy behind him, written with
5:43:40
his own hand, for it is not likely that so diligent a man would
5:43:44
use the labor of a transcriber for such a purpose and expose his most secret
5:43:48
thoughts to any other eye. He may have also intended the book for his
5:43:52
son Eusebius Combatusts, who however, had no taste for his father's philosophy,
5:43:57
some careful hand preserved of the precious volume and a work by Antoninus as mentioned
5:44:03
by other late writers. Beside Suidas, many critics have labored on the text
5:44:08
of Antoninus. The most complete edition is that by Thomas Gataker sixteen fifty two
5:44:14
quarto. The second edition of Gataker was superintended by George Stanup sixteen ninety seven
5:44:19
quarto. There is also an edition of seventeen o four. Gataker made and
5:44:26
suggested many good corrections, and he also made a new Latin version, which
5:44:30
is not a very good specimen of Latin, but it generally expresses the sense
5:44:33
of the original, and often better than some of the more recent translations.
5:44:38
He added in the margin opposite to each paragraph references to the other parallel passages.
5:44:44
And he wrote a commentary, one of the most complete that has been
5:44:48
written on any ancient author. This commentary contains the editor's exposition of the more
5:44:52
difficult passages and quotations from all the Greek and Roman writers for the illustration of
5:44:57
the text. It is a wonderful monument of learning and labor, and certainly
5:45:03
no Englishman has yet done anything like it. At the end of his prevace.
5:45:07
The editor says that he wrote it at Rotherhis, near London, in
5:45:10
a severe winter, when he was in the seventy eighth year of his age
5:45:14
sixteen fifty one, a time when Milton Selden and other great men of the
5:45:18
Commonwealth time were living, and the great French scholar Selma's Selmatius, with whom
5:45:23
Gadaker corresponded and received help from him for his edition of Antoninus. The Greek
5:45:30
text has also been edited by J. M. Schultz, Leipzig, eighteen
5:45:33
o two, eight volumes, and by the learned Greek Athelmontainus Coret, Paris
5:45:38
eighteen sixteen, eight volumes. The text of Schultz was republished by Tauchnitz eighteen
5:45:45
twenty one. There are English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish
5:45:49
translations of Marcus Antoninus, and there may be others. I have not seen.
5:45:55
All the English translations, there is one by Jeremy Collier seventeen to eight
5:46:00
volumes, a most coarse and vulgar copy of the original. The latest French
5:46:04
translation, by Alexis Pieron in the collection of Charpontier, is better than Dossier's,
5:46:11
which has been honored with an Italian version Udinae, seventeen seventy two.
5:46:17
There is an Italian version sixteen seventy five which I have not seen. It
5:46:22
is by a cardinal quote a man illustrious in the church. The Cardinal Francis
5:46:26
Barberini, the elder nephew of Pope Urban the seventh, occupied the last years
5:46:32
of his life in translating into his native language the thoughts of the Roman Emperor,
5:46:36
in order to diffuse among the faithful the fertilizing and vivifying seeds. He
5:46:41
dedicated this translation to his soul to make it, as he says in his
5:46:45
energetic style, redder than his purple at the side of the virtues of this
5:46:48
gentile. I have made this translation at intervals, after having used the book
5:46:56
for many years. It is made from the Greek, but I have not
5:47:00
always followed one text, and I have occasionally compared other versions with my own.
5:47:06
I made this translation for my own use because I found that it was
5:47:08
worth the labor. But it may be useful to others also, and therefore
5:47:12
I determined to print it. As the original is sometimes very difficult to understand
5:47:18
and still more difficult to translate. It is not possible that I have always
5:47:22
avoided error, but I believe that I have not often missed the meaning.
5:47:26
And those who will take the trouble to compare the translation with the original should
5:47:30
not hastily conclude that I am wrong if they do not agree with me.
5:47:34
Some passages do give the meaning, though at first sight they may not appear
5:47:38
to do so. And when I differ from the translators, I think in
5:47:42
some places they are wrong, and in other places I am sure that they
5:47:47
are. I have placed in some passages a plus sign, which indicates corruption
5:47:52
in the text, or a great uncertainty in the meaning. I could have
5:47:56
made the language more easy and flowing, but I have preferred a ruder style
5:48:00
as being better suited to express the character of the original. And sometimes the
5:48:03
obscurity which may appear in the version is a fair copy of the obscurity of
5:48:07
the Greek. If I have not given the best words for the Greek,
5:48:11
I have done the best that I could, And in the next text I
5:48:15
have always given the same translation of the same word. The last reflection of
5:48:19
the Stoic philosophy that I have observed is in Simplicius's commentary of the Incridian of
5:48:26
Epictetus. Simplicius was not a Christian, and such a man was not likely
5:48:30
to be converted at a time when Christianity was grossly corrupted. But he was
5:48:37
a really religious man, and he includes his commentary with a prayer to the
5:48:41
Deity which no Christian could improve. From the time of Zeno to Simplicius,
5:48:47
a period of about nine hundred years, the Stoic philosophy formed the characters of
5:48:51
some of the best and greatest men. Finally it became extinct, and we
5:48:56
hear no more of it till the revival of letters. In Italy, Angelo
5:49:00
Poliziano met with two very inaccurate and incomplete manuscripts of Epictetus's Incridian, which he
5:49:07
had translated into Latin and dedicated to his great patron, Lorenzo de Medici,
5:49:12
in whose collection he had found the book. Poliziano's version was printed in the
5:49:17
first ball edition of the Incridian eighty fifteen thirty one, aped Andrean Caretandrum.
5:49:23
Policiano recommends the Encridian to Lorenzo as a work well suited to his temper and
5:49:30
useful in the difficulties by which he was surrounded. Epictetus and Antoninus have had
5:49:36
readers ever since they were printed. The Little Book of Antoninus has been the
5:49:41
companion of some great men. Macchiavelli's Art of War and Marcus Antoninus were the
5:49:47
two books which were used when he was a young man by Captain John Smith,
5:49:51
and he could not have found two writers better fitted to form the character
5:49:53
of a soldier and a man. Smith is almost unknown and forgotten in England
5:50:00
native country, but not in America, where he saved the young colony of
5:50:03
Virginia. He was great in his heroic mind, in his deeds in arms,
5:50:07
but greater still in the nobleness of his character. For a man's greatness
5:50:11
lies not in wealth and station, as the vulgar believe, nor yet in
5:50:17
his intellectual capacity, which is often associated with the meanest moral character, the
5:50:22
most abject servility to those in high places, and arrogance to the poor and
5:50:26
lowly. But a man's true greatness lies in the consciousness of an honest purpose
5:50:32
in life, founded on a just estimate of himself and everything else, on
5:50:37
frequent self examination, and a steady obedience to the rule which he knows to
5:50:41
be right, without troubling himself. As the Emperor says, He should not
5:50:45
about what others may think or say, or whether they do or do not
5:50:51
do that which he thinks and says and does. It has been said that
5:50:56
Stoic philosophy first showed its real value when it passed from Greece to Rome.
5:51:02
The doctrines of Zeno and his successors were well suited to the gravity and practical
5:51:06
good sense of the Romans, and even in the Republican period we have an
5:51:10
example of a man m cato Utensis, who lived the life of a Stoic
5:51:14
and died consistently with the opinions which he professed. He was a man,
5:51:18
says Cicero, who embraced the Stoic philosophy from conviction, not for the purpose
5:51:23
of vain discussion, as most did, but in order to make his life
5:51:26
conformable to the Stoic precepts. In the wretched time from the death of Augustus
5:51:32
to the murder of Domitian, there was nothing but Stoic philosophy which can console
5:51:37
and support the followers of the old religion. Under imperial tyranny and amidst universal
5:51:41
corruption. There were even then noble minds that could dare and endure, sustained
5:51:47
by good, conscious and elevated idea of the purposes of man's existence. Such
5:51:52
were paidas Thesia, Helvitius, Pricius, Cornudus, c. Musonius, Riefus,
5:51:57
and the poets Perseus in Juvenal, whose energetic language and manly thoughts may
5:52:03
be as instructive to us now as they might have been to their contemporaries.
5:52:07
Perseus died under Nero's bloody reign, but Juvenile had the good fortune to survive
5:52:11
the tyrant Domitian and to see the better times of Nerva, Trajan, and
5:52:15
Hatrian. His best precepts are derived from the Stoic school, and they are
5:52:19
enforced in his finest verses by the unrivaled vigor of the Latin language. The
5:52:26
two best expounders of the later Stoical philosophy were a Greek slave and a Roman
5:52:30
emperor. Epictetus, a Phrygian Greek, was brought to Rome. We know
5:52:34
not how that he was there the slave and afterwards the freedman of an unworthy
5:52:37
master. Apaphroditis by name himself a freeman and a favorite of Nero. Epectetus
5:52:44
may have been a hearer of C. Musonius Ruthless while he was still a
5:52:48
slave, but he could hardly have been a teacher before he was made free.
5:52:52
He was one of the philosophers whom Domitians order banished from Rome. He
5:52:56
retired to Nicopolis and Neperis, and he may have died there. Like other
5:53:00
great teachers, he wrote nothing, and we are indebted to his grateful pupil
5:53:04
Arian for what we have of Epictetus's discourses. Arian wrote eight books of the
5:53:10
discourses of Epictuses, of which only four remain in some fragments. We also
5:53:15
have from Arian's hand the small Encharidean or Manual, or the Chief Precepts of
5:53:18
Epictetus. There is a valuable commentary on the Churitian by Simplicis, who lived
5:53:23
at the time of the emperor Justinian. Antoninus, in his first book,
5:53:29
in which he gratefully commentaries his obligations to his teachers, says that he was
5:53:33
made acquainted by Junius Rusticus with the discourses of Epictetus, whom he mentions also
5:53:37
in other passages. Indeed, the doctrines of Epectidus and Antoninus are the same,
5:53:45
and Epactidus is the best authority for the explanation of the philosophical language.
5:53:48
Of Antoninus and the exposition of his opinions. But the method of the two
5:53:52
philosophers is entirely different. Atpactidus addressed himself to his hearers in a continuous discourse
5:53:59
and in a familial and simple manner. Antoninas wrote down his reflections for his
5:54:03
own use only in short, unconnected paragraphs, which are often obscure. The
5:54:10
Stoics made three divisions of philosophy, physic, ethic, and logic. This
5:54:15
division, we are told by Diogenes, was made by Zeno of Sidium,
5:54:19
the founder of the Stoic sect, and by Chrysippus, But these philosophers placed
5:54:23
the three divisions in the following order, logic, physic, ethic. It
5:54:29
appears, however, that this division was made before Zeno's time, and acknowledged
5:54:33
by Plato. As Cicero remarks, logic is not synonymous with our term logic
5:54:37
in the narrow sense of that word. Cleanthes A Stoics subdivided into three divisions
5:54:44
and made six dialectic and rhetoric, comprised in logic, ethic and politic,
5:54:49
physic and theology. This division was merely for practical use, For all philosophy
5:54:55
is one even among the earliest Stoics, Logic or dialectic does not occupy the
5:55:00
same place as in Plato, is considered only as an instrument which is to
5:55:04
be used for the other divisions of philosophy. An exposition of the earlier Stoic
5:55:10
doctrines and of their modifications with require a volume. My object is to explain
5:55:15
only the opinions of Antoninus, so far as they can be collected from his
5:55:18
book. According to the subdivision of Cleanthes, physic and theology go together,
5:55:25
or the study of the nature of things and the study of the nature of
5:55:29
the deity, so far as man can understand the deity and of his government
5:55:33
of the universe. This division or subdivision is not formally adopted by Antoninus,
5:55:38
for as already observed, there is no method in his book, but it
5:55:42
is virtually contained in it. Cleanthes also connects ethic and politic, or the
5:55:49
study of principles of morals in the study of the constitution of civil society,
5:55:53
and undoubtedly he did well in subdividing ethic into two parts, ethic in a
5:55:59
narrower sense and politic, For though the two are intimately connected, they are
5:56:03
also very distinct, and many questions can only be properly discussed by carefully observing
5:56:07
the distinction. Antoninus does not treat of politic. His subject is an ethic
5:56:15
in its practical application to his own conduct in life as a man and as
5:56:19
a governor. His ethic is founded on the doctrines about man's nature, the
5:56:25
universal nature, and the relations of every man to everything else. It is
5:56:30
therefore intimately and inseparately connected with physics, or the nature of things, and
5:56:33
with theology, or the nature of the deity. He advises us to examine
5:56:38
well all the impressions on our minds, and to form a right judgment of
5:56:42
them, to make just conclusions, and to inquire into the meanings of words,
5:56:47
in so far to apply dialectic. But he has no attempt at any
5:56:49
exposition of dialectic, and his philosophy is in substance purely moral and practical.
5:56:55
He says, quote constantly, and if it be possible, on the occasion
5:57:00
of every impression on the soul, apply it to the principles of physic,
5:57:03
of ethic, and of dialectic end quote, which is only another way of
5:57:08
telling us to examine the impression in every possible way. In another passage,
5:57:14
she says, Quote to the age which have been mentioned, let this one
5:57:18
still be added. Make for thyself a definition or description of the object which
5:57:22
is presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing
5:57:26
it is, in its substance, in its nudity, in its complete entirety,
5:57:30
And tell thyself its proper name, and the names of the things which
5:57:33
it has been compounded and into which it will be resolved. End quote.
5:57:37
Such an examination implies the use of dialectic, which Antonine is accordingly employed as
5:57:42
a mean towards establishing his physical, theological and ethical principles. There are several
5:57:49
expositions of the physical, theological and ethical principles which are contained in the work
5:57:53
of Antoninas, and more expositions than I have read. Ritter, after explaining
5:57:59
the doctrine of that Pectitis, treats very briefly and insufficiently those of Antoninus,
5:58:03
but he refers to a short essay in which the work has done better.
5:58:07
There is also an essay on the philosophical principles of m Aurelius Antoninus by J.
5:58:11
M. Schultz, placed at the end of his German translation of Antoninus.
5:58:15
With the assistance of these two useful essays. In his own diligent study,
5:58:18
a man may form a sufficient notion of the principles Vantaninus, but he
5:58:22
will find it more difficult to expound them to others. Besides the want of
5:58:26
arrangement in the original end of connection among the numerous paragraphs, the corruption of
5:58:32
the text, the obscurity of the language and the style, and sometimes perhaps
5:58:36
the confusion in the writer's own ideas. Besides all this, there is occasionally
5:58:38
an apparent contradiction in the emperor's thoughts, as if his principles were sometimes unsettled,
5:58:44
as if doubt sometimes clouded his mind. A man who leads a life
5:58:48
of tranquility and reflection, who is not disturbed at home and meddles not with
5:58:52
the affairs of the world, may keep his mind at ease and his thoughts
5:58:56
on one even course. But such a man has has not been tried all
5:59:02
his ethical philosophy and his passive virtue might turn out to be idle words if
5:59:06
he were once exposed to the rude realities of human existence. Fine thoughts and
5:59:11
moral dissertations from men who have not worked and suffered may be read, but
5:59:15
they will be forgotten. No religion. No ethical philosophy is worth anything if
5:59:21
the teacher has not lived the quote life of an apostle end quote, and
5:59:26
has been ready to die quote the death of a martyr end quote. Quote.
5:59:32
Not in passivity the passive ethics, but in activity, lie the evil
5:59:36
and the good of the rational social animal, just as his virtue and his
5:59:40
vice lie not in passivity but in activity end quote, Section nine, paragraph
5:59:47
sixteen. The Emperor Antoninus was a practical moralist. From his youth he followed
5:59:52
the laborious discipline, and though his high station placed him above all want or
5:59:56
the fear of it, he lived as frugally and as temperately as the poorest.
5:59:59
For philosopher Etpectitias wanted little, and it seems that he always had the
6:00:03
little that he wanted, and he was content with it, as he had
6:00:07
been with a servile station. But Antoninus, after his succession to the empire,
6:00:11
sat on an uneasy seat. He had the administration of an empire which
6:00:17
extended from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, from the cold mountains of Scotland to
6:00:21
the hot sands of Africa. And we may imagine, though we cannot know
6:00:25
it by experience, what must be the trials, the troubles, the anxiety,
6:00:27
and the sorrows of him who has the world's business on his hands,
6:00:30
with the wish to do the best he can, and a certain knowledge that
6:00:33
he can do very little of the good which he wishes, in the midst
6:00:38
of war, pestilence, conspiracy, general corruption, and with the weight of
6:00:42
so unwieldy an empire upon him. We may easily comprehend that Antoninus often had
6:00:48
need of all his fortitude to support him. The best and bravest men have
6:00:52
moments of doubt and of weakness, But if they are the best in the
6:00:56
bravest, they rise again from their depression by recurring to first principles, as
6:01:00
Antoninus does. The Emperor says that life is smoke a vapor, and Saint
6:01:06
James and his epistle is of the same mind, that the world is full
6:01:08
of envious, jealous, malignant people, and a man might well be content
6:01:12
to get out of it. He has doubts, perhaps sometimes even about that
6:01:17
to which he holds most firmly. There are only a few passages of this
6:01:21
kind, but they are the evidence of struggles which even the noblest of the
6:01:23
sons of men had to maintain against the hard realities of his daily life.
6:01:29
A poor remark, it is, which I have seen somewhere and made in
6:01:32
a disparaging way, that the emperor's reflection showed that he had need of consolation
6:01:36
and comfort in life, and even to prepare him to meet his death.
6:01:40
True, that he did need comfort and support, and we see how he
6:01:42
found it. He constantly recurs to his fundamental principle that the universe is wisely
6:01:48
ordered, that every man is a part of it, and must conform to
6:01:51
that order, which he cannot change. That whatever the deity has done is
6:01:53
good, That all mankind are a man's brethren, that he must love and
6:01:56
cherish them, and try to make them better those who would do him harm.
6:02:02
This is his conclusion. Quote, what then, is that which is
6:02:06
able to conduct a man one thing, and only one philosophy? But this
6:02:12
consists in keeping the divinity within a man free from violence and unharmed, superior
6:02:18
to pains and pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet falsely and
6:02:21
with hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man's doing or not doing anything,
6:02:26
And besides, accepting all that happens and all that is allotted as coming
6:02:30
from thence wherever it is from, whence he himself came and finally waiting for
6:02:34
death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the
6:02:37
elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm
6:02:42
to the elements themselves, and each continually changing into another, why should the
6:02:45
man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements himself?
6:02:51
For it is according to nature, and nothing is evil, that is according
6:02:55
to nature end quote. The physics of Antoninus the knowledge of the nature of
6:03:00
the universe, of its government, and of the relation of man's nature to
6:03:04
both. He names the universe quote the universal substance end quote, and he
6:03:11
adds that quote reason end quote covers the universe. He also uses the term
6:03:15
quote universal nature end quote, or quote nature of the universe end quote.
6:03:22
He calls the universe quote the one in all which we name cosmos or order
6:03:30
end quote. If he ever seems to use these general terms as significant of
6:03:34
the all of all that man can in any way conceive to exist, He's
6:03:38
still, on other occasions plainly distinguishes between matter, material things, and cause
6:03:44
origin reason. This is conformable to Zeno's doctrine that there are two original principles
6:03:49
of all things, that which acts and that which is acted upon. That
6:03:55
which is acted on is the formless matter. That which acts is the reason.
6:04:00
God, who is eternal and operates through all matter and produces all things.
6:04:04
So Antoninus speaks of the Reason, which pervades all substance and through all
6:04:08
time, by fixed periods, parenthes, revolutions, and preneses, administers the
6:04:14
universe. God is eternal and matter is eternal. It is God who gives
6:04:19
form to matter, but He is not said to have created matter. According
6:04:25
to this view, which is as old as an exagoris, God and matter
6:04:27
exist independently, but God governs matter. This doctrine is simply the expression of
6:04:34
the fact of the existence both of matter and of God. The Stoics did
6:04:40
not perplex themselves with the insoluble question of the origin and nature of matter.
6:04:45
Antoninus also assumes the beginning of things as we now know them, but his
6:04:48
language is sometimes very obscure. I have endeavored to explain the meaning of one
6:04:53
difficult passage. Matter consists of elemental parts of which all material objects are made,
6:05:03
but nothing is permanent in form the nature of the universe. According to
6:05:07
Antonina's expression, quote loves nothing so much as to change the things which are,
6:05:12
and to make new things like them. For everything that exists in a
6:05:17
manner the seed of that which will be. But thou art thinking only of
6:05:21
seeds which are cast into the earth or into a womb. But this is
6:05:25
a very vulgar notion. End quote. All things, then, are in
6:05:30
a constant flux and change. Some things are dissolved into the elements, others
6:05:34
come in their places, and so quote the whole universe continues, every young
6:05:38
and perfect end quote. Antoninus has some obscure expressions about what he calls the
6:05:45
quote seminal principles end quote. He opposes these to the epicurean aboms and consequently
6:05:52
quote his seminal principles end quote are not material atoms which wander about at hazard
6:05:56
and combine. Nobody knows how. In one passage he speaks of living principles
6:06:03
souls after the dissolution of their bodies, being received into the quote seminal principle
6:06:07
of the universe, and Schultz thinks that by quote seminal principles, Antoninus means
6:06:14
the relation of the various elemental principles, which relations are determined by the Deity,
6:06:18
and by which alone the production of organized beings as possible end quote.
6:06:22
This may be the meaning, but if it is, nothing of any value
6:06:26
can be derived from it. Antoninus often uses the word quote nature, end
6:06:32
quote, and we must attempt to fix its meaning. The simple etymological sense
6:06:37
is quote production end quote. The birth of what we call things. The
6:06:41
Romans Jews natura, which also means birth originally, But neither the Greeks nor
6:06:47
Romans stuck to this simple meaning, nor do we. Antonina says, quote
6:06:52
whether the universe is a concourse of atoms or nature as a system. Let
6:06:56
this first be established, that I am part of the whole which is governed
6:07:00
by nature. End. Here it might seem as if nature were personified and
6:07:07
viewed as an active, efficient power, as something which, if not independent
6:07:11
of the deity, acts by a power which is given to it by the
6:07:15
deity. Such if I understand the expression. Right is the way in which
6:07:18
the word nature is often used. Now, though it is plain that many
6:07:22
writers use the word without fixing any exact meaning to it. It is the
6:07:27
same with the expression laws of nature, which some writers may use in an
6:07:32
intelligible sense, but others as clearly used in no definite sense at all.
6:07:37
There is no meaning in this word nature except that which Bishop Butler assigns to
6:07:41
it when he says quote. The only distinct meaning of that word natural is
6:07:47
stated fixture settled. Since what is natural as much require and presuppose as an
6:07:51
intelligent agent to render it, so i e. To affect it continually or
6:07:55
at stated times, as what is supernatural or miraculous does to affect it at
6:07:59
one. This is Plato's meaning when he says that God holds the beginning and
6:08:04
end in the middle of all that exists, and proceeds straight on his course,
6:08:08
making his circuit according to nature, friends, that is, by fixed
6:08:12
order and friends. And he is continually accompanied by justice, who punishes those
6:08:17
who deviate from the divine law, that is, from the order or course
6:08:22
which God observes. When we look at the motion of the planets, the
6:08:27
action of what we call gravitation, the elemental combination of unorganized bodies in their
6:08:32
resolution, the production of plants and of living bodies, their generation, growth,
6:08:36
and their dissolution, which we call their death, we observe a regular
6:08:40
sequence of phenomena which, within the limits of experienced presence and past, so
6:08:45
far as we know the past, is fixed and invariable. But if this
6:08:48
is not so, if the order and sequence of phenomena as known to us
6:08:52
are subject to change in the course of an infinite progression, and such change
6:08:56
is conceivable, we have nor discovered, not shall we ever discover the whole
6:09:00
of the order and sequence of phenomena in which sequence there may be involved according
6:09:04
to its very nature, that is, according to its fixed order, some
6:09:08
variation of which we now call order or the nature of things. It is
6:09:14
also conceivable that such changes have taken place, changes in the order of things,
6:09:18
as we are compelled by the imperfection of language to call them, which
6:09:22
are no changes. And further, it is certain that our knowledge of the
6:09:26
true sequence of all actual phenomenon, as for instance, the phenomena of generation,
6:09:30
growth, and dissolution, is and ever must be imperfect. We do
6:09:34
not fare much better when we speak of causes and effects than when we speak
6:09:37
of nature. For the practical purposes of life, we may use the term's
6:09:41
cause and effect conveniently, and we may fix a distinct meaning to them,
6:09:45
distinct enough at least to prevent all misunderstanding. But the case is different.
6:09:49
When we speak of causes and effects as of things. All that we know
6:09:53
is that phenomenon, as the griefs call them, or appearances which follow one
6:09:57
another in irregular order, as we conceive it, so that if someone phenomena
6:10:02
to fail in the series, we conceive that there must either be an interruption
6:10:06
of the series, or that something else will appear after the phenomena which has
6:10:10
failed to appear, and will occupy the vacant place, And so the series
6:10:14
in its progression may be modified or totally changed. Cause and effect then mean
6:10:18
nothing in a sequence of natural phenomena beyond what I've said, And the real
6:10:22
cause, or the transcending cause, as some would call it, of each
6:10:26
successive phenomena, is in that which is the cause of all things which are,
6:10:30
which have been, and which will be forever. Thus the word creation
6:10:33
may have a real sense if we consider it as the first, if we
6:10:37
can conceive a first in the present order of natural phenomenon, put in the
6:10:41
vulgar sense, the creation of all things at a certain time, followed by
6:10:45
acquiescence of the first cause and an abandonment of all sequences and phenomena to the
6:10:48
laws of nature or to the other words that people may use, is absolutely
6:10:52
absurd. Now, though there is great difficulty in understanding all the passages of
6:10:59
Ventanies in which he speaks of nature, of the changes of things, and
6:11:02
of the economy of the universe, I am convinced that his sense of nature
6:11:06
and natural is the same as that which I have stated. And as he
6:11:10
was a man who knew how to use words in a clear way and with
6:11:12
a strict consistency, we ought to assume, even if its a meaning in
6:11:17
some passages. Is doubtful that his view of nature was in harmony with his
6:11:19
fixed belief in the all pervading, ever present, and ever active energy of
6:11:25
God. There is much an Antoninus that is hard to understand, and it
6:11:30
might be said that he did not fully comprehend all that he wrote, which
6:11:33
would, however, be in no way remarkable. For it happens now that
6:11:37
a man may write what neither he nor anybody can understand. Antoninus tells us
6:11:41
to look at things and see what they are, resolving them into the material,
6:11:45
the causal, and the relation or the purpose by which he seems to
6:11:48
mean something in nature. What do we call effect or end the word cause
6:11:55
is the difficulty. There is the same word in the Sanskrit, and the
6:11:59
subtleflosilosophers of India and of Greece, and the less subtle philosophers of modern times
6:12:03
have all used this word or an equivalent word in a vague way. Yet
6:12:07
the confusion sometimes may be the inevitable ambiguity of language, rather than in the
6:12:12
mind of the writer. For I cannot think that some of the wisest of
6:12:15
men did not know what they intended to say. When Antoninus says that quote
6:12:22
everything that exists is in a manner of the seed of that which will be
6:12:26
end quote, he might be supposed to say what some of the Indian philosophers
6:12:30
have said, and thus a profound truth might be converted into a gross absurdity.
6:12:36
But he says quote in a manner end quote, and in a manner
6:12:40
he said true. And in another manner, if you mistake his meaning,
6:12:42
he said false. When Plato said quote nothing ever is, but is always
6:12:48
becoming end quote, he delivered a text out of which we may derive something.
6:12:52
For he destroys by it not all practical but all speculative notions of cause
6:12:56
and effect. The whole series of things as they appear to us, must
6:13:00
be contemplated in time, that is, in succession. And we conceive or
6:13:03
suppose intervals between one state of things and another state of things, so that
6:13:07
there is priority in sequence and interval, and being and is ceasing to be,
6:13:11
and beginning and ending. But there is nothing of this kind in the
6:13:15
nature of things. It is an everlasting continuity. When Antonina speaks of generation,
6:13:22
he speaks of one cause acting, and then another cause taking up the
6:13:26
work which the former left in a certain state, and so on. And
6:13:32
we might conceive that he had some notion like what has been called quote the
6:13:34
self evolving power of nature end quote. A fine phrase, indeed, the
6:13:40
full import of which I believe that the writer of it did not see.
6:13:41
Un Thus he laid himself open to the imputation of being a follower of one
6:13:45
of the Hindu sects, which makes all things come by evolution out of nature,
6:13:48
a matter, or out of something which takes the place of the deity,
6:13:52
but is not deity. I would have all men think as they please
6:13:56
or as they can, and I only claim the same freedom which which I
6:14:00
give when a man writes anything. We may fairly try to find out all
6:14:03
that his words must mean, even if the result is that they mean what
6:14:07
he did not mean. And if we find this contradiction, it is not
6:14:11
our fault but his misfortune. Now Antoninus is perhaps somewhat in a condition in
6:14:15
what he says, though he speaks at the end of the paragraph of the
6:14:18
power which acts unseen by the eyes, but still know less clearly. But
6:14:22
whether in this passage he means the power is conceived to be in different successive
6:14:26
causes, or in something else, nobody can tell from other passages. However,
6:14:30
I do collect it. His notion of the phenomena of the universe is
6:14:33
what I have stated. The deity works unseen, if we may use such
6:14:37
language, and perhaps I may, as Job did, or he wrote the
6:14:40
book of Job. Quote in him we live, and move and are end.
6:14:45
Quote. Said Saint Paul to the Athenians and the show as bearers,
6:14:48
that this was no new doctrine. He quoted the Greek poets. One of
6:14:51
these poets was the Stoic Cleanthes, whose noble hymn to Zeus her God is
6:14:55
an elevated expression of devotion and philosophy. It deprives nature of her power and
6:15:00
puts are under the immediate government of the deity. Quote thee all this heaven,
6:15:04
whish whirls around the earth obeys and willing follows. Where thou leadest.
6:15:08
Without thee God, nothing is done on earth, nor in the ethereal realms,
6:15:12
nor in the sea, save what the wicked through their folly do end
6:15:17
quote. Antony's conviction of the existence of a divine power in government was founded
6:15:21
on his perception of the order of the universe. Like Socrates, he says
6:15:26
that though we cannot see the form of divine powers, we know that they
6:15:29
exist because we see their works. Quote to those who asked, where hast
6:15:33
thou seen the gods, or how dost thou comprehend that they exist and so
6:15:37
worship with them? I answer, in the first place, that they may
6:15:40
be seen even with the eyes. In the second place, neither have I
6:15:42
seen my own soul, and yet I honor it. Thus, then,
6:15:45
with respect to the gods, from what I constantly experience of their power.
6:15:49
From this I comprehend that they exist, and I venerate them. End quote.
6:15:55
This is a very old argument which has always had great weight with most
6:15:57
people, and has appeared sufficient. It does not acquire the least additional strength
6:16:03
by being developed in a learned treatise. It is as intelligible in its simple
6:16:07
annunciation as it can be made. If it is rejected, there is no
6:16:11
arguing with him who rejects it, and if it has worked out into innumerable
6:16:15
particulars, the value of the evidence runs the risk of being buried under a
6:16:18
mass of words. Man being conscious that he has a spiritual power or intellectual
6:16:26
power, or that he has such a power in whatever way he conceives that
6:16:29
he has it, for which simply the state of fact. From this power
6:16:32
which he has in himself, he has led, as Antonina says, to
6:16:34
believe that there is a greater power, which, as the old stoics tell
6:16:37
us, pervades the whole universe, as the intellect pervades man. God exists,
6:16:44
then, but what do we know of his nature? Antonina says that
6:16:48
the soul of man is an eflux from the divinity. We have bodies like
6:16:52
animals, but we have reason. Intelligence is to gods. Animals have life
6:16:56
and what we call instincts or natural principles of action. But the rational animal
6:17:00
man alone has rational intelligent soul. Antoninus insists on this continually, God is
6:17:07
in man, and so he must constantly attend to the Divinity within us.
6:17:11
For it is only in this way that we can have any knowledge of the
6:17:12
nature of God. The human soul is in a sense of portion of the
6:17:17
Divinity, and the soul alone has any communication with the Deity. For,
6:17:21
as he says quote, with his intellectual part alone, God touches the intelligence
6:17:25
only which has flowed and has been derived from himself into these bodies. In
6:17:30
fact, he says, that which is hidden within a man's life, that
6:17:33
is the man himself. All the rest is vesture, covering organ's instrument,
6:17:37
which the living man, the real man, uses for purposes of its present
6:17:41
existence. The air is universally diffused for him who is able to respire,
6:17:45
and so for him who is willing to partake of it. The intelligent power,
6:17:48
which holds within it all things is diffused as wide and as free as
6:17:52
the air. It is by living a divine life that man approaches to a
6:17:56
knowledge of the Divinity. It is by following the divinity within, as Antonius
6:18:02
calls it, that man comes nearest to the Deity, the supreme good.
6:18:04
For a man can never attain the perfect agreement with his internal guide quote live
6:18:10
with the gods, and he does live with the gods, who constantly shows
6:18:12
them that his own soul is satisfied with that which is assigned to him,
6:18:17
and that it does all the demon wishes which Zeus hath given to every man
6:18:21
for his guardian and guide a portion of himself. And this demon is every
6:18:26
man's understanding and reason end quote. There is in man, that is in
6:18:32
the reason, the intelligence, a superior faculty, which, if exercise,
6:18:34
rules all the rest. This is the ruling faculty, which Cicero renders by
6:18:40
the Latin word principatis quote to which nothing can or ought to be superior end
6:18:45
quote. Antonius often uses this term in others which are equivalent. He names
6:18:49
it quote the governing intelligence end quote. The governing faculty is the master of
6:18:56
the soul. A man must reverence only is ruling faculty and the divinity within
6:19:00
him. As we must reverence that which is supreme in the universe, so
6:19:04
we must reverence that which is supreme in ourselves. And this is that which
6:19:08
of the like kind with that which is the supreme in the universe. So
6:19:14
as Platinus says, the soul of man can only know the divine so far
6:19:18
as it knows itself. In one passage, Antonina speaks of a man's condemnation
6:19:22
of himself when the diviner part within him has been overpowered and yields to the
6:19:26
less honorable and to the perishable part, the body and its gross pleasures.
6:19:32
In a word, the views of antonina Is on this matter, however his
6:19:34
expressions may vary, are exactly what Bishop Butler expresses when he speaks of quote,
6:19:40
the natural supremacy of the reflection are conscious end quote of the faculty,
6:19:44
quote which surveys, approves or disapproves the several affectations of our mind and actions
6:19:48
of our lives end quote. Much matter might be collected from Antoninus on the
6:19:56
notion of the universe being one animated being, But all that he says amounts
6:19:59
to no more, as sheult marks than this, The soul of man is
6:20:03
most intimately united to his body, and together they make one animal, which
6:20:07
we call man. So the deity is most intimately united to the world or
6:20:10
the material universe, and together they form one whole. But Antoninus did not
6:20:15
view God in the material universe has the same any more than he viewed the
6:20:18
body and soul of man as one. Antoninus has no speculations on the absolute
6:20:25
nature of the deity. It was not his fashion to waste his time or
6:20:26
what a man cannot understand. He was satisfied that God exists, that he
6:20:32
governs all things, that man can only have an imperfect knowledge of his nature,
6:20:36
and he must attain this imperfect knowledge by reverencing the divinity which is within
6:20:40
him and keeping it pure. From all that has been said, it follows
6:20:44
that the universe is administered by the providence of God, and that all things
6:20:48
are wisely ordered. There are passages in which Antonius expresses doubts or states different
6:20:52
possible theories of the constitution and government of the universe, but he always recurs
6:20:56
to his fundamental principle that if we admit the distance of a deity, we
6:21:00
must also admit that he orders all things wisely and well. Epictitis says that
6:21:06
we can discern the providence which rules the world if we possess two things,
6:21:10
the power of seeing all that happens with respect to each thing, and a
6:21:14
grateful disposition. But if all things are wisely ordered, how is the world
6:21:18
so full of what we call evil? Physical and moral? If instead of
6:21:22
saying that there is evil in the world, we use the expression which I
6:21:26
have used to quote what we call evil end quote, we have partly anticipated
6:21:30
the Emperor's answer. We see and feel and know imperfectly very few things in
6:21:34
a few years that we live, and all the knowledge and all the experience
6:21:37
of all the human race is positive ignorance of the whole, which is infinite.
6:21:42
Now, as our reason teaches us that everything is in some way related
6:21:45
to and connected with every other thing, all notion of evil as being in
6:21:51
the universe of things as a contradiction. For if the whole comes from and
6:21:53
is covered by an intelligent being, it is impossible to conceive anything in it
6:21:57
which tends to the evil or just production of the whole. Everything is in
6:22:03
contumutation, and yet the whole subsists. We might imagine the solar system resolved
6:22:08
into its elemental parts, and yet the whole would still subsist. Quote every
6:22:12
young and perfect end quote. All things, all forms are dissolved, and
6:22:18
new forms appear. All living things undergo the change we call death. If
6:22:23
we call death an evil, then all change is an evil. Living beings
6:22:27
also suffer pain, and man suffers most of all, for he suffers both
6:22:32
in and by his body, and by his intelligent part. Men suffer also
6:22:37
from one another, and perhaps the largest part of human suffering comes to man
6:22:41
from those whom he calls his brothers. Antoninus says, quote Generally, wickedness
6:22:48
does no harm at all to the universe, and particularly the wickedness of one
6:22:52
man does no harm to another. It is only harmful to him who has
6:22:56
it in his power to be released from it, as soon as he shall
6:22:57
choose end quote. The first part of this is perfectly consistent with the doctrine
6:23:03
that the whole can sustain no evil or harm. The second part must be
6:23:07
explained by the Stoic principle that there is no evil in anything which is not
6:23:11
in ira power. What wrong we suffer from another is his evil, not
6:23:15
ours. But this is an admission that there is evil in a sort,
6:23:19
for he who does wrong does evil, and if others can endure the wrong,
6:23:22
still there's evil in the wrong doer. Antoninus gives many excellent precepts of
6:23:27
respect to wrongs and injuries, and as precepts are practical, he teaches us
6:23:32
to bear what we cannot avoid, and as lessons may be just as useful
6:23:34
to him who denies the being and the government as God, as to him
6:23:37
who believes in both. There is no direct answer in Antoninus to the objections
6:23:41
which may be made to the existence and providence of God because of the moral
6:23:45
disorder and suffering which are in the world, except this answer, which he
6:23:48
makes in reply to the supposition that even the best men may be extinguished by
6:23:52
death. He says, if it is so, we may be sure that
6:23:56
if it ought to have been otherwise, the Gods would have ordered it otherwise.
6:24:00
His conviction of the wisdom which we may observe in the government of the
6:24:03
world is too strong to be disturbed by any apparent irregularities in the order of
6:24:07
things. That these disorders exist is a fact, and those would conclude from
6:24:14
them against the being in government of God conclude too hastily. We all admit
6:24:18
that there is an order in the material world, a nature in the sense
6:24:22
in which the world has been explained, a constitution what we call a system,
6:24:26
a relation of parts to one another, and a fitness of the whole
6:24:27
for something. So in the constitution of plants and animals there is an order,
6:24:32
a fitness for some end. Sometimes the order as we conceive it is
6:24:36
interrupted, and the end, as we conceive it is not attained. The
6:24:40
seed, the plant, or the animals sometimes perishes before it has passed through
6:24:42
all its changes and done all its uses. It is according to nature,
6:24:48
that is a fixed order, for some to perish early, and for others
6:24:51
to do all their uses and leave successors to take their place. So man
6:24:55
has a corporeal and intellectual and moral constitution fit for certain uses, and on
6:24:59
the whole man performs these uses, dies and leaves other men in his place.
6:25:03
So society exists, and a social state is manifestly the natural state of
6:25:07
man, the state for which his nature fits him. And society, am
6:25:11
its innumerable irregularities and disorders, still subsists. And perhaps we may say that
6:25:15
the history of the past and our present knowledge give us a reasonable hope that
6:25:19
its disorders will diminish, and that order, its governing principle, may be
6:25:22
more firmly established as order. Then a fixed order, we may say,
6:25:30
subject to deviations, real or a parent must be admitted to exist in the
6:25:33
whole of nature of things. That which we call disorder or evil, as
6:25:36
it seems to us, does not in any way alter the fact of the
6:25:38
general constitution of things having in nature or fixed order, nobody will conclude from
6:25:44
the existence of disorder that order is not the rule. For the existence of
6:25:48
order, both physical and moral, is proved by daily experience. In all
6:25:51
past experience, we cannot conceive how the order of the universe is maintained.
6:25:56
We cannot even conceive how our own life, from day to day is continued,
6:26:00
or how we perform the simplest movements of the body, nor how we
6:26:02
grow and think in act, though we know many of the conditions which are
6:26:06
necessary for all these functions. Knowing nothing then the unseen power which acts in
6:26:11
ourselves except by what is done, we know nothing of the power which acts
6:26:14
through what we call all time in all space. But seeing that there is
6:26:18
a nature or a fixed order in all things known to us, it is
6:26:21
conformable to the nature of our minds to believe that this universal nature has a
6:26:25
cause which operates continually, and that we are totally unable to speculate on the
6:26:27
reason of any of those disorders or evils which we perceive. This, I
6:26:33
believe is the answer which may be collected from all that Antoninus has said.
6:26:38
The origin of evil is an old question. Achilles tell Us Prium that Zeus
6:26:44
has two casks, one filled with good things and the other with bad,
6:26:48
and that it gives to men out of each according to his pleasure. And
6:26:52
so we must be content, for we cannot alter the will of Zeus.
6:26:56
One of the Greek commentators asked how we must reconcile this doc with what we
6:27:00
find in the first book of the Odyssey, where the King of the God
6:27:03
says, men say evil comes to them from us, but they bring it
6:27:07
on themselves to their own folly. The answer is plain enough even to the
6:27:12
Greek commentator. The poets make both Achilles and Zeus speak appropriately to their several
6:27:18
characters. Indeed, Zeus says plainly that men do attribute their sufferings to the
6:27:22
gods, but they do it falsely, for they are the cause of their
6:27:25
own sorrows. Epictetus, in his Encharridian, make short work of the question
6:27:32
of evil. He says, quote, as a mark is not set up
6:27:36
for the purpose of missing it, so neither does the nature of evil exist
6:27:38
in the universe end quote. This will peer obscure enough to those who are
6:27:44
not acquainted with Epictetus, but he always knows what he is talking about.
6:27:48
We do not set up a mark in order to miss it, though we
6:27:51
may miss it. God, whose existence Epictetus assumes, has not ordered all
6:27:56
things so that his purpose shall fail. Whatever there may be of what we
6:27:59
call evil, the nature of evil, as he expresses, it does not
6:28:02
exist. That is, evil is not part of the constitution or nature of
6:28:06
things. If there were a principle of evil in the constitution of things,
6:28:10
evil would no longer be evil, as Simplicious argues, but evil would be
6:28:14
good. Simplicius has a long and curious discourse on this text of Epictetus,
6:28:19
and it is amusing an instructive One passage more will conclude this matter. It
6:28:26
contains all that the emperor could say, quote to go from among men.
6:28:29
If there are gods, it is not a thing to be afraid of,
6:28:32
for the gods will not involve thee in evil. But if indeed they do
6:28:33
not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what is
6:28:37
it to me to live in the universe devoid of gods, a devoid of
6:28:40
providence. But in truth, they do exist, and they do care for
6:28:44
human things, and they have put all the means in man's power to enable
6:28:47
him not to fall into real evils. And as to the rest, if
6:28:49
there was anything evil, they would have provided for this. Also, that
6:28:52
it should be altogether in a man's power not to fall into it. But
6:28:57
that which does not make a man worse, How can it make a man's
6:29:00
life worse? But neither through ignorance nor having the knowledge but not the power
6:29:04
to guard against or correct these things. Is it possible that the nature of
6:29:08
the universe has overlooked them? Nor is it possible that has made so great
6:29:11
a mistake, either through want of power or want of skill. That good
6:29:15
and even shall happen indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But death certainly,
6:29:19
and life, honor and dishonor pain and pleasure, all these things equally
6:29:23
happen to good and bad men, being things which make us neither better nor
6:29:27
worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil end quote. The ethical part
6:29:34
of Antoninus's philosophy follows from his general principles. The end of all his philosophy
6:29:40
is to live conformably to nature, both a man's own nature and the nature
6:29:44
of the universe. Bishop Butler has explained what the Greek philosopher has meant when
6:29:48
they spoke of living according to nature, And he says that when it is
6:29:51
explained as he has explained it, and as they understood it, it is
6:29:53
quote a manner of speaking, not loose and undetermined, but clear and distinct,
6:29:59
strictly and true. End quote. To live according to nature is to
6:30:04
live according to a man's whole nature, not according to a part of it,
6:30:07
and to reverence the divinity within him as the governor of all his actions.
6:30:11
Quote to the rational animal, the same acts according to nature and according
6:30:15
to reason. End quote. That which has done contrary to reason is also
6:30:21
an act contrary to nature, to the whole nature, though it is certainly
6:30:25
conformable to some part of man's nature, or it could not be done.
6:30:29
Man is made for action, not for idleness or pleasure. As plants and
6:30:33
animals do the uses of their nature, so man must do his. Man
6:30:37
must also live conformably to the universal nature, conformable to the nature of all
6:30:41
things of which he is won. And as a citizen of a political community,
6:30:45
he must direct his life and actions with reference to those among whom and
6:30:49
for whom, among other purposes he lives. A man must not retire into
6:30:55
solitude and cut himself off from his fellow men. He must be ever active
6:30:59
to do his part in a great whole. All men are his kin,
6:31:02
not only in blood, but still more by participating in the same intelligence,
6:31:06
and by being a portion of the same divinity. A man cannot really be
6:31:10
injured by his brethren, for no act of theirs can make him bad,
6:31:14
and he must not be angry with them nor hate them. Quote for we
6:31:18
are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like
6:31:22
the rose of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another,
6:31:25
then, is contrary to nature, and it is acting against one another to
6:31:29
be vexed and to turn away end quote. Further, he says, quote,
6:31:36
take pleasure in one thing and rest in it, in passing from one
6:31:40
social act to another social act, thinking of God. End Quote again quote
6:31:45
love mankind follow God. End quote. It is the characteristic of the rational
6:31:49
soul for man to love his neighbor. Antoninus teaches in various passages the forgiveness
6:31:55
of injuries, and we know that he also practiced what he taught Bishop Butler,
6:31:59
and that quote this divine precept to forgive injuries and to love our enemies,
6:32:03
though to be met with gentil moralists. Yet is in a particular sense
6:32:07
a precept of Christianity, as our Savior has insisted more upon it than on
6:32:11
any other single virtue end quote. The practice of this precept is the most
6:32:18
difficult of all virtues. Antoninus often enforces it and gives us aid towards following
6:32:22
it. When we are injured, we feel anger and resentment, and the
6:32:26
feeling is natural, just, and useful for the conservation of society. It
6:32:30
is useful that wrongdoers should feel the natural consequences of their actions, among which
6:32:33
is the disapprobation of society and the resentment of him who is wronged. But
6:32:38
revenge in the proper sense of that word, must not be practiced. Quote.
6:32:44
The best way of avenging thyself end quote, says the Emperor quote is
6:32:48
not to become like the wrongdoer end quote. It is plain by this that
6:32:52
he does not mean that we should in any case practice revenge. But he
6:32:55
says to those who talk of revenging wrongs, be not like him who has
6:32:59
done the wrong. Socrates in the Credos are the same. In other words,
6:33:02
in Saint Paul, quote, when a man has done the any wrong,
6:33:04
immediately consider with what opinion about good or evil he has done wrong?
6:33:10
For when thou hast seen this, thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither
6:33:12
wonder nor be angry. End quote. Antoninus would not deny that wrong naturally
6:33:18
produces the feeling of anger and resentment, for this is implied in the recommendation
6:33:22
to reflect on the nature of the man's mind who has done the wrong,
6:33:25
and then you will have pity instead of resentment. And so it comes to
6:33:29
the same as Saint Paul's advice to be angry and sin not, which,
6:33:32
as butlerwell explains, it is not a recommendation to be angry, which nobody
6:33:36
needs, for anger is a natural passion, but it is a warning against
6:33:38
allowing anger to lead us into sin. In short, the Emperor's doctrine about
6:33:44
wrongful acts is this, wrongdoers do not know what good and bad are.
6:33:48
They offend out of ignorance, and in the sense of the Stoics, this
6:33:52
is true, though this kind of ignorance will never be admitted as a legal
6:33:57
excuse, and ought not to be admitted as a full excuse in any way
6:34:00
by society. There may be grievous injuries such as it is in a man's
6:34:04
power to forgive without harm to society. And if he forgives because he sees
6:34:08
that his enemies know not what they do, he is acting in the spirit
6:34:12
of the sublime prayer. Quote Father, forgive them, for they know not
6:34:17
what they do end quote. The Emperor's moral philosophy was not a feeble,
6:34:22
narrow system which teaches man to look directly to his own happiness. Though a
6:34:26
man's happiness or tranquility is indirectly promoted by living as he ought to do,
6:34:30
a man must live conformably to the universal nature, which means, as the
6:34:34
Emperor explains it in many passages, that a man's action must be conformable to
6:34:38
his true relations to all other human beings, both as a citizen of a
6:34:42
political community and as a member of the whole human family. This implies,
6:34:48
and he often expresses it in the most forcible language, that a man's words
6:34:51
and actions, so far as they affect others, must be measured by a
6:34:53
fixed rule, which is their consistency with the conservation and the interests of the
6:34:57
particular society of which he is a member, and of the whole human race.
6:35:03
To live conformably to such a rule, a man must use his rational
6:35:06
faculties in order to discern clearly the consequences and full effect of all his actions
6:35:11
and of the actions of others. He must not live a life of contemplation
6:35:15
and reflection, only, though he must often retire within himself to calm and
6:35:18
purify his soul by thought. But he must mingle in the work of man
6:35:21
and be a fellow laborer for the general good. A man should have an
6:35:26
object or purpose in life, that he may direct all his energies to it.
6:35:30
Of course a good object. He who has not one object or purpose
6:35:33
of life cannot be one and the same all through his life. Bacon has
6:35:37
remarked to the same effect on the best means of quote, reducing of the
6:35:41
mind unto virtue and good estate, which is the electing and propounding unto a
6:35:45
man's self, good and virtuous ends of his life, such as may be
6:35:48
in a reasonable sort within his compass to attain end quote. He is a
6:35:56
happy man who has been wise enough to do this when he was young,
6:35:59
and has had the opportunities. But the Emperor, seeing well that a man
6:36:03
cannot always be so wise in his youth, encourages him to do it when
6:36:06
he can, and not to let his life slip away before he has begun.
6:36:11
He who can propose to himself good and virtuous ends of life and be
6:36:15
true to them, cannot fail to live conformably to his own interest and universal
6:36:18
interest. For in the nature of things they are one. If a thing
6:36:22
is not good for the hive, it is not good for the bee.
6:36:27
One passage may end this matter. Quote. If the gods have determined about
6:36:32
me and about the things which must happen to me, they have determined well.
6:36:36
For it is not easy even to imagine a deity without forethought, and
6:36:40
as to doing me harm, Why should they have any desire towards that?
6:36:42
For what advantage would result to them for this or to the whole, which
6:36:47
is the special object to their providence. But if they have not determined about
6:36:51
me individually, they have certainly determined about the whole at least, and the
6:36:56
things which happen by way of sequence in this general arrangement. I ought to
6:36:59
accept with play and to be content with them. But if they determine about
6:37:03
nothing, which it is wicked to believe, or if we do believe it,
6:37:07
let us neither sacrifice nor pray, nor swear by them, nor do
6:37:10
anything else which we do, as if the gods were present and live with
6:37:12
us. But if, however, the God's determined about none of these things
6:37:15
which concern us, I am able to determine about myself, and I can
6:37:18
inquire about that which is useful, and that is useful to every man,
6:37:22
which is conformable to his own constitution and nature. But my nature is rational
6:37:26
and social, and my city and country, so far as I am Antoninus,
6:37:30
is Rome. But so far as I am a man, it is
6:37:33
the world. The things, then, which are useful to these cities,
6:37:37
are alone useful to me. It would be tedious, And it is not
6:37:44
necessary to state that the Emperor's opinions on all the ways in which a man
6:37:48
may profitably use his understanding towards perfecting himself in practical virtue. The passages to
6:37:52
this purpose are in all parts of his book. But as they are in
6:37:55
no order or connection, a man must use the book a long time before
6:37:59
he will find out all that is in it. A few words may be
6:38:02
added here. If we analyze all other things, we find how insufficient they
6:38:06
are for human life, and how truly worthless many of them are Virtue alone
6:38:11
is indivisible, one and perfectly satisfying. The notion of virtue cannot be considered
6:38:17
vague or unsettled, because a man may find it difficult to explain the notion
6:38:21
fully to himself or to expound it to others in such a way as to
6:38:22
prevent covealing. Virtue as a whole, and no more consists of parts than
6:38:26
man's intelligence does. And yet we speak of various intellectual faculties as a convenient
6:38:32
way of expressing the various powers which man's intellect shows by his works. In
6:38:36
the same way, we may speak of various virtues or parts of virtue in
6:38:40
a practical sense, for the purpose of showing what particular virtues we ought to
6:38:44
practice in order to exercise the whole of virtue. That is, as much
6:38:48
as man's nature is capable of. The prime principle in man's constitution is social.
6:38:55
The next in orders is not to yield to the persuasions of the body
6:38:59
when they are not conformed to the rational principle which much govern The third is
6:39:03
freedom from error and from deception. Quote. Let then the ruling principle holding
6:39:07
fast that these things go straight on, and it has what is its own
6:39:12
end quote. The Empress elects justice as the virtue which is the basis of
6:39:17
all the rest, and this had been said long before his time. It
6:39:22
is true that all people have some notion of what is meant by justice as
6:39:26
a disposition of the mind, and some notion about acting in conformity to this
6:39:30
disposition. But experience shows that men's notions about justice are as confused as their
6:39:36
actions are inconsistent with the true notion of justice. The Emperor's notion of justice
6:39:41
is clear enough, but not practical enough for all mankind. Quote. Let
6:39:45
there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things which come from the external
6:39:49
cause, and let there be justice and the things done by virtue of the
6:39:52
internal cause. That is, let there be a movement in action terminating in
6:39:56
this and social acts for this according to thy nature. End quote. In
6:40:02
another place he says, they quote he who acts unjustly acts impiously end quote,
6:40:08
which follows, of course, from all that he says. In various
6:40:11
places. He insists on the practice of truth as a virtue and as a
6:40:15
means to virtue, which it no doubt is for lying even and indifferent things
6:40:18
weakens the understanding and lying maliciously is as great a moral offense as man can
6:40:25
be guilty of. Viewed both as showing an habitual disposition and viewed with respect
6:40:29
to consequences, he couples the notion of justice with action. A man must
6:40:33
not pride himself on having some fine notion of justice in his head, but
6:40:37
he must exhibit his justice and act like Saint James's notion of faith. But
6:40:42
this is enough. The Stoics and Antoninus among them, call some things beautiful
6:40:48
and some ugly. And as they are beautiful, so they are good.
6:40:52
And as they are ugly, so they are evil or bad. All these
6:40:56
things good and evil are in our power. Absolutely, some of the stricter
6:41:00
Stokes would say, in a manner only as those who would not depart altogether
6:41:03
from common sense would say. Practically, they are to a great degree in
6:41:07
the power of some persons and in some circumstances, but in a small degree
6:41:11
only in other persons and in other circumstances. The Stoics maintain man's free will
6:41:17
as to the things which are in his power. For as to the things
6:41:19
which are out of his power, free will terminating in action is of course
6:41:22
excluded by the very terms of the expression. I hardly know if we can
6:41:26
discover exactly antoninus notion of the free will of man, Nor is the question
6:41:32
worth the inquiry. What he does mean and does say is intelligible. All
6:41:37
the things which are not in our power are indifferent. They are neither good
6:41:41
nor bad morally. Such are life, health, wealth, power, disease,
6:41:45
poverty, and death. Life and death are all men's portion. Health,
6:41:49
wealth, power, disease, and poverty happen to men indifferently, to
6:41:52
the good and to the bad, to those who live according to nature,
6:41:56
and to those who do not. Life, says the Emperor, is a
6:42:02
warfare and a stranger's sojourn, And after fame is oblivion end quote. After
6:42:07
speaking of those men who have disturbed the world and then died, and of
6:42:11
the death of philosophers such as Heraclitis and Democritus, who is destroyed by lice,
6:42:15
and of Socrates, whom other life his enemy is destroyed, he says,
6:42:19
quote, what means all this thou hast embarked, thou hast made the
6:42:22
voyage. Thou art come to shore, get out, if indeed to another
6:42:26
life. There is no want of gods, not even there but if to
6:42:30
a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures,
6:42:34
and to be a slave to the vessel, which is as much inferior
6:42:37
to that which serves it as superior. For the one is intelligence and deity,
6:42:41
the other is earth and corruption. End quote. It is not death
6:42:45
that man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live according to
6:42:49
his nature. Every man should live in such a way as to discharge his
6:42:53
duty and to trouble himself about nothing else. He should live such a life
6:42:57
that he shall always be ready for death, and shall depart content when the
6:43:02
summon comes. For what is death quote? A cessation of the impressions through
6:43:07
the senses, and of the pulling of the strings which move the appetites,
6:43:11
and of the discursive movements of the thoughts, and of the service to the
6:43:15
flesh end quote. Death is such as generation is a mystery of nature.
6:43:22
In another passage, the exact meaning of which is perhaps doubtful, he speaks
6:43:26
of the child which leaves the womb. And so he says, the soul
6:43:29
of death leaves its envelope as the child is born or comes into life by
6:43:33
leaving the womb, so the soul may, on leaving the body, pass
6:43:36
into another existence which is perfect. I'm not sure if this is the Emperor's
6:43:41
meaning. Antitheninus's opinion of a future life is nowhere clearly expressed. His doctrine
6:43:48
of the nature of the soul of necessity implies that it does not perish,
6:43:51
absolutely, for a portion of divinity cannot perish. The opinion is at least
6:43:56
as old as the time of Epitarmus and Euripides. What comes from the earth
6:44:00
goes back to the earth, and what comes from heaven the divinity returns to
6:44:03
him who gave it. But I find nothing clear in Antoninus as to the
6:44:07
notion of the man existing after death so as to be conscious of his sameness
6:44:11
with the soul which occupied his vessel of clay. He seemed to be perplexed
6:44:17
on this matter, and finally to have rested in this that God or the
6:44:21
gods will do whatever is best and consistent with the university of things. Nor
6:44:26
I think does he speak conclusively on another Stoic doctrine which some Stoics practice,
6:44:32
the anticipating the regular course of nature by man's own act. The reader will
6:44:37
find some passages in which this is touched on, and he may make of
6:44:41
them what he can. But there are passages in which the Emperor encourages himself
6:44:45
to wait for the end patiently and with tranquility. And certainly it is consistent
6:44:49
with all his best teaching that a man should bear all that falls to his
6:44:52
lot and do useful acts as long as he lives. He should not therefore
6:44:57
abridge the time of his usefulness by his own act. Whether he contemplates any
6:45:03
possible cases in which a man should die by his own hand, I cannot
6:45:07
tell, and the matter is not worth the curious inquiry, for I believe
6:45:11
it would not lead to any certain result as to his opinion on this point,
6:45:15
I do not think that Antoninus, who never mentioned Seneca, though he
6:45:18
must have known all about him, would have agreed with Seneca when he gives
6:45:22
us a reason for suicide, that the eternal law, whatever he means,
6:45:26
has made nothing better for us than this, That it has given us only
6:45:29
one way of entering life, and many ways of going out of it.
6:45:33
The ways of going out, indeed are many, and that is a good
6:45:36
reason for a man taking care of himself. Happiness was not the direct object
6:45:41
of a Stoic's life. There is no rule of life contained in the precept
6:45:45
that a man should pursue his own happiness. Many men think that they are
6:45:49
seeking happiness, when they are only seeking the gratification of some particular passion.
6:45:55
The strongest that they have. The end of a man is, as already
6:45:59
explained, to live conformably to nature, and he will thus obtain happiness,
6:46:03
tranquility of mind, and contentment. As a means of living conformably to nature,
6:46:07
he must study the four chief virtues. Each of us has its proper
6:46:11
sphere wisdom or the knowledge of good and evil, justice, or the giving
6:46:18
to every man his due fortitude, or the enduring of labor and pain and
6:46:22
temperance, which is moderation in all things. By thus living comeformerly to nature,
6:46:29
the Stoic obtained all that he wished to expect it. His reward was
6:46:33
in his virtuous life, and he was satisfied with that. Some Greek poet
6:46:37
long ago wrote, quote, for virtue only of all human things, takes
6:46:44
a reward, not from the hands of others. Virtue herself rewards the toils
6:46:48
of virtue end quote. Some of the Stoics indeed express themselves in very arrogant,
6:46:56
absurd terms about the wise man's self sufficiency elevated him to the rank of
6:47:00
a deity. But these were only talkers and lectures, such as those in
6:47:04
all agers, who utter fine words, knowing little of human affairs, and
6:47:08
caring only for notoriety. Atpectitis and Antoninus, both by precept and example,
6:47:15
labor to improve themselves in others. And if we discover imperfections in their teaching,
6:47:21
we must still honor these great men who attempted to show that there is
6:47:23
in a man's nature and in a constitution of things, sufficient reason for living
6:47:27
a virtuous life. It is difficult enough to live as we ought to live,
6:47:33
difficult even for any man to live in such a way as to satisfy
6:47:36
himself, if he exercises only in a moderate degree the power of reflecting upon
6:47:41
and reviewing his own conduct. And if all men cannot be brought to the
6:47:45
same opinions and morals in religion, it is at least worthwhile to give them
6:47:49
good reasons, for as much as they can be persuaded to accept