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10 - The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius · Logic Library

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Wilt thou, then my soul, never be good and simple and one and
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naked, more manifest than the body which surrounds THEE. Wilt thou never enjoy
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an affection and contented disposition. Wilt thou never be full and without a want
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of any kind, longing for nothing more, nor desiring anything either animate or
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inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasures, nor yet desiring time wherein thou shalt
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have longer enjoyment, or place, or pleasant climate, or society of men
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with whom thou mayst live in harmony. But wilt thou be satisfied with thy
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present condition and pleased with all that is about THEE? And wilt thou convince
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thyself that thou hast everything, and that it comes from the Gods, that
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everything is well for THEE, and will be well whatever shall please them and
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whatever they shall give for the conservation of perfect living being, the good and
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just and beautiful, which generates and holds together all things, and contains and
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embraces all things which are dissolved for the production of other like things. Wilt
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thou never be such that thou shalt so dwell in community with gods and men
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as neither to find fault with them at all, nor to be condemned by
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them. Two, observe what thy nature requires, so far as thou art
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governed by nature. Only, then do it and accept it. If thy
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nature, so far as thou art a living being, shall not be made
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worse by it. And next thou must observe that thy nature requires, so
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far as thou art a living being. And all this thou mayest allow thyself.
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If thy nature, so far as thou art a rational animal, shall
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not be made worse by it, but the rational animal is consequently also a
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political animal. Use these rules, then, and trouble thyself about nothing else.
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Three. Everything which happens either happens in such wise as thou art formed
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by nature to bear it, or as thou art not formed by nature to
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bear it. If then it happens to thee in such a way as thou
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art formed by nature to bear it, do not complain, but bear it
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as thou art formed by nature to bear it. But if it happens in
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such wives as thou art not formed by nature to bear it, do not
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complain, for it will perish after it has consumed thee. Remember, however,
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that thou art formed by nature to bear everything with respect to which it
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depends on thy own opinion, to make it endurable and tolerable, by thinking
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that it's either thy interest or thy duty to do this. Four. If
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a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly and show him as error. But
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if thou art not able, blame thyself, or blame not even thyself.
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Five. Whatever may happen to THEE, it was prepared for THEE from all
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eternity, and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy
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being and of that which is incident to it. Six. Whether the universe
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is a concourse of atoms or nature is a system, let this first be
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established that I am part of the whole which is governed by nature. Next,
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I am in a manner intimately related to the parts which are of the
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same kind with myself. For remembering this, inasmuch as I am a part,
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I shall be discontented with none of the things which are assigned to me
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out of the whole. For nothing is injurious to the part if it is
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for the advantage of the whole. For the whole contains nothing which is not
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for its advantage. And all natures indeed have this common principle. But the
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nature of the universe has this principle besides, that it cannot be compelled,
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even by any external cause, to generate anything harmful to itself. By remembering,
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then that I am part of such a whole, I shall be content
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with everything that happens. And inasmuch as I am in a manner intimately related
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to the parts which are of the same kind with myself, I shall do
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nothing unsocial. But I shall rather direct myself to the things which are of
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the same kind with myself, And I shall turn all my efforts to the
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common interest and divert them from the contrary. Now, if these things are
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done so, life must flow on happily, just as thou mayst observed that
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the life of a citizen is happy who continues the course of action which is
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advantageous to his fellow citizens, and is content with whatever the state may assign
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to him. Seven the parts of the whole, everything I mean, which
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is naturally comprehended in the universe, must of necessity perish. But let this
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be understood in this sense that they must undergo change. But if this is
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naturally both an evil and a necessity for the parts. The whole would not
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continue to exist in a good condition, the parts being subject to change and
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constituted so as to perish in various ways. For whether did Nature herself designed
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to do evil to the things which are parts of herself, and to make
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them subject to evil and of necessity for into evil, or have such results
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happened without her knowing it. Both these suppositions indeed are incredible. But if
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a man should ever drop the term nature as an efficient power, and should
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speak of these things as natural, even then it would be ridiculous to affirm
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at the same time that the parts of the whole are in their nature subject
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to change, and at the same time to be surprised or vexed, as
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if something were happening contrary to nature, particularly as the dissolution of things into
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those things of which each thing is composed. For there is either a dispersion
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of the elements out of which everything has been compounded, or a change from
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the solid to the earthy, and from the airy to the aerial, so
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that these parts are taken back into the universal. Reason, whether this at
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certain periods is consumed by fire or renewed by eternal changes. And do not
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imagine that the solid and the airy part belonged to THEE from time of generation.
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For all this received it's accrestion only yesterday and the day before, as
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one may say, from the food and the air which is inspired this,
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then, which have received the accression, changes not that which thy mother brought
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forth. But suppose that this which thy mother brought forward implicates THEE very much
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with the other part, which has the peculiar quality of change. This is
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nothing, in fact in the way of objection to what is said. Eight.
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When thou hast assumed those names good, modest, true, rational,
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a man of equanimity and magnanimous, take care thou dost not change these names,
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And if thou should lose them, quickly return to them. And remember
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that the term rational was intended to signify a discriminating attention to every several thing
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and freedom from negligence. And that equanimity is the voluntary acceptance of the things
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which are assigned to THEE by the common nature, and that magnanimity is the
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elevation of the intelligent part above the pleasurable or painful sensations of the flesh,
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and above that poor thing called fame and death and all such things. If
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then thou maintainest thyself in the possession of these names, without desiring to be
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called by these names by others, thou wilt be another person, and wilt
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enter onto another life for to continue to be such as thou hast hitherto been,
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and to be torn in pieces and defiled in such a life, as
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the character of a very stupid man and one over fond of his life,
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And like those half devoured fighters with wild beasts, who, though covered with
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wounds and gore, are still entreatued to be kept to the following day,
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though they will be exposed in the same state to the same claus and bites.
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Therefore, fix thyself in the possession of these few names. And if
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thou art able to abide in them, abide as if thou hast removed to
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certain islands of the happy. But if thou shalt perceive that thou fallst out
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of them, and dost not maintain thy hold, go courageously into some nook
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where thou shalt maintain them, or even depart at once from life, not
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in passion, but with simplicity and freedom and modesty. After doing this,
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one laudable thing, at least in thy life, to have gone out of
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it. Thus, in order, however, to the remembrance of these names,
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it will greatly help thee if thou rememberest the gods, and that they
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wish not to be flattered, but wish all reasonable beings to be made like
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themselves. And if thou rememberest that which does the work of a fig tree
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is a fig tree, and that which does the work of a dog is
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a dog. And that which does the work of a bee is a bee.
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And that which does the work of man is a man. Nine Mimi
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wore astonishment, torpor slavery will daily wipe out those holy principles of thine.
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How many things, without studying nature dost thou imagine, and how many dost
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thou neglect. But it is thy duty so to look on and so to
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do everything, that the same time, the power of dealing with circumstances is
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perfect, and the contempt of the faculty is exercised, and the confidence which
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comes from the knowledge of each several thing is maintained without showing it by yet
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not concealed. For when wilt thou enjoy simplicity, when gravity, and when
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the knowledge of every several things, both what is in substance and what place
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it has in the universe, and how long it is formed to exist,
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and of what things it is compounded, and to whom it can belong,
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and who are able both to give it and take it away. Ten A
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spider is proud when it has caught a fly, and another when he has
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caught a poor hair, and another when he has taken the little fish in
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the net, and another when he has taken wild boares, and another when
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he has taken bears, and another when he has taken Sarmatians are not these
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robbers if thou examinest their opinions. Eleven, acquire the contemplative way of seeing
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how all things change into one another, and constantly attend to it, and
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exercise thyself about this part of philosophy. For nothing is so much adapted produced
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magnanimity. Such a man has put off the body, and he sees that
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he must, no one knows how soon, go away from among men and
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leave everything here. He gives himself up entirely to just doing in all his
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actions, and in everything else that happens. He resigns himself to the universal
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nature but as to what any man shall say, or think it about him,
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or do against him, he never even thinks of it. Being himself
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contented with these two things, with acting justly in what he now does,
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and being satisfied with what is now assigned to him, and he lays aside
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all distracting and busy pursuits, and desires nothing else than to accomplish the straight
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course through the law, and by accomplishing the straight course, to follow God.
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Twelve What need is there of suspicious fear? Since it is thy power
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to inquire what ought to be done? And if thou seest clear, go
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by this way content without turning back. But if thou dost not see clear,
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stop and take the best advisors. But if any other things oppose thee
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go on according to thy powers, with due consideration, keeping to that which
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appears to be just, For it is best to reach this object. And
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if thou dost fail, let thy failure be in attempting this. He who
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follows reason in all things is both tranquil and active at the same time,
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and also cheerful and collected. Thirteen. Inquire of thyself, as soon as
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thou wakest from sleep, whether it will make any difference to THEE. If
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another does what is just and right, it will make no difference. Thou
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hast not forgotten. I suppose that those who assume arrogant errors and bestow their
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praise or blame on others, are such as they are at bed and at
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board, And thou hast not forgotten what they do, and what they avoid,
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and what they pursue, and how they steal, and how they rob,
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not with hands and feet, but with their most valuable part, by
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means of which there is produced when a man chooses fidelity, modesty, truth,
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law, a good demon, and happiness. Fourteen to her who gives
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and takes back all to nature, the man who is instructed in modest says,
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give what thy wilt, take back what thou wilt. And he says
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this not proudly, but obediently, and well pleased with her. Fifteen short
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is the little which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain,
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For it makes no difference whether a man lives there or here, if
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he lives everywhere in the world as an estate. Let men see. Let
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them know a real man who lives according to nature. If they cannot endure
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him, let them kill him, for that is better than to live like
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this. Sixteen. No longer talk at all about the kind of man that
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a good man ought to be, but be such Seventeen. Constantly contemplate the
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whole of time and the whole of substance, And consider that all individual things,
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as the substance, are as a grain of a fig and as to
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time, the turning of a gimlet. Eighteen. Look at everything that exists,
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and observe that it is already in dissolution and in change, and as
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it were, puture, faction or dispersion, or that everything is so constituted
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by nature as to die. Nineteen. Consider what men are when they are
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eating, sleeping, generating, easing themselves and so forth. Then what kind
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of men they are when they are imperious and arrogant, or angry and scolding
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from their elevated place. But a short time ago to how many they were
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slaves and for what things? And after a little time, considering what a
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condition they will be. Twenty That is for the good of each thing,
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which the universal nature brings to each, and it is for its good at
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the time when nature brings it. Twenty One The earth loves a shower and
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the solemn ather their loves, and the universe loves to make whatever it is
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about to be. I say then to the universe that I love as thou
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lovest, And is not this too said, that this or that loves is
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wont to be produced. Twenty two. Either thou livest here and hast already
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accustomed thyself to it, or thou art going away and this was on thy
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own will, or thou art dying and hast discharged thy duty. But besides
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these things there is nothing be of good cheer. Then twenty three let this
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always be plain to thee that this piece of land is like any other,
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and that all things here are the same with things on top of a mountain,
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or on the seashore, or wherever thou choosest to be. For thou
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wilt find just what Plato says, dwelling within the walls of a city,
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as in a shepherd's fold on a mountain. Twenty four. What is my
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ruling faculty now to me? And of what nature am I now making it?
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And for what purpose am I now using it? Is it void of
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understanding? Is it loosed and rent asunder from social life? Is it melted
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into and mixed with the poor flesh, so as to move together with it.
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Twenty five. He who flies from his master is a runaway. But
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the law is master, and he who breaks the law is a runaway.
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And he also who is grieved or angry or afraid, is dissatisfied because something
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has been, or is or shall be, of the things which are appointed
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by Him who rules all things. And he is law and assigns to every
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man what is fit. He then, who fears or is grieved or as
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angry, is a runaway. Twenty six. A man deposits seat in a
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womb and goes away, and then another cause takes it and labors on it
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and makes a child. What a thing from such a material? Again,
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the child passes food down the throat, and then another cause takes it and
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makes it perception and motion, and in fine life and strength. Then other
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things, how many and how strange. Observe then, the things which are
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produced in such a hidden way, and see the power, just as we
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see the power which carries things downwards and upwards, not with the eyes,
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but still know less plainly. Twenty seven. Constantly consider how all things,
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such as they now are, and time past also were, and consider that
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they will be the same again, and placed before thy eyes entire dramas and
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stages of the same form, whatever thou hast learned from thy experience or from
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older history. For example, the whole court of Hadrianus, and the whole
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court of Antoninus, and the whole court of Philippus Alexander Crosis, for all
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those were dramas such as we see now, only with different actors. Twenty
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eight. Imagine every man who is grieved at anything or discontented to be like
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a pig which is sacrificed in kicks and screams. Like this pig. Also
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is he who on has bed in silence laments the bonds in which we are
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held. And consider that only to the rational animal is it given to follow
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voluntarily what happens. But simply to follow is a necessity imposed on all Twenty
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nine severally on the occade of everything, that thou dost pause and ask thyself
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if death is a dreadful thing, because it deprives thee of this thirty when
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thou art defended at any man's fault, forwith turn to thyself and reflect in
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what like manner thou dost air thyself for example, in thinking that money is
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a good thing, or pleasure, or a bit of reputation than the like.
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For by attending to this thou wilt quickly forget thy anger. If this
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consideration also is added that the man is compelled, for what else could he
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do? Or if thou art able, take away from him the compulsion thirty
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one. When thou hast seen Satron the Socratic, think of you Tichis or
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Hymen. And when thou hast seen Euphrates, think of Utikion or Sylvanus.
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And when thou hast seen Alciphron, think of Troeepophorus. And when thou hast
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seen Xenophon, think of Credo of Severus. And when thou hast looked on
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thyself, think of any other Caesar. And in the case of everyone,
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do in like manner. Then let this thought be in thy mind. Where
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then are those men nowhere or nobody knows where? For thus continuously thou wilt
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look at human things as smoke and nothing at all, especially if thou reflectest
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at the same time that what has once changed will never exist again in the
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infinite duration of time. But thou, in what a brief space of time
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is thy existence. And why art thou not content to pass through this short
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time in an orderly way? What matter an opportunity for thy activity? Art
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thou avoiding? For what else are all these things except exercises? For the
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reason, when it has viewed carefully and by examination into their nature, The
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things which happen in life persevere then until thou shalt have made these things thy
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own, as the stomach, which is strengthened, makes all things its own,
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as the blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown
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into it. Thirty two. Let it not be in any man's power to
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say truly of THEE that thou art not simple, or that thou art not
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good? But let him be a liar whoever shall think anything of this kind
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about THEE? And this is altogether in thy power, For who is he
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that shall hinder THEE from being good and simple? Do thou only determined to
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live no longer unless thou shalt be such? For neither does reason allow THEE
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to live if thou art not such? Thirty three What is that which adds
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to this material our life? Can be done or said in a way most
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conformable to reason? For whatever this may be, it is in thy power
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to do it or say it, And do not make excuses that thou art
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hindered. Thou wilt not cease to lament till thy mind is in such a
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condition that what luxury is to those who enjoy pleasure, such shall be to
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THEE. In the matter which is subjected and presented to THEE the doing of
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things which are conformable to man's constitution. For a man ought to consider as
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an enjoyment everything which is in his power to do, according to his own
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nature, and it is in his power everywhere. Now it is not given
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to a cylinder to move everywhere by its own motion, nor yet water,
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nor to fire, nor to anything else which is governed by nature of an
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irrational soul. For the things which check them and stand in the way are
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many. But intelligence and reason are able to go through everything that opposes them,
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and in such manner as they are formed by nature, and as they
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choose. Placed before thy eyes this facility with which the reason will be carried
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through all things as fire, upwards as a stone, downward as a cylinder,
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down an inclined surface, and seek nothing further, for all other obstacles,
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either affect the body only, which is a dead thing, or except
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through opinion and the yielding of the reason itself, they do not crush nor
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do any harm of any kind. For if they did, he who felt
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it would immediately become bad. Now, in the case of all things which
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have a certain constitution, whatever harm may happy to any of them, that
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which is so effective becomes consequently worse. But in the like case a man
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becomes both better, if one may say so, and more worthy of praise,
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by making a right use of these accidents. And finally, remember that
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nothing harms him who is really a citizen which does not harm the state.
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Nor yet does anything harm the state which does not harm law. And of
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these things which are called misfortunes, not one harms law. What then does
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not harm law does not harm either state or citizen. Thirty four. To
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him who is penetrated by true principles, even the briefest precept is sufficient,
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and any common precept to remind him that he should be free from grief and
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fair. For example, leaves, some of the wind scatters on the ground,
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so is the race of men. Leaves also are thy children, And
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leaves too are they who cry out as if they were worthy of credit and
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bestowed their praise, or on the contrary, curse or secretly blame and sneer
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and leaves, and like manner are those who shall receive and transmit a man's
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famed after times. For all such things as these quote are produced in the
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season of spring end quote, as the poet says, but the wind cast
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them down. Then the forest produces other leaves in their places. But a
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brief existence is common to all things. And yet thou avoidest and pursuest all
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things as if they would be eternal. A little time, and thou shalt
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close thy eyes, And him who has attended thee to thy grave another soon
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will lament thirty five. The healthy eye ought to see all visible things,
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and not to say I wish for green things, for this is the condition
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of a diseased eye. And the healthy hearing and smelling ought to be ready
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to perceive all that can be heard and smelled. And the healthy stomach ought
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to be with respect to all food, just as the meal with respect to
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all things which it is formed to grind. And accordingly, the healthy understanding
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ought to be prepared for everything which happens, but that which says, let
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my dear children live, and let all men praise. Whatever I may do
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is an eye which seeks for green things, or teeth which seek for soft
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things. There is no man so fortunate that there shall not be by him
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when he is dying. Some who were pleased with what is going to happen,
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suppose that he was a good and wise man. Will there not be
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at last someone to say to himself, let us at last breathe freely being
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relieved from this schoolmaster. It is true that he was harsh to none of
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us, but I perceive that he tacitly condemns us. This is what is
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said of a good man. But in our own case, how many other
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things are there for which there are many who wish to get rid of us?
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Thou wilt consider this then, when thou art dying, and thou wilt
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depart more contentedly by reflecting. Thus, I am going away from such a
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life in which even my associates and behalf of whom I have striven so much,
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prayed and cared themselves, wished me to depart, hoping per chance to
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get some little advantage by it. Why then, should a man clinging to
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a longer stay here. Do not, however, for this reason, go
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away less kindly disposed to them, but preserving thy own character and friendly and
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benevolent and mild. And on the other hand, not as if thou wast
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torn away, but as a man who dies a quiet death. The poor
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soul is easily separated from the body. Such also ought thy departure from men
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to be. For Nature united THEE to them and associated thee. But does
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she now dissolve the union? Well, I am separated as from kinsmen,
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not however, dragged resisting, but without compulsion, For this too is one
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of the things according to nature. Thirty seven. Accustom thyself, as much
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as possible, on the occasion of anything being done by any person, to
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inquire with thyself, for what object is this man doing this? But begin
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with thyself and examine thyself first. Thirty eight Remember that this which pulls the
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strings is the thing which is hidden within. This is the power of persuasion,
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This is life. This, if one may say so, is man.
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In contemplating thyself. Never include the vessel which surrounds thee, and these
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instruments were attached about it, for they are like to enact differing only in
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this that they grow to the body. For indeed, there is no more
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use in these parts without the cause which moves and checks them, than in
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the weaver's shuttle, and the writer's pen, and the driver's whip.