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The Thoughts Of The Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Marcus Aurelius

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Title: The Thoughts Of The Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Author: Marcus Aurelius

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[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: All the footnotes have been moved to the end of the

text. I have also relabeled the book headings; [I., II., ... XI.] has

been changed to [BOOK I., BOOK II., ... BOOK XI.] at the start of each

Section. I have also added a "1. " before the first "thought" in each

BOOK.]

THE THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS

LONG'S TRANSLATION EDITED BY EDWIN GINN

CONTENTS:

PREFACE

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

THE THOUGHTS

PHILOSOPHY OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS

GENERAL INDEX

PREFACE.

Perhaps some may question the wisdom of putting out the Thoughts of

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to be used as a Reader by children in the

schools. It may appear to them better suited to the mature mind. The

principle, however, that has governed us in selecting reading for the

young has been to secure the best that we could find in all ages for

grown-up people. The milk and water diet provided for "my dear children"

is not especially complimentary to them. They like to be treated like

little men and women, capable of appreciating a good thing. One finds in

this royal philosopher a rare generosity, sweetness and humility,

qualities alike suited to all ages.

Adopting the philosopher's robe at twelve, he remains a student all his

life. The precepts that he would give for the government of others, he

has practised upon himself. In his time, as in ours, there were good

physicians for the mind and body, who could make wise prescriptions for

the government of their neighbors, but were unable to apply them to

themselves. The faults of our fellows are so numerous and so easy to cure

that one is readily tempted to become the physician, while our own faults

are so few and so unimportant that it is hardly worth while to give any

attention to them. Hence we have a multitude of physicians for humanity

in general, and a scarcity of individual healers.

It was the doctrine of Marcus Aurelius that most of the ills of life come

to us from our own imagination, that it was not in the power of others

seriously to interfere with the calm, temperate life of an individual,

ads:

and that when a fellow being did anything to us that seemed unjust he was

acting in ignorance, and that instead of stirring up anger within us it

should stir our pity for him. Oftentimes by careful self-examination we

should find that the fault was more our own than that of our fellow, and

our sufferings were rather from our own opinions than from anything real.

The circle of man's knowledge is very limited, and the largest circles do

not wholly include the smallest. They are intersecting and the segment

common to any two is very small. Whatever lies outside this space does

not exist for both. Hence arise innumerable contests. The man having the

largest intelligence ought to be very generous to the other. Being

thankful that he has been blessed in so many ways, he should do all in

his power to enlighten his less favored fellow, rather than be angry with

him on account of his misfortune. Is he not sufficiently punished in

being denied the light?

Assisting his uncle in the government of the great Roman Empire at

seventeen, it was his aim constantly to restrain the power of the strong

and to assist the weak. He studied the laws of his country, not for

wisdom alone, but that he might make them more beneficial to his people.

All his life he tried to bring his fellows to a higher level, and to

think charitably of each other. Occupying himself a palace he lived

simply, like other men. It was his greatest delight to retire to his

country home and there, dwelling among his books, to meditate upon the

great problems of life. He claimed that a man's life should be valued

according to the value of the things to which he gave his attention. If

his whole thought was given to clothing, feeding and housing himself

comfortably, he should be valued like other well-housed and well-fed

animals. He would, however, derive the greatest pleasure and benefit in

this life by acting in accordance with reason, which demands of every

human being that his highest faculties should govern all the rest, and

that each should see to it that he treated his fellow kindly and

generously and that if he could not assist him to a higher level he

should at least not stand in his way. When he speaks of the shortness of

time and the value of fame, riches and power, for which men strive in

this world, he speaks not from the standpoint of one who would wish to

obtain these things, but as a Roman emperor enjoying the highest honors

that man might expect to attain in this world. He certainly was in a

position to speak intelligently concerning these matters, and his

opinions ought to have weight with the coming generations. Children may

not prefer to read such thoughts; perhaps the majority of children do not

prefer the Bible to other books. Still, we all think it is well for them

to be obliged to read it. Perhaps requiring the use of such literature in

the schools might be as valuable as the adding, subtracting, multiplying

and dividing of interminable numbers, the memorizing of all the capes,

bays and rivers in the world, and the dates of all the battles that have

occurred since the creation of man. We should strive to stimulate the

thinking powers of children, leading them to form wise judgments

concerning the important things of life, without catering too much to

their own wishes at an age when they cannot form an intelligent opinion

of what is best for themselves.

At our first reading of the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, we

marked many sentences that appeared to us specially good; in the second,

twice as many more. Where all is good it is hard to emphasize, but we

will cite just one of his reflections, as illustrating the trend of his

mind: "I have often wondered," he says, "how it is that every man loves

himself more than all the rest of men, and yet sets less value on his own

opinion of himself than on the opinion of others."

We have given Long's translation of the Thoughts complete, as published

by Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., but we have omitted some unimportant

portions of the biography and philosophy in the interest of space and

economy. We have also given the philosophy in a supplement, thinking it

better that it should come after the Thoughts themselves. We shall issue

a pocket edition on very thin paper for the convenience of such as wish

to make a special study of the work. We also propose to issue a similar

edition of the writings of Epictetus.

EDWIN GINN.

January 20, 1893.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS.

M. Antoninus, the son of Annius Verus and Domitia Calvilla, was born at

Rome, A.D. 121. The Emperor T. Antoninus Pius married Faustina, the

sister of Annius Verus, and was consequently the uncle of M. Antoninus.

When Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius and declared him his successor in the

empire, Antoninus Pius adopted both L. Ceionius Commodus and M.

Antoninus, generally called M. Aurelius Antoninus.

The youth was most carefully brought up. He thanks the gods (I. 17) that

he had good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, good teachers,

good associates, good kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good. He had

the happy fortune to witness the example of his uncle and adoptive

father, Antoninus Pius, and he has recorded in his work (I. 16; VI. 30)

the virtues of this excellent man and prudent ruler. Like many young

Romans he tried his hand at poetry and studied rhetoric. There are

letters extant showing the great affection of the pupil for the master,

and the master's great hopes of his industrious pupil.

When he was eleven years old he assumed the dress of philosophers,

something plain and coarse, became a hard student, and lived a most

laborious, abstemious life, even so far as to injure his health. He

abandoned poetry and rhetoric for philosophy, and attached himself to the

sect of the Stoics. But he did not neglect the study of law, which was a

useful preparation for the high place which he was designed to fill. We

must suppose that he learned the Roman discipline of arms, which was a

necessary part of the education of a man who afterwards led his troops to

battle against a warlike race.

Antoninus has recorded in his first book the names of his teachers, and

the obligations which he owed to each of them. The way in which he speaks

of what he learned from them might seem to savor of vanity or self-

praise, if we look carelessly at the way in which he has expressed

himself; but if anyone draws this conclusion, he will be mistaken.

Antoninus means to commemorate the merits of his several teachers, what

they taught, and what a pupil might learn from them. Besides, this book,

like the eleven other books, was for his own use; and if we may trust the

note at the end of the first book, it was written during one of M.

Antoninus' campaigns against the Quadi, at a time when the commemoration

of the virtues of his illustrious teachers might remind him of their

lessons and the practical uses which he might derive from them.

Among his teachers of philosophy was Sextus of Chaeroneia, a grandson of

Plutarch. What he learned from this excellent man is told by himself (I.

9). His favorite teacher was Rusticus (I. 7), a philosopher, and also a

man of practical good sense in public affairs. Rusticus was the adviser

of Antoninus after he became emperor. Young men who are destined for high

places are not often fortunate in those who are about them, their

companions and teachers; and I do not know any example of a young prince

having had an education which can be compared with that of M. Antoninus.

Such a body of teachers distinguished by their acquirements and their

character will hardly be collected again; and as to the pupil, we have

not had one like him since.

Hadrian died in July, A.D. 138, and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius. M.

Antoninus married Faustina, his cousin, the daughter of Pius, probably

about A.D. 146, for he had a daughter born in A.D. 147. He received from

his adoptive father the title of Caesar, and was associated with him in

the administration of the state. The father and the adopted son lived

together in perfect friendship and confidence. Antoninus was a dutiful

son, and the emperor Pius loved and esteemed him.

Antoninus Pius died A.D. 161. The Senate, it is said, urged M. Antoninus

to take the sole administration of the empire, but he associated with

himself the other adopted son of Pius, L. Ceionius Commodus, who is

generally called L. Verus. Thus Rome for the first time had two emperors.

Verus was an indolent man of pleasure, and unworthy of his station.

Antoninus however bore with him, and it is said that Verus had sense

enough to pay to his colleague the respect due to his character. A

virtuous emperor and a loose partner lived together in peace, and their

alliance was strengthened by Antoninus giving to Verus for wife his

daughter Lucilla.

The reign of Antoninus was first troubled by a Parthian war, in which

Verus was sent to command; but he did nothing, and the success that was

obtained by the Romans in Armenia and on the Euphrates and Tigris was due

to his generals. This Parthian war ended in A.D. 165. Aurelius and Verus

had a triumph (A.D. 166) for the victories in the East. A pestilence

followed, which carried off great numbers in Rome and Italy, and spread

to the west of Europe.

The north of Italy was also threatened by the rude people beyond the Alps

from the borders of Gallia to the eastern side of the Hadriatic. These

barbarians attempted to break into Italy, as the Germanic nations had

attempted near three hundred years before; and the rest of the life of

Antoninus, with some intervals, was employed in driving back the

invaders. In A.D. 169 Verus suddenly died, and Antoninus administered the

state alone.

During the German wars Antoninus resided for three years on the Danube at

Carnuntum. The Marcomanni were driven out of Pannonia and almost

destroyed in their retreat across the Danube; and in A.D. 174 the emperor

gained a great victory over the Quadi.

In A.D. 175, Avidius Cassius, a brave and skilful Roman commander who was

at the head of the troops in Asia, revolted and declared himself

Augustus. But Cassius was assassinated by some of his officers, and so

the rebellion came to an end. Antoninus showed his humanity by his

treatment of the family and the partisans of Cassius; and his letter to

the Senate, in which he recommends mercy, is extant.

Antoninus set out for the East on hearing of Cassius' revolt. Though he

appears to have returned to Rome in A.D. 174, he went back to prosecute

the war against the Germans, and it is probable that he marched direct to

the East from the German war. His wife Faustina, who accompanied him into

Asia, died suddenly at the foot of the Taurus, to the great grief of her

husband. Capitolinus, who has written the life of Antoninus, and also

Dion Cassius accuse the empress of scandalous infidelity to her husband

and of abominable lewdness. But Capitolinus says that Antoninus either

knew it not or pretended not to know it. Nothing is so common as such

malicious reports in all ages, and the history of imperial Rome is full

of them. Antoninus loved his wife, and he says that she was "obedient,

affectionate, and simple." The same scandal had been spread about

Faustina's mother, the wife of Antoninus Pius, and yet he too was

perfectly satisfied with his wife. Antoninus Pius says after her death in

a letter to Fronto that he would rather have lived in exile with his wife

than in his palace at Rome without her. There are not many men who would

give their wives a better character than these two emperors. Capitolinus

wrote in the time of Diocletian. He may have intended to tell the truth,

but he is a poor, feeble biographer. Dion Cassius, the most malignant of

historians, always reports and perhaps he believed any scandal against

anybody.

Antoninus continued his journey to Syria and Egypt, and on his return to

Italy through Athens he was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries. It

was the practice of the emperor to conform to the established rites of

the age, and to perform religious ceremonies with due solemnity. We

cannot conclude from this that he was a superstitious man, though we

might perhaps do so if his book did not show that he was not. But this is

only one among many instances that a ruler's public acts do not always

prove his real opinions. A prudent governor will not roughly oppose even

the superstitions of his people; and though he may wish that they were

wiser, he will know that he cannot make them so by offending their

prejudices.

Antoninus and his son Commodus entered Rome in triumph, perhaps for some

German victories, A.D. 176. In the following year Commodus was associated

with his father in the empire, and took the name of Augustus. This year

A.D. 177 is memorable in ecclesiastical history. Attalus and others were

put to death at Lyon for their adherence to the Christian religion. The

evidence of this persecution is a letter preserved by Eusebius. It

contains a very particular description of the tortures inflicted on the

Christians in Gallia, and it states that while the persecution was going

on, Attalus, a Christian and a Roman citizen, was loudly demanded by the

populace and brought into the amphitheatre; but the governor ordered him

to be reserved, with the rest who were in prison, until he had received

instructions from the emperor. Many had been tortured before the governor

thought of applying to Antoninus. The imperial rescript, says the letter,

was that the Christians should be punished, but if they would deny their

faith, they must be released. On this the work began again. The

Christians who were Roman citizens were beheaded; the rest were exposed

to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre.

The war on the northern frontier appears to have been uninterrupted

during the visit of Antoninus to the East, and on his return the emperor

again left Rome to oppose the barbarians. The Germanic people were

defeated in a great battle A.D. 179. During this campaign the emperor was

seized with some contagious malady, of which he died in the camp, A.D.

180, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. His son Commodus was with him.

The body, or the ashes probably, of the emperor were carried to Rome, and

he received the honor of deification. Those who could afford it had his

statue or bust; and when Capitolinus wrote, many people still had statues

of Antoninus among the Dei Penates or household deities. He was in a

manner made a saint. Commodus erected to the memory of his father the

Antonine column which is now in the Piazza Colonna at Rome. The bassi

rilievi which are placed in a spiral line round the shaft commemorate the

victories of Antoninus over the Marcomanni and the Quadi, and the

miraculous shower of rain which refreshed the Roman soldiers and

discomfited their enemies. The statue of Antoninus was placed on the

capital of the column, but it was removed at some time unknown, and a

bronze statue of St. Paul was put in the place by Pope Sixtus the fifth.

In order to form a proper notion of the condition of the Christians under

M. Antoninus we must go back to Trajan's time. When the younger Pliny was

governor of Bithynia, the Christians were numerous in those parts, and

the worshippers of the old religion were falling off. The temples were

deserted, the festivals neglected, and there were no purchasers of

victims for sacrifice. Those who were interested in the maintenance of

the old religion thus found that their profits were in danger. Christians

of both sexes and of all ages were brought before the governor, who did

not know what to do with them. He could come to no other conclusion than

this, that those who confessed to be Christians and persevered in their

religion ought to be punished; if for nothing else, for their invincible

obstinacy. He found no crimes proved against the Christians, and he could

only characterize their religion as a depraved and extravagant

superstition, which might be stopped if the people were allowed the

opportunity of recanting. Pliny wrote this in a letter to Trajan. He

asked for the emperor's directions, because he did not know what to do.

He remarks that he had never been engaged in judicial inquiries about the

Christians, and that accordingly he did not know what to inquire about or

how far to inquire and punish. This proves that it was not a new thing to

examine into a man's profession of Christianity and to punish him for it.

Trajan's rescript is extant. He approved of the governor's judgment in

the matter, but he said that no search must be made after the Christians;

if a man was charged with the new religion and convicted, he must not be

punished if he affirmed that he was not a Christian and confirmed his

denial by showing his reverence to the heathen gods. He added that no

notice must be taken of anonymous informations, for such things were of

bad example. Trajan was a mild and sensible man; and both motives of

mercy and policy probably also induced him to take as little notice of

the Christians as he could, to let them live in quiet if it were

possible. Trajan's rescript is the first legislative act of the head of

the Roman state with reference to Christianity, which is known to us. It

does not appear that the Christians were further disturbed under his

reign.

In the time of Hadrian it was no longer possible for the Roman government

to overlook the great increase of the Christians and the hostility of the

common sort to them. If the governors in the provinces were willing to

let them alone, they could not resist the fanaticism of the heathen

community, who looked on the Christians as atheists. The Jews too, who

were settled all over the Roman Empire, were as hostile to the Christians

as the Gentiles were. With the time of Hadrian begin the Christian

Apologies, which show plainly what the popular feeling towards the

Christians then was. A rescript of Hadrian to Minucius Fundanus, the

Proconsul of Asia, which stands at the end of Justin's first Apology,

instructs the governor that innocent people must not be troubled, and

false accusers must not be allowed to extort money from them; the charges

against the Christians must be made in due form, and no attention must be

paid to popular clamors; when Christians were regularly prosecuted and

convicted of illegal acts, they must be punished according to their

deserts; and false accusers also must be punished. Antoninus Pius is said

to have published rescripts to the same effect. The terms of Hadrian's

rescript seem very favorable to the Christians; but if we understand it

in this sense, that they were only to be punished like other people for

illegal acts, it would have had no meaning, for that could have been done

without asking the emperor's advice. The real purpose of the rescript is

that Christians must be punished if they persisted in their belief, and

would not prove their renunciation of it by acknowledging the heathen

religion.

In the time of M. Antoninus the opposition between the old and the new

belief was still stronger, and the adherents of the heathen religion

urged those in authority to a more regular resistance to the invasions of

the Christian faith. Melito in his Apology to M. Antoninus represents the

Christians of Asia as persecuted under new imperial orders. Shameless

informers, he says, men who were greedy after the property of others,

used these orders as a means of robbing those who were doing no harm. He

doubts if a just emperor could have ordered anything so unjust; and if

the last order was really not from the emperor, the Christians entreat

him not to give them up to their enemies. We conclude from this that

there were at least imperial rescripts or constitutions of M. Antoninus

which were made the foundation of these persecutions. The fact of being a

Christian was now a crime and punished, unless the accused denied their

religion. Then come the persecutions at Smyrna, which some modern critics

place in A.D. 167, ten years before the persecution of Lyon. The

governors of the provinces under M. Antoninus might have found enough

even in Trajan's rescript to warrant them in punishing Christians, and

the fanaticism of the people would drive them to persecution, even if

they were unwilling. But besides the fact of the Christians rejecting all

the heathen ceremonies, we must not forget that they plainly maintained

that all the heathen religions were false. The Christians thus declared

war against the heathen rites, and it is hardly necessary to observe that

this was a declaration of hostility against the Roman government, which

tolerated all the various forms of superstition that existed in the

empire, and could not consistently tolerate another religion, which

declared that all the rest were false and all the splendid ceremonies of

the empire only a worship of devils.

If we had a true ecclesiastical history, we should know how the Roman

emperors attempted to check the new religion; how they enforced their

principle of finally punishing Christians, simply as Christians, which

Justin in his Apology affirms that they did, and I have no doubt that he

tells the truth; how far popular clamor and riots went in this matter,

and how far many fanatical and ignorant Christians--for there were many

such--contributed to excite the fanaticism on the other side and to

imbitter the quarrel between the Roman government and the new religion.

Our extant ecclesiastical histories are manifestly falsified, and what

truth they contain is grossly exaggerated; but the fact is certain that

in the time of M. Antoninus the heathen populations were in open

hostility to the Christians, and that under Antoninus' rule men were put

to death because they were Christians. Eusebius, in the preface to his

fifth book, remarks that in the seventeenth year of Antoninus' reign, in

some parts of the world, the persecution of the Christians became more

violent, and that it proceeded from the populace in the cities; and he

adds, in his usual style of exaggeration, that we may infer from what

took place in a single nation that myriads of martyrs were made in the

habitable earth. The nation which he alludes to is Gallia; and he then

proceeds to give the letter of the churches of Vienna and Lugdunum. It is

probable that he has assigned the true cause of the persecutions, the

fanaticism of the populace, and that both governors and emperor had a

great deal of trouble with these disturbances. How far Marcus was

cognizant of these cruel proceedings we do not know, for the historical

records of his reign are very defective. He did not make the rule against

the Christians, for Trajan did that; and if we admit that he would have

been willing to let the Christians alone, we cannot affirm that it was in

his power, for it would be a great mistake to suppose that Antoninus had

the unlimited authority which some modern sovereigns have had. His power

was limited by certain constitutional forms, by the Senate, and by the

precedents of his predecessors. We cannot admit that such a man was an

active persecutor, for there is no evidence that he was, though it is

certain that he had no good opinion of the Christians, as appears from

his own words. But he knew nothing of them except their hostility to the

Roman religion, and he probably thought that they were dangerous to the

state, notwithstanding the professions false or true of some of the

Apologists. So much I have said, because it would be unfair not to state

all that can be urged against a man whom his contemporaries and

subsequent ages venerated as a model of virtue and benevolence. If I

admitted the genuineness of some documents, he would be altogether clear

from the charge of even allowing any persecutions; but as I seek the

truth and am sure that they are false, I leave him to bear whatever blame

is his due. I add that it is quite certain that Antoninus did not derive

any of his ethical principles from a religion of which he knew nothing.

There is no doubt that the Emperor's Reflections--or his Meditations, as

they are generally named--is a genuine work. In the first book he speaks

of himself, his family, and his teachers; and in other books he mentions

himself.

It is plain that the emperor wrote down his thoughts or reflections as

the occasions arose; and since they were intended for his own use, it is

no improbable conjecture that he left a complete copy behind him written

with his own hand; for it is not likely that so diligent a man would use

the labor of a transcriber for such a purpose, and expose his most secret

thoughts to any other eye. He may have also intended the book for his son

Commodus, who however had no taste for his father's philosophy.

The last reflection of the Stoic philosophy that I have observed is in

Simplicius' Commentary on the Enchiridion of Epictetus. Simplicius was

not a Christian, and such a man was not likely to be converted at a time

when Christianity was grossly corrupted. But he was a really religious

man, and he concludes his commentary with a prayer to the Deity which no

Christian could improve. From the time of Zeno to Simplicius, a period of

about nine hundred years, the Stoic philosophy formed the characters of

some of the best and greatest men. A man's greatness lies not in wealth

and station, as the vulgar believe, nor yet in his intellectual capacity,

which is often associated with the meanest moral character, the most

abject servility to those in high places, and arrogance to the poor and

lowly; but a man's true greatness lies in the consciousness of an honest

purpose in life, founded on a just estimate of himself and everything

else, on frequent self-examination, and a steady obedience to the rule

which he knows to be right, without troubling himself, as the emperor

says he should not, about what others may think or say, or whether they

do or do not do that which he thinks and says and does.

THE THOUGHTS OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS.

BOOK 1.

1. From my grandfather Verus [I learned] good morals and the government

of my temper.

2. From the reputation and remembrance of my father, modesty and a manly

character.

3. From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not only from

evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my

way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.

4. From my great-grandfather, not to have frequented public schools, and

to have had good teachers at home, and to know that on such things a man

should spend liberally.

5. From my governor, to be neither of the green nor of the blue party at

the games in the Circus, nor a partisan either of the Parmularius or the

Scutarius at the gladiators' fights; from him too I learned endurance of

labor, and to want little, and to work with my own hands, and not to

meddle with other people's affairs, and not to be ready to listen to

slander.

6. From Diognetus, not to busy myself about trifling things, and not to

give credit to what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers about

incantations and the driving away of daemons and such things; and not to

breed quails [for fighting], nor to give myself up passionately to such

things; and to endure freedom of speech; and to have become intimate with

philosophy; and to have been a hearer, first of Bacchius, then of

Tandasis and Marcianus; and to have written dialogues in my youth; and to

have desired a plank bed and skin, and whatever else of the kind belongs

to the Grecian discipline.

7. From Rusticus I received the impression that my character required

improvement and discipline; and from him I learned not to be led astray

to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters, nor to

delivering little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off as a man

who practices much discipline, or does benevolent acts in order to make a

display; and to abstain from rhetoric, and poetry, and fine writing; and

not to walk about in the house in my outdoor dress, nor to do other

things of the kind; and to write my letters with simplicity, like the

letter which Rusticus wrote from Sinuessa to my mother; and with respect

to those who have offended me by words, or done me wrong, to be easily

disposed to be pacified and reconciled, as soon as they have shown a

readiness to be reconciled; and to read carefully, and not to be

satisfied with a superficial understanding of a book; nor hastily to give

my assent to those who talk overmuch; and I am indebted to him for being

acquainted with the discourses of Epictetus, which he communicated to me

out of his own collection.

8. From Apollonius I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness

of purpose; and to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to

reason; and to be always the same, in sharp pains, on the occasion of the

loss of a child, and in long illness; and to see clearly in a living

example that the same man can be both most resolute and yielding, and not

peevish in giving his instruction; and to have had before my eyes a man

who clearly considered his experience and his skill in expounding

philosophical principles as the smallest of his merits; and from him I

learned how to receive from friends what are esteemed favors, without

being either humbled by them or letting them pass unnoticed.

9. From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, and the example of a family

governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of living conformably to

nature; and gravity without affectation, and to look carefully after the

interests of friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons, and those who

form opinions without consideration: he had the power of readily

accommodating himself to all, so that intercourse with him was more

agreeable than any flattery; and at the same time he was most highly

venerated by those who associated with him: and he had the faculty both

of discovering and ordering, in an intelligent and methodical way, the

principles necessary for life; and he never showed anger or any other

passion, but was entirely free from passion, and also most affectionate;

and he could express approbation without noisy display, and he possessed

much knowledge without ostentation.

10. From Alexander the grammarian, to refrain from fault-finding, and not

in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any barbarous or

solecistic or strange-sounding expression; but dexterously to introduce

the very expression which ought to have been used, and in the way of

answer or giving confirmation, or joining in an inquiry about the thing

itself, not about the word, or by some other fit suggestion.

11. From Fronto I learned to observe what envy and duplicity and

hypocrisy are in a tyrant, and that generally those among us who are

called Patricians are rather deficient in paternal affection.

12. From Alexander the Platonic, not frequently nor without necessity to

say to any one, or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure; nor

continually to excuse the neglect of duties required by our relation to

those with whom we live, by alleging urgent occupations.

13. From Catulus, not to be indifferent when a friend finds fault, even

if he should find fault without reason, but to try to restore him to his

usual disposition; and to be ready to speak well of teachers, as it is

reported of Domitius and Athenodotus; and to love my children truly.

14. From my brother Severus, to love my kin, and to love truth, and to

love justice; and through him I learned to know Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato,

Dion, Brutus; and from him I received the idea of a polity in which there

is the same law for all, a polity administered with regard to equal

rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government

which respects most of all the freedom of the governed; I learned from

him also consistency and undeviating steadiness in my regard for

philosophy; and a disposition to do good, and to give to others readily,

and to cherish good hopes, and to believe that I am loved by my friends;

and in him I observed no concealment of his opinions with respect to

those whom he condemned, and that his friends had no need to conjecture

what he wished or did not wish, but it was quite plain.

15. From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by

anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness;

and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and

to do what was set before me without complaining. I observed that

everybody believed that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that he

did he never had any bad intention; and he never showed amazement and

surprise, and was never in a hurry, and never put off doing a thing, nor

was perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise his

vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate or suspicious.

He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive,

and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of a man

who could not be diverted from right, rather than of a man who had been

improved. I observed, too, that no man could ever think that he was

despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better man. He

had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way.

16. In my father I observed mildness of temper, and unchangeable

resolution in the things which he had determined after due deliberation;

and no vain-glory in those things which men call honors; and a love of

labor and perseverance; and a readiness to listen to those who had

anything to propose for the common weal; and undeviating firmness in

giving to every man according to his deserts; and a knowledge derived

from experience of the occasions for vigorous action and for remission.

And I observed that he had overcome all passion for boys; and he

considered himself no more than any other citizen; and he released his

friends from all obligation to sup with him or to attend him of necessity

when he went abroad, and those who had failed to accompany him, by reason

of any urgent circumstances, always found him the same. I observed, too,

his habit of careful inquiry in all matters of deliberation, and his

persistency, and that he never stopped his investigation through being

satisfied with appearances which first present themselves; and that his

disposition was to keep his friends, and not to be soon tired of them,

nor yet to be extravagant in his affection; and to be satisfied on all

occasions, and cheerful; and to foresee things a long way off, and to

provide for the smallest without display; and to check immediately

popular applause and all flattery; and to be ever watchful over the

things which were necessary for the administration of the empire, and to

be a good manager of the expenditure, and patiently to endure the blame

which he got for such conduct; and he was neither superstitious with

respect to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts or by trying to please

them, or by flattering the populace; but he showed sobriety in all things

and firmness, and never any mean thoughts or action, nor love of novelty.

And the things which conduce in any way to the commodity of life, and of

which fortune gives an abundant supply, he used without arrogance and

without excusing himself; so that when he had them, he enjoyed them

without affectation, and when he had them not, he did not want them. No

one could ever say of him that he was either a sophist or a [home-bred]

flippant slave or a pedant; but every one acknowledged him to be a man

ripe, perfect, above flattery, able to manage his own and other men's

affairs. Besides this, he honored those who were true philosophers, and

he did not reproach those who pretended to be philosophers, nor yet was

he easily led by them. He was also easy in conversation, and he made

himself agreeable without any offensive affectation. He took a reasonable

care of his body's health, not as one who was greatly attached to life,

nor out of regard to personal appearance, nor yet in a careless way, but

so that through his own attention he very seldom stood in need of the

physician's art or of medicine or external applications. He was most

ready to give without envy to those who possessed any particular faculty,

such as that of eloquence or knowledge of the law or of morals, or of

anything else; and he gave them his help, that each might enjoy

reputation according to his deserts; and he always acted conformably to

the institutions of his country, without showing any affectation of doing

so. Further, he was not fond of change nor unsteady, but he loved to stay

in the same places, and to employ himself about the same things; and

after his paroxysms of headache he came immediately fresh and vigorous to

his usual occupations. His secrets were not many, but very few and very

rare, and these only about public matters; and he showed prudence and

economy in the exhibition of the public spectacles and the construction

of public buildings, his donations to the people, and in such things, for

he was a man who looked to what ought to be done, not to the reputation

which is got by a man's acts. He did not take the bath at unseasonable

hours; he was not fond of building houses, nor curious about what he ate,

nor about the texture and color of his clothes, nor about the beauty of

his slaves. [Footnote: 1] His dress came from Lorium, his villa on the

coast, and from Lanuvium generally. [Footnote: 2] We know how he behaved

to the toll-collector at Tusculum who asked his pardon; and such was all

his behavior. There was in him nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor

violent, nor, as one may say, anything carried to the sweating point; but

he examined all things severally, as if he had abundance of time, and

without confusion, in an orderly way, vigorously and consistently. And

that might be applied to him which is recorded of Socrates, that he was

able both to abstain from, and to enjoy, those things which many are too

weak to abstain from, and cannot enjoy without excess. But to be strong

enough both to bear the one and to be sober in the other is the mark of a

man who has a perfect and invincible soul, such as he showed in the

illness of Maximus.

17. To the gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents,

a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends,

nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods that I was not

hurried into any offence against any of them, though I had a disposition

which, if opportunity had offered, might have led me to do something of

this kind; but, through their favor, there never was such a concurrence

of circumstances as put me to the trial. Further, I am thankful to the

gods that I was not longer brought up with my grandfather's concubine,

and that I preserved the flower of my youth, and that I did not make

proof of my virility before the proper season, but even deferred the

time; that I was subjected to a ruler and a father who was able to take

away all pride from me, and to bring me to the knowledge that it is

possible for a man to live in a palace without wanting either guards or

embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, and such-like show; but that

it is in such a man's power to bring himself very near to the fashion of

a private person, without being for this reason either meaner in thought,

or more remiss in action, with respect to the things which must be done

for the public interest in a manner that befits a ruler. I thank the gods

for giving me such a brother, who was able by his moral character to

rouse me to vigilance over myself, and who at the same time pleased me by

his respect and affection; that my children have not been stupid nor

deformed in body; that I did not make more proficiency in rhetoric,

poetry, and the other studies, in which I should perhaps have been

completely engaged, if I had seen that I was making progress in them;

that I made haste to place those who brought me up in the station of

honor, which they seemed to desire, without putting them off with hope of

my doing it some other time after, because they were then still young;

that I knew Apollonius, Rusticus, Maximus; that I received clear and

frequent impressions about living according to nature, and what kind of a

life that is, so that, so far as depended on the gods, and their gifts,

and help, and inspirations, nothing hindered me from forthwith living

according to nature, though I still fall short of it through my own

fault, and through not observing the admonitions of the gods, and, I may

almost say, their direct instructions; that my body has held out so long

in such a kind of life; that I never touched either Benedicta or

Theodotus, and that, after having fallen into amatory passions, I was

cured, and though I was often out of humor with Rusticus, I never did

anything of which I had occasion to repent; that, though it was my

mother's fate to die young, she spent the last years of her life with me;

that, whenever I wished to help any man in his need, or on any other

occasion, I was never told that I had not the means of doing it; and that

to myself the same necessity never happened, to receive anything from

another; that I have such a wife, so obedient, and so affectionate, and

so simple; that I had abundance of good masters for my children; and that

remedies have been shown to me by dreams, both others, and against

bloodspitting and giddiness ...; and that, when I had an inclination to

philosophy, I did not fall into the hands of any sophist, and that I did

not waste my time on writers [of histories], or in the resolution of

syllogisms, or occupy myself about the investigation of appearances in

the heavens; for all these things require the help of the gods and

fortune.

Among the Quadi at the Granua. [Footnote: 3]

BOOK II.

Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody,

the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things

happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But

I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the

bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is

akin to me, not [only] of the same blood or seed, but that it

participates in [the same] intelligence and [the same] portion of the

divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on

me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him. For we

are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the

rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another, then, is

contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and

to turn away.

2. Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the

ruling part. Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not

allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood

and bones and a network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See

the breath also, what kind of a thing it is; air, and not always the

same, but every moment sent out and again sucked in. The third, then, is

the ruling part, consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this

be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial

movements, no longer be either dissatisfied with thy present lot, or

shrink from the future.

3. All that is from the gods is full of providence. That which is from

fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and

involution with the things which are ordered by providence. From thence

all things flow; and there is besides necessity, and that which is for

the advantage of the whole universe, of which thou art a part. But that

is good for every part of nature which the nature of the whole brings,

and what serves to maintain this nature. Now the universe is preserved,

as by the changes of the elements so by the changes of things compounded

of the elements. Let these principles be enough for thee; let them always

be fixed opinions. But cast away the thirst after books, that thou mayest

not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and from thy heart thankful to

the gods.

4. Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how

often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not

use it. Thou must now at last perceive of what universe thou art now a

part, and of what administrator of the universe thy existence is an

efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed for thee, which if thou dost

not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind, it will go and thou

wilt go, and it will never return.

5. Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast

in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and

freedom, and justice, and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts.

And thou wilt give thyself relief if thou dost every act of thy life as

if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and passionate

aversion from the commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self-love,

and discontent with the portion which has been given to thee. Thou seest

how few the things are, the which if a man lays hold of, he is able to

live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the existence of the gods;

for the gods on their part will require nothing more from him who

observes these things.

6. Do wrong to thyself, do wrong to thyself, my soul; but thou wilt no

longer have the opportunity of honoring thyself. Every man's life is

sufficient. But thine is nearly finished, though thy soul reverences not

itself, but places thy felicity in the souls of others.

7. Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give

thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled

around. But then thou must also avoid being carried about the other way;

for those too are triflers who have wearied themselves in life by their

activity, and yet have no object to which to direct every movement, and,

in a word, all their thoughts.

8. Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man has seldom

been seen to be unhappy; but those who do not observe the movements of

their own minds must of necessity be unhappy.

9. This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole,

and what is my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of

a part it is of what kind of a whole, and that there is no one who

hinders thee from always doing and saying the things which are according

to the nature of which thou art a part.

10. Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad acts--such a comparison as one

would make in accordance with the common notions of mankind--says, like a

true philosopher, that the offences which are committed through desire

are more blamable than those which are committed through anger. For he

who is excited by anger seems to turn away from reason with a certain

pain and unconscious contraction; but he who offends through desire,

being overpowered by pleasure, seems to be in a manner more intemperate

and more womanish in his offences. Rightly, then, and in a way worthy of

philosophy, he said that the offence which is committed with pleasure is

more blamable than that which is committed with pain; and on the whole

the one is more like a person who has been first wronged and through pain

is compelled to be angry; but the other is moved by his own impulse to do

wrong, being carried towards doing something by desire.

11. Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very

moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly. But to go away from

among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the

gods will not involve thee in evil; but if indeed they do not exist, or

if they have no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to live in

a universe devoid of gods or devoid of providence? But in truth they do

exist, and they do care for human things, and they have put all the means

in man's power to enable him not to fall into real evils. And as to the

rest, if there was anything evil, they would have provided for this also,

that it should be altogether in a man's power not to fall into it. Now

that which does not make a man worse, how can it make a man's life worse?

But neither through ignorance, nor having the knowledge but not the power

to guard against or correct these things, is it possible that the nature

of the universe has overlooked them; nor is it possible that it has made

so great a mistake, either through want of power or want of skill, that

good and evil should happen indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But

death certainly, and life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure,--all

these things equally happen to good men and bad, being things which make

us neither better nor worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil.

12. How quickly all things disappear,--in the universe the bodies

themselves, but in time the remembrance of them. What is the nature of

all sensible things, and particularly those which attract with the bait

of pleasure or terrify by pain, or are noised abroad by vapory fame; how

worthless, and contemptible, and sordid, and perishable, and dead they

are,--all this it is the part of the intellectual faculty to observe. To

observe too who these are whose opinions and voices give reputation; what

death is, and the fact that, if a man looks at it in itself, and by the

abstractive power of reflection resolves into their parts all the things

which present themselves to the imagination in it, he will then consider

it to be nothing else than an operation of nature; and if any one is

afraid of an operation of nature, he is a child. This, however, is not

only an operation of nature, but it is also a thing which conduces to the

purposes of nature. To observe too how man comes near to the Deity, and

by what part of him, and when this part of man is so disposed (VI. 28).

13. Nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses everything in a

round, and pries into the things beneath the earth, as the poet says, and

seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbors, without

perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon within him, and

to reverence it sincerely. And reverence of the daemon consists in

keeping it pure from passion and thoughtlessness, and dissatisfaction

with what comes from gods and men. For the things from the gods merit

veneration for their excellence; and the things from men should be dear

to us by reason of kinship; and sometimes even, in a manner, they move

our pity by reason of men's ignorance of good and bad; this defect being

not less than that which deprives us of the power of distinguishing

things that are white and black.

14. Though thou shouldest be going to live three thousand years, and as

many times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other

life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he

now loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For the

present is the same to all, though that which perishes is not the same;

and so that which is lost appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot

lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can any

one take this from him? These two things then thou must bear in mind; the

one, that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round in a

circle, and that it makes no difference whether a man shall see the same

things during a hundred years, or two hundred, or an infinite time; and

the second, that the longest liver and he who will die soonest lose just

the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man can be

deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and

that a man cannot lose a thing if he has it not.

15. Remember that all is opinion. For what was said by the Cynic Monimus

is manifest: and manifest too is the use of what was said, if a man

receives what may be got out of it as far as it is true.

16. The soul of man does violence to itself, first of all, when it

becomes an abscess, and, as it were, a tumor on the universe, so far as

it can. For to be vexed at anything which happens is a separation of

ourselves from nature, in some part of which the natures of all other

things are contained. In the next place, the soul does violence to itself

when it turns away from any man, or even moves towards him with the

intention of injuring, such as are the souls of those who are angry. In

the third place, the soul does violence to itself when it is overpowered

by pleasure or by pain. Fourthly, when it plays a part, and does or says

anything insincerely and untruly. Fifthly, when it allows any act of its

own and any movement to be without an aim, and does anything

thoughtlessly and without considering what it is, it being right that

even the smallest things be done with reference to an end; and the end of

rational animals is to follow the reason and the law of the most ancient

city and polity.

17. Of human life the time is a point, and the substance is in a flux,

and the perception dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to

putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame

a thing devoid of judgment. And, to say all in a word, everything which

belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream

and vapor, and life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after--fame

is oblivion. What then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing,

and only one, philosophy. But this consists in keeping the daemon within

a man free from violence and unharmed, superior to pains and pleasures,

doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, not

feeling the need of another man's doing or not doing anything; and

besides, accepting all that happens, and all that is allotted, as coming

from thence, wherever it is, from whence he himself came; and, finally,

waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a

dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded.

But if there is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually

changing into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the

change and dissolution of all the elements? For it is according to

nature, and nothing is evil which is according to nature.

This in Carnuntum.

BOOK III.

1. We ought to consider not only that our life is daily wasting away and

a smaller part of it is left, but another thing also must be taken into

the account, that if a man should live longer, it is quite uncertain

whether the understanding will still continue sufficient for the

comprehension of things, and retain the power of contemplation which

strives to acquire the knowledge of the divine and the human. For if he

shall begin to fall into dotage, perspiration and nutrition and

imagination and appetite, and whatever else there is of the kind, will

not fail; but the power of making use of ourselves, and filling up the

measure of our duty, and clearly separating all appearances, and

considering whether a man should now depart from life, and whatever else

of the kind absolutely requires a disciplined reason,--all this is

already extinguished. We must make haste, then, not only because we are

daily nearer to death, but also because the conception of things and the

understanding of them cease first.

2. We ought to observe also that even the things which follow after the

things which are produced according to nature contain something pleasing

and attractive. For instance, when bread is baked some parts are split at

the surface, and these parts which thus open, and have a certain fashion

contrary to the purpose of the baker's art, are beautiful in a manner,

and in a peculiar way excite a desire for eating. And again, figs, when

they are quite ripe, gape open; and in the ripe olives the very

circumstance of their being near to rottenness adds a peculiar beauty to

the fruit. And the ears of corn bending down, and the lion's eyebrows,

and the foam which flows from the mouth of wild boars, and many other

things,--though they are far from being beautiful if a man should examine

them severally,--still, because they are consequent upon the things which

are formed by nature, help to adorn them, and they please the mind; so

that if a man should have a feeling and deeper insight with respect to

the things which are produced in the universe, there is hardly one of

those which follow by way of consequence which will not seem to him to be

in a manner disposed so as to give pleasure. And so he will see even the

real gaping jaws of wild beasts with no less pleasure than those which

painters and sculptors show by imitation; and in an old woman and an old

man he will be able to see a certain maturity and comeliness; and the

attractive loveliness of young persons he will be able to look on with

chaste eyes; and many such things will present themselves, not pleasing

to every man, but to him only who has become truly familiar with Nature

and her works.

3. Hippocrates, after curing many diseases, himself fell sick and died.

The Chaldaei foretold the deaths of many, and then fate caught them too.

Alexander and Pompeius and Caius Caesar, after so often completely

destroying whole cities, and in battle cutting to pieces many ten

thousands of cavalry and infantry, themselves too at last departed from

life. Heraclitus, after so many speculations on the conflagration of the

universe, was filled with water internally and died smeared all over with

mud. And lice destroyed Democritus; and other lice killed Socrates. What

means all this? Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art

come to shore; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of

gods, not even there; but if to a state without sensation, thou wilt

cease to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel,

which is as much inferior as that which serves it is superior: for the

one is intelligence and deity; the other is earth and corruption.

4. Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others, when

thou dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility. For

thou losest the opportunity of doing something else when thou hast such

thoughts as these,--What is such a person doing, and why, and what is he

saying, and what is he thinking of, and what is he contriving, and

whatever else of the kind makes us wander away from the observation of

our own ruling power. We ought then to check in the series of our

thoughts everything that is without a purpose and useless, but most of

all the over-curious feeling and the malignant; and a man should use

himself to think of those things only about which if one should suddenly

ask, What hast thou now in thy thoughts? with perfect openness thou

mightest immediately answer, This or That; so that from thy words it

should be plain that everything in thee is simple and benevolent, and

such as befits a social animal, and one that cares not for thoughts about

pleasure or sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or envy and

suspicion, or anything else for which thou wouldst blush if thou shouldst

say that thou hadst it in thy mind. For the man who is such, and no

longer delays being among the number of the best, is like a priest and

minister of the gods, using too the [deity] which is planted within him,

which makes the man uncontaminated by pleasure, unharmed by any pain,

untouched by any insult, feeling no wrong, a fighter in the noblest

fight, one who cannot be overpowered by any passion, dyed deep with

justice, accepting with all his soul everything which happens and is

assigned to him as his portion; and not often, nor yet without great

necessity and for the general interest, imagining what another says, or

does, or thinks. For it is only what belongs to himself that he makes the

matter for his activity; and he constantly thinks of that which is

allotted to himself out of the sum total of things, and he makes his own

acts fair, and he is persuaded that his own portion is good. For the lot

which is assigned to each man is carried along with him and carries him

along with it. And he remembers also that every rational animal is his

kinsman, and that to care for all men is according to man's nature; and a

man should hold on to the opinion not of all, but of those only who

confessedly live according to nature. But as to those who live not so, he

always bears in mind what kind of men they are both at home and from

home, both by night and by day, and what they are, and with what men they

live an impure life. Accordingly, he does not value at all the praise

which comes from such men, since they are not even satisfied with

themselves.

5. Labor not unwillingly, nor without regard to the common interest, nor

without due consideration, nor with distraction; nor let studied ornament

set off thy thoughts, and be not either a man of many words, or busy

about too many things. And further, let the deity which is in thee be the

guardian of a living being, manly and of ripe age, and engaged in matter

political, and a Roman, and a ruler, who has taken his post like a man

waiting for the signal which summons him from life, and ready to go,

having need neither of oath nor of any man's testimony. Be cheerful also,

and seek not external help nor the tranquillity which others give. A man

then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.

6. If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth,

temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own

mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do

according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee

without thy own choice; if, I say, thou seest anything better than is,

turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be

the best. But if nothing appears to be better than the Deity which is

planted in thee, which has subjected to itself all thy appetites, and

carefully examines all the impressions, and, as Socrates said, has

detached itself from the persuasions of sense, and has submitted itself

to the gods, and cares for mankind; if thou findest everything else

smaller and of less value than this, give place to nothing else, for if

thou dost once diverge and incline to it, thou wilt no longer without

distraction be able to give the preference to that good thing which is

thy proper possession and thy own; for it is not right that anything of

any other kind, such as praise from the many, or power, or enjoyment of

pleasure, should come into competition with that which is rationally and

politically [or practically] good. All these things, even though they may

seem to adapt themselves [to the better things] in a small degree, obtain

the superiority all at once, and carry us away. But do thou, I say,

simply and freely choose the better, and hold to it.--But that which is

useful is the better.--Well, then, if it is useful to thee as a rational

being, keep to it; but if it is only useful to thee as an animal, say so,

and maintain thy judgment without arrogance: only take care that thou

makest the inquiry by a sure method.

7. Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee

to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to

suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs

walls and curtains: for he who has preferred to everything else his own

intelligence and daemon and the worship of its excellence, acts no tragic

part, does not groan, will not need either solitude or much company; and,

what is chief of all, he will live without either pursuing or flying from

[death]; but whether for a longer or a shorter time he shall have the

soul enclosed in the body, he cares not at all: for even if he must

depart immediately, he will go as readily as if he were going to do

anything else which can be done with decency and order; taking care of

this only all through life, that his thoughts turn not away from anything

which belongs to an intelligent animal and a member of a civil community.

8. In the mind of one who is chastened and purified thou wilt find no

corrupt matter, nor impurity, nor any sore skinned over. Nor is his life

incomplete when fate overtakes him, as one may say of an actor who leaves

the stage before ending and finishing the play. Besides, there is in him

nothing servile, nor affected, nor too closely bound [to other things],

nor yet detached [from other things], nothing worthy of blame, nothing

which seeks a hiding-place.

9. Reverence the faculty which produces opinion. On this faculty it

entirely depends whether there shall exist in thy ruling part any opinion

inconsistent with nature and the constitution of the rational animal. And

this faculty promises freedom from hasty judgment, and friendship towards

men, and obedience to the gods.

10. Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and

besides, bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which

is an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past

or it is uncertain. Short then is the time which every man lives, and

small the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest

posthumous fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor

human beings, who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves,

much less him who died long ago.

11. To the aids which have been mentioned let this one still be added:

Make for thyself a definition or description of the thing which is

presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in

its substance, in its nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell thyself

its proper name, and the names of the things of which it has been

compounded, and into which it will be resolved. For nothing is so

productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine methodically and

truly every object which is presented to thee in life, and always to look

at things so as to see at the same time what kind of universe this is,

and what kind of use everything performs in it, and what value everything

has with reference to the whole, and what with reference to man, who is a

citizen of the highest city, of which all other cities are like families;

what each thing is, and of what it is composed, and how long it is the

nature of this thing to endure which now makes an impression on me, and

what virtue I have need of with respect to it, such as gentleness,

manliness, truth, fidelity, simplicity, contentment, and the rest.

Wherefore, on every occasion a man should say: This comes from god; and

this is according to the apportionment and spinning of the thread of

destiny, and such-like coincidence and chance; and this is from one of

the same stock, and a kinsman and partner, one who knows not, however,

what is according to his nature. But I know; for this reason I behave

towards him according to the natural law of fellowship with benevolence

and justice. At the same time, however, in things indifferent I attempt

to ascertain the value of each.

12. If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason

seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract

thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to

give it back immediately; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing,

fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to

nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou

utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to

prevent this.

13. As physicians have always their instruments and knives ready for

cases which suddenly require their skill, so do thou have principles

ready for the understanding of things divine and human, and for doing

everything, even the smallest, with a recollection of the bond which

unites the divine and human to one another. For neither wilt thou do

anything well which pertains to man without at the same time having a

reference to things divine; nor the contrary.

14. No longer wander at hazard; for neither wilt thou read thy own

memoirs, nor the acts of the ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the

selections from books which thou wast reserving for thy old age. Hasten

then to the end which thou hast before thee, and, throwing away idle

hopes, come to thy own aid, if thou carest at all for thyself, while it

is in thy power.

15. They know not how many things are signified by the words stealing,

sowing, buying, keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; for this is

not effected by the eyes, but by another kind of vision.

16. Body, soul, intelligence: to the body belong sensations, to the soul

appetites, to the intelligence principles. To receive the impressions of

forms by means of appearances belongs even to animals; to be pulled by

the strings of desire belongs both to wild beasts and to men who have

made themselves into women, and to a Phalaris and a Nero: and to have the

intelligence that guides to the things which appear suitable belongs also

to those who do not believe in the gods, and who betray their country,

and do their impure deeds when they have shut the doors. If then

everything else is common to all that I have mentioned, there remains

that which is peculiar to the good man, to be pleased and content with

what happens, and with the thread which is spun for him; and not to

defile the divinity which is planted in his breast, nor disturb it by a

crowd of images, but to preserve it tranquil, following it obediently as

a god, neither saying anything contrary to the truth, nor doing anything

contrary to justice. And if all men refuse to believe that he lives a

simple, modest, and contented life, he is neither angry with any of them,

nor does he deviate from the way which leads to the end of life, to which

a man ought to come pure, tranquil, ready to depart, and without any

compulsion perfectly reconciled to his lot.

BOOK IV.

1. That which rules within, when it is according to nature, is so

affected with respect to the events which happen, that it always easily

adapts itself to that which is possible and is presented to it. For it

requires no definite material, but it moves towards its purpose, under

certain conditions, however; and it makes a material for itself out of

that which opposes it, as fire lays hold of what falls into it, by which

a small light would have been extinguished: but when the fire is strong,

it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped on it, and

consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very material.

2. Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to

the perfect principles of art.

3. Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores,

and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much. But

this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in

thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere

either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire

than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts

that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquillity; and

I affirm that tranquillity is nothing else than the good ordering of the

mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself;

and let thy principles be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as thou

shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to cleanse the soul completely,

and to send thee back free from all discontent with the things to which

thou returnest. For with what art thou discontented? With the badness of

men? Recall to thy mind this conclusion, that rational animals exist for

one another, and that to endure is a part of justice, and that men do

wrong involuntarily; and consider how many already, after mutual enmity,

suspicion, hatred, and fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced to

ashes; and be quiet at last.--But perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that

which is assigned to thee out of the universe.--Recall to thy

recollection this alternative; either there is providence or atoms

[fortuitous concurrence of things]; or remember the arguments by which it

has been proved that the world is a kind of political community [and be

quiet at last].--But perhaps corporeal things will still fasten upon

thee.--Consider then further that the mind mingles not with the breath,

whether moving gently or violently, when it has once drawn itself apart

and discovered its own power, and think also of all that thou hast heard

and assented to about pain and pleasure [and be quiet at last].--But

perhaps the desire of the thing called fame will torment thee.

--See how soon everything is forgotten, and look at the chaos

of infinite time on each side of [the present], and the emptiness of

applause, and the changeableness and want of judgment in those who

pretend to give praise, and the narrowness of the space within which it

is circumscribed [and be quiet at last]. For the whole earth is a point,

and how small a nook in it is this thy dwelling, and how few are there in

it, and what kind of people are they who will praise thee.

This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy

own, and above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and

look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal. But

among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there

be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch the soul, for

they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only

from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things

which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and

constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already

witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion.

4. If our intellectual part is common, the reason also, in respect of

which we are rational beings, is common: if this is so, common also is

the reason which commands us what to do, and what not to do; if this is

so, there is a common law also; if this is so, we are fellow-citizens; if

this is so, we are members of some political community; if this is so,

the world is in a manner a state. For of what other common political

community will any one say that the whole human race are members? And

from thence, from this common political community comes also our very

intellectual faculty and reasoning faculty and our capacity for law; or

whence do they come? For as my earthly part is a portion given to me from

certain earth, and that which is watery from another element, and that

which is hot and fiery from some peculiar source (for nothing comes out

of that which is nothing, as nothing also returns to non-existence), so

also the intellectual part comes from some source.

5. Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature; composition out

of the same elements, and a decomposition into the same; and altogether

not a thing of which any man should be ashamed, for it is not contrary to

[the nature of] a reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason of

our constitution.

6. It is natural that these things should be done by such persons, it is

a matter of necessity; and if a man will not have it so, he will not

allow the fig-tree to have juice. But by all means bear this in mind,

that within a very short time both thou and he will be dead; and soon not

even your names will be left behind.

7. Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, "I

have been harmed." Take away the complaint, "I have been harmed," and the

harm is taken away.

8. That which does not make a man worse than he was, also does not make

his life worse, nor does it harm him either from without or from within.

9. The nature of that which is [universally] useful has been compelled to

do this.

10. Consider that everything which happens, happens justly, and if thou

observest carefully, thou wilt find it to be so. I do not say only with

respect to the continuity of the series of things, but with respect to

what is just, and as if it were done by one who assigns to each thing its

value. Observe then as thou hast begun; and whatever thou dost, do it in

conjunction with this, the being good, and in the sense in which a man is

properly understood to be good. Keep to this in every action.

11. Do not have such an opinion of things as he has who does thee wrong,

or such as he wishes thee to have, but look at them as they are in truth.

12. A man should always have these two rules in readiness; the one to do

only whatever the reason of the ruling and legislating faculty may

suggest for the use of men; the other, to change thy opinion, if there is

any one at hand who sets thee right and moves thee from any opinion. But

this change of opinion must proceed only from a certain persuasion, as of

what is just or of common advantage, and the like, not because it appears

pleasant or brings reputation.

13. Hast thou reason? I have.--Why then dost not thou use it? For if this

does its own work, what else dost thou wish?

14. Thou hast existed as a part. Thou shalt disappear in that which

produced thee; but rather thou shalt be received back into its seminal

principle by transmutation.

15. Many grains of frankincense on the same altar: one falls before,

another falls after; but it makes no difference.

16. Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a

beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship

of reason.

17. Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death

hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.

18. How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor

says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be

just and pure; or, as Agathon says, look not round at the depraved morals

of others, but run straight along the line without deviating from it.

19. He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider

that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon;

then again also they who have succeeded them, until the whole remembrance

shall have been extinguished as it is transmitted through men who

foolishly admire and perish. But suppose that those who will remember are

even immortal, and that the remembrance will be immortal, what then is

this to thee? And I say not what is it to the dead, but what is it to the

living. What is praise, except indeed so far as it has a certain utility?

For thou now rejectest unseasonably the gift of nature, clinging to

something else....

20. Everything which is in any way beautiful is beautiful in itself, and

terminates in itself, not having praise as part of itself. Neither worse

then nor better is a thing made by being praised. I affirm this also of

the things which are called beautiful by the vulgar, for example,

material things and works of art. That which is really beautiful has no

need of anything; not more than law, not more than truth, not more than

benevolence or modesty. Which of these things is beautiful because it is

praised, or spoiled by being blamed? Is such a thing as an emerald made

worse than it was, if it is not praised? or gold, ivory, purple, a lyre,

a little knife, a flower, a shrub?

21. If souls continue to exist, how does the air contain them from

eternity?--But how does the earth contain the bodies of those who have

been buried from time so remote? For as here the mutation of these bodies

after a certain continuance, whatever it may be, and their dissolution

make room for other dead bodies, so the souls which are removed into the

air after subsisting for some time are transmuted and diffused, and

assume a fiery nature by being received into the seminal intelligence of

the universe, and in this way make room for the fresh souls which come to

dwell there. And this is the answer which a man might give on the

hypothesis of souls continuing to exist. But we must not only think of

the number of bodies which are thus buried, but also of the number of

animals which are daily eaten by us and the other animals. For what a

number is consumed, and thus in a manner buried in the bodies of those

who feed on them! And nevertheless this earth receives them by reason of

the changes [of these bodies] into blood, and the transformations into

the aerial or the fiery element.

What is the investigation into the truth in this matter? The division

into that which is material and that which is the cause of form [the

formal].

22. Do not be whirled about, but in every movement have respect to

justice, and on the occasion of every impression maintain the faculty of

comprehension [or understanding].

23. Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, O

Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late, which is in due time

for thee. Everything is fruit to me which thy seasons bring, O Nature:

from thee are all things, in thee are all things, to thee all things

return. The poet says, Dear city of Cecrops; and wilt not thou say, Dear

city of Zeus?

24. Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst

be tranquil.--But consider if it would not be better to say, Do what is

necessary, and whatever the reason of the animal which is naturally

social requires, and as it requires. For this brings not only the

tranquillity which comes from doing well, but also that which comes from

doing few things. For the greatest part of what we say and do being

unnecessary, if a man takes this away, he will have more leisure and less

uneasiness. Accordingly, on every occasion a man should ask himself, Is

this one of the unnecessary things? Now a man should take away not only

unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for thus superfluous

acts will not follow after.

25. Try how the life of the good man suits thee, the life of him who is

satisfied with his portion out of the whole, and satisfied with his own

just acts and benevolent disposition.

26. Hast thou seen those things? Look also at these. Do not disturb

thyself. Make thyself all simplicity. Does any one do wrong? It is to

himself that he does the wrong. Has anything happened to thee? Well: out

of the universe from the beginning everything which happens has been

apportioned and spun out to thee. In a word, thy life is short. Thou must

turn to profit the present by the aid of reason and justice. Be sober in

thy relaxation.

27. Either it is a well-arranged universe [Footnote: 4] or a chaos

huddled together, but still a universe. But can a certain order subsist

in thee, and disorder in the All? And this too when all things are so

separated and diffused and sympathetic.

28. A black character, a womanish character, a stubborn character,

bestial, childish, animal, stupid, counterfeit, scurrilous, fraudulent,

tyrannical.

29. If he is a stranger to the universe who does not know what is in it,

no less is he a stranger who does not know what is going on in it. He is

a runaway, who flies from social reason; he is blind, who shuts the eyes

of the understanding; he is poor, who has need of another, and has not

from himself all things which are useful for life. He is an abscess on

the universe who withdraws and separates himself from the reason of our

common nature through being displeased with the things which happen, for

the same nature produces this, and has produced thee too: he is a piece

rent asunder from the state, who tears his own soul from that of

reasonable animals, which is one.

30. The one is a philosopher without a tunic, and the other without a

book: here is another half naked: Bread I have not, he says, and I abide

by reason--and I do not get the means of living out of my learning, and I

abide [by my reason].

31. Love the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be

content with it; and pass through the rest of life like one who has

intrusted to the gods with his whole soul all that he has, making thyself

neither the tyrant nor the slave of any man.

32. Consider for example, the times of Vespasian. Thou wilt see all these

things, people marrying, bringing up children, sick, dying, warring,

feasting, trafficking, cultivating the ground, flattering, obstinately

arrogant, suspecting, plotting, wishing for some to die, grumbling about

the present, loving, heaping up treasure, desiring consulship, kingly

power. Well, then, that life of these people no longer exists at all.

Again, remove to the times of Trajan. Again, all is the same. Their life

too is gone. In like manner view also the other epochs of time and of

whole nations, and see how many after great efforts soon fell and were

resolved into the elements. But chiefly thou shouldst think of those whom

thou hast thyself known distracting themselves about idle things,

neglecting to do what was in accordance with their proper constitution,

and to hold firmly to this and to be content with it. And herein it is

necessary to remember that the attention given to everything has its

proper value and proportion. For thus thou wilt not be dissatisfied, if

thou appliest thyself to smaller matters no further than is fit.

33. The words which were formerly familiar are now antiquated: so also

the names of those who were famed of old, are now in a manner antiquated,

Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Leonnatus, and a little after also Scipio and

Cato, then Augustus, then also Hadrianus and Antoninus. For all things

soon pass away and become a mere tale, and complete oblivion soon buries

them. And I say this of those who have shone in a wondrous way. For the

rest, as soon as they have breathed out their breath, they are gone, and

no man speaks of them. And, to conclude the matter, what is even an

eternal remembrance? A mere nothing. What then is that about which we

ought to employ our serious pains? This one thing, thoughts just, and

acts social, and words which never lie, and a disposition which gladly

accepts all that happens, as necessary, as usual, as flowing from a

principle and source of the same kind.

34. Willingly give thyself up to Clotho [one of the fates], allowing her

to spin thy thread into whatever thing she pleases.

35. Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that

which is remembered.

36. Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom

thyself to consider that the nature of the universe loves nothing so much

as to change the things which are and to make new things like them. For

everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be. But

thou art thinking only of seeds which are cast into the earth or into a

womb: but this is a very vulgar notion.

37. Thou wilt soon die, and thou art not yet simple, nor free from

perturbations, nor without suspicion of being hurt by external things,

nor kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou yet place wisdom only in

acting justly.

38. Examine men's ruling principles, even those of the wise, what kind of

things they avoid, and what kind they pursue.

39. What is evil to thee does not subsist in the ruling principle of

another; nor yet in any turning and mutation of thy corporeal covering.

Where is it then? It is in that part of thee in which subsists the power

of forming opinions about evils. Let this power then not form [such]

opinions, and all is well. And if that which is nearest to it, the poor

body, is cut, burnt, filled with matter and rottenness, nevertheless let

the part which forms opinions about these things be quiet; that is, let

it judge that nothing is either bad or good which can happen equally to

the bad man and the good. For that which happens equally to him who lives

contrary to nature and to him who lives according to nature, is neither

according to nature nor contrary to nature.

40. Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one

substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one

perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things

act with one movement; and how all things are the co-operating causes of

all things which exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread

and the contexture of the web.

41. Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to

say (I. C. 19).

42. It is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to

subsist in consequence of change.

43. Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a

violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away,

and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too.

44. Everything which happens is as familiar and well known as the rose in

spring and the fruit in summer; for such is disease, and death, and

calumny, and treachery, and whatever else delights fools or vexes them.

45. In the series of things, those which follow are always aptly fitted

to those which have gone before: for this series is not like a mere

enumeration of disjointed things, which has only a necessary sequence,

but it is a rational connection: and as all existing things are arranged

together harmoniously, so the things which come into existence exhibit no

mere succession, but a certain wonderful relationship (VI. 38; VII. 9;

VII. 75, note).

46. Always remember the saying of Heraclitus, that the death of earth is

to become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death

of air is to become fire, and reversely. And think too of him who forgets

whither the way leads, and that men quarrel with that with which they are

most constantly in communion, the reason which governs the universe; and

the things which they daily meet with seem to them strange: and consider

that we ought not to act and speak as if we were asleep, for even in

sleep we seem to act and speak; and that we ought not, like children who

learn from their parents, simply to act and speak as we have been taught.

47. If any god told thee that thou shalt die to-morrow, or certainly on

the day after to-morrow, thou wouldst not care much whether it was on the

third day or on the morrow, unless thou wast in the highest degree mean-

spirited; for how small is the difference. So think it no great thing to

die after as many years as thou canst name rather than to-morrow.

48. Think continually how many physicians are dead after often

contracting their eyebrows over the sick; and how many astrologers after

predicting with great pretensions the deaths of others; and how many

philosophers after endless discourses on death or immortality; how many

heroes after killing thousands; and how many tyrants who have used their

power over men's lives with terrible insolence, as if they were immortal;

and how many cities are entirely dead, so to speak, Helice and Pompeii

and Herculaneum, and others innumerable. Add to the reckoning all whom

thou hast known, one after another. One man after burying another has

been laid out dead, and another buries him; and all this in a short time.

To conclude, always observe how ephemeral and worthless human things are,

and what was yesterday a little mucus, to-morrow will be a mummy or

ashes. Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature,

and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is

ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it

grew.

49. Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but

it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.

Unhappy am I because this has happened to me? Not so, but happy am I,

though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain,

neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future. For such a thing

as this might have happened to every man; but every man would not have

continued free from pain on such an occasion. Why then is that rather a

misfortune than this a good fortune? And dost thou in all cases call that

a man's misfortune which is not a deviation from man's nature? And does a

thing seem to thee to be a deviation from man's nature, when it is not

contrary to the will of man's nature? Well, thou knowest the will of

nature. Will then this which has happened prevent thee from being just,

magnanimous, temperate, prudent, secure against inconsiderate opinions

and falsehood; will it prevent thee from having modesty, freedom, and

everything else, by the presence of which man's nature obtains all that

is its own? Remember too on every occasion which leads thee to vexation

to apply this principle: not that this is a misfortune, but that to bear

it nobly is good fortune.

50. It is a vulgar, but still a useful help towards contempt of death, to

pass in review those who have tenaciously stuck to life. What more then

have they gained than those who have died early? Certainly they lie in

their tombs somewhere at last, Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, or

any one else like them, who have carried out many to be buried, and then

were carried out themselves. Altogether the interval is small [between

birth and death]; and consider with how much trouble, and in company with

what sort of people, and in what a feeble body this interval is

laboriously passed. Do not then consider life a thing of any value. For

look to the immensity of time behind thee, and to the time which is

before thee, another boundless space. In this infinity then what is the

difference between him who lives three days and him who lives three

generations?

51. Always run to the short way; and the short way is the natural:

accordingly say and do everything in conformity with the soundest reason.

For such a purpose frees a man from trouble, and warfare, and all

artifice and ostentatious display.

BOOK V.

1. In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be

present,--I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I

dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for

which I was brought into the world? Or have I been made for this, to lie

in the bed-clothes and keep myself warm?--But this is more pleasant.--

Dost thou exist then to take thy pleasure, and not at all for action or

exertion? Dost thou not see the little plants, the little birds, the

ants, the spiders, the bees working together to put in order their

several parts of the universe? And art thou unwilling to do the work of a

human being, and dost thou not make haste to do that which is according

to thy nature?--But it is necessary to take rest also.--It is necessary.

However, Nature has fixed bounds to this too: she has fixed bounds to

eating and drinking, and yet thou goest beyond these bounds, beyond what

is sufficient; yet in thy acts it is not so, but thou stoppest short of

what thou canst do. So thou lovest not thyself, for if thou didst, thou

wouldst love thy nature and her will. But those who love their several

arts exhaust themselves in working at them unwashed and without food; but

thou valuest thy own nature less than the turner values the turning art,

or the dancer the dancing art, or the lover of money values his money, or

the vainglorious man his little glory. And such men, when they have a

violent affection to a thing, choose neither to eat nor to sleep rather

than to perfect the things which they care for. But are the acts which

concern society more vile in thy eyes and less worthy of thy labor?

2. How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is

troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquillity.

3. Judge every word and deed which are according to nature to be fit for

thee; and be not diverted by the blame which follows from any people nor

by their words, but if a thing is good to be done or said, do not

consider it unworthy of thee. For those persons have their peculiar

leading principle and follow their peculiar movement; which things do not

thou regard, but go straight on, following thy own nature and the common

nature; and the way of both is one.

4. I go through the things which happen according to nature until I shall

fall and rest, breathing out my breath into that element out of which I

daily draw it in, and falling upon that earth out of which my father

collected the seed, and my mother the blood, and my nurse the milk; out

of which during so many years I have been supplied with food and drink;

which bears me when I tread on it and abuse it for so many purposes.

5. Thou sayest, Men cannot admire the sharpness of thy wits.--Be it so:

but there are many other things of which thou canst not say, I am not

formed for them by nature. Show those qualities then which are altogether

in thy power, sincerity, gravity, endurance of labor, aversion to

pleasure, contentment with thy portion and with few things, benevolence,

frankness, no love of superfluity, freedom from trifling, magnanimity.

Dost thou not see how many qualities thou art immediately able to

exhibit, in which there is no excuse of natural incapacity and unfitness,

and yet thou still remainest voluntarily below the mark? or art thou

compelled through being defectively furnished by nature to murmur, and to

be stingy, and to flatter, and to find fault with thy poor body, and to

try to please men, and to make great display, and to be so restless in

thy mind? No, by the gods; but thou mightest have been delivered from

these things long ago. Only if in truth thou canst be charged with being

rather slow and dull of comprehension, thou must exert thyself about this

also, not neglecting it nor yet taking pleasure in thy dulness.

6. One man, when he has done a service to another, is ready to set it

down to his account as a favor conferred. Another is not ready to do

this, but still in his own mind he thinks of the man as his debtor, and

he knows what he has done. A third in a manner does not even know what he

has done, but he is like a vine which has produced grapes, and seeks for

nothing more after it has once produced its proper fruit. As a horse when

he has run, a dog when he has tracked the game, a bee when it has made

the honey, so a man when he has done a good act, does not call out for

others to come and see, but he goes on to another act, as a vine goes on

to produce again the grapes in season.--Must a man then be one of these,

who in a manner act thus without observing it?--Yes.--But this very thing

is necessary, the observation of what a man is doing: for, it may be

said, it is characteristic of the social animal to perceive that he is

working in a social manner, and indeed to wish that his social partner

also should perceive it.--It is true what thou sayest, but thou dost not

rightly understand what is now said: and for this reason thou wilt become

one of those of whom I spoke before, for even they are misled by a

certain show of reason. But if thou wilt choose to understand the meaning

of what is said, do not fear that for this reason thou wilt omit any

social act.

7. A prayer of the Athenians: Rain, rain, O dear Zeus, down on the

ploughed fields of the Athenians and on the plains.--In truth we ought

not to pray at all, or we ought to pray in this simple and noble fashion.

8. Just as we must understand when it is said, That Aesculapius

prescribed to this man horse-exercise, or bathing in cold water, or going

without shoes, so we must understand it when it is said, That the nature

of the universe prescribed to this man disease, or mutilation, or loss,

or anything else of the kind. For in the first case Prescribed means

something like this: he prescribed this for this man as a thing adapted

to procure health; and in the second case it means, That which happens to

[or suits] every man is fixed in a manner for him suitably to his

destiny. For this is what we mean when we say that things are suitable to

us, as the workmen say of squared stones in walls or the pyramids, that

they are suitable, when they fit them to one another in some kind of

connection. For there is altogether one fitness [harmony]. And as the

universe is made up out of all bodies to be such a body as it is, so out

of all existing causes necessity [destiny] is made up to be such a cause

as it is. And even those who are completely ignorant understand what I

mean; for they say, It [necessity, destiny] brought this to such a

person.--This then was brought and this was prescribed to him. Let us

then receive these things, as well as those which Aesculapius prescribes.

Many as a matter of course even among his prescriptions are disagreeable,

but we, accept them in the hope of health. Let the perfecting and

accomplishment of the things which the common nature judges to be good,

be judged by thee to be of the same kind as thy health. And so accept

everything which happens, even if it seem disagreeable, because it leads

to this, to the health of the universe and to the prosperity and felicity

of Zeus [the universe]. For he would not have brought on any man what he

has brought, if it were not useful for the whole. Neither does the nature

of anything, whatever it may be, cause anything which is not suitable to

that which is directed by it. For two reasons then it is right to be

content with that which happens to thee, the one, because it was done for

thee and prescribed for thee, and in a manner had reference to thee,

originally from the most ancient causes spun with thy destiny; and the

other, because even that which comes severally to every man is to the

power which administers the universe a cause of felicity and perfection,

nay even of its very continuance. For the integrity of the whole is

mutilated, if thou cuttest off anything whatever from the conjunction and

the continuity either of the parts or of the causes. And thou dost cut

off, as far as it is in thy power, when thou art dissatisfied, and in a

manner triest to put anything out of the way.

9. Be not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor dissatisfied, if thou dost not

succeed in doing everything according to right principles, but when thou

hast failed, return back again, and be content if the greater part of

what thou dost is consistent with man's nature, and love this to which

thou returnest; and do not return to philosophy as if she were a master,

but act like those who have sore eyes and apply a bit of sponge and egg,

or as another applies a plaster, or drenching with water. For thus thou

wilt not fail to obey reason, and thou wilt repose in it. And remember

that philosophy requires only the things which thy nature requires; but

thou wouldst have something else which is not according to nature.--It

may be objected, Why, what is more agreeable than this [which I am

doing]?--But is not this the very reason why pleasure deceives us? And

consider if magnanimity, freedom, simplicity, equanimity, piety, are not

more agreeable. For what is more agreeable than wisdom itself, when thou

thinkest of the security and the happy course of all things which depend

on the faculty of understanding and knowledge?

10. Things are in such a kind of envelopment that they have seemed to

philosophers, not a few nor those common philosophers, altogether

unintelligible; nay even to the Stoics themselves they seem difficult to

understand. And all our assent is changeable; for where is the man who

never changes? Carry thy thoughts then to the objects themselves, and

consider how short-lived they are and worthless, and that they may be in

the possession of a filthy wretch or a robber. Then turn to the morals of

those who live with thee, and it is hardly possible to endure even the

most agreeable of them, to say nothing of a man being hardly able to

endure himself. In such darkness then and dirt, and in so constant a flux

both of substance and of time, and of motion and of things moved, what

there is worth being highly prized, or even an object of serious pursuit,

I cannot imagine. But on the contrary it is a man's duty to comfort

himself, and to wait for the natural dissolution, and not to be vexed at

the delay, but to rest in these principles only: the one, that nothing

will happen to me which is not conformable to the nature of the universe;

and the other, that it is in my power never to act contrary to my god and

daemon: for there is no man who will compel me to this.

11. About what am I now employing my own soul? On every occasion I must

ask myself this question, and inquire, What have I now in this part of me

which they call the ruling principle? and whose soul have I now,--that of

a child, or of a young man, or of a feeble woman, or of a tyrant, or of a

domestic animal, or of a wild beast?

12. What kind of things those are which appear good to the many, we may

learn even from this. For if any man should conceive certain things as

being really good, such as prudence, temperance, justice, fortitude, he

would not after having first conceived these endure to listen to anything

which should not be in harmony with what is really good. But if a man has

first conceived as good the things which appear to the many to be good,

he will listen and readily receive as very applicable that which was said

by the comic writer. Thus even the many perceive the difference. For were

it not so, this saying would not offend and would not be rejected [in the

first case], while we receive it when it is said of wealth, and of the

means which further luxury and fame, as said fitly and wittily. Go on

then and ask if we should value and think those things to be good, to

which after their first conception in the mind the words of the comic

writer might be aptly applied,--that he who has them, through pure

abundance has not a place to ease himself in.

13. I am composed of the formal and the material; and neither of them

will perish into non-existence, as neither of them came into existence

out of non-existence. Every part of me then will be reduced by change

into some part of the universe, and that again will change into another

part of the universe, and so on forever. And by consequence of such a

change I too exist, and those who begot me, and so on forever in the

other direction. For nothing hinders us from saying so, even if the

universe is administered according to definite periods [of revolution].

14. Reason and the reasoning art [philosophy] are powers which are

sufficient for themselves and for their own works. They move then from a

first principle which is their own, and they make their way to the end

which is proposed to them; and this is the reason why such acts are named

Catorthoseis or right acts, which word signifies that they proceed by the

right road.

15. None of these things ought to be called a man's which do not belong

to a man, as man. They are not required of a man, nor does man's nature

promise them, nor are they the means of man's nature attaining its end.

Neither then does the end of man lie in these things, nor yet that which

aids to the accomplishment of this end, and that which aids towards this

end is that which is good. Besides, if any of these things did belong to

man, it would not be right for a man to despise them and to set himself

against them; nor would a man be worthy of praise who showed that he did

not want these things, nor would he who stinted himself in any of them be

good, if indeed these things were good. But now the more of these things

a man deprives himself of, or of other things like them, or even when he

is deprived of any of them, the more patiently he endures the loss, just

in the same degree he is a better man.

16. Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of

thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with a

continuous series of such thoughts as these: for instance, that where a

man can live, there he can also live well. But he must live in a palace;

well then, he can also live well in a palace. And again, consider that

for whatever purpose each thing has been constituted, for this it has

been constituted, and towards this it is carried; and its end is in that

towards which it is carried; and where the end is, there also is the

advantage and the good of each thing. Now the good for the reasonable

animal is society; for that we are made for society has been shown above.

Is it not plain that the inferior exists for the sake of the superior?

But the things which have life are superior to those which have not life,

and of those which have life the superior are those which have reason.

17. To seek what is impossible is madness: and it is impossible that the

bad should not do something of this kind.

18. Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear.

The same things happen to another, and either because he does not see

that they have happened, or because he would show a great spirit, he is

firm and remains unharmed. It is a shame then that ignorance and conceit

should be stronger than wisdom.

19. Things themselves touch not the soul, not in the least degree; nor

have they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul: but

the soul turns and moves itself alone, and whatever judgments it may

think proper to make, such it makes for itself the things which present

themselves to it.

20. In one respect man is the nearest thing to me, so far as I must do

good to men and endure them. But so far as some men make themselves

obstacles to my proper acts, man becomes to me one of the things which

are indifferent, no less than the sun or wind or a wild beast. Now it is

true that these may impede my action, but they are no impediments to my

effects and disposition, which have the power of acting conditionally and

changing: for the mind converts and changes every hindrance to its

activity into an aid; and so that which is a hindrance is made a

furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us

on this road.

21. Reverence that which is best in the universe; and this is that which

makes use of all things and directs all things. And in like manner also

reverence that which is best in thyself; and this is of the same kind as

that. For in thyself also, that which makes use of everything else is

this, and thy life is directed by this.

22. That which does no harm to the state, does no harm to the citizen. In

the case of every appearance of harm apply this rule: if the state is not

harmed by this, neither am I harmed. But if the state is harmed, thou

must not be angry with him who does harm to the state. Show him where his

error is.

23. Often think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear,

both the things which are and the things which are produced. For

substance is like a river in a continual flow, and the activities of

things are in constant change, and the causes work in infinite varieties;

and there is hardly anything which stands still. And consider this which

is near to thee, this boundless abyss of the past and of the future in

which all things disappear. How then is he not a fool who is puffed up

with such things or plagued about them and makes himself miserable? for

they vex him only for a time, and a short time.

24. Think of the universal substance, of which thou hast a very small

portion; and of universal time, of which a short and indivisible interval

has been assigned to thee; and of that which is fixed by destiny, and how

small a part of it thou art.

25. Does another do me wrong? Let him look to it. He has his own

disposition, his own activity. I now have what the universal nature wills

me to have; and I do what my nature now wills me to do.

26. Let the part of thy soul which leads and governs be undisturbed by

the movements in the flesh, whether of pleasure or of pain; and let it

not unite with them, but let it circumscribe itself and limit those

affects to their parts. But when these affects rise up to the mind by

virtue of that other sympathy that naturally exists in a body which is

all one, then thou must not strive to resist the sensation, for it is

natural: but let not the ruling part of itself add to the sensation the

opinion that it is either good or bad.

27. Live with the gods. And he does live with the gods who constantly

shows to them that his own soul is satisfied with that which is assigned

to him, and that it does all that the daemon wishes, which Zeus hath

given to every man for his guardian and guide, a portion of himself. And

this is every man's understanding and reason.

28. Art thou angry with him whose armpits stink? art thou angry with him

whose mouth smells foul? What good will this anger do thee? He has such a

mouth, he has such armpits: it is necessary that such an emanation must

come from such things; but the man has reason, it will be said, and he is

able, if he takes pains, to discover wherein he offends; I wish thee well

of thy discovery. Well then, and thou hast reason: by thy rational

faculty stir up his rational faculty; show him his error, admonish him.

For if he listens, thou wilt cure him, and there is no need of anger.

29. As thou intendest to live when thou art gone out, ... so it is in thy

power to live here. But if men do not permit thee, then get away out of

life, yet so as if them wert suffering no harm. The house is smoky, and I

quit it. Why dost thou think that this is any trouble? But so long as

nothing of the kind drives me out, I remain, am free, and no man shall

hinder me from doing what I choose; and I choose to do what is according

to the nature of the rational and social animal.

30. The intelligence of the universe is social. Accordingly it has made

the inferior things for the sake of the superior, and it has fitted the

superior to one another. Thou seest how it has subordinated, co-ordinated,

and assigned to everything its proper portion, and has brought

together into concord with one another the things which are the best.

31. How hast thou behaved hitherto to the gods, thy parents, brethren,

children, teachers, to those who looked after thy infancy, to thy

friends, kinsfolk, to thy slaves? Consider if thou hast hitherto behaved

to all in such a way that this may be said of thee,--

"Never has wronged a man in deed or word."

And call to recollection both how many things thou hast passed through,

and how many things thou hast been able to endure and that the history of

thy life is now complete and thy service is ended; and how many beautiful

things thou hast seen; and how many pleasures and pains thou hast

despised; and how many things called honorable thou hast spurned; and to

how many ill-minded folks thou hast shown a kind disposition.

32. Why do unskilled and ignorant souls disturb him who has skill and

knowledge? What soul then has skill and knowledge? That which knows

beginning and end, and knows the reason which pervades all substance, and

through all time by fixed periods [revolutions] administers the universe.

33. Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name

or not even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are

much valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling, and [like] little

dogs biting one another, and little children quarrelling, laughing, and

then straightway weeping. But fidelity and modesty and justice and truth

are fled

Up to Olympus from the wide-spread earth.

HESIOD, _Works, etc_. V. 197.

What then is there which still detains thee here, if the objects of sense

are easily changed and never stand still, and the organs of perception

are dull and easily receive false impressions, and the poor soul itself

is an exhalation from blood? But to have good repute amid such a world as

this is an empty thing. Why then dost thou not wait in tranquillity for

thy end, whether it is extinction or removal to another state? And until

that time comes, what is sufficient? Why, what else than to venerate the

gods and bless them, and to do good to men, and to practice tolerance and

self-restraint; but as to everything which is beyond the limits of the

poor flesh and breath, to remember that this is neither thine nor in thy

power.

34. Thou canst pass thy life in an equable flow of happiness, if thou

canst go by the right way, and think and act in the right way. These two

things are common both to the soul of God and to the soul of man, and to

the soul of every rational being: not to be hindered by another; and to

hold good to consist in the disposition to justice and the practice of

it, and in this to let thy desire find its termination.

35. If this is neither my own badness, nor an effect of my own badness,

and the common weal is not injured, why am I troubled about it, and what

is the harm to the common weal?

36. Do not be carried along inconsiderately by the appearance of things,

but give help [to all] according to thy ability and their fitness; and if

they should have sustained loss in matters which are indifferent, do not

imagine this to be a damage; for it is a bad habit. But as the old man,

when he went away, asked back his foster-child's top, remembering that it

was a top, so do thou in this case also.

When thou art calling out on the Rostra, hast thou forgotten, man, what

these things are?--Yes; but they are objects of great concern to these

people--wilt thou too then be made a fool for these things? I was once a

fortunate man, but I lost it, I know not how.--But fortunate means that a

man has assigned to himself a good fortune: and a good fortune is good

disposition of the soul, good emotions, good actions.

BOOK VI.

1. The substance of the universe is obedient and compliant; and the

reason which governs it has in itself no cause for doing evil, for it has

no malice, nor does it do evil to anything, nor is anything harmed by it.

But all things are made and perfected according to this reason.

2. Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold or warm, if

thou art doing thy duty; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied with

sleep; and whether ill-spoken of or praised; and whether dying or doing

something else. For it is one of the acts of life, this act by which we

die: it is sufficient then in this act also to do well what we have in

hand (vi. 22, 28).

3. Look within. Let neither the peculiar quality of anything nor its

value escape thee.

4. All existing things soon change, and they will either be reduced to

vapor, if indeed all substance is one, or they will be dispersed.

5. The reason which governs knows what its own disposition is, and what

it does, and on what material it works.

6. The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like [the wrong-

doer].

7. Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it, in passing from one social

act to another social act, thinking of God.

8. The ruling principle is that which rouses and turns itself, and while

it makes itself such as it is and such as it wills to be, it also makes

everything which happens appear to itself to be such as it wills.

9. In conformity to the nature of the universe every single thing is

accomplished; for certainly it is not in conformity to any other nature

that each thing is accomplished, either a nature which externally

comprehends this, or a nature which is comprehended within this nature,

or a nature external and independent of this (XL 1; VI. 40; VIII. 50).

10. The universe is either a confusion, and a mutual involution of

things, and a dispersion, or it is unity and order and providence. If

then it is the former, why do I desire to tarry in a fortuitous

combination of things and such a disorder? and why do I care about

anything else than how I shall at last become earth? and why am I

disturbed, for the dispersion of my elements will happen whatever I do?

But if the other supposition is true, I venerate, and I am firm, and I

trust in him who governs (IV. 27).

11. When thou hast been compelled by circumstances to be disturbed in a

manner, quickly return to thyself, and do not continue out of tune longer

than the compulsion lasts; for thou wilt have more mastery over the

harmony by continually recurring to it.

12. If thou hadst a step-mother and a mother at the same time, thou

wouldst be dutiful to thy step-mother, but still thou wouldst constantly

return to thy mother. Let the court and philosophy now be to thee

stepmother and mother: return to philosophy frequently and repose in

her, through whom what thou meetest with in the court appears to thee

tolerable, and thou appearest tolerable in the court.

13. When we have meat before us and such eatables, we receive the

impression that this is the dead body of a fish, and this is the dead

body of a bird or of a pig; and again, that this Falernian is only a

little grape-juice, and this purple robe some sheep's wool dyed with the

blood of a shell-fish: such then are these impressions, and they reach

the things themselves and penetrate them, and so we see what kind of

things they are. Just in the same way ought we to act all through life,

and where there are things which appear most worthy of our approbation,

we ought to lay them bare and look at their worthlessness and strip them

of all the words by which they are exalted. For outward show is a

wonderful perverter of the reason, and when thou art most sure that thou

art employed about things worth thy pains, it is then that it cheats thee

most. Consider then what Crates says of Xenocrates himself.

14. Most of the things which the multitude admire are referred to objects

of the most general kind, those which are held together by cohesion or

natural organization, such as stones, wood, fig-trees, vines, olives. But

those which are admired by men, who are a little more reasonable, are

referred to the things which are held together by a living principle, as

flocks, herds. Those which are admired by men who are still more

instructed are the things which are held together by a rational soul, not

however a universal soul, but rational so far as it is a soul skilled in

some art, or expert in some other way, or simply rational so far as it

possesses a number of slaves. But he who values a rational soul, a soul

universal and fitted for political life, regards nothing else except

this; and above all things he keeps his soul in a condition and in an

activity comformable to reason and social life, and he co-operates to

this end with those who are of the same kind as himself.

15. Some things are hurrying into existence, and others are hurrying out

of it; and of that which is coming into existence part is already

extinguished. Motions and changes are continually renewing the world,

just as the uninterrupted course of time is always renewing the infinite

duration of ages. In this flowing stream then, on which there is no

abiding, what is there of the things which hurry by on which a man would

set a high price? It would be just as if a man should fall in love with

one of the sparrows which fly by, but it has already passed out of sight.

Something of this kind is the very life of every man, like the exhalation

of the blood and the respiration of the air. For such as it is to have

once drawn in the air and to have given it back, which we do every

moment, just the same is it with the whole respiratory power, which thou

didst receive at thy birth yesterday and the day before, to give it back

to the element from which thou didst first draw it.

16. Neither is transpiration, as in plants, a thing to be valued, nor

respiration, as in domesticated animals and wild beasts, nor the

receiving of impressions by the appearances of things, nor being moved by

desires as puppets by strings, nor assembling in herds, nor being

nourished by food; for this is just like the act of separating and

parting with the useless part of our food. What then is worth being

valued? To be received with clapping of hands? No. Neither must we value

the clapping of tongues; for the praise which comes from the many is a

clapping of tongues. Suppose then that thou hast given up this worthless

thing called fame, what remains that is worth valuing? This, in my

opinion: to move thyself and to restrain thyself in conformity to thy

proper constitution, to which end both all employments and arts lead. For

every art aims at this, that the thing which has been made should be

adapted to the work for which it has been made; and both the vine planter

who looks after the vine, and the horsebreaker, and he who trains the

dog, seek this end. But the education and the teaching of youth aim at

something. In this then is the value of the education and the teaching.

And if this is well, thou wilt not seek anything else. Wilt thou not

cease to value many other things too? Then thou wilt be neither free, nor

sufficient for thy own happiness, nor without passion. For of necessity

thou must be envious, jealous, and suspicious of those who can take away

those things, and plot against those who have that which is valued by

thee. Of necessity a man must be altogether in a state of perturbation

who wants any of these things; and besides, he must often find fault with

the gods. But to reverence and honor thy own mind will make thee content

with thyself, and in harmony with society, and in agreement with the

gods, that is, praising all that they give and have ordered.

17. Above, below, all around are the movements of the elements. But the

motion of virtue is in none of these: it is something more divine, and

advancing by a way hardly observed, it goes happily on its road.

18. How strangely men act! They will not praise those who are living at

the same time and living with themselves; but to be themselves praised by

posterity, by those whom they have never seen or ever will see, this they

set much value on. But this is very much the same as if thou shouldst be

grieved because those who have lived before thee did not praise thee.

19. If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself, do not think

that it is impossible for man: but if anything is possible for man and

conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by thyself

too.

20. In the gymnastic exercises suppose that a man has torn thee with his

nails, and by dashing against thy head has inflicted a wound. Well, we

neither show any signs of vexation, nor are we offended, nor do we

suspect him afterwards as a treacherous fellow; and yet we are on our

guard against him, not however as an enemy, nor yet with suspicion, but

we quietly get out of his way. Something like this let thy behavior be in

all the other parts of life; let us overlook many things in those who are

like antagonists in the gymnasium. For it is in our power, as I said, to

get out of the way, and to have no suspicion nor hatred.

21. If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or

act rightly, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth, by which no man

was ever injured. But he is injured who abides in his error and

ignorance.

22. I do my duty: other things trouble me not; for they are either things

without life, or things without reason, or things that have rambled and

know not the way.

23. As to the animals which have no reason, and generally all things and

objects, do thou, since thou hast reason and they have none, make use of

them with a generous and liberal spirit. But towards human beings, as

they have reason, behave in a social spirit. And on all occasions call on

the gods, and do not perplex thyself about the length of time in which

thou shalt do this; for even three hours so spent are sufficient.

24. Alexander the Macedonian and his groom by death were brought to the

same state; for either they were received among the same seminal

principles of the universe, or they were alike dispersed among the atoms.

25. Consider how many things in the same indivisible time take place in

each of us,--things which concern the body and things which concern the

soul: and so thou wilt not wonder if many more things, or rather all

things which come into existence in that which is the one and all, which

we call Cosmos, exist in it at the same time.

26. If any man should propose to thee the question, how the name

Antoninus is written, wouldst thou with a straining of the voice utter

each letter? What then if they grow angry, wilt thou be angry too? Wilt

thou not go on with composure and number every letter? Just so then in

this life also remember that every duty is made up of certain parts.

These it is thy duty to observe, and without being disturbed or showing

anger towards those who are angry with thee to go on thy way and finish

that which is set before thee.

27. How cruel it is not to allow men to strive after the things which

appear to them to be suitable to their nature and profitable! And yet in

a manner thou dost not allow them to do this, when thou art vexed because

they do wrong. For they are certainly moved towards things because they

suppose them to be suitable to their nature and profitable to them.--But

it is not so.--Teach them then, and show them without being angry.

28. Death is a cessation of the impressions through the senses, and of

the pulling of the strings which move the appetites, and of the

discursive movements of the thoughts, and of the service to the flesh

(II. 12).

29. It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this life, when

thy body does not give way.

30. Take care that thou art not made into a Caesar, that thou art not

dyed with this dye; for such things happen. Keep thyself then simple,

good, pure, serious, free from affectation, a friend of justice, a

worshipper of the gods, kind, affectionate, strenuous in all proper acts.

Strive to continue to be such as philosophy wished to make thee.

Reverence the gods, and help men. Short is life. There is only one fruit

of this terrene life,--a pious disposition and social acts. Do everything

as a disciple of Antoninus. Remember his constancy in every act which was

conformable to reason, and his evenness in all things, and his piety, and

the serenity of his countenance, and his sweetness, and his disregard of

empty fame, and his efforts to understand things; and how he would never

let anything pass without having first most carefully examined it and

clearly understood it; and how he bore with those who blamed him unjustly

without blaming them in return; how he did nothing in a hurry; and how he

listened not to calumnies, and how exact an examiner of manners and

actions he was; and not given to reproach people, nor timid, nor

suspicious, nor a sophist; and with how little he was satisfied, such as

lodging, bed, dress, food, servants; and how laborious and patient; and

how he was able on account of his sparing diet to hold out to the

evening; and his firmness and uniformity in his friendships; and how he

tolerated freedom of speech in those who opposed his opinions; and the

pleasure that he had when any man showed him anything better; and how

religious he was without superstition. Imitate all this, that thou mayest

have as good a conscience, when thy last hour comes, as he had.

31. Return to thy sober senses and call thyself back; and when thou hast

roused thyself from sleep and hast perceived that they were only dreams

which troubled thee, now in thy waking hours look at these [the things

about thee] as thou didst look at those [the dreams].

32. I consist of a little body and a soul. Now to this little body all

things are indifferent, for it is not able to perceive differences. But

to the understanding those things only are indifferent which are not the

works of its own activity. But whatever things are the works of its own

activity, all these are in its power. And of these however only those

which are done with reference to the present; for as to the future and

the past activities of the mind, even these are for the present

indifferent.

33. Neither the labor which the hand does nor that of the foot is

contrary to nature, so long as the foot does the foot's work and the hand

the hand's. So then neither to a man as a man is his labor contrary to

nature, so long as it does the things of a man. But if the labor is not

contrary to his nature, neither is it an evil to him.

34. How many pleasures have been enjoyed by robbers, patricides, tyrants.

35. Dost thou not see how the handicraftsmen accommodate themselves up to

a certain point to those who are not skilled in their craft,--

nevertheless they cling to the reason [the principles] of their art, and

do not endure to depart from it? Is it not strange if the architect and

the physician shall have more respect to the reason [the principles] of

their own arts than man to his own reason, which is common to him and the

gods?

36. Asia, Europe, are corners of the universe; all the sea a drop in the

universe; Athos a little clod of the universe: all the present time is a

point in eternity. All things are little, changeable, perishable. All

things come from thence, from that universal ruling power either directly

preceding or by way of sequence. And accordingly the lion's gaping jaws,

and that which is poisonous, and every harmful thing, as a thorn, as mud,

are after-products of the grand and beautiful. Do not then imagine that

they are of another kind from that which thou dost venerate, but form a

just opinion of the source of all (VII. 75).

37. He who has seen present things has seen all, both everything which

has taken place from all eternity and everything which will be for time

without end; for all things are of one kin and of one form.

38. Frequently consider the connection of all things in the universe and

their relation to one another. For in a manner all things are implicated

with one another, and all in this way are friendly to one another; for

one thing comes in order after another, and this is by virtue of the

active movement and mutual conspiration and the unity of the substance

(ix. 1).

39. Adapt thyself to the things with which thy lot has been cast: and the

men among whom thou hast received thy portion, love them, but do it truly

[sincerely].

40. Every instrument, tool, vessel, if it does that for which it has been

made, is well, and yet he who made it is not there. But in the things

which are held together by nature there is within, and there abides in,

them the power which made them; wherefore the more is it fit to reverence

this power, and to think, that, if thou dost live and act according to

its will, everything in thee is in conformity to intelligence. And thus

also in the universe the things which belong to it are in conformity to

intelligence.

41. Whatever of the things which are not within thy power thou shalt

suppose to be good for thee or evil, it must of necessity be that, if

such a bad thing befall thee, or the loss of such a good thing, thou wilt

not blame the gods, and hate men too, those who are the cause of the

misfortune or the loss, or those who are suspected of being likely to be

the cause; and indeed we do much injustice because we make a difference

between these things [because we do not regard these things as

indifferent]. But if we judge only those things which are in our power to

be good or bad, there remains no reason either for finding fault with God

or standing in a hostile attitude to man.

42. We are all working together to one end, some with knowledge and

design, and others without knowing what they do; as men also when they

are asleep, of whom it is Heraclitus, I think, who says that they are

laborers and co-operators in the things which take place in the universe.

But men co-operate after different fashions: and even those co-operate

abundantly, who find fault with what happens and those who try to oppose

it and to hinder it; for the universe had need even of such men as these.

It remains then for thee to understand among what kind of workmen thou

placest thyself; for he who rules all things will certainly make a right

use of thee, and he will receive thee among some part of the co-operators

and of those whose labors conduce to one end. But be not thou such a part

as the mean and ridiculous verse in the play, which Chrysippus speaks of.

43. Does the sun undertake to do the work of the rain, or Aesculapius the

work of the Fruit-bearer [the earth]? And how is it with respect to each

of the stars, are they not different and yet they work together to the

same end?

44. If the gods have determined about me and about the things which must

happen to me, they have determined well, for it is not easy even to

imagine a deity without forethought; and as to doing me harm, why should

they have any desire towards that? for what advantage would result to

them from this or to the whole, which is the special object of their

providence? But if they have not determined about me individually, they

have certainly determined about the whole at least, and the things which

happen by way of sequence in this general arrangement I ought to accept

with pleasure and to be content with them. But if they determine about

nothing,--which it is wicked to believe, or if we do believe it, let us

neither sacrifice nor pray nor swear by them, nor do anything else which

we do as if the gods were present and lived with us,--but if however the

gods determine about none of the things which concern us, I am able to

determine about myself, and I can inquire about that which is useful; and

that is useful to every man which is conformable to his own constitution

and nature. But my nature is rational and social; and my city and

country, so far as I am Antoninus, is Rome, but so far as I am a man, it

is the world. The things then which are useful to these cities are alone

useful to me.

45. Whatever happens to every man, this is for the interest of the

universal: this might be sufficient. But further thou wilt observe this

also as a general truth, if thou dost observe, that whatever is

profitable to any man is profitable also to other men. But let the word

profitable be taken here in the common sense as said of things of the

middle kind [neither good nor bad].

46. As it happens to thee in the amphitheatre and such places, that the

continual sight of the same things, and the uniformity make the spectacle

wearisome, so it is in the whole of life; for all things above, below,

are the same and from the same. How long then?

47. Think continually that all kinds of men and men of all kinds of

pursuits and of all nations are dead, so that thy thoughts come down even

to Philistion and Phoebus and Origanion. Now turn thy thoughts to the

other kinds [of men]. To that place then we must remove, where there are

so many great orators, and so many noble philosophers, Heraclitus,

Pythagoras, Socrates; so many heroes of former days, and so many generals

after them, and tyrants; besides these, Eudoxus, Hipparchus, Archimedes,

and other men of acute natural talents, great minds, lovers of labor,

versatile, confident, mockers even of the perishable and ephemeral life

of man, as Menippus and such as are like him. As to all these consider

that they have long been in the dust. What harm then is this to them; and

what to those whose names are altogether unknown? One thing here is worth

a great deal, to pass thy life in truth and justice, with a benevolent

disposition even to liars and unjust men.

48. When thou wishest to delight thyself, think of the virtues of those

who live with thee; for instance, the activity of one, and the modesty of

another, and the liberality of a third, and some other good quality of a

fourth. For nothing delights so much as the examples of the virtues, when

they are exhibited in the morals of those who live with us and present

themselves in abundance, as far as is possible. Wherefore we must keep

them before us.

49. Thou art not dissatisfied, I suppose, because thou weighest only so

many litrae and not three hundred. Be not dissatisfied then that thou

must live only so many years and not more; for as thou art satisfied with

the amount of substance which has been assigned to thee, so be content

with the time.

50. Let us try to persuade them [men]. But act even against their will,

when the principles of justice lead that way. If however any man by using

force stands in thy way, betake thyself to contentment and tranquillity,

and at the same time employ the hindrance towards the exercise of some

other virtue; and remember that thy attempt was with a reservation

[conditionally], that thou didst not desire to do impossibilities. What

then didst thou desire?--Some such effort as this.--But thou attainest

thy object, if the things to which thou wast moved are [not]

accomplished.

51. He who loves fame considers another man's activity to be his own

good; and he who loves pleasure, his own sensations; but he who has

understanding considers his own acts to be his own good.

52. It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be

disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to

form our judgments.

53. Accustom thyself to attend carefully to what is said by another, and

as much as it is possible, be in the speaker's mind.

54. That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.

55. If sailors abused the helmsman, or the sick the doctor, would they

listen to anybody else; or how could the helmsman secure the safety of

those in the ship, or the doctor the health of those whom he attends?

56. How many together with whom I came into the world are already gone

out of it.

57. To the jaundiced honey tastes bitter, and to those bitten by mad dogs

water causes fear; and to little children the ball is a fine thing. Why

then am I angry? Dost thou think that a false opinion has less power than

the bile in the jaundiced or the poison in him who is bitten by a mad

dog?

58. No man will hinder thee from living according to the reason of thy

own nature: nothing will happen to thee contrary to the reason of the

universal nature.

59. What kind of people are those whom men wish to please, and for what

objects, and by what kind of acts? How soon will time cover all things,

and how many it has covered already.

BOOK VII.

1. What is badness? It is that which thou hast often seen. And on the

occasion of everything which happens keep this in mind, that it is that

which thou hast often seen. Everywhere up and down thou wilt find the

same things, with which the old histories are filled, those of the middle

ages and those of our own day; with which cities and houses are filled

now. There is nothing new: all things are both familiar and short-lived.

2. How can our principles become dead, unless the impression [thoughts]

which correspond to them are extinguished? But it is in thy power

continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame. I can have that opinion

about anything which I ought to have. If I can, why am I disturbed? The

things which are external to my mind have no relation at all to my mind.

--Let this be the state of thy affects, and thou standest erect. To

recover thy life is in thy power. Look at things again as thou didst use

to look at them; for in this consists the recovery of thy life.

3. The idle business of show, plays on the stage, flocks of sheep, herds,

exercises with spears, a bone cast to little dogs, a bit of bread into

fishponds, laborings of ants and burden-carrying, runnings about of

frightened little mice, puppets pulled by strings--[all alike]. It is thy

duty then in the midst of such things to show good humor and not a proud

air; to understand however that every man is worth just so much as the

things are worth about which he busies himself.

4. In discourse thou must attend to what is said, and in every movement

thou must observe what is doing. And in the one thou shouldst see

immediately to what end it refers, but in the other watch carefully what

is the thing signified.

5. Is my understanding sufficient for this or not? If it is sufficient, I

use it for the work as an instrument given by the universal nature. But

if it is not sufficient, then either I retire from the work and give way

to him who is able to do it better, unless there be some reason why I

ought not to do so; or I do it as well as I can, taking to help me the

man who with the aid of my ruling principle can do what is now fit and

useful for the general good. For whatsoever either by myself or with

another I can do, ought to be directed to this only, to that which is

useful and well suited to society.

6. How many after being celebrated by fame have been given up to

oblivion; and how many who have celebrated the fame of others have long

been dead.

7. Be not ashamed to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty

like a soldier in the assault on a town. How then, if being lame thou

canst not mount up on the battlements alone, but with the help of another

it is possible?

8. Let not future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it

shall be necessary, having with thee the same reason which now thou usest

for present things.

9. All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and

there is hardly anything unconnected with any other thing. For things

have been co-ordinated, and they combine to form the same universe

[order]. For there is one universe made up of all things, and one god who

pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, [one] common reason

in all intelligent animals, and one truth; if indeed there is also one

perfection for all animals which are of the same stock and participate in

the same reason.

10. Everything material soon disappears in the substance of the whole;

and everything formal [causal] is very soon taken back into the universal

reason; and the memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.

11. To the rational animal the same act is according to nature and

according to reason.

12. Be thou erect, or be made erect (III. 5).

13. Just as it is with the members in those bodies which are united in

one, so it is with rational beings which exist separate, for they have

been constituted for one co-operation. And the perception of this will be

more apparent to thee if thou often sayest to thyself that I am a member

of the system of rational beings. But if thou sayest that thou art a

part, thou dost not yet love men from thy heart; beneficence does not yet

delight thee for its own sake; thou still dost it barely as a thing of

propriety, and not yet as doing good to thyself.

14. Let there fall externally what will on the parts which can feel the

effects of this fall. For those parts which have felt will complain, if

they choose. But I, unless I think that what has happened is an evil, am

not injured. And it is in my power not to think so.

15. Whatever any one does or says, I must be good; just as if the gold,

or the emerald, or the purple were always saying this, Whatever any one

does or says, I must be emerald and keep my color.

16. The ruling faculty does not disturb itself; I mean, does not frighten

itself or cause itself pain. But if any one else can frighten or pain it,

let him do so. For the faculty itself will not by its own opinion turn

itself into such ways. Let the body itself take care, if it can, that it

suffer nothing, and let it speak, if it suffers. But the soul itself,

that which is subject to fear, to pain, which has completely the power of

forming an opinion about these things, will suffer nothing, for it will

never deviate into such a judgment. The leading principle in itself wants

nothing, unless it makes a want for itself; and therefore it is both free

from perturbation and unimpeded, if it does not disturb and impede

itself.

17. Eudaemonia [happiness] is a good daemon, or a good thing. What then

art thou doing here, O imagination? Go away, I entreat thee by the gods,

as thou didst come, for I want thee not. But thou art come according to

thy old fashion. I am not angry with thee: only go away.

18. Is any man afraid of change? Why, what can take place without change?

What then is more pleasing or more suitable to the universal nature? And

canst thou take a bath unless the wood undergoes a change? and canst thou

be nourished, unless the food undergoes a change? And can anything else

that is useful be accomplished without change? Dost thou not see then

that for thyself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary

for the universal nature?

19. Through the universal substance as through a furious torrent all

bodies are carried, being by their nature united with and co-operating

with the whole, as the parts of our body with one another. How many a

Chrysippus, how many a Socrates, how many an Epictetus has time already

swallowed up! And let the same thought occur to thee with reference to

every man and thing (V. 23; VI. 15).

20. One thing only troubles me, lest I should do something which the

constitution of man does not allow, or in the way which it does not

allow, or what it does not allow now.

21. Near is thy forgetfulness of all things; and near the forgetfulness

of thee by all.

22. It is peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong. And this

happens, if when they do wrong it occurs to thee that they are kinsmen,

and that they do wrong through ignorance and unintentionally, and that

soon both of you will die; and above all, that the wrong-doer has done

thee no harm, for he has not made thy ruling faculty worse than it was

before.

23. The universal nature out of the universal substance, as if it were

wax, now moulds a horse, and when it has broken this up, it uses the

material for a tree, then for a man, then for something else; and each of

these things subsists for a very short time. But it is no hardship for

the vessel to be broken up, just as there was none in its being fastened

together (VIII. 50).

24. A scowling look is altogether unnatural; when it is often assumed,

[Footnote: 5] the result is that all comeliness dies away, and at last is

so completely extinguished that it cannot be again lighted up at all. Try

to conclude from this very fact that it is contrary to reason. For if

even the perception of doing wrong shall depart, what reason is there for

living any longer?

25. Nature which governs the whole will soon change all things which thou

seest, and out of their substance will make other things, and again other

things from the substance of them, in order that the world may be ever

new (XII. 23).

26. When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what

opinion about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen

this, thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither wonder nor be angry. For

either thou thyself thinkest the same thing to be good that he does or

another thing of the same kind. It is thy duty then to pardon him. But if

thou dost not think such things to be good or evil, thou wilt more

readily be well disposed to him who is in error.

27. Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast: but of

the things which thou hast select the best, and then reflect how eagerly

they would have been sought, if thou hadst them not. At the same time,

however, take care that thou dost not through being so pleased with them

accustom thyself to overvalue them, so as to be disturbed if ever thou

shouldst not have them.

28. Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this

nature, that it is content with itself when it does what is just, and so

secures tranquillity.

29. Wipe out the imagination. Stop the pulling of the strings. Confine

thyself to the present. Understand well what happens either to thee or to

another. Divide and distribute every object into the causal [formal] and

the material. Think of thy last hour. Let the wrong which is done by a

man stay there where the wrong was done (VIII. 29).

30. Direct thy attention to what is said. Let thy understanding enter

into the things that are doing and the things which do them (VII. 4).

31. Adorn thyself with simplicity and modesty, and with indifference

towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind.

Follow God. The poet says that law rules all--And it is enough to

remember that law rules all.

32. About death: whether it is a dispersion, or a resolution into atoms,

or annihilation, it is either extinction or change.

33. About pain: the pain which is intolerable carries us off; but that

which lasts a long time is tolerable; and the mind maintains its own

tranquillity by retiring into itself, and the ruling faculty is not made

worse. But the parts which are harmed by pain, let them, if they can,

give their opinion about it.

34. About fame: look at the minds [of those who seek fame], observe what

they are, and what kind of things they avoid, and what kind of things

they pursue. And consider that as the heaps of sand piled on one another

hide the former sands, so in life the events which go before are soon

covered by those which come after.

35. From Plato: The man who has an elevated mind and takes a view of all

time and of all substance, dost thou suppose it possible for him to think

that human life is anything great? It is not possible, he said.--Such a

man then will think that death also is no evil.--Certainly not.

36. From Antisthenes: It is royal to do good and to be abused.

37. It is a base thing for the countenance to be obedient and to regulate

and compose itself as the mind commands, and for the mind not to be

regulated and composed by itself.

38. It is not right to vex ourselves at things, For they care nought

about it.

39. To the immortal gods and us give joy.

40. Life must be reaped like the ripe ears of corn. One man is born;

another dies.

41. If gods care not for me and for my children, There is a reason for

it.

42. For the good is with me, and the just.

43. No joining others in their wailing, no violent emotion.

44. From Plato: But I would make this man a sufficient answer, which is

this: Thou sayest not well, if thou thinkest that a man who is good for

anything at all ought to compute the hazard of life or death, and should

not rather look to this only in all that he does, whether he is doing

what is just or unjust, and the works of a good or bad man.

45. For thus it is, men of Athens, in truth: wherever a man has placed

himself thinking it the best place for him, or has been placed by a

commander, there in my opinion he ought to stay and to abide the hazard,

taking nothing into the reckoning, either death or anything else, before

the baseness [of deserting his post].

46. But, my good friend, reflect whether that which is noble and good is

not something different from saving and being saved; for as to a man

living such or such a time, at least one who is really a man, consider if

this is not a thing to be dismissed from the thoughts: and there must be

no love of life: but as to these matters a man must intrust them to the

Deity and believe what the women say, that no man can escape his destiny,

the next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.

47. Look around at the courses of the stars, as if thou wert going along

with them; and constantly consider the changes of the elements into one

another, for such thoughts purge away the filth of the terrene life.

48. This is a fine saying of Plato: That he who is discoursing about men

should look also at earthly things as if he viewed them from some higher

place; should look at them in their assemblies, armies, agricultural

labors, marriages, treaties, births, deaths, noise of the courts of

justice, desert places, various nations of barbarians, feasts,

lamentations, markets, a mixture of all things and an orderly combination

of contraries.

49. Consider the past,--such great changes of political supremacies; thou

mayest foresee also the things which will be. For they will certainly be

of like form, and it is not possible that they should deviate from the

order of the things which take place now; accordingly to have

contemplated human life for forty years is the same as to have

contemplated it for ten thousand years. For what more wilt thou see?

50.

That which has grown from the earth to the earth,

But that which has sprung from heavenly seed,

Back to the heavenly realms returns.

This is either a dissolution of the mutual involution of the atoms, or a

similar dispersion of the unsentient elements.

51.

With food and drinks and cunning magic arts

Turning the channel's course to 'scape from death.

The breeze which heaven has sent

We must endure, and toil without complaining.

52. Another may be more expert in casting his opponent; but he is not

more social, nor more modest, nor better disciplined to meet all that

happens, nor more considerate with respect to the faults of his

neighbors.

53. Where any work can be clone conformably to the reason which is common

to gods and men, there we have nothing to fear; for where we are able to

get profit by means of the activity which is successful and proceeds

according to our constitution, there no harm is to be suspected.

54. Everywhere and at all times it is in thy power piously to acquiesce

in thy present condition, and to behave justly to those who are about

thee, and to exert thy skill upon thy present thoughts, that nothing

shall steal into them without being well examined.

55. Do not look around thee to discover other men's ruling principles,

but look straight to this, to what nature leads thee, both the universal

nature through the things which happen to thee, and thy own nature

through the acts which must be done by thee. But every being ought to do

that which is according to its constitution; and all other things have

been constituted for the sake of rational beings, just as among

irrational things the inferior for the sake of the superior, but the

rational for the sake of one another.

The prime principle then in man's constitution is the social. And the

second is not to yield to the persuasions of the body,--for it is the

peculiar office of the rational and intelligent motion to circumscribe

itself, and never to be overpowered either by the motion of the senses or

of the appetites, for both are animal; but the intelligent motion claims

superiority, and does not permit itself to be overpowered by the others.

And with good reason, for it is formed by nature to use all of them. The

third thing in the rational constitution is freedom from error and from

deception. Let then the ruling principle holding fast to these things go

straight on, and it has what is its own.

56. Consider thyself to be dead, and to have completed thy life up to the

present time; and live according to nature the remainder which is allowed

thee.

57. Love that only which happens to thee and is spun with the thread of

thy destiny. For what is more suitable?

58. In everything which happens keep before thy eyes those to whom the

same things happened, and how they were vexed, and treated them as

strange things, and found fault with them: and now where are they?

Nowhere. Why then dost thou too choose to act in the same way; and why

dost thou not leave these agitations which are foreign to nature to those

who cause them and those who are moved by them; and why art thou not

altogether intent upon the right way of making use of the things which

happen to thee? For then thou wilt use them well, and they will be a

material for thee [to work on]. Only attend to thyself, and resolve to be

a good man in every act which thou dost: and remember....

59. Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble

up, if thou wilt ever dig.

60. The body ought to be compact, and to show no irregularity either in

motion or attitude. For what the mind shows in the face by maintaining in

it the expression of intelligence and propriety, that ought to be

required also in the whole body. But all these things should be observed

without affectation.

61. The art of life is more like the wrestler's art than the dancer's, in

respect of this, that it should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which

are sudden and unexpected.

62. Constantly observe who those are whose approbation thou wishest to

have, and what ruling principles they possess. For then thou wilt neither

blame those who offend involuntarily, nor wilt thou want their

approbation, if thou lookest to the sources of their opinions and

appetites.

63. Every soul, the philosopher says, is involuntarily deprived of truth;

consequently in the same way it is deprived of justice and temperance and

benevolence and everything of the kind. It is most necessary to bear this

constantly in mind, for thus thou wilt be more gentle towards all.

64. In every pain let this thought be present, that there is no dishonor

in it, nor does it make the governing intelligence worse, for it does not

damage the intelligence either so far as the intelligence is rational or

so far as it is social. Indeed in the case of most pains let this remark

of Epicurus aid thee, that pain is neither intolerable nor everlasting,

if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest

nothing to it in imagination: and remember this too, that we do not

perceive that many things which are disagreeable to us are the same as

pain, such as excessive drowsiness, and the being scorched by heat, and

the having no appetite. When then thou art discontented about any of

these things, say to thyself that thou art yielding to pain.

65. Take care not to feel towards the inhuman as they feel towards men.

66. How do we know if Telauges was not superior in character to Socrates?

For it is not enough that Socrates died a more noble death, and disputed

more skilfully with the Sophists, and passed the night in the cold with

more endurance, and that when he was bid to arrest Leon of Salamis, he

considered it more noble to refuse, and that he walked in a swaggering

way in the streets--though as to this fact one may have great doubts if

it was true. But we ought to inquire what kind of a soul it was that

Socrates possessed, and if he was able to be content with being just

towards men and pious towards the gods, neither idly vexed on account of

men's villainy, nor yet making himself a slave to any man's ignorance,

nor receiving as strange anything that fell to his share out of the

universal, nor enduring it as intolerable, nor allowing his understanding

to sympathize with the affects of the miserable flesh.

67. Nature has not so mingled [the intelligence] with the composition of

the body, as not to have allowed thee the power of circumscribing thyself

and of bringing under subjection to thyself all that is thy own; for it

is very possible to be a divine man and to be recognized as such by no

one. Always bear this in mind; and another thing too, that very little

indeed is necessary for living a happy life. And because thou hast

despaired of becoming a dialectician and skilled in the knowledge of

nature, do not for this reason renounce the hope of being both free and

modest, and social and obedient to God.

68. It is in thy power to live free from all compulsion in the greatest

tranquillity of mind, even if all the world cry out against thee as much

as they choose, and even if wild beasts tear in pieces the members of

this kneaded matter which has grown around thee. For what hinders the

mind in the midst of all this from maintaining itself in tranquillity and

in a just judgment of all surrounding things and in a ready use of the

objects which are presented to it, so that the judgment may say to the

thing which falls under its observation: This thou art in substance

[reality], though in men's opinion thou mayest appear to be of a

different kind; and the use shall say to that which falls under the hand:

Thou art the thing that I was seeking; for to me that which presents

itself is always a material for virtue both rational and political, and

in a word, for the exercise of art, which belongs to man or God. For

everything which happens has a relationship either to God or man, and is

neither new nor difficult to handle, but usual and apt matter to work on.

69. The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every

day as the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor

playing the hypocrite.

70. The gods who are immortal are not vexed because during so long a time

they must tolerate continually men such as they are and so many of them

bad; and besides this, they also take care of them in all ways. But thou,

who art destined to end so soon, art thou wearied of enduring the bad,

and this too when thou art one of them?

71. It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness,

which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is

impossible.

72. Whatever the rational and political [social] faculty finds to be

neither intelligent nor social, it properly judges to be inferior to

itself.

73. When thou hast done a good act and another has received it, why dost

thou still look for a third thing besides these, as fools do, either to

have the reputation of having done a good act or to obtain a return?

74. No man is tired of receiving what is useful. But it is useful to act

according to nature. Do not then be tired of receiving what is useful by

doing it to others.

75. The nature of the All moved to make the universe. But now either

everything that takes place comes by way of consequence or [continuity];

or even the chief things towards which the ruling power of the universe

directs its own movement are governed by no rational principle. If this

is remembered, it will make thee more tranquil in many things (vi. 44;

ix. 28).

BOOK VIII.

1. This reflection also tends to the removal of the desire of empty fame,

that it is no longer in thy power to have lived the whole of thy life, or

at least thy life from thy youth upwards, like a philosopher; but both to

many others and to thyself it is plain that thou art far from philosophy.

Thou hast fallen into disorder then, so that it is no longer easy for

thee to get the reputation of a philosopher; and thy plan of life also

opposes it. If then thou hast truly seen where the matter lies, throw

away the thought, How thou shalt seem [to others], and be content if thou

shalt live the rest of thy life in such wise as thy nature wills. Observe

then what it wills, and let nothing else distract thee; for thou hast had

experience of many wanderings without having found happiness anywhere,--

not in syllogisms, nor in wealth, nor in reputation, nor in enjoyment,

nor anywhere. Where is it then? In doing what man's nature requires. How

then shall a man do this? If he has principles from which come his

affects and his acts. What principles? Those which relate to good and

bad: the belief that there is nothing good for man which does not make

him just, temperate, manly, free; and that there is nothing bad which

does not do the contrary to what has been mentioned.

2. On the occasion of every act ask thyself, How is this with respect to

me? Shall I repent of it? A little time and I am dead, and all is gone.

What more do I seek, if what I am now doing is the work of an intelligent

living being, and a social being, and one who is under the same law with

God?

3. Alexander and Caius and Pompeius, what are they in comparison with

Diogenes and Heraclitus and Socrates? For they were acquainted with

things, and their causes [forms], and their matter, and the ruling

principles of these men were the same [or conformable to their pursuits].

But as to the others, how many things had they to care for, and to how

many things were they slaves!

4. [Consider] that men will do the same things nevertheless, even though

thou shouldst burst.

5. This is the chief thing: Be not perturbed, for all things are

according to the nature of the universal; and in a little time thou wilt

be nobody and nowhere, like Hadrianus and Augustus. In the next place,

having fixed thy eyes steadily on thy business look at it, and at the

same time remembering that it is thy duty to be a good man, and what

man's nature demands, do that without turning aside; and speak as it

seems to thee most just, only let it be with a good disposition and with

modesty and without hypocrisy.

6. The nature of the universal has this work to do,--to remove to that

place the things which are in this, to change them, to take them away

hence, and to carry them there. All things are change, yet we need not

fear anything new. All things are familiar [to us]; but the distribution

of them still remains the same.

7. Every nature is contented with itself when it goes on its way well;

and a rational nature goes on its way well when in its thoughts it

assents to nothing false or uncertain, and when it directs its movements

to social acts only, and when it confines its desires and aversions to

the things which are in its power, and when it is satisfied with

everything that is assigned to it by the common nature. For of this

common nature every particular nature is a part, as the nature of the

leaf is a part of the nature of the plant; except that in the plant the

nature of the leaf is part of a nature which has not perception or

reason, and is subject to be impeded; but the nature of man is part of a

nature which is not subject to impediments, and is intelligent and just,

since it gives to everything in equal portions and according to its

worth, times, substance, cause [form], activity and incident. But

examine, not to discover that any one thing compared with any other

single thing is equal in all respects, but by taking all the parts

together of one thing and comparing them with all the parts together of

another.

8. Thou hast not leisure [or ability] to read. But thou hast leisure [or

ability] to check arrogance: thou hast leisure to be superior to pleasure

and pain: thou hast leisure to be superior to love of fame, and not to be

vexed at stupid and ungrateful people, nay even to care for them.

9. Let no man any longer hear thee finding fault with the court life or

with thy own (V. 16).

10. Repentance is a kind of self-reproof for having neglected something

useful; but that which is good must be something useful, and the perfect

good man should look after it. But no such man would ever repent of

having refused any sensual pleasure. Pleasure then is neither good nor

useful.

11. This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution! What is

its substance and material? And what its causal nature [or form]? And

what is it doing in the world? And how long does it subsist?

12. When thou risest from sleep with reluctance, remember that it is

according to thy constitution and according to human nature to perform

social acts, but sleeping is common also to irrational animals. But that

which is according to each individual's nature is also more peculiarly

its own, and more suitable to its nature, and indeed also more agreeable

(V. 1).

13. Constantly and, if it be possible, on the occasion of every

impression on the soul, apply to it the principles of Physic, of Ethic,

and of Dialectic.

14. Whatever man thou meetest with, immediately say to thyself: What

opinions has this man about good and bad? For if with respect to pleasure

and pain and the causes of each, and with respect to fame and ignominy,

death and life, he has such and such opinions, it will seem nothing

wonderful or strange to me if he does such and such things; and I shall

bear in mind that he is compelled to do so.

15. Remember that as it is a shame to be surprised if the fig-tree

produces figs, so it is to be surprised if the world produces such and

such things of which it is productive; and for the physician and the

helmsman it is a shame to be surprised if a man has a fever, or if the

wind is unfavorable.

16. Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects

thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.

For it is thy own, the activity which is exerted according to thy own

movement and judgment, and indeed according to thy own understanding too.

17. If a thing is in thy own power, why dost thou do it? but if it is in

the power of another, whom dost thou blame,--the atoms [chance] or the

gods? Both are foolish. Thou must blame nobody. For if thou canst,

correct [that which is the cause]; but if thou canst not do this, correct

at least the thing itself; but if thou canst not do even this, of what

use is it to thee to find fault? for nothing should be done without a

purpose.

18. That which has died falls not out of the universe. If it stays here,

it also changes here, and is dissolved into its proper parts, which are

elements of the universe and of thyself. And these too change, and they

murmur not.

19. Everything exists for some end,--a horse, a vine. Why dost thou

wonder? Even the sun will say, I am for some purpose, and the rest of the

gods will say the same. For what purpose then art thou,--to enjoy

pleasure? See if common sense allows this.

20. Nature has had regard in everything no less to the end than to the

beginning and the continuance, just like the man who throws up a ball.

What good is it then for the ball to be thrown up, or harm for it to come

down, or even to have fallen? and what good is it to the bubble while it

holds together, or what harm when it is burst? The same may be said of a

light also.

21. Turn it [the body] inside out, and see what kind of thing it is; and

when it has grown old, what kind of thing it becomes, and when it is

diseased.

Short lived are both the praiser and the praised, and the rememberer and

the remembered: and all this in a nook of this part of the world; and not

even here do all agree, no, not any one with himself: and the whole earth

too is a point.

22. Attend to the matter which is before thee, whether it is an opinion

or an act or a word. Thou sufferest this justly: for thou choosest rather

to become good to-morrow than to be good to-day.

23. Am I doing anything? I do it with reference to the good of mankind.

Does anything happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the gods, and

the source of all things, from which all that happens is derived.

24. Such as bathing appears to thee,--oil, sweat, dirt, filthy water, all

things disgusting,--so is every part of life and everything.

25. Lucilla saw Verus die, and then Lucilla died. Secunda saw Maximus

die, and then Secunda died. Epitynchanus saw Diotimus die, and then

Epitynchanus died. Antoninus saw Faustina die, and then Antoninus died.

Such is everything. Celer saw Hadrianus die, and then Celer died. And

those sharp-witted men, either seers or men inflated with pride, where

are they,--for instance the sharp-witted men, Charax and Demetrius the

Platonist and Eudaemon, and any one else like them? All ephemeral, dead

long ago. Some indeed have not been remembered even for a short time, and

others have become the heroes of fables, and again others have

disappeared even from fables. Remember this then, that this little

compound, thyself, must either be dissolved, or thy poor breath must be

extinguished, or be removed and placed elsewhere.

26. It is satisfaction to a man to do the proper works of a man. Now it

is a proper work of a man to be benevolent to his own kind, to despise

the movements of the senses, to form a just judgment of plausible

appearances, and to take a survey of the nature of the universe and of

the things which happen in it.

27. There are three relations [between thee and other things]: the one to

the body which surrounds thee; the second to the divine cause from which

all things come to all; and the third to those who live with thee.

28. Pain is either an evil to the body--then let the body say what it

thinks of it--or to the soul; but it is in the power of the soul to

maintain its own serenity and tranquillity, and not to think that pain is

an evil. For every judgment and movement and desire and aversion is

within, and no evil ascends so high.

29. Wipe out thy imaginations by often saying to thyself: Now it is in my

power to let no badness be in this soul, nor desire, nor any perturbation

at all; but looking at all things I see what is their nature, and I use

each according to its value.--Remember this power which thou hast from

nature.

30. Speak both in the senate and to every man, whoever he may be,

appropriately, not with any affectation: use plain discourse.

31. Augustus' court, wife, daughter, descendants, ancestors, sister,

Agrippa, kinsmen, intimates, friends, Areius, Maecenas, physicians, and

sacrificing priests,--the whole court is dead. Then turn to the rest, not

considering the death of a single man [but of a whole race], as of the

Pompeii; and that which is inscribed on the tombs,--The last of his race.

Then consider what trouble those before them have had that they might

leave a successor; and then, that of necessity some one must be the last.

Again, here consider the death of a whole race.

32. It is thy duty to order thy life well in every single act; and if

every act does its duty as far as is possible, be content; and no one is

able to hinder thee so that each act shall not do its duty.--But

something external will stand in the way.--Nothing will stand in the way

of thy acting justly and soberly and considerately.--But perhaps some

other active power will be hindered.--Well, but by acquiescing in the

hindrance and by being content to transfer thy efforts to that which is

allowed, another opportunity of action is immediately put before thee in

place of that which was hindered, and one which will adapt itself to this

ordering of which we are speaking.

33. Receive [wealth or prosperity] without arrogance; and be ready to let

it go.

34. If thou didst ever see a hand cut off, or a foot, or a head, lying

anywhere apart from the rest of the body, such does a man make himself,

as far as he can, who is not content with what happens, and separates

himself from others, or does anything unsocial. Suppose that thou hast

detached thyself from the natural unity,--for thou wast made by nature a

part, but now thou hast cut thyself off,--yet here there is this

beautiful provision, that it is in thy power again to unite thyself. God

has allowed this to no other part, after it has been separated and cut

asunder, to come together again. But consider the kindness by which he

has distinguished man, for he has put it in his power not to be separated

at all from the universal; and when he has been separated, he has allowed

him to return and to be united and to resume his place as a part.

35. As the nature of the universal has given to every rational being all

the other powers that it has, so we have received from it this power

also. For as the universal nature converts and fixes in its predestined

place everything which stands in the way and opposes it, and makes such

things a part of itself, so also the rational animal is able to make

every hindrance its own material, and to use it for such purposes as it

may have designed.

36. Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not

thy thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest

expect to befall thee: but on every occasion ask thyself, What is there

in this which is intolerable and past bearing? for thou wilt be ashamed

to confess. In the next place remember that neither the future nor the

past pains thee, but only the present. But this is reduced to a very

little, if thou only circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind if it is

unable to hold out against even this.

37. Does Panthea or Pergamus now sit by the tomb of Verus? Does Chaurias

or Diotimus sit by the tomb of Hadrianus? That would be ridiculous. Well,

suppose they did sit there, would the dead be conscious of it? and if the

dead were conscious would they be pleased? and if they were pleased,

would that make them immortal? Was it not in the order of destiny that

these persons too should first become old women and old men and then die?

What then would those do after these were dead? All this is foul smell

and blood in a bag.

38. If thou canst see sharp, look and judge wisely, says the philosopher.

39. In the constitution of the rational animal I see no virtue which is

opposed to justice; but I see a virtue which is opposed to love of

pleasure, and that is temperance.

40. If thou takest away thy opinion about that which appears to give thee

pain, thou thyself standest in perfect security.--Who is this self?--The

reason.--But I am not reason.--Be it so. Let then the reason itself not

trouble itself. But if any other part of thee suffers, let it have its

own opinion about itself (VII. 16).

41. Hindrance to the perceptions of sense is an evil to the animal

nature. Hindrance to the movements [desires] is equally an evil to the

animal nature. And something else also is equally an impediment and an

evil to the constitution of plants. So then that which is a hindrance to

the intelligence is an evil to the intelligent nature. Apply all these

things then to thyself. Does pain or sensuous pleasure effect thee? The

senses will look to that. Has any obstacle opposed thee in thy efforts

towards an object? If indeed thou wast making this effort absolutely

[unconditionally, or without any reservation], certainly this obstacle is

an evil to thee considered as a rational animal. But if thou takest [into

consideration] the usual course of things, thou hast not yet been injured

nor even impeded. The things however which are proper to the

understanding no other man is used to impede, for neither fire, nor iron,

nor tyrant, nor abuse, touches it in any way. When it has been made a

sphere, it continues a sphere (XI, 12).

42. It is not fit that I should give myself pain, for I have never

intentionally given pain even to another.

43. Different things delight different people; but it is my delight to

keep the ruling faculty sound without turning away either from any man or

from any of the things which happen to men, but looking at and receiving

all with welcome eyes and using everything according to its value.

44. See that thou secure this present time to thyself: for those who

rather pursue posthumous fame do not consider that the men of after time

will be exactly such as these whom they cannot bear now; and both are

mortal. And what is it in any way to thee if these men of after time

utter this or that sound, or have this or that opinion about thee?

45. Take me and cast me where thou wilt; for there I shall keep my divine

part tranquil, that is, content, if it can feel and act conformably to

its proper constitution. Is this [change of place] sufficient reason why

my soul should be unhappy and worse then it was, depressed, expanded,

shrinking, affrighted? and what wilt thou find which is sufficient reason

for this?

46. Nothing can happen to any man which is not a human accident, nor to

an ox which is not according to the nature of an ox, nor to a vine which

is not according to the nature of a vine, nor to a stone which is not

proper to a stone. If then there happens to each thing both what is usual

and natural, why shouldst thou complain? For the common nature brings

nothing which may not be borne by thee.

47. If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that

disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to

wipe out this judgment now. But if anything in thy own disposition gives

thee pain, who hinders thee from correcting thy opinion? And even if thou

art pained because thou art not doing some particular thing which seems

to thee to be right, why dost thou not rather act than complain?--But

some insuperable obstacle is in the way?--Do not be grieved then, for the

cause of its not being done depends not on thee.--But it is not worth

while to live, if this cannot be done.--Take thy departure then from

life contentedly, just as he dies who is in full activity, and well

pleased too with the things which are obstacles.

48. Remember that the ruling faculty is invincible, when self-collected

it is satisfied with itself, if it does nothing which it does not choose

to do, even if it resist from mere obstinacy. What then will it be when

it forms a judgment about anything aided by reason and deliberately?

Therefore the mind which is free from passions is a citadel, for man has

nothing more secure to which he can fly for refuge and for the future be

inexpugnable. He then who has not seen this is an ignorant man; but he

who has seen it and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy.

49. Say nothing more to thyself than what the first appearances report.

Suppose that it has been reported to thee that a certain person speaks

ill of thee. This has been reported; but that thou hast been injured,

that has not been reported. I see that my child is sick. I do see; but

that he is in danger, I do not see. Thus then always abide by the first

appearances, and add nothing thyself from within, and then nothing

happens to thee. Or rather add something like a man who knows everything

that happens in the world.

50. A cucumber is bitter--Throw it away.--There are briers in the road--

Turn aside from them.--This is enough. Do not add, And why were such

things made in the world? For thou wilt be ridiculed by a man who is

acquainted with nature, as thou wouldst be ridiculed by a carpenter and

shoemaker if thou didst find fault because thou seest in their workshop

shavings and cuttings from the things which they make. And yet they have

places into which they can throw these shavings and cuttings, and the

universal nature has no external space; but the wondrous part of her art

is that though she has circumscribed herself, everything within her which

appears to decay and to grow old and to be useless she changes into

herself, and again makes other new things from these very same, so that

she requires neither substance from without nor wants a place into which

she may cast that which decays. She is content then with her own space,

and her own matter, and her own art.

51. Neither in thy actions be sluggish nor in thy conversation without

method, nor wandering in thy thoughts, nor let there be in thy soul

inward contention nor external effusion, nor in life be so busy as to

have no leisure.

Suppose that men kill thee, cut thee in pieces, curse thee. What then can

these things do to prevent thy mind from remaining pure, wise, sober,

just? For instance, if a man should stand by a limpid pure spring, and

curse it, the spring never ceases sending up potable water; and if he

should cast clay into it or filth, it will speedily disperse them and

wash them out, and will not be at all polluted. How then shalt thou

possess a perpetual fountain [and not a mere well]? By forming thyself

hourly to freedom conjoined with contentment, simplicity, and modesty.

52. He who does not know what the world is, does not know where he is.

And he who does not know for what purpose the world exists, does not know

who he is, nor what the world is. But he who has failed in any one of

these things could not even say for what purpose he exists himself. What

then dost thou think of him who [avoids or] seeks the praise of those who

applaud, of men who know not either where they are or who they are?

53. Dost thou wish to be praised by a man who curses himself thrice every

hour? Wouldst thou wish to please a man who does not please himself? Does

a man please himself who repents of nearly everything that he does?

54. No longer let thy breathing only act in concert with the air which

surrounds thee, but let thy intelligence also now be in harmony with the

intelligence which embraces all things. For the intelligent power is no

less diffused in all parts and pervades all things for him who is willing

to draw it to him than the aerial power for him who is able to respire

it.

55. Generally, wickedness does no harm at all to the universe; and

particularly the wickedness [of one man] does no harm to another. It is

only harmful to him who has it in his power to be released from it as

soon as he shall choose.

56. To my own free will the free will of my neighbor is just as

indifferent as his poor breath and flesh. For though we are made

especially for the sake of one another, still the ruling power of each of

us has its own office, for otherwise my neighbor's wickedness would be my

harm, which God has not willed in order that my unhappiness may not

depend on another.

57. The sun appears to be poured down, and in all directions indeed it is

diffused, yet it is not effused. For this diffusion is extension:

Accordingly its rays are called Extensions because they are extended. But

one may judge what kind of a thing a ray is, if he looks at the sun's

light passing through a narrow opening into a darkened room, for it is

extended in a right line, and as it were is divided when it meets with

any solid body which stands in the way and intercepts the air beyond; but

there the light remains fixed and does not glide or fall off. Such then

ought to be the outpouring and diffusion of the understanding, and it

should in no way be an effusion, but an extension, and it should make no

violent or impetuous collision with the obstacles which are in its way;

nor yet fall down, but be fixed, and enlighten that which receives it.

For a body will deprive itself of the illumination, if it does not admit

it.

58. He who fears death either fears the loss of sensation or a different

kind of sensation. But if thou shalt have no sensation, neither wilt thou

feel any harm; and if thou shalt acquire another kind of sensation, thou

wilt be a different kind of living being and thou wilt not cease to live.

59. Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with

them.

60. In one way an arrow moves, in another way the mind. The mind indeed,

both when it exercises caution and when it is employed about inquiry,

moves straight onward not the less, and to its object.

61. Enter into every man's ruling faculty; and also let every other man

enter into thine.

BOOK IX.

1. He who acts unjustly acts impiously. For since the universal nature

has made rational animals for the sake of one another to help one another

according to their deserts, but in no way to injure one another, he who

transgresses her will is clearly guilty of impiety towards the highest

divinity. And he too who lies is guilty of impiety to the same divinity;

for the universal nature is the nature of things that are; and things

that are have a relation to all things that come into existence. And

further, this universal nature is named truth, and is the prime cause of

all things that are true. He then who lies intentionally is guilty of

impiety inasmuch as he acts unjustly by deceiving; and he also who lies

unintentionally, inasmuch as he is at variance with the universal nature,

and inasmuch as he disturbs the order by fighting against the nature of

the world; for he fights against it, who is moved of himself to that

which is contrary to truth, for he had received powers from nature

through the neglect of which he is not able now to distinguish falsehood

from truth. And indeed he who pursues pleasure as good, and avoids pain

as evil, is guilty of impiety. For of necessity such a man must often

find fault with the universal nature, alleging that it assigns things to

the bad and the good contrary to their deserts, because frequently the

bad are in the enjoyment of pleasure and possess the things which procure

pleasure, but the good have pain for their share and the things which

cause pain. And further, he who is afraid of pain will sometimes also be

afraid of some of the things which will happen in the world, and even

this is impiety. And he who pursues pleasure will not abstain from

injustice, and this is plainly impiety. Now with respect to the things

towards which the universal nature is equally affected,--for it would not

have made both, unless it was equally affected towards both,--towards

these they who wish to follow nature should be of the same mind with it,

and equally affected. With respect to pain, then, and pleasure, or death

and life, or honor and dishonor, which the universal nature employs

equally, whoever is not equally affected is manifestly acting impiously.

And I say that the universal nature employs them equally, instead of

saying that they happen alike to those who are produced in continuous

series and to those who come after them by virtue of a certain original

movement of Providence, according to which it moved from a certain

beginning to this ordering of things, having conceived certain principles

of the things which were to be, and having determined powers productive

of beings and of changes and of such like successions (VII. 75).

2. It would be a man's happiest lot to depart from mankind without having

had any taste of lying and hypocrisy and luxury and pride. However, to

breathe out one's life when a man has had enough of these things is the

next best voyage, as the saying is. Hast thou determined to abide with

vice, and has not experience yet induced thee to fly from this

pestilence? For the destruction of the understanding is a pestilence,

much more indeed than any such corruption and change of this atmosphere

which surrounds us. For this corruption is a pestilence of animals so far

as they are animals; but the other is a pestilence of men so far as they

are men.

3. Do not despise death, but be well content with it, since this too is

one of those things which nature wills. For such as it is to be young and

to grow old, and to increase and to reach maturity, and to have teeth and

beard and gray hairs, and to beget and to be pregnant and to bring forth,

and all the other natural operations which the seasons of thy life bring,

such also is dissolution. This, then, is consistent with the character of

a reflecting man,--to be neither careless nor impatient nor contemptuous

with respect to death, but to wait for it as one of the operations of

nature. As thou now waitest for the time when the child shall come out of

thy wife's womb, so be ready for the time when thy soul shall fall out of

this envelope. But if thou requirest also a vulgar kind of comfort which

shall reach thy heart, thou wilt be made best reconciled to death by

observing the objects from which thou art going to be removed, and the

morals of those with whom thy soul will no longer be mingled. For it is

no way right to be offended with men, but it is thy duty to care for them

and to bear with them gently; and yet to remember that thy departure will

not be from men who have the same principles as thyself. For this is the

only thing, if there be any, which could draw us the contrary way and

attach us to life,--to be permitted to live with those who have the same

principles as ourselves. But now thou seest how great is the trouble

arising from the discordance of those who live together, so that thou

mayest say, Come quick, O death, lest perchance I, too, should forget

myself.

4. He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly

acts unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad.

5. He often acts unjustly who does not do a certain thing; not only he

who does a certain thing.

6. Thy present opinion founded on understanding, and thy present conduct

directed to social good, and thy present disposition of contentment with

everything which happens--that is enough.

7. Wipe out imagination: check desire: extinguish appetite: keep the

ruling faculty in its own power.

8. Among the animals which have not reason one life is distributed; but

among reasonable animals one intelligent soul is distributed: just as

there is one earth of all things which are of an earthy nature, and we

see by one light, and breathe one air, all of us that have the faculty of

vision and all that have life.

9. All things which participate in anything which is common to them all

move towards that which is of the same kind with themselves. Everything

which is earthy turns towards the earth, everything which is liquid flows

together, and everything which is of an aerial kind does the same, so

that they require something to keep them asunder, and the application of

force. Fire indeed moves upwards on account of the elemental fire, but it

is so ready to be kindled together with all the fire which is here, that

even every substance which is somewhat dry is easily ignited, because

there is less mingled with it of that which is a hindrance to ignition.

Accordingly, then, everything also which participates in the common

intelligent nature moves in like manner towards that which is of the same

kind with itself, or moves even more. For so much as it is superior in

comparison with all other things, in the same degree also is it more

ready to mingle with and to be fused with that which is akin to it.

Accordingly among animals devoid of reason we find swarms of bees, and

herds of cattle, and the nurture of young birds, and in a manner, loves;

for even in animals there are souls, and that power which brings them

together is seen to exert itself in the superior degree, and in such a

way as never has been observed in plants nor in stones nor in trees. But

in rational animals there are political communities and friendships, and

families and meetings of people; and in wars, treaties, and armistices.

But in the things which are still superior, even though they are

separated from one another, unity in a manner exists, as in the stars.

Thus the ascent to the higher degree is able to produce a sympathy even

in things which are separated. See, then, what now takes place; for only

intelligent animals have now forgotten this mutual desire and

inclination, and in them alone the property of flowing together is not

seen. But still, though men strive to avoid [this union], they are caught

and held by it, for their nature is too strong for them; and thou wilt

see what I say, if thou only observest. Sooner, then, will one find

anything earthy which comes in contact with no earthy thing, than a man

altogether separated from other men.

10. Both man and God and the universe produce fruit; at the proper

seasons each produces it. But and if usage has especially fixed these

terms to the vine and like things, this is nothing. Reason produces fruit

both for all and for itself, and there are produced from it other things

of the same kind as reason itself.

11. If thou art able, correct by teaching those who do wrong; but if thou

canst not, remember that indulgence is given to thee for this purpose.

And the gods, too, are indulgent to such persons; and for some purposes

they even help them to get health, wealth, reputation; so kind they are.

And it is in thy power also; or say, who hinders thee?

12. Labor not as one who is wretched, nor yet as one who would be pitied

or admired: but direct thy will to one thing only,--to put thyself in

motion and to check thyself, as the social reason requires.

13. To-day I have got out of all trouble, or rather I have cast out all

trouble, for it was not outside, but within and in my opinions.

14. All things are the same, familiar in experience, and ephemeral in

time, and worthless in the matter. Everything now is just as it was in

the time of those whom we have buried.

15. Things stand outside of us, themselves by themselves, neither knowing

aught of themselves, nor expressing any judgment. What is it, then, which

does judge about them? The ruling faculty.

16. Not in passivity but in activity lie the evil and the good of the

rational social animal, just as his virtue and his vice lie not in

passivity but in activity.

17. For the stone which has been thrown up it is no evil to come down,

nor indeed any good to have been carried up (VIII. 20).

18. Penetrate inwards into men's leading principles, and thou wilt see

what judges thou art afraid of, and what kind of judges they are of

themselves.

19. All things are changing: and thou thyself art in continuous mutation

and in a manner in continuous destruction, and the whole universe too.

20. It is thy duty to leave another man's wrongful act there where it is

(VII. 29; IX. 38).

21. Termination of activity, cessation from movement and opinion, and in

a sense their death, is no evil. Turn thy thoughts now to the

consideration of thy life, thy life as a child, as a youth, thy manhood,

thy old age, for in these also every change was a death. Is this anything

to fear? Turn thy thoughts now to thy life under thy grandfather, then to

thy life under thy mother, then to thy life under thy father; and as thou

findest many other differences and changes and terminations, ask thyself,

Is this anything to fear? In like manner, then, neither are the

termination and cessation and change of thy whole life a thing to be

afraid of.

22. Hasten [to examine] thy own ruling faculty and that of the universe

and that of thy neighbor: thy own that thou mayst make it just; and that

of the universe, that thou mayst remember of what thou art a part; and

that of thy neighbor, that thou mayst know whether he has acted

ignorantly or with knowledge, and that thou mayst also consider that his

ruling faculty is akin to thine.

23. As thou thyself art a component part of a social system, so let every

act of thine be a component part of social life. Whatever act of thine

then has no reference either immediately or remotely to a social end,

this tears asunder thy life, and does not allow it to be one, and it is

of the nature of a mutiny, just as when in a popular assembly a man

acting by himself stands apart from the general agreement.

24. Quarrels of little children and their sports, and poor spirits

carrying about dead bodies [such is everything]; and so what is exhibited

in the representation of the mansions of the dead strikes our eyes more

clearly.

25. Examine into the quality of the form of an object, and detach it

altogether from its material part, and then contemplate it; then

determine the time, the longest which a thing of this peculiar form is

naturally made to endure.

26. Thou hast endured infinite troubles through not being contented with

thy ruling faculty when it does the things which it is constituted by

nature to do. But enough [of this].

27. When another blames thee or hates thee, or when men say about thee

anything injurious, approach their poor souls, penetrate within, and see

what kind of men they are. Thou wilt discover that there is no reason to

take any trouble that these men may have this or that opinion about thee.

However, thou must be well disposed towards them, for by nature they are

friends. And the gods too aid them in all ways, by dreams, by signs,

towards the attainment of those things on which they set a value.

28. The periodic movements of the universe are the same, up and down from

age to age. And either the universal intelligence puts itself in motion

for every separate effect, and if this is so, be thou content with that

which is the result of its activity: or it puts itself in motion once,

and everything else comes by way of sequence in a manner; or indivisible

elements are the origin of all things.--In a word, if there is a god, all

is well; and if chance rules, do not thou also be governed by it (VI. 44;

VII. 75).

Soon will the earth cover us all: then the earth, too, will change, and

the things also which result from change will continue to change forever,

and these again forever. For if a man reflects on the changes and

transformations which follow one another like wave after wave and their

rapidity, he will despise everything which is perishable (XII. 21).

29. The universal cause is like a winter torrent: it carries everything

along with it. But how worthless are all these poor people who are

engaged in matters political, and, as they suppose, are playing the

philosopher! All drivellers. Well then, man: do what nature now requires.

Set thyself in motion, if it is in thy power, and do not look about thee

to see if any one will observe it; nor yet expect Plato's Republic: but

be content if the smallest thing goes on well, and consider such an event

to be no small matter. For who can change men's opinions? and without a

change of opinions what else is there than the slavery of men who groan

while they pretend to obey? Come now and tell me of Alexander and

Philippus and Demetrius of Phalerum. They themselves shall judge whether

they discovered what the common nature required, and trained themselves

accordingly. But if they acted like tragedy heroes, no one has condemned

me to imitate them. Simple and modest is the work of philosophy. Draw me

not aside to insolence and pride.

30. Look down from above on the countless herds of men and their

countless solemnities, and the infinitely varied voyagings in storms and

calms, and the differences among those who are born, who live together,

and die. And consider, too, the life lived by others in olden time, and

the life of those who will live after thee, and the life now lived among

barbarous nations, and how many know not even thy name, and how many will

soon forget it, and how they who perhaps now are praising thee will very

soon blame thee, and that neither a posthumous name is of any value, nor

reputation, nor anything else.

31. Let there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things

which come from the external cause; and let there be justice in the

things done by virtue of the internal cause, that is, let there be

movement and action terminating in this, in social acts, for this is

according to thy nature.

32. Thou canst remove out of the way many useless things among those

which disturb thee, for they lie entirely in thy opinion; and thou wilt

then gain for thyself ample space by comprehending the whole universe in

thy mind, and by contemplating the eternity of time, and observing the

rapid change of every several thing, how short is the time from birth to

dissolution, and the illimitable time before birth as well as the equally

boundless time after dissolution!

33. All that thou seest will quickly perish, and those who have been

spectators of its dissolution will very soon perish too. And he who dies

at the extremest old age will be brought into the same condition with him

who died prematurely.

34. What are these men's leading principles, and about what kind of

things are they busy, and for what kind of reasons do they love and

honor? Imagine that thou seest their poor souls laid bare. When they

think that they do harm by their blame or good by their praise, what an

idea!

35. Loss is nothing else than change. But the universal nature delights

in change, and in obedience to her all things are now done well, and from

eternity have been done in like form, and will be such to time without

end. What, then, dost thou say,--that all things have been and all things

always will be bad, and that no power has ever been found in so many gods

to rectify these things, but the world has been condemned to be bound in

never ceasing evil (IV. 45; VII. 88)?

36. The rottenness of the matter which is the foundation of everything:

water, dust, bones, filth: or again, marble rocks, the callosities of the

earth; and gold and silver, the sediments; and garments, only bits of

hair; and purple dye, blood; and everything else is of the same kind. And

that which is of the nature of breath is also another thing of the same

kind, changing from this to that.

37. Enough of this wretched life and murmuring and apish tricks. Why art

thou disturbed? What is there new in this? What unsettles thee? Is it the

form of the thing? Look at it. Or is it the matter? Look at it. But

besides these there is nothing. Towards the gods then, now become at last

more simple and better. It is the same whether we examine these things

for a hundred years or three.

38. If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But perhaps he has

not done wrong.

39. Either all things proceed from one intelligent source and come

together as in one body, and the part ought not to find fault with what

is done for the benefit of the whole; or there are only atoms, and nothing

else than mixture and dispersion. Why, then, art thou disturbed? Say to

the ruling faculty, Art thou dead, art thou corrupted, art thou playing

the hypocrite, art thou become a beast, dost thou herd and feed with

the rest?

40. Either the gods have no power or they have power. If, then, they have

no power, why dost thou pray to them? But if they have power, why dost

thou not pray for them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the

things which thou fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which

thou desirest, or not being pained at anything, rather than pray that any

of these things should not happen or happen? for certainly if they can

co-operate with men, they can co-operate for these purposes. But perhaps

thou wilt say the gods have placed them in thy power. Well, then, is it

not better to use what is in thy power like a free man than to desire in

a slavish and abject way what is not in thy power? And who has told thee

that the gods do not aid us even in the things which are in our power?

Begin, then, to pray for such things, and thou wilt see. One man prays

thus: How shall I be able to lie with that woman? Do thou pray thus: How

shall I not desire to lie with her? Another prays thus: How shall I be

released from this? Another prays: How shall I not desire to be released?

Another thus: How shall I not lose my little son? Thou thus: How shall I

not be afraid to lose him? In fine, turn thy prayers this way, and see

what comes.

41. Epicurus says, In my sickness my conversation was not about my bodily

sufferings, nor, says he, did I talk on such subjects to those who

visited me; but I continued to discourse on the nature of things as

before, keeping to this main point, how the mind, while participating in

such movements as go on in the poor flesh, shall be free from

perturbations and maintain its proper good. Nor did I, he says, give the

physicians an opportunity of putting on solemn looks, as if they were

doing something great, but my life went on well and happily. Do, then,

the same that he did both in sickness, if thou art sick, and in any other

circumstances; for never to desert philosophy in any events that may

befall us, nor to hold trifling talk either with an ignorant man or with

one unacquainted with nature, is a principle of all schools of

philosophy; but to be intent only on that which thou art now doing and on

the instrument by which thou dost it.

42. When thou art offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately

ask thyself, Is it possible, then, that shameless men should not be in

the world? It is not possible. Do not, then, require what is impossible.

For this man also is one of those shameless men who must of necessity be

in the world. Let the same considerations be present to thy mind in the

case of the knave, and the faithless man, and of every man who does wrong

in any way. For at the same time that thou dost remind thyself that it is

impossible that such kind of men should not exist, thou wilt become more

kindly disposed towards every one individually. It is useful to perceive

this, too, immediately when the occasion arises, what virtue nature has

given to man to oppose to every wrongful act. For she has given to man,

as an antidote against the stupid man, mildness, and against another kind

of man some other power. And in all cases it is possible for thee to

correct by teaching the man who is gone astray; for every man who errs

misses his object and is gone astray. Besides, wherein hast thou been

injured? For thou wilt find that no one among those against whom thou art

irritated has done anything by which thy mind could be made worse; but

that which is evil to thee and harmful has its foundation only in the

mind. And what harm is done or what is there strange, if the man who has

not been instructed does the acts of an uninstructed man? Consider

whether thou shouldst not rather blame thyself, because thou didst not

expect such a man to err in such a way. For thou hadst means given thee

by thy reason to suppose that it was likely that he would commit this

error, and yet thou hast forgotten and art amazed that he has erred. But

most of all when thou blamest a man as faithless or ungrateful, turn to

thyself. For the fault is manifestly thy own, whether thou didst trust

that a man who had such a disposition would keep his promise, or when

conferring thy kindness thou didst not confer it absolutely, nor yet in

such way as to have received from thy very act all the profit. For what

more dost thou want when thou hast done a man a service? art thou not

content that thou hast done something comformable to thy nature, and dost

thou seek to be paid for it? just as if the eye demanded a recompense for

seeing, or the feet for walking. For as these members are formed for a

particular purpose, and by working according to their several

constitutions obtain what is their own; so also as man is formed by

nature to acts of benevolence, when he has done anything benevolent or in

any other way conducive to the common interest, he has acted conformably

to his constitution, and he gets what is his own.

BOOK X.

1. Wilt thou, then, my soul, never be good and simple and one and naked,

more manifest than the body which surrounds thee? Wilt thou never enjoy

an affectionate and contented disposition? Wilt thou never be full and

without a want of any kind, longing for nothing more, nor desiring

anything, either animate or inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasures?

nor yet desiring time wherein thou shalt have longer enjoyment, or place,

or pleasant climate, or society of men with whom thou mayest live in

harmony? but wilt thou be satisfied with thy present condition, and

pleased with all that is about thee, and wilt thou convince thyself that

thou hast everything, and that it comes from the gods, that everything is

well for thee, and will be well whatever shall please them, and whatever

they shall give for the conservation of the perfect living being, the

good and just and beautiful, which generates and holds together all

things, and contains and embraces all things which are dissolved for the

production of other like things? Wilt thou never be such that thou shalt

so dwell in community with gods and men as neither to find fault with

them at all, nor to be condemned by them?

2. Observe what thy nature requires, so far as thou art governed by

nature only: then do it and accept it, if thy nature, so far as thou art

a living being, shall not be made worse by it. And next thou must observe

what thy nature requires so far as thou art a living being. And all this

thou mayest allow thyself, if thy nature, so far as thou art a rational

animal, shall not be made worse by it. But the rational animal is

consequently also a political [social] animal. Use these rules, then, and

trouble thyself about nothing else.

3. Everything which happens either happens in such wise as thou art

formed by nature to bear it, or as thou art not formed by nature to bear

it. If, then, it happens to thee in such way as thou art formed by nature

to bear it, do not complain, but bear it as thou art formed by nature to

bear it. But if it happens in such wise as thou art not formed by nature

to bear it, do not complain, for it will perish after it has consumed

thee. Remember, however, that thou art formed by nature to bear

everything, with respect to which it depends on thy own opinion to make

it endurable and tolerable, by thinking that it is either thy interest or

thy duty to do this.

4. If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly and show him his error. But

if thou art not able, blame thyself, or blame not even thyself.

5. Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from all

eternity; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the

thread of thy being, and of that which is incident to it (III. II; IV.

26).

6. Whether the universe is [a concourse of] atoms, or nature [is a

system], let this first be established, that I am a part of the whole

which is governed by nature; next, I am in a manner intimately related to

the parts which are of the same kind with myself. For remembering this,

inasmuch as I am a part, I shall be discontented with none of the things

which are assigned to me out of the whole; for nothing is injurious to

the part if it is for the advantage of the whole. For the whole contains

nothing which is not for its advantage; and all natures indeed have this

common principle, but the nature of the universe has this principle

besides, that it cannot be compelled even by any external cause to

generate anything harmful to itself. By remembering, then, that I am a

part of such a whole, I shall be content with everything that happens.

And inasmuch as I am in a manner intimately related to the parts which

are of the same kind with myself, I shall do nothing unsocial, but I

shall rather direct myself to the things which are of the same kind with

myself, and I shall turn all my efforts to the common interest, and

divert them from the contrary. Now, if these things are done so, life

must flow on happily, just as thou mayest observe that the life of a

citizen is happy, who continues a course of action which is advantageous

to his fellow citizens, and is content with whatever the state may assign

to him.

7. The parts of the whole, everything, I mean, which is naturally

comprehended in the universe, must of necessity perish; but let this be

understood in this sense, that they must undergo change. But if this is

naturally both an evil and a necessity for the parts, the whole would not

continue to exist in a good condition, the parts being subject to change

and constituted so as to perish in various ways, For whether did Nature

herself design to do evil to the things which are parts of herself, and

to make them subject to evil and of necessity fall into evil, or have

such results happened without her knowing it? Both these suppositions,

indeed, are incredible. But if a man should even drop the term Nature [as

an efficient power], and should speak of these things as natural, even

then it would be ridiculous to affirm at the same time that the parts of

the whole are in their nature subject to change, and at the same time to

be surprised or vexed as if something were happening contrary to nature,

particularly as the dissolution of things is into those things of which

each thing is composed. For there is either a dispersion of the elements

out of which everything has been compounded, or a change from the solid

to the earthy and from the airy to the aerial, so that these parts are

taken back into the universal reason, whether this at certain periods is

consumed by fire or renewed by eternal changes. And do not imagine that

the solid and the airy part belongs to thee from the time of generation.

For all this received its accretion only yesterday and the day before, as

one may say, from the food and the air which is inspired. This, then,

which has received [the accretion], changes, not that which thy mother

brought forth. Hut suppose that this [which thy mother brought forth]

implicates thee very much with that other part, which has the peculiar

quality [of change], this is nothing in fact in the way of objection to

what is said.

8. When thou hast assumed these names, good, modest, true, rational, a

man of equanimity, and magnanimous, take care that thou dost not change

these names; and if thou shouldst lose them, quickly return to them. And

remember that the term Rational was intended to signify a discriminating

attention to every several thing, and freedom from negligence; and that

Equanimity is the voluntary acceptance of the things which are assigned

to thee by the common nature; and that Magnanimity is the elevation of

the intelligent part above the pleasurable or painful sensations of the

flesh, and above that poor thing called fame, and death, and all such

things. If, then, thou maintainest thyself in the possession of these

names, without desiring to be called by these names by others, thou wilt

be another person and wilt enter on another life. For to continue to be

such as thou hast hitherto been, and to be torn in pieces and defiled in

such a life, is the character of a very stupid man and one over-fond of

his life, and like those half-devoured fighters with wild beasts who,

though covered with wounds and gore, still entreat to be kept to the

following day, though they will be exposed in the same state to the same

claws and bites. Therefore fix thyself in the possession of these few

names: and if thou art able to abide in them, abide as if thou wast

removed to certain islands of the Happy. But if thou shalt perceive that

thou fallest out of them and dost not maintain thy hold, go courageously

into some nook where thou shalt maintain them, or even depart at once

from life, not in passion, but with simplicity and freedom and modesty,

after doing this one [laudable] thing at least in thy life, to have gone

out of it thus. In order, however, to the remembrance of these names, it

will greatly help thee if thou rememberest the gods, and that they wish

not to be flattered, but wish all reasonable beings to be made like

themselves; and if thou rememberest that what does the work of a fig-tree

is a fig-tree, and that what does the work of a dog is a dog, and that

what does the work of a bee is a bee, and that what does the work of a

man is a man.

9. Mimi, war, astonishment, torpor, slavery, will daily wipe out those

holy principles of thine. How many things without studying nature dost

thou imagine, and how many dost thou neglect? But it is thy duty so to

look on and so to do everything, that at the same time the power of

dealing with circumstances is perfected, and the contemplative faculty is

exercised, and the confidence which comes from the knowledge of each

several thing is maintained without showing it, but yet not concealed.

For when wilt thou enjoy simplicity, when gravity, and when the knowledge

of every several thing, both what it is in substance, and what place it

has in the universe, and how long it is formed to exist, and of what

things it is compounded, and to whom it can belong, and who are able both

to give it and take it away?

10. A spider is proud when it has caught a fly, and another when he has

caught a poor hare, and another when he has taken a little fish in a net,

and another when he has taken wild boars, and another when he has taken

bears, and another when he has taken Sarmatians. Are not these robbers,

if thou examinest their opinions?

11. Acquire the contemplative way of seeing how all things change into

one another, and constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself about this

part [of philosophy]. For nothing is so much adapted to produce

magnanimity. Such a man has put off the body, and as he sees that he

must, no one knows how soon, go away from among men and leave everything

here, he gives himself up entirely to just doing in all his actions, and

in everything else that happens he resigns himself to the universal

nature. But as to what any man shall say or think about him or do against

him, he never even thinks of it, being himself contented with these two

things,--with acting justly in what he now does, and being satisfied with

what is now assigned to him; and he lays aside all distracting and busy

pursuits, and desires nothing else than to accomplish the straight course

through the law, and by accomplishing the straight course to follow God.

12. What need is there of suspicious fear, since it is in thy power to

inquire what ought to be done? And if thou seest clear, go by this way

content, without turning back: but if thou dost not see clear, stop and

take the best advisers. But if any other things oppose thee, go on

according to thy powers with due consideration, keeping to that which

appears to be just. For it is best to reach this object, and if thou dost

fail, let thy failure be in attempting this. He who follows reason in all

things is both tranquil and active at the same time, and also cheerful

and collected.

13. Inquire of thyself as soon as thou wakest from sleep whether it will

make any difference to thee if another does what is just and right. It

will make no difference (VI. 32; VIII. 55).

Thou hast not forgotten, I suppose, that those who assume arrogant airs

in bestowing their praise or blame on others are such as they are at bed

and at board, and thou hast not forgotten what they do, and what they

avoid, and what they pursue, and how they steal and how they rob, not

with hands and feet, but with their most valuable part, by means of which

there is produced, when a man chooses, fidelity, modesty, truth, law, a

good daemon [happiness] (VII. 17)?

14. To her who gives and takes back all, to nature, the man who is

instructed and modest says, Give what thou wilt; take back what thou

wilt. And he says this not proudly, but obediently, and well pleased with

her.

15. Short is the little which remains to thee of life. Live as on a

mountain. For it makes no difference whether a man lives there or here,

if he lives everywhere in the world as in a state [political community].

Let men see, let them know a real man who lives according to nature. If

they cannot endure him, let them kill him. For that is better than to

live thus [as men do].

16. No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to

be, but be such.

17. Constantly contemplate the whole of time and the whole of substance,

and consider that all individual things as to substance are a grain of a

fig, and as to time the turning of a gimlet.

18. Look at everything that exists, and observe that it is already in

dissolution and in change, and as it were putrefaction or dispersion, or

that everything is so constituted by nature as to die.

19. Consider what men are when they are eating, sleeping, generating,

easing themselves, and so forth. Then what kind of men they are when they

are imperious and arrogant, or angry and scolding from their elevated

place. But a short time ago to how many they were slaves and for what

things; and after a little time consider in what a condition they will

be.

20. That is for the good of each thing, which the universal nature brings

to each. And it is for its good at the time when nature brings it.

21. "The earth loves the shower"; and "the solemn ether loves"; and the

universe loves to make whatever is about to be. I say then to the

universe, that I love as thou lovest. And is not this too said, that

"this or that loves [is wont] to be produced"?

22. Either thou livest here and hast already accustomed thyself to it, or

thou art going away, and this was thy own will; or thou art dying and

hast discharged thy duty. But besides these things there is nothing. Be

of good cheer, then.

23. Let this always be plain to thee, that this piece of land is like any

other; and that all things here are the same with things on the top of a

mountain, or on the sea-shore, or wherever thou choosest to be. For thou

wilt find just what Plato says, Dwelling within the walls of a city as in

a shepherd's fold on a mountain. [The three last words are omitted in the

translation.]

24. What is my ruling faculty now to me? and of what nature am I now

making it? and for what purpose am I now using it? is it void of

understanding? is it loosed and rent asunder from social life? is it

melted into and mixed with the poor flesh so as to move together with it?

25. He who flies from his master is a runaway; but the law is master, and

he who breaks the law is a runaway. And he also who is grieved or angry

or afraid, is dissatisfied because something has been or is or shall be

of the things which are appointed by him who rules all things, and he is

Law and assigns to every man what is fit. He then who fears or is grieved

or is angry is a runaway.

26. A man deposits seed in a womb and goes away, and then another cause

takes it, and labors on it and makes a child. What a thing from such a

material! Again, the child passes food down through the throat, and then

another cause takes it and makes perception and motion, and in fine, life

and strength and other things; how many and how strange! Observe then the

things which are produced in such a hidden way, and see the power just as

we see the power which carries things downwards and upwards, not with the

eyes, but still no less plainly (VII. 75).

27. Constantly consider how all things such as they now are, in time past

also were; and consider that they will be the same again. And place

before thy eyes entire dramas and stages of the same form, whatever thou

hast learned from thy experience or from older history; for example, the

whole court of Hadrianus, and the whole court of Antoninus, and the whole

court of Philippus, Alexander, Croesus; for all those were such dramas as

we see now, only with different actors.

28. Imagine every man who is grieved at anything or discontented to be

like a pig which is sacrificed and kicks and screams.

Like this pig also is he who on his bed in silence laments the bonds in

which we are held. And consider that only to the rational animal is it

given to follow voluntarily what happens; but simply to follow is a

necessity imposed on all.

29. Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and

ask thyself if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of

this.

30. When thou art offended at any man's fault, forthwith turn to thyself

and reflect in what like manner thou dost err thyself; for example, in

thinking that money is a good thing, or pleasure, or a bit of reputation,

and the like. For by attending to this thou wilt quickly forget thy

anger, if this consideration also is added, that the man is compelled:

for what else could he do? or, if thou art able, take away from him the

compulsion.

31. When thou hast seen Satyron the Socratic, think of either Eutyches or

Hymen, and when thou hast seen Euphrates, think of Eutychion or Silvanus,

and when thou hast seen Alciphron think of Tropaeophorus, and when thou

hast seen Xenophon, think of Crito or Severus, and when thou hast looked

on thyself, think of any other Caesar, and in the case of every one do in

like manner. Then let this thought be in thy mind, Where then are those

men? Nowhere, or nobody knows where. For thus continuously thou wilt look

at human things as smoke and nothing at all; especially if thou

reflectest at the same time that what has once changed will never exist

again in the infinite duration of time. But thou, in what a brief space

of time is thy existence? And why art thou not content to pass through

this short time in an orderly way? What matter and opportunity [for thy

activity] art thou avoiding? For what else are all these things, except

exercises for the reason, when it has viewed carefully and by examination

into their nature the things which happen in life? Persevere then until

thou shalt have made these things thy own, as the stomach which is

strengthened makes all things its own, as the blazing fire makes flame

and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.

32. Let it not be in any man's power to say truly of thee that thou art

not simple or that thou art not good; but let him be a liar whoever shall

think anything of this kind about thee; and this is altogether in thy

power. For who is he that shall hinder thee from being good and simple?

Do thou only determine to live no longer unless thou shalt be such. For

neither does reason allow [thee to live], if thou art not such.

33. What is that which as to this material [our life] can be done or said

in the way most conformable to reason? For whatever this may be, it is in

thy power to do it or to say it, and do not make excuses that thou art

hindered. Thou wilt not cease to lament till thy mind is in such a

condition that, what luxury is to those who enjoy pleasure, such shall be

to thee, in the matter which is subjected and presented to thee, the

doing of the things which are conformable to man's constitution; for a

man ought to consider as an enjoyment everything which it is in his power

to do according to his own nature. And it is in his power everywhere.

Now, it is not given to a cylinder to move everywhere by its own motion,

nor yet to water nor to fire, nor to anything else which is governed by

nature or an irrational soul, for the things which check them and stand

in the way are many. But intelligence and reason are able to go through

everything that opposes them, and in such manner as they are formed by

nature and as they choose. Place before thy eyes this facility with which

the reason will be carried through all things, as fire upwards, as a

stone downwards, as a cylinder down an inclined surface, and seek for

nothing further. For all other obstacles either affect the body only,

which is a dead thing; or, except through opinion and the yielding of the

reason itself, they do not crush nor do any harm of any kind; for if they

did, he who felt it would immediately become bad. Now, in the case of all

things which have a certain constitution, whatever harm may happen to any

of them, that which is so affected becomes consequently worse; but in the

like case, a man becomes both better, if one may say so, and more worthy

of praise by making a right use of these accidents. And finally remember

that nothing harms him who is really a citizen, which does not harm the

state; nor yet does anything harm the state, which does not harm law

[order]; and of these things which are called misfortunes not one harms

law. What then does not harm law does not harm either state or citizen.

34. To him who is penetrated by true principles even the briefest precept

is sufficient, and any common precept, to remind him that he should be

free from grief and fear. For example,--

"Leaves, some the wind scatters on the ground--

So is the race of men."

Leaves, also, are thy children; and leaves, too, are they who cry out as

if they were worthy of credit and bestow their praise, or on the contrary

curse, or secretly blame and sneer; and leaves, in like manner, are those

who shall receive and transmit a man's fame to after-times. For all such

things as these "are produced in the season of spring," as the poet says;

then the wind casts them down; then the forest produces other leaves in

their places. But a brief existence is common to all things, and yet thou

avoidest and pursuest all things as if they would be eternal. A little

time, and thou shalt close thy eyes; and him who has attended thee to thy

grave another will soon lament.

35. The healthy eye ought to see all visible things and not to say, I

wish for green things; for this is the condition of a diseased eye. And

the healthy hearing and smelling ought to be ready to perceive all that

can be heard and smelled. And the healthy stomach ought to be with

respect to all food just as the mill with respect to all things which it

is formed to grind. And accordingly the healthy understanding ought to be

prepared for everything which happens; but that which says, Let my dear

children live, and let all men praise whatever I may do, is an eye which

seeks for green things, or teeth which seek for soft things.

36. There is no man so fortunate that there shall not be by him when he

is dying some who are pleased with what is going to happen. Suppose that

he was a good and wise man, will there not be at last some one to say to

himself, Let us at last breathe freely, being relieved from this

schoolmaster? It is true that he was harsh to none of us, but I perceived

that he tacitly condemns us.--This is what is said of a good man. But in

our own case how many other things are there for which there are many who

wish to get rid of us. Thou wilt consider this, then, when thou art

dying, and thou wilt depart more contentedly by reflecting thus: I am

going away from such a life, in which even my associates in behalf of

whom I have striven so much, prayed, and cared, themselves wish me to

depart, hoping perchance to get some little advantage by it. Why then

should a man cling to a longer stay here? Do not however for this reason

go away less kindly disposed to them, but preserving thy own character,

and friendly and benevolent and mild, and on the other hand not as if

thou wast torn away; but as when a man dies a quiet death, the poor soul

is easily separated from the body, such also ought thy departure from men

to be, for nature united thee to them and associated thee. But does she

now dissolve the union? Well, I am separated as from kinsmen, not however

dragged resisting, but without compulsion; for this, too, is one of the

things according to nature.

37. Accustom thyself as much as possible on the occasion of anything

being done by any person to inquire with thyself, For what object is this

man doing this? But begin with thyself, and examine thyself first.

38. Remember that this which pulls the strings is the thing which is

hidden within: this is the power of persuasion, this is life, this, if

one may so say, is man. In contemplating thyself never include the vessel

which surrounds thee and these instruments which are attached about it.

For they are like to an axe, differing only in this, that they grow to

the body. For indeed there is no more use in these parts without the

cause which moves and checks them than in the weaver's shuttle, and the

writer's pen, and the driver's whip.

BOOK XI.

1. These are the properties of the rational soul: it sees itself,

analyses itself, and makes itself such as it chooses; the fruit which it

bears itself enjoys,--for the fruits of plants and that in animals which

corresponds to fruits others enjoy,--it obtains its own end, wherever the

limit of life may be fixed. Not as in a dance and in a play and in such

like things, where the whole action is incomplete if anything cuts it

short; but in every part, and where-ever it may be stopped, it makes what

has been set before it full and complete, so that it can say, I have what

is my own. And further it traverses the whole universe, and the

surrounding vacuum, and surveys its form, and it extends itself into the

infinity of time, and embraces and comprehends the periodical renovation

of all things, and it comprehends that those who come after us will see

nothing new, nor have those before us seen anything more, but in a manner

he who is forty years old, if he has any understanding at all, has seen

by virtue of the uniformity that prevails all things which have been and

all that will be. This too is a property of the rational soul, love of

one's neighbor, and truth and modesty, and to value nothing more than

itself, which is also the property of Law. Thus then right reason differs

not at all from the reason of justice.

2. Thou wilt set little value on pleasing song and dancing and the

pancratium, if thou wilt distribute the melody of the voice into its

several sounds, and ask thyself as to each, if thou art mastered by this;

for thou wilt be prevented by shame from confessing it: and in the matter

of dancing, if at each movement and attitude thou wilt do the same; and

the like also in the matter of the pancratium. In all things, then,

except virtue and the acts of virtue, remember to apply thyself to their

several parts, and by this division to come to value them little: and

apply this rule also to thy whole life.

3. What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be

separated from the body, and ready either to be extinguished or dispersed

or continue to exist; but so that this readiness comes from a man's own

judgment, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but

considerately and with dignity and in a way to persuade another, without

tragic show.

4. Have I done something for the general interest? Well then I have had

my reward. Let this always be present to thy mind, and never stop [doing

such good].

5. What is thy art? To be good. And how is this accomplished well except

by general principles, some about the nature of the universe, and others

about the proper constitution of man?

6. At first tragedies were brought on the stage as means of reminding men

of the things which happen to them, and that it is according to nature

for things to happen so, and that, if you are delighted with what is

shown on the stage, you should not be troubled with that which takes

place on the larger stage. For you see that these things must be

accomplished thus, and that even they bear them who cry out, "O

Cithaeron." And, indeed, some things are said well by the dramatic

writers, of which kind is the following especially:--

"Me and my children if the gods neglect,

This has its reason too."

And again,--

"We must not chafe and fret at that which happens."

And,--

"Life's harvest reap like the wheat's fruitful ear."

And other things of the same kind.

After tragedy the old comedy was introduced, which had a magisterial

freedom of speech, and by its very plainness of speaking was useful in

reminding men to beware of insolence; and for this purpose too Diogenes

used to take from these writers.

But as to the middle comedy, which came next, observe what it was, and

again, for what object the new comedy was introduced, which gradually

sank down into a mere mimic artifice. That some good things are said even

by these writers, everybody knows: but the whole plan of such poetry and

dramaturgy, to what end does it look?

7. How plain does it appear that there is not another condition of life

so well suited for philosophizing as this in which thou now happenest to

be.

8. A branch cut off from the adjacent branch must of necessity be cut off

from the whole tree also. So too a man when he is separated from another

man has fallen off from the whole social community. Now as to a branch,

another cuts it off; but a man by his own act separates himself from his

neighbor when he hates him and turns away from him, and he does not know

that he has at the same time cut himself off from the whole social

system. Yet he has this privilege certainly from Zeus, who framed

society, for it is in our power to grow again to that which is near to

us, and again to become a part which helps to make up the whole. However,

if it often happens, this kind of separation, it makes it difficult for

that which detaches itself to be brought to unity and to be restored to

its former condition. Finally, the branch, which from the first grew

together with the tree, and has continued to have one life with it, is

not like that which after being cut off is then ingrafted, for this is

something like what the gardeners mean when they say that it grows with

the rest of the tree, but that it has not the same mind with it.

9. As those who try to stand in thy way when thou art proceeding

according to right reason will not be able to turn thee aside from thy

proper action, so neither let them drive thee from thy benevolent

feelings towards them, but be on thy guard equally in both matters, not

only in the matter of steady judgment and action, but also in the matter

of gentleness to those who try to hinder or otherwise trouble thee. For

this also is a weakness, to be vexed at them, as well as to be diverted

from thy course of action and to give way through fear; for both are

equally deserters from their post,--the man who does it through fear, and

the man who is alienated from him who is by nature a kinsman and a

friend.

10. There is no nature which is inferior to art, for the arts imitate the

natures of things. But if this is so, that nature which is the most

perfect and the most comprehensive of all natures, cannot fall short of

the skill of art. Now all arts do the inferior things for the sake of the

superior; therefore the universal nature does so too. And, indeed, hence

is the origin of justice, and in justice the other virtues have their

foundation: for justice will not be observed, if we either care for

middle things [things indifferent], or are easily deceived and careless

and changeable (V. 16, 30; VII. 55).

11. If the things do not come to thee, the pursuits and avoidances of

which disturb thee, still in a manner thou goest to them. Let then thy

judgment about them be at rest, and they will remain quiet, and thou wilt

not be seen either pursuing or avoiding.

12. The spherical form of the soul maintains its figure when it is

neither extended towards any object, nor contracted inwards, nor

dispersed nor sinks down, but is illuminated by light, by which it sees

the truth,--the truth of all things and the truth that is in itself

(VIII. 41, 45; XII. 3).

13. Suppose any man shall despise me. Let him look to that himself. But I

will look to this, that I be not discovered doing or saying anything

deserving of contempt. Shall any man hate me? Let him look to it. But I

will be mild and benevolent towards every man, and ready to show even him

his mistake, not reproachfully, nor yet as making a display of my

endurance, but nobly and honestly, like the great Phocion, unless indeed

he only assumed it. For the interior [parts] ought to be such, and a man

ought to be seen by the gods neither dissatisfied with anything nor

complaining. For what evil is it to thee, if thou art now doing what is

agreeable to thy own nature, and art satisfied with that which at this

moment is suitable to the nature of the universe, since thou art a human

being placed at thy post in order that what is for the common advantage

may be done in some way?

14. Men despise one another and flatter one another; and men wish to

raise themselves above one another, and crouch before one another.

15. How unsound and insincere is he who says, I have determined to deal

with thee in a fair way!--What art thou doing, man? There is no occasion

to give this notice. It will soon show itself by acts. The voice ought to

be plainly written on the forehead. Such as a man's character is, he

immediately shows it in his eyes, just as he who is beloved forthwith

reads everything in the eyes of lovers. The man who is honest and good

ought to be exactly like a man who smells strong, so that the bystander

as soon as he comes near him must smell whether he choose or not. But the

affectation of simplicity is like a crooked stick. Nothing is more

disgraceful than a wolfish friendship [false friendship]. Avoid this most

of all. The good and simple and benevolent show all these things in the

eyes, and there is no mistaking.

16. As to living in the best way, this power is in the soul, if it be

indifferent to things which are indifferent. And it will be indifferent,

if it looks on each of these things separately and all together, and if

it remembers that not one of them produces in us an opinion about itself,

nor comes to us; but these things remain immovable, and it is we

ourselves who produce the judgments about them, and, as we may say, write

them in ourselves, it being in our power not to write them, and it being

in our power, if perchance these judgments have imperceptibly got

admission to our minds, to wipe them out; and if we remember also that

such attention will only be for a short time, and then life will be at an

end. Besides, what trouble is there at all in doing this? For if these

things are according to nature, rejoice in them and they will be easy to

thee: but if contrary to nature, seek what is conformable to thy own

nature, and strive towards this, even if it bring no reputation; for

every man is allowed to seek his own good.

17. Consider whence each thing is come, and of what it consists, and into

what it changes, and what kind of a thing it will be when it has changed,

and that it will sustain no harm.

18. [If any have offended against thee, consider first]: What is my

relation to men, and that we are made for one another; and in another

respect I was made to be set over them, as a ram over the flock or a bull

over the herd. But examine the matter from first principles, from this:

If all things are not mere atoms, it is nature which orders all things:

if this is so, the inferior things exist for the sake of the superior,

and these for the sake of one another (II. 1; IX. 39; V. 16; III. 4).

Second, consider what kind of men they are at table, in bed, and so

forth: and particularly, under what compulsions in respect of opinions

they are; and as to their acts, consider with what pride they do what

they do (VIII. 14; IX. 34).

Third, that if men do rightly what they do, we ought not to be

displeased: but if they do not right, it is plain that they do so

involuntarily and in ignorance. For as every soul is unwillingly deprived

of the truth, so also is it unwillingly deprived of the power of behaving

to each man according to his deserts. Accordingly men are pained when

they are called unjust, ungrateful, and greedy, and in a word wrong-doers

to their neighbors (VII. 62, 63; II. 1; VII. 26; VIII. 29).

Fourth, consider that thou also dost many things wrong, and that thou art

a man like others; and even if thou dost abstain from certain faults,

still thou hast the disposition to commit them, though either through

cowardice, or concern about reputation, or some such mean motive, thou

dost abstain from such faults (I. 17).

Fifth, consider that thou dost not even understand whether men are doing

wrong or not, for many things are done with a certain reference to

circumstances. And in short, a man must learn a great deal to enable him

to pass a correct judgment on another man's acts (IX. 38; IV. 51).

Sixth, consider when thou art much vexed or grieved, that man's life is

only a moment, and after a short time we are all laid out dead (VII. 58;

IV. 48).

Seventh, that it is not men's acts which disturb us, for those acts have

their foundation in men's ruling principles, but it is our own opinions

which disturb us. Take away these opinions then, and resolve to dismiss

thy judgment about an act as if it were something grievous, and thy anger

is gone. How then shall I take away these opinions? By reflecting that no

wrongful act of another brings shame on thee: for unless that which is

shameful is alone bad, thou also must of necessity do many things wrong,

and become a robber and everything else (V. 25; VII. 16).

Eighth, consider how much more pain is brought on us by the anger and

vexation caused by such acts than by the acts themselves, at which we are

angry and vexed (IV. 39, 49; VII. 24).

Ninth, consider that a good disposition is invincible if it be genuine,

and not an affected smile and acting a part. For what will the most

violent man do to thee, if thou continuest to be of a kind disposition

towards him, and if, as opportunity offers, thou gently admonishest him

and calmly correctest his errors at the very time when he is trying to do

thee harm, saying, Not so, my child: we are constituted by nature for

something else: I shall certainly not be injured, but thou art injuring

thyself, my child.--And show him with gentle tact and by general

principles that this is so, and that even bees do not do as he does, nor

any animals which are formed by nature to be gregarious. And thou must do

this neither with any double meaning nor in the way of reproach, but

affectionately and without any rancor in thy soul; and not as if thou

wert lecturing him, nor yet that any bystander may admire, but either

when he is alone, and if others are present.... [Footnote: 6]

Remember these nine rules, as if thou hadst received them as a gift from

the Muses, and begin at last to be a man while thou livest. But thou must

equally avoid flattering men and being vexed at them, for both are

unsocial and lead to harm. And let this truth be present to thee in the

excitement of anger, that to be moved by passion is not manly, but that

mildness and gentleness, as they are more agreeable to human nature, so

also are they more manly; and he who possesses these qualities

possesses strength, nerves, and courage, and not the man who is subject

to fits of passion and discontent. For in the same degree in which a

man's mind is nearer to freedom from all passion, in the same degree also

is it nearer to strength: and as the sense of pain is a characteristic of

weakness, so also is anger. For he who yields to pain and he who yields

to anger, both are wounded and both submit.

But if thou wilt, receive also a tenth present from the leader of the

[Muses, Apollo], and it is this,--that to expect bad men not to do wrong

is madness, for he who expects this desires an impossibility. But to

allow men to behave so to others, and to expect them not to do thee any

wrong, is irrational and tyrannical.

19. There are four principal aberrations of the superior faculty against

which thou shouldst be constantly on thy guard, and when thou hast

detected them, thou shouldst wipe them out and say on each occasion thus:

This thought is not necessary: this tends to destroy social union: this

which thou art going to say comes not from the real thoughts; for thou

shouldst consider it among the most absurd of things for a man not to

speak from his real thoughts. But the fourth is when thou shalt reproach

thyself for anything, for this is an evidence of the diviner part within

thee being overpowered and yielding to the less honorable and to the

perishable part, the body, and to its gross pleasures (IV. 24; II. 16).

20. Thy aerial part and all the fiery parts which are mingled in thee,

though by nature they have an upward tendency, still in obedience to the

disposition of the universe they are overpowered here in the compound

mass [the body]. And also the whole of the earthy part in thee and the

watery, though their tendency is downward, still are raised up and occupy

a position which is not their natural one. In this manner then the

elemental parts obey the universal; for when they have been fixed in any

place, perforce they remain there until again the universal shall sound

the signal for dissolution. Is it not then strange that thy intelligent

part only should be disobedient and discontented with its own place? And

yet no force is imposed on it, but only those things which are

comformable to its nature: still it does not submit, but is carried in

the opposite direction. For the movement towards injustice and

intemperance and to anger and grief and fear is nothing else than the act

of one who deviates from nature. And also when the ruling faculty is

discontented with anything that happens, then too it deserts its post:

for it is constituted for piety and reverence towards the gods no less

than for justice. For these qualities also are comprehended under the

generic term of contentment with the constitution of things, and indeed

they are prior to acts of justice.

21. He who has not one and always the same object in life, cannot be one

and the same all through his life. But what I have said is not enough,

unless this also is added, what this object ought to be. For as there is

not the same opinion about all the things which in some way or other are

considered by the majority to be good, but only about some certain

things, that is, things which concern the common interest, so also ought

we to propose to ourselves an object which shall be of a common kind

[social] and political. For he who directs all his own efforts to this

object, will make all his acts alike, and thus will always be the same.

22. Think of the country mouse and of the town mouse, and of the alarm

and trepidation of the town mouse. [Footnote: 7]

23. Socrates used to call the opinions of the many by the name of

Lamiae,--bugbears to frighten children.

24. The Lacedaemonians at their public spectacles used to set seats in

the shade for strangers, but themselves sat down anywhere.

25. Socrates excused himself to Perdiccas for not going to him, saying,

It is because I would not perish by the worst of all ends; that is, I

would not receive a favor and then be unable to return it.

26. In the writings of the [Ephesians] there was this precept, constantly

to think of some one of the men of former times who practised virtue.

27. The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning look to the heavens that we

may be reminded of those bodies which continually do the same things and

in the same manner perform their work, and also be reminded of their

purity and nudity. For there is no veil over a star.

28. Consider what a man Socrates was when he dressed himself in a skin,

after Xanthippe had taken his cloak and gone out, and what Socrates said

to his friends who were ashamed of him and drew back from him when they

saw him dressed thus.

29. Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou be able to lay down rules

for others before thou shalt have first learned to obey rules thyself.

Much more is this so in life.

30. A slave thou art: free speech is not for thee.

31. And my heart laughed within.

_Odyssey_, IX. 413.

32. And virtue they will curse, speaking harsh words.

HESIOD, _Works and Days_, 184.

33. To look for the fig in winter is a madman's act: such is he who looks

for his child when it is no longer allowed (Epictetus, III. 24, 87).

34. When a man kisses his child, said Epictetus, he should whisper to

himself, "To-morrow perchance thou wilt die."--But those are words of bad

omen.--"No word is a word of bad omen," said Epictetus, "which expresses

any work of nature; or if it is so, it is also a word of bad omen to

speak of the ears of corn being reaped" (Epictetus, III. 24, 88).

35. The unripe grape, the ripe bunch, the dried grape all are changes,

not into nothing, but into something which exists not yet (Epictetus,

III. 24).

36. No man can rob us of our free will (Epictetus III. 22, 105).

37. Epictetus also said, a man must discover an art [or rules] with

respect to giving his assent; and in respect to his movements he must be

careful that they be made with regard to circumstances, that they be

consistent with social interests, that they have regard to the value of

the object; and as to sensual desire, he should altogether keep away from

it; and as to avoidance [aversion], he should not show it with respect to

any of the things which are not in our power.

38. The dispute then, he said, is not about any common matter, but about

being mad or not.

39. Socrates used to say, What do you want, souls of rational men or

irrational?--souls of rational men.--Of what rational men, sound or

unsound?--Sound.--Why then do you not seek for them?--Because we have

them.--Why then do you fight and quarrel?

BOOK XII.

1. All those things at which thou wishest to arrive by a circuitous road

thou canst have now, if thou dost not refuse them to thyself. And this

means, if thou wilt take no notice of all the past, and trust the future

to providence, and direct the present only conformably to piety and

justice. Conformably to piety, that thou mayest be content with the lot

which is assigned to thee, for nature designed it for thee and thee for

it. Conformably to justice, that thou mayest always speak the truth

freely and without disguise, and do the things which are agreeable to law

and according to the worth of each. And let neither another man's

wickedness hinder thee, nor opinion nor voice, nor yet the sensations of

the poor flesh which has grown about thee; for the passive part will look

to this. If, then, whatever the time may be when thou shalt be near to

thy departure, neglecting everything else thou shalt respect only thy

ruling faculty and the divinity within thee, and if thou shalt be afraid

not because thou must some time cease to live, but if thou shalt fear

never to have begun to live according to nature,--then thou wilt be a man

worthy of the universe which hast produced thee, and thou wilt cease to

be a stranger in thy native land, and to wonder at things which happen

daily as if they were something unexpected, and not to be dependent on

this or that.

2. God sees the minds [ruling principles] of all men bared of the

material vesture and rind and impurities. For with his intellectual part

alone he touches the intelligence only which has flowed and been derived

from himself into these bodies. And if thou also usest thyself to do

this, thou wilt rid thyself of thy much trouble. For he who regards not

the poor flesh which envelops him, surely will not trouble himself by

looking after raiment and dwelling and fame and such like externals and

show.

3. The things are three of which thou art composed: a little body, a

little breath [life], intelligence. Of these the first two are thine, so

far as it is thy duty to take care of them; but the third alone is

properly thine. Therefore if thou shalt separate from thyself, that is,

from thy understanding, whatever others do or say, and whatever thou hast

done or said thyself, and whatever future things trouble thee because

they may happen, and whatever in the body which envelops thee or in the

breath [life], which is by nature associated with the body, is attached

to thee independent of thy will, and whatever the external circumfluent

vortex whirls round, so that the intellectual power exempt from the

things of fate can live pure and free by itself, doing what is just and

accepting what happens and saying the truth: if thou wilt separate, I

say, from this ruling faculty the things which are attached to it by the

impressions of sense, and the things of time to come and of time that is

past, and wilt make thyself like Empedocles' sphere,

"All round and in its joyous rest reposing";

and if thou shalt strive to live only what is really thy life, that is,

the present,--then thou wilt be able to pass that portion of life which

remains for thee up to the time of thy death free from perturbations,

nobly, and obedient to thy own daemon [to the god that is within thee]

(II. 13, 17; III. 5, 6; XI. 12).

4. I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than

all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of

himself than on the opinion of others. If then a god or a wise teacher

should present himself to a man and bid him to think of nothing and to

design nothing which he would not express as soon as he conceived it, he

could not endure it even for a single day. So much more respect have we

to what our neighbors shall think of us than to what we shall think of

ourselves.

5. How can it be that the gods, after having arranged all things well and

benevolently for mankind, have overlooked this alone, that some men, and

very good men, and men who, as we may say, have had most communion with

the divinity, and through pious acts and religious observances have been

most intimate with the divinity, when they have once died should never

exist again, but should be completely extinguished?

But if this is so, be assured that if it ought to have been otherwise,

the gods would have done it. For if it were just, it would also be

possible; and if it were according to nature, nature would have had it

so. But because it is not so, if in fact it is not so, be thou convinced

that it ought not to have been so: for thou seest even of thyself that in

this inquiry thou art disputing with the Deity; and we should not thus

dispute with the gods, unless they were most excellent and most just; but

if this is so, they would not have allowed anything in the ordering of

the universe to be neglected unjustly and irrationally.

6. Practise thyself even in the things which thou despairest of

accomplishing. For even the left hand, which is ineffectual for all other

things for want of practice, holds the bridle more vigorously than the

right hand; for it has been practised in this.

7. Consider in what condition both in body and soul a man should be when

he is overtaken by death; and consider the shortness of life, the

boundless abyss of time past and future, the feebleness of all matter.

8. Contemplate the formative principles [forms] of things bare of their

coverings; the purposes of actions; consider what pain is, what pleasure

is, and death, and fame; who is to himself the cause of his uneasiness;

how no man is hindered by another; that everything is opinion.

9. In the application of thy principles thou must be like the

pancratiast, not like the gladiator; for the gladiator lets fall the

sword which he uses and is killed; but the other always has his hand, and

needs to do nothing else than use it.

10. See what things are in themselves, dividing them into matter, form,

and purpose.

11. What a power man has to do nothing except what God will approve, and

to accept all that God may give him.

12. With respect to that which happens conformably to nature, we ought to

blame neither gods, for they do nothing wrong either voluntarily or

involuntarily, nor men, for they do nothing wrong except involuntarily.

Consequently we should blame nobody (II. 11, 12, 13; VII. 62; VIII. 17,

18).

13. How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything

which happens in life.

14. Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a kind

providence, or a confusion without a purpose and without a director (IV.

27). If then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist? But

if there is a providence which allows itself to be propitiated, make

thyself worthy of the help of the divinity. But if there is a confusion

without a governor, be content that in such a tempest thou hast in

thyself a certain ruling intelligence. And even if the tempest carry thee

away, let it carry away the poor flesh, the poor breath, everything else;

for the intelligence at least it will not carry away.

15. Does the light of the lamp shine without losing its splendor until it

is extinguished; and shall the truth which is in thee and justice and

temperance be extinguished [before thy death]?

16. When a man has presented the appearance of having done wrong [say],

How then do I know if this is a wrongful act? And even if he has done

wrong, how do I know that he has not condemned himself? And so this is

like tearing his own face. Consider that he who would not have the bad

man do wrong, is like the man who would not have the fig-tree bear juice

in the figs, and infants cry, and the horse neigh, and whatever else must

of necessity be. For what must a man do who has such a character? If then

thou art irritable, cure this man's disposition.

17. If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.

[For let thy efforts be--]

18. In everything always observe what the thing is which produces for

thee an appearance, and resolve it by dividing it into the formal, the

material, the purpose, and the time within which it must end.

19. Perceive at last that thou hast in thee something better and more

divine than the things which cause the various effects, and as it were

pull thee by the strings. What is there now in my mind,--is it fear, or

suspicion, or desire, or anything of the kind (V. 11)?

20. First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose. Second,

make thy acts refer to nothing else than to a social end.

21. Consider that before long thou wilt be nobody and nowhere, nor will

any of the things exist which thou now seest, nor any of those who are

now living. For all things are formed by nature to change and be turned

and to perish, in order that other things in continuous succession may

exist (IX. 28).

22. Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power.

Take away then, when thou choosest, thy opinion, and like a mariner who

has doubled the promontory, thou wilt find calm, everything stable, and a

waveless bay.

23. Any one activity, whatever it may be, when it has ceased at its

proper time, suffers no evil because it has ceased; nor he who has done

this act, does he suffer any evil for this reason, that the act has

ceased. In like manner then the whole which consists of all the acts,

which is our life, if it cease at its proper time, suffers no evil for

this reason, that it has ceased; nor he who has terminated this series at

the proper time, has he been ill dealt with. But the proper time and the

limit nature fixes, sometimes as in old age the peculiar nature of man,

but always the universal nature, by the change of whose parts the whole

universe continues ever young and perfect. And everything which is useful

to the universal is always good and in season. Therefore the termination

of life for every man is no evil, because neither is it shameful, since

it is both independent of the will and not opposed to the general

interest, but it is good, since it is seasonable, and profitable to and

congruent with the universal. For thus too he is moved by the Deity who

is moved in the same manner with the Deity, and moved towards the same

things in his mind.

24. These three principles thou must have in readiness: In the things

which thou dost do nothing either inconsiderately or otherwise than as

Justice herself would act; but with respect to what may happen to thee

from without, consider that it happens either by chance or according to

providence, and thou must neither blame chance nor accuse providence.

Second, consider what every being is from the seed to the time of its

receiving a soul, and from the reception of a soul to the giving back of

the same, and of what things every being is compounded, and into what

things it is resolved. Third, if thou shouldst suddenly be raised up

above the earth, and shouldst look down on human things, and observe the

variety of them how great it is, and at the same time also shouldst see

at a glance how great is the number of beings who dwell all around in the

air and the ether, consider that as often as thou shouldst be raised up,

thou wouldst see the same things, sameness of form and shortness of

duration. Are these things to be proud of?

25. Cast away opinion: thou art saved. Who then hinders thee from casting

it away?

26. When thou art troubled about anything, thou hast forgotten this, that

all things happen according to the universal nature; and forgotten this,

that a man's wrongful act is nothing to thee; and further thou hast

forgotten this, that everything which happens, always happened so and

will happen so, and now happens so everywhere; forgotten this too, how

close is the kinship between a man and the whole human race, for it is a

community, not of a little blood or seed, but of intelligence. And thou

hast forgotten this too, that every man's intelligence is a god and is an

efflux of the Deity; and forgotten this, that nothing is a man's own, but

that his child and his body and his very soul came from the Deity;

forgotten this, that everything is opinion; and lastly thou hast

forgotten that every man lives the present time only, and loses only

this.

27. Constantly bring to thy recollection those who have complained

greatly about anything, those who have been most conspicuous by the

greatest fame or misfortunes or enmities or fortunes of any kind: then

think where are they all now? Smoke and ash and a tale, or not even a

tale. And let there be present to thy mind also everything of this sort,

how Fabius Catullinus lived in the country, and Lucius Lupus in his

gardens, and Stertinius at Baiae, and Tiberius at Capreae, and Velius

Rufus [or Rufus at Velia]; and in fine think of the eager pursuit of

anything conjoined with pride; and how worthless everything is after

which men violently strain; and how much more philosophical it is for a

man in the opportunities presented to him to show himself just,

temperate, obedient to the gods, and to do this with all simplicity: for

the pride which is proud of its want of pride is the most intolerable of

all.

28. To those who ask, Where hast thou seen the gods, or how dost thou

comprehend that they exist and so worshippest them, I answer, in the

first place, they may be seen even with the eyes; [Footnote: 8] in the

second place, neither have I seen even my own soul, and yet I honor it.

Thus then with respect to the gods, from what I constantly experience of

their power, from this I comprehend that they exist, and I venerate them.

29. The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what

it is itself, that is its material, what the formal part; with all thy

soul to do justice and to say the truth. What remains, except to enjoy

life by joining one good thing to another so as not to leave even the

smallest intervals between?

30. There is one light of the sun, though it is interrupted by walls,

mountains, and other things infinite. There is one common substance,

though it is distributed among countless bodies which have their several

qualities. There is one soul, though it is distributed among infinite

natures and individual circumscriptions [or individuals]. There is one

intelligent soul, though it seems to be divided. Now in the things which

have been mentioned, all the other parts, such as those which are air and

matter, are without sensation and have no fellowship: and yet even these

parts the intelligent principle holds together and the gravitation

towards the same. But intellect in a peculiar manner tends to that which

is of the same kin, and combines with it, and the feeling for communion

is not interrupted.

31. What dost thou wish,--to continue to exist? Well, dost thou wish to

have sensation, movement, growth, and then again to cease to grow, to use

thy speech, to think? What is there of all these things which seems to

thee worth desiring? But if it is easy to set little value on all these

things, turn to that which remains, which is to follow reason and God.

But it is inconsistent with honoring reason and God to be troubled

because by death a man will be deprived of the other things.

32. How small a part of the boundless and unfathomable time is assigned

to every man, for it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal! And how

small a part of the whole substance; and how small a part of the

universal soul; and on what a small clod of the whole earth thou

creepest! Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be great, except to

act as thy nature leads thee, and to endure that which the common nature

brings.

33. How does the ruling faculty make use of itself? for all lies in this.

But everything else, whether it is in the power of thy will or not, is

only lifeless ashes and smoke.

34. This reflection is most adapted to move us to contempt of death, that

even those who think pleasure to be a good and pain an evil still have

despised it.

35. The man to whom that only is good which comes in due season, and to

whom it is the same thing whether he has done more or fewer acts

conformable to right reason, and to whom it makes no difference whether

he contemplates the world for a longer or a shorter time,--for this man

neither is death a terrible thing (II. 7; VI. 23; X. 20; XII. 23).

36. Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great state [the world]; what

difference does it make to thee whether for five years [or three]? for

that which is conformable to the laws is just for all. Where is the

hardship then, if no tyrant nor yet an unjust judge sends thee away from

the state, but nature, who brought thee into it? the same as if a praetor

who has employed an actor dismisses him from the stage.--"But I have not

finished the five acts, but only three of them."--Thou sayest well, but

in life the three acts are the whole drama; for what shall be a complete

drama is determined by him who was once the cause of its composition, and

now of its dissolution: but thou art the cause of neither. Depart then

satisfied, for he also who releases thee is satisfied.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS.

It has been said that the Stoic philosophy first showed its real value

when it passed from Greece to Rome. The doctrines of Zeno and his

successors were well suited to the gravity and practical good sense of

the Romans; and even in the Republican period we have an example of a

man, M. Cato Uticensis, who lived the life of a Stoic and died

consistently with the opinions which he professed. He was a man, says

Cicero, who embraced the Stoic philosophy from conviction; not for the

purpose of vain discussion, as most did, but in order to make his life

conformable to the Stoic precepts. In the wretched times from the death

of Augustus to the murder of Domitian, there was nothing but the Stoic

philosophy which could console and support the followers of the old

religion under imperial tyranny and amidst universal corruption. There

were even then noble minds that could dare and endure, sustained by a

good conscience and an elevated idea of the purposes of man's existence.

Such were Paetus Thrasca, Helvidius Priscus, Cornutus, C. Musonius Rufus,

and the poets Persius and Juvenal, whose energetic language and manly

thoughts may be as instructive to us now as they might have been to their

contemporaries. Persius died under Nero's bloody reign; but Juvenal had

the good fortune to survive the tyrant Domitian and to see the better

times of Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian. His best precepts are derived from

the Stoic school, and they are enforced in his finest verses by the

unrivalled vigor of the Latin language.

The best two expounders of the later Stoical philosophy were a Greek

slave and a Roman emperor. Epictetus, a Phrygian Greek, was brought to

Rome, we know not how, but he was there the slave and afterwards the

freedman of his unworthy master, Epaphroditus. Like other great teachers

he wrote nothing, and we are indebted to his grateful pupil Arrian for

what we have of Epictetus' discourses. Arrian wrote eight books of the

discourses of Epictetus, of which only four remain and some fragments. We

have also from Arrian's hand the small Enchiridion or Manual of the chief

precepts of Epictetus. There is a valuable commentary on the Enchiridion

by Simplicius, who lived in the time of the emperor Justinian.

Antoninus in his first book (I. 7), in which he gratefully commemorates

his obligations to his teachers, says that he was made acquainted by

Junius Rusticus with the discourses of Epictetus, whom he mentions also

in other passages (IV. 41; XI 34, 36). Indeed, the doctrines of Epictetus

and Antoninus are the same, and Epictetus is the best authority for the

explanation of the philosophical language of Antoninus and the exposition

of his opinions. But the method of the two philosophers is entirely

different. Epictetus addressed himself to his hearers in a continuous

discourse and in a familiar and simple manner. Antoninus wrote down his

reflections for his own use only, in short, unconnected paragraphs, which

are often obscure. [Footnote: 9]

The want of arrangement in the original and of connection among the

numerous paragraphs, the corruption of the text, the obscurity of the

language and the style, and sometimes perhaps the confusion in the

writer's own ideas,--besides all this, there is occasionally an apparent

contradiction in the emperor's thoughts, as if his principles were

sometimes unsettled, as if doubt sometimes clouded his mind. A man who

leads a life of tranquillity and reflection, who is not disturbed at home

and meddles not with the affairs of the world, may keep his mind at ease

and his thoughts in one even course. But such a man has not been tried.

All his Ethical philosophy and his passive virtue might turn out to be

idle words, if he were once exposed to the rude realities of human

existence. Fine thoughts and moral dissertations from men who have not

worked and suffered may be read, but they will be forgotten. No religion,

no Ethical philosophy is worth anything, if the teacher has not lived the

"life of an apostle," and been ready to die "the death of a martyr." "Not

in passivity (the passive affects) but in activity lie the evil and the

good of the rational social animal, just as his virtue and his vice lie

not in passivity, but in activity" (IX. 16). The emperor Antoninus was a

practical moralist. From his youth he followed a laborious discipline,

and though his high station placed him above all want or the fear of it,

he lived as frugally and temperately as the poorest philosopher.

Epictetus wanted little, and it seems that he always had the little that

he wanted and he was content with it, as he had been with his servile

station. But Antoninus after his accession to the empire sat on an uneasy

seat. He had the administration of an empire which extended from the

Euphrates to the Atlantic, from the cold mountains of Scotland to the hot

sands of Africa; and we may imagine, though we cannot know it by

experience, what must be the trials, the troubles, the anxiety, and the

sorrows of him who has the world's business on his hands, with the wish

to do the best that he can, and the certain knowledge that he can do very

little of the good which he wishes.

In the midst of war, pestilence, conspiracy, general corruption, and with

the weight of so unwieldy an empire upon him, we may easily comprehend

that Antoninus often had need of all his fortitude to support him. The

best and the bravest men have moments of doubt and of weakness; but if

they are the best and the bravest, they rise again from their depression

by recurring to first principles, as Antoninus does. The emperor says

that life is smoke, a vapor, and St. James in his Epistle is of the same

mind; that the world is full of envious, jealous, malignant people, and a

man might be well content to get out of it. He has doubts perhaps

sometimes even about that to which he holds most firmly. There are only a

few passages of this kind, but they are evidence of the struggles which

even the noblest of the sons of men had to maintain against the hard

realities of his daily life. A poor remark it is which I have seen

somewhere, and made in a disparaging way, that the emperor's reflections

show that he had need of consolation and comfort in life, and even to

prepare him to meet his death. True that he did need comfort and support,

and we see how he found it. He constantly recurs to his fundamental

principle that the universe is wisely ordered, that every man is a part

of it and must conform to that order which he cannot change, that

whatever the Deity has done is good, that all mankind are a man's

brethren, that he must love and cherish them and try to make them better,

even those who would do him harm. This is his conclusion (II. 17): "What

then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing and only one,

Philosophy. But this consists in keeping the divinity within a man free

from violence and unharmed, superior to pains and pleasures, doing

nothing without a purpose nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, not feeling

the need of another man's doing or not doing anything; and besides,

accepting all that happens and all that is allotted, as coming from

thence, wherever it is, from whence he himself came; and finally waiting

for death with a cheerful mind as being nothing else than a dissolution

of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there

is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually changing into

another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and

dissolution of all the elements [himself]? for it is according to nature;

and nothing is evil that is according to nature."

The Physic of Antoninus is the knowledge of the Nature of the Universe,

of its government, and of the relation of man's nature to both. He names

the universe (VI. 1), "the universal substance," and he adds that

"reason" governs the universe. He also (VI. 9) uses the terms "universal

nature" or "nature of the universe." He (VI. 25) calls the universe "the

one and all, which we name Cosmos or Order." If he ever seems to use

these general terms as significant of the All, of all that man can in any

way conceive to exist, he still on other occasions plainly distinguishes

between Matter, Material things, and Cause, Origin, Reason. This is

conformable to Zeno's doctrine that there are two original principles of

all things, that which acts and that which is acted upon. That which is

acted on is the formless matter: that which acts is the reason, God, who

is eternal and operates through all matter, and produces all things. So

Antoninus (V. 32) speaks of the reason which pervades all substance, and

through all time by fixed periods (revolutions) administers the universe.

God is eternal, and Matter is eternal. It is God who gives form to

matter, but he is not said to have created matter. According to this

view, which is as old as Anaxagoras, God and matter exist independently,

but God governs matter. This doctrine is simply the expression of the

fact of the existence both of matter and of God. The Stoics did not

perplex themselves with the insoluble question of the origin and nature

of matter. Antoninus also assumes a beginning of things, as we now know

them; but his language is sometimes very obscure.

Matter consists of elemental parts of which all material objects are

made. But nothing is permanent in form. The nature of the universe,

according to Antoninus' expression (IV. 36), "loves nothing so much as to

change the things which are, and to make new things like them. For

everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be. But

thou art thinking only of seeds which are cast into the earth or into a

womb: but this is a very vulgar notion." All things then are in a

constant flux and change: some things are dissolved into the elements,

others come in their places; and so the "whole universe continues ever

young and perfect."

When we look at the motions of the planets, the action of what we call

gravitation, the elemental combination of unorganized bodies and their

resolution, the production of plants and of living bodies, their

generation, growth, and their dissolution, which we call their death, we

observe a regular sequence of phenomena, which within the limits of

experience present and past, so far as we know the past, is fixed and

invariable. But if this is not so, if the order and sequence of

phenomena, as known to us, are subject to change in the course of an

infinite progression,--and such change is conceivable,--we have not

discovered, nor shall we ever discover, the whole of the order and

sequence of phenomena, in which sequence there may be involved according

to its very nature, that is, according to its fixed order, some variation

of what we now call the Order or Nature of Things. It is also conceivable

that such changes have taken place,--changes in the order of things, as

we are compelled by the imperfection of language to call them, but which

are no changes; and further it is certain that our knowledge of the true

sequence of all actual phenomena, as for instance the phenomena of

generation, growth, and dissolution, is and ever must be imperfect.

We do not fare much better when we speak of Causes and Effects than when

we speak of Nature. For the practical purposes of life we may use the

terms cause and effect conveniently, and we may fix a distinct meaning to

them, distinct enough at least to prevent all misunderstanding. But the

case is different when we speak of causes and effects as of Things. All

that we know is phenomena, as the Greeks called them, or appearances

which follow one another in a regular order, as we conceive it, so that

if some one phenomenon should fail in the series, we conceive that there

must either be an interruption of the series, or that something else will

appear after the phenomenon which has failed to appear, and will occupy

the vacant place; and so the series in its progression may be modified or

totally changed. Cause and effect then mean nothing in the sequence of

natural phenomena beyond what I have said; and the real cause, or the

transcendent cause, as some would call it, of each successive phenomenon

is in that which is the cause of all things which are, which have been,

and which will be forever. Thus the word Creation may have a real sense

if we consider it as the first, if we can conceive a first, in the

present order of natural phenomena; but in the vulgar sense a creation of

all things at a certain time, followed by a quiescence of the first

cause, and an abandonment of all sequences of Phenomena to the laws of

Nature, or to the other words that people may use, is absolutely absurd.

Man being conscious that he is a spiritual power or an intellectual

power, or that he has such a power, in whatever way he conceives that he

has it,--for I wish simply to state a fact,--from this power which he has

in himself, he is led, as Antoninus says, to believe that there is a

greater power, which, as the old Stoics tell us, pervades the whole

universe as the intellect pervades man.

God exists then, but what do we know of his nature? Antoninus says that

the soul of man is an efflux from the divinity. We have bodies like

animals, but we have reason, intelligence, as the gods. Animals have life

and what we call instincts or natural principles of action: but the

rational animal man alone has a rational, intelligent soul. Antoninus

insists on this continually: God is in man, and so we must constantly

attend to the divinity within us, for it is only in this way that we can

have any knowledge of the nature of God. The human soul is in a sense a

portion of the divinity, and the soul alone has any communication with

the Deity; for as he says (XII. 2): "With his intellectual part alone God

touches the intelligence only which has flowed and been derived from

himself into these bodies." In fact he says that which is hidden within a

man is life, that is the man himself. All the rest is vesture, covering,

organs, instrument, which the living man, the real man, uses for the

purpose of his present existence. The air is universally diffused for him

who is able to respire; and so for him who is willing to partake of it

the intelligent power, which holds within it all things, is diffused as

wide and free as the air (VIII. 54). It is by living a divine life that

man approaches to a knowledge of the divinity. It is by following the

divinity within, as Antoninus calls it, that man comes nearest to the

Deity, the supreme good; for man can never attain to perfect agreement

with his internal guide. "Live with the gods. And he does live with the

gods who constantly shows to them that his own soul is satisfied with

that which is assigned to him, and that it does all the daemon wishes,

which Zeus hath given to every man for his guardian and guide, and a

portion of himself. And this daemon is every man's understanding and

reason" (V. 27).

There is in man, that is in the reason, the intelligence, a superior

faculty which if it is exercised rules all the rest. A man must reverence

only his ruling faculty and the divinity within him. As we must reverence

that which is supreme in the universe, so we must reverence that which is

supreme in ourselves; and this is that which is of like kind with that

which is supreme in the universe (V. 21).

Antoninus speaks of a man's condemnation of himself when the diviner part

within him has been overpowered and yields to the less honorable and to

the perishable part, the body, and its gross pleasures.

Antoninus did not view God and the material universe as the same, any

more than he viewed the body and soul of man as one. Antoninus has no

speculations on the absolute nature of the Deity. It was not his fashion

to waste his time on what man cannot understand. He was satisfied that

God exists, that he governs all things, that man can only have an

imperfect knowledge of his nature, and he must attain this imperfect

knowledge by reverencing the divinity which is within him, and keeping it

pure.

From all that has been said, it follows that the universe is administered

by the Providence of God and that all things are wisely ordered. There

are passages in which Antoninus expresses doubts, or states different

possible theories of the constitution and government of the universe; but

he always recurs to his fundamental principle; that if we admit the

existence of a deity, we must also admit that he orders all things wisely

and well (IV. 27; VI. 1; IX. 28; XII. 5).

But if all things are wisely ordered, how is the world so full of what we

call evil, physical and moral? If instead of saying that there is evil in

the world, we use the expression which I have used, "what we call evil,"

we have partly anticipated the emperor's answer. We see and feel and know

imperfectly very few things in the few years that we live, and all the

knowledge and all the experience of all the human race is positive

ignorance of the whole, which is infinite. Now, as our reason teaches us

that everything is in some way related to and connected with every other

thing, all notion of evil as being in the universe of things is a

contradiction; for if the whole comes from and is governed by an

intelligent being, it is impossible to conceive anything in it which

tends to the evil or destruction of the whole (VII. 55; X. 6).

Everything is in constant mutation, and yet the whole subsists. We might

imagine the solar system resolved into its elemental parts, and yet the

whole would still subsist "ever young and perfect."

All things, all forms, are dissolved and new forms appear. All living

things undergo the change which we call death. If we call death an evil,

then all change is an evil. Living beings also suffer pain, and man

suffers most of all, for he suffers both in and by his body and by his

intelligent part. Men suffer also from one another, and perhaps the

largest part of human suffering comes to man from those whom he calls his

brothers. Antoninus says, (VIII. 55) "Generally, wickedness does no harm

at all to the universe; and particularly, the wickedness [of one man]

does no harm to another. It is only harmful to him who has it in his

power to be released from it as soon as he shall choose." The first part

of this is perfectly consistent with the doctrine that the whole can

sustain no evil or harm. The second part must be explained by the Stoic

principle that there is no evil in anything which is not in our power.

What wrong we suffer from another is his evil, not ours. But this is an

admission that there is evil in a sort, for he who does wrong does evil,

and if others can endure the wrong, still there is evil in the wrong-

doer. Antoninus (XI. 18) gives many excellent precepts with respect to

wrongs and injuries, and his precepts are practical. He teaches us to

bear what we cannot avoid, and his lessons may be just as useful to him

who denies the being and the government of God as to him who believes in

both. There is no direct answer in Antoninus to the objections which may

be made to the existence and providence of God because of the moral

disorder and suffering which are in the world, except this answer which

he makes in reply to the supposition that even the best men may be

extinguished by death. He says if it is so, we may be sure that if it

ought to have been otherwise, the gods would have ordered it otherwise

(XII. 5). His conviction of the wisdom which we may observe in the

government of the world is too strong to be disturbed by any apparent

irregularities in the order of things. That these disorders exist is a

fact, and those who would conclude from them against the being and

government of God conclude too hastily. We all admit that there is an

order in the material world, a constitution, a system, a relation of

parts to one another and a fitness of the whole for something. So in the

constitution of plants and of animals there is an order, a fitness for

some end. Sometimes the order, as we conceive it, is interrupted and the

end, as we conceive it, is not attained. The seed, the plant, or the

animal sometimes perishes before it has passed through all its changes

and done all its uses. It is according to Nature, that is a fixed order,

for some to perish early and for others to do all their uses and leave

successors to take their place. So man has a corporeal and intellectual

and moral constitution fit for certain uses, and on the whole man

performs these uses, dies, and leaves other men in his place. So society

exists, and a social state is manifestly the natural state of man,--the

state for which his nature fits him, and society amidst innumerable

irregularities and disorders still subsists; and perhaps we may say that

the history of the past and our present knowledge give us a reasonable

hope that its disorders will diminish, and that order, its governing

principle may be more firmly established. As order then, a fixed order,

we may say, subject to deviations real or apparent, must be admitted to

exist in the whole nature of things, that which we call disorder or evil,

as it seems to us, does not in any way alter the fact of the general

constitution of things having a nature or fixed order. Nobody will

conclude from the existence of disorder that order is not the rule, for

the existence of order both physical and moral is proved by daily

experience and all past experience. We cannot conceive how the order of

the universe is maintained: we cannot even conceive how our own life from

day to day is continued, nor how we perform the simplest movements of the

body, nor how we grow and think and act, though we know many of the

conditions which are necessary for all these functions. Knowing nothing

then of the unseen power which acts in ourselves except by what is done,

we know nothing of the power which acts through what we call all time and

all space; but seeing that there is a nature or fixed order in all things

known to us, it is conformable to the nature of our minds to believe that

this universal Nature has a cause which operates continually, and that we

are totally unable to speculate on the reason of any of those disorders

or evils which we perceive. This I believe is the answer which may be

collected from all that Antoninus has said.

The origin of evil is an old question. Achilles tells Priam that Zeus has

two casks, one filled with good things, and the other with bad, and that

he gives to men out of each according to his pleasure; and so we must be

content, for we cannot alter the will of Zeus. One of the Greek

commentators asks how must we reconcile this doctrine with what we find

in the first book of the Odyssey, where the king of the gods says, "Men

say that evil comes to them from us, but they bring it on themselves

through their own folly." The answer is plain enough even to the Greek

commentator. The poets make both Achilles and Zeus speak appropriately to

their several characters. Indeed, Zeus says plainly that men do attribute

their sufferings to the gods, but they do it falsely, for they are the

cause of their own sorrows.

Epictetus in his Enchiridion makes short work of the question of evil. He

says, "As a mark is not set up for the purpose of missing it, so neither

does the nature of evil exist in the universe." This will appear obscure

enough to those who are not acquainted with Epictetus, but he always

knows what he is talking about. We do not set up a mark in order to miss

it, though we may miss it. God, whose existence Epictetus assumes, has

not ordered all things so that his purpose shall fail. Whatever there may

be of what we call evil, the nature of evil, as he expresses it, does not

exist; that is, evil is not a part of the constitution or nature of

things. If there were a principle of evil in the constitution of things,

evil would no longer be evil, as Simplicius argues, but evil would be

good.

One passage more will conclude this matter. It contains all that the

emperor could say: "To go from among men, if there are gods, is not a

thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not involve thee in evil; but if

indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs,

what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of

providence? But in truth they do exist, and they do care for human

things, and they have put all the means in man's power to enable him not

to fall into real evils. And as to the rest, if there was anything evil,

they would have provided for this also, that it should be altogether in a

man's power not to fall into it. But that which does not make a man

worse, how can it make a man's life worse? But neither through ignorance,

nor having the knowledge but not the power to guard against or correct

these things, is it possible that the nature of the universe has

overlooked them; nor is it possible that it has made so great a mistake,

either through want of power or want of skill, that good and evil should

happen indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But death certainly and

life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure, all these things equally

happen to good and bad men, being things which make us neither better nor

worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil."

The Ethical part of Antoninus' Philosophy follows from his general

principles. The end of all his philosophy is to live conformably to

Nature, both a man's own nature and the nature of the universe. Bishop

Butler has explained what the Greek philosophers meant when they spoke of

living according to Nature, and he says that when it is explained, as he

has explained it and as they understood it, it is, "a manner of speaking

not loose and undeterminate, but clear and distinct, strictly just and

true." To live according to Nature is to live according to a man's whole

nature, not according to a part of it, and to reverence the divinity

within him as the governor of all his actions. "To the rational animal

the same act is according to nature and according to reason." That which

is done contrary to reason is also an act contrary to nature, to the

whole nature, though it is certainly conformable to some part of man's

nature, or it could not be done. Man is made for action, not for idleness

or pleasure. As plants and animals do the uses of their nature, so man

must do his (V. 1).

Man must also live conformably to the universal nature, conformably to

the nature of all things of which he is one; and as a citizen of a

political community he must direct his life and actions with reference to

those among whom, and for whom, among other purposes, he lives. A man

must not retire into solitude and cut himself off from his fellow-men. He

must be ever active to do his part in the great whole. All men are his

kin, not only in blood, but still more by participating in the same

intelligence and by being a portion of the same divinity. A man cannot

really be injured by his brethren, for no act of theirs can make him bad,

and he must not be angry with them nor hate them: "For we are made for

co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the

upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to

nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn

away" (II. 1).

Further he says: "Take pleasure in one thing, and rest in it in passing

from one social act to another social act, thinking of God" (VI. 7).

Again: "Love mankind. Follow God" (VI. 31). It is the characteristic of

the rational soul for a man to love his neighbor (XI. 1). Antoninus

teaches in various passages the forgiveness of injuries, and we know that

he also practiced what he taught. Bishop Butler remarks that "this divine

precept to forgive injuries and to love our enemies, though to be met

with in Gentile moralists, yet is in a peculiar sense a precept of

Christianity, as our Saviour has insisted more upon it than on any other

single virtue." The practise of this precept is the most difficult of all

virtues. Antoninus often enforces it and gives us aid towards following

it. When we are injured, we feel anger and resentment, and the feeling is

natural, just, and useful for the conservation of society. It is useful

that wrong-doers should feel the natural consequences of their actions,

among which is the disapprobation of society and the resentment of him

who is wronged. But revenge, in the proper sense of that word, must not

be practiced. "The best way of avenging thyself," says the emperor, "is

not to become like, the wrongdoer." It is plain by this that he does not

mean that we should in any case practise revenge; but he says to those

who talk of revenging wrongs, "Be not like him who has done the wrong.

When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what

opinion about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen

this, thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither wonder nor be angry" (VII.

26). Antoninus would not deny that wrong naturally produces the feeling

of anger and resentment, for this is implied in the recommendation to

reflect on the nature of the man's mind who has done the wrong, and then

you will have pity instead of resentment; and so it comes to the same as

St. Paul's advice to be angry and sin not; which, as Butler well explains

it, is not a recommendation to be angry, which nobody needs, for anger is

a natural passion, but it is a warning against allowing anger to lead us

into sin. In short the emperor's doctrine about wrongful acts is this:

wrong-doers do not know what good and bad are: they offend out of

ignorance, and in the sense of the Stoics this is true. Though this kind

of ignorance will never be admitted as a legal excuse, and ought not to

be admitted as a full excuse in any way by society, there may be grievous

injuries, such as it is in a man's power to forgive without harm to

society; and if he forgives because he sees that his enemies know not

what they do, he is acting in the spirit of the sublime prayer, "Father,

forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The emperor's moral philosophy was not a feeble, narrow system, which

teaches a man to look directly to his own happiness, though a man's

happiness or tranquillity is indirectly promoted by living as he ought to

do. A man must live conformably to the universal nature, which means, as

the emperor explains it in many passages, that a man's actions must be

conformable to his true relations to all other human beings, both as a

citizen of a political community and as a member of the whole human

family. This implies, and he often expresses it in the most forcible

language, that a man's words and action, so far as they affect others,

must be measured by a fixed rule, which is their consistency with the

conservation and the interests of the particular society of which he is a

member, and of the whole human race. To live conformably to such a rule,

a man must use his rational faculties in order to discern clearly the

consequences and full effect of all his actions and of the actions of

others: he must not live a life of contemplation and reflection only,

though he must often retire within himself to calm and purify his soul by

thought, but he must mingle in the work of man and be a fellow-laborer

for the general good.

A man should have an object or purpose in life, that he may direct all

his energies to it; of course a good object (II. 7). He who has not one

object or purpose of life, cannot be one and the same all through his

life (XI. 21). Bacon has a remark to the same effect, on the best means

of "reducing of the mind unto virtue and good estate; which is, the

electing and propounding unto a man's self good and virtuous ends of his

life, such as may be in a reasonable sort within his compass to attain."

He is a happy man who has been wise enough to do this when he was young

and has had the opportunities; but the emperor seeing well that a man

cannot always be so wise in his youth, encourages himself to do it when

he can, and not to let life slip away before he has begun. He who can

propose to himself good and virtuous ends of life, and be true to them,

cannot fail to live conformably to his own interest and the universal

interest, for in the nature of things they are one. If a thing is not

good for the hive, it is not good for the bee (VI. 54).

One passage may end this matter. "If the gods have determined about me

and about the things which must happen to me, they have determined well,

for it is not easy even to imagine a deity without forethought; and as to

doing me harm, why should they have any desire towards that? For what

advantage would result to them from this or to the whole, which is the

special object of their providence? But if they have not determined about

me individually, they have certainly determined about the whole at least;

and the things which happen by way of sequence in this general

arrangement I ought to accept with pleasure and to be content with them.

But if they determine about nothing--which it is wicked to believe, or if

we do believe it, let us neither sacrifice nor pray nor swear by them,

nor do anything else which we do as if the gods were present and lived

with us; but if however the gods determine about none of the things which

concern us, I am able to determine about myself, and I can inquire about

that which is useful; and that is useful to every man which is

conformable to his own constitution and nature. But my nature is rational

and social; and my city and country, so far as I am Antoninus, is Rome;

but so far as I am a man, it is the world."

It would be tedious, and it is not necessary to state the emperor's

opinions on all the ways in which a man may profitably use his

understanding towards perfecting himself in practical virtue. The

passages to this purpose are in all parts of his book, but as they are in

no order or connection, a man must use the book a long time before he

will find out all that is in it. A few words may be added here. If we

analyze all other things, we find how insufficient they are for human

life, and how truly worthless many of them are. Virtue alone is

indivisible, one, and perfectly satisfying. The notion of Virtue cannot

be considered vague or unsettled, because a man may find it difficult to

explain the notion fully to himself, or to expound it to others in such a

way as to prevent cavilling. Virtue is a whole, and no more consists of

parts than man's intelligence does; and yet we speak of various

intellectual faculties as a convenient way of expressing the various

powers which man's intellect shows by his works. In the same way we may

speak of various virtues or parts of virtue, in a practical sense, for

the purpose of showing what particular virtues we ought to practise in

order to the exercise of the whole of virtue, that is, as much as man's

nature is capable of.

The prime principle in man's constitution is social. The next in order is

not to yield to the persuasions of the body, when they are not

conformable to the rational principle, which must govern. The third is

freedom from error and from deception. "Let then the ruling principle

holding fast to these things go straight on and it has what is its own"

(VII. 53). The emperor selects justice as the virtue which is the basis

of all the rest (X. 11), and this had been said long before his time.

It is true that all people have some notion of what is meant by justice

as a disposition of the mind, and some notion about acting in conformity

to this disposition; but experience shows that men's notions about

justice are as confused as their actions are inconsistent with the true

notion of justice. The emperor's notion of justice is clear enough, but

not practical enough for all mankind. "Let there be freedom from

perturbations with respect to the things which come from the external

cause; and let there be justice in the things done by virtue of the

internal cause, that is, let there be movement and action terminating in

this, in social acts, for this is according to thy nature" (IX. 31). In

another place (IX. 1) he says that "he who acts unjustly acts impiously,"

which follows of course from all that he says in various places. He

insists on the practice of truth as a virtue and as a means to virtue,

which no doubt it is: for lying even in indifferent things weakens the

understanding; and lying maliciously is as great a moral offence as a man

can be guilty of, viewed both as showing an habitual disposition, and

viewed with respect to consequences. He couples the notion of justice

with action. A man must not pride himself on having some fine notion of

justice in his head, but he must exhibit his justice in act.

The Stoics, and Antoninus among them, call some things beautiful and some

ugly, and as they are beautiful so they are good, and as they are ugly so

they are evil, or bad (II. 1). All these things, good and evil, are in

our power, absolutely some of the stricter Stoics would say; in a manner

only, as those who would not depart altogether from common sense would

say; practically they are to a great degree in the power of some persons

and in some circumstances, but in a small degree only in other persons

and in other circumstances. The Stoics maintain man's free will as to the

things which are in his power; for as to the things which are out of his

power, free will terminating in action is of course excluded by the very

terms of the expression. I hardly know if we can discover exactly

Antoninus' notion of the free will of man, nor is the question worth the

inquiry. What he does mean and does say is intelligible. All the things

which are not in our power are indifferent: they are neither good nor

bad, morally. Such are life, health, wealth, power, disease, poverty, and

death. Life and death are all men's portion. Health, wealth, power,

disease, and poverty happen to men, indifferently to the good and to the

bad; to those who live according to nature and to those who do not.

"Life," says the emperor, "is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and

after fame is oblivion" (II. 17). After speaking of those men who have

disturbed the world and then died, and of the death of philosophers such

as Heraclitus, and Democritus, who was destroyed by lice, and of Socrates

whom other lice (his enemies) destroyed, he says: "What means all this?

Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore;

get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even

there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by

pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel which is as much

inferior as that which serves it is superior: for the one is intelligence

and Deity; the other is earth and corruption" (III. 3). It is not death

that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live

according to nature (XII. 1). Every man should live in such a way as to

discharge his duty, and to trouble himself about nothing else. He should

live such a life that he shall always be ready for death, and shall

depart content when the summons comes. For what is death? "A cessation of

the impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of the strings

which move the appetites, and of the discursive movements of the

thoughts, and of the service to the flesh" (VI. 28). Death is such as

generation is, a mystery of nature (IV. 5). In another passage (IX. 3),

the exact meaning of which is perhaps doubtful, he speaks of the child

which leaves the womb, and so he says the soul at death leaves its

envelope.

Antoninus' opinion of a future life is nowhere clearly expressed. His

doctrine of the nature of the soul of necessity implies that it does not

perish absolutely, for a portion of the divinity cannot perish. The

opinion is at least as old as the time of Epicharmus and Euripides; what

comes from earth goes back to earth, and what comes from heaven, the

divinity, returns to him who gave it. But I find nothing clear in

Antoninus as to the notion of the man existing after death so as to be

conscious of his sameness with that soul which occupied his vessel of

clay. He seems to be perplexed on this matter, and finally to have rested

in this, that God or the gods will do whatever is best, and consistent

with the university of things.

Nor, I think, does he speak conclusively on another Stoic doctrine, which

some Stoics practiced,--the anticipating the regular course of nature by

a man's own act. The reader will find some passages in which this is

touched on, and he may make of them what he can. But there are passages

in which the emperor encourages himself to wait for the end patiently and

with tranquillity; and certainly it is consistent with all his best

teaching that a man should bear all that falls to his lot and do useful

acts as long as he lives. He should not therefore abridge the time of his

usefulness by his own act.

Happiness was not the direct object of a Stoic's life. There is no rule

of life contained in the precept that a man should pursue his own

happiness. Many men think that they are seeking happiness when they are

only seeking the gratification of some particular passion, the strongest

that they have. The end of a man is, as already explained, to live

conformably to nature, and he will thus obtain happiness, tranquillity of

mind, and contentment (III. 12; VIII 2). As a means of living conformably

to nature he must study the four chief virtues, each of which has its

proper sphere: wisdom, or the knowledge of good and evil; justice, or the

giving to every man his due; fortitude, or the enduring of labor and

pain; and temperance, which is moderation in all things. By thus living

conformably to nature the Stoic obtained all that he wished or expected.

His reward was in his virtuous life, and he was satisfied with that.

Epictetus and Antoninus both by precept and example labored to improve

themselves and others; and if we discover imperfections in their

teaching, we must still honor these great men who attempted to show that

there is in man's nature and in the constitution of things sufficient

reason for living a virtuous life. It is difficult enough to live as we

ought to live, difficult even for any man to live in such a way as to

satisfy himself, if he exercises only in a moderate degree the power of

reflecting upon and reviewing his own conduct; and if all men cannot be

brought to the same opinions in morals and religion, it is at least worth

while to give them good reasons for as much as they can be persuaded to

accept.

FOOTNOTES:

1: This passage is corrupt, and the exact meaning is uncertain.

2: Lorium was a villa on the coast north of Rome, and there Antoninus was

brought up, and he died there. This also is corrupt.

3: This is corrupt.

4: Antoninus here uses the word [Greek: kosmos] both in the sense of the

Universe and of Order; and it is difficult to express his meaning.

5: This is corrupt.

6: It appears that there is a defect in the text here.

7: The story is told by Horace in his Satires and by others since, but

not better.

8: "Seen even with the eyes." It is supposed that this may be explained

by the Stoic doctrine, that the universe is a god or living being (IV.

40), and that the celestial bodies are gods (VIII. 19). But the emperor

may mean that we know that the gods exist, as he afterwards states it,

because we see what they do; as we know that man has intellectual powers,

because we see what he does, and in no other way do we know it.

9: The Stoics made three divisions of philosophy,--Physic, Ethic, and

Logic (VIII. 13). This division, we are told by Diogenes, was made by

Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic sect, and by Chrysippus; but

these philosophers placed the three divisions in the following order,--

Logic, Physic, Ethic. It appears, however, that this division was made

before Zeno's time, and acknowledged by Plato, as Cicero remarks. Logic

is not synonymous with our term Logic in the narrower sense of that word.

Cleanthes, a Stoic, subdivided the three divisions, and made six,--

Dialectic and Rhetoric, comprised in Logic; Ethic and Politic; Physic and

Theology. This division was merely for practical use, for all Philosophy

is one. Even among the earliest Stoics Logic, or Dialectic, does not

occupy the same place as in Plato: it is considered only as an instrument

which is to be used for the other divisions of Philosophy. An exposition

of the earlier Stoic doctrines and of their modifications would require a

volume. My object is to explain only the opinions of Antoninus, so far as

they can be collected from his book.

According to the subdivision of Cleanthes, Physic and Theology go

together, or the study of the nature of Things, and the study of the

nature of the Deity, so far as man can understand the Deity, and of his

government of the universe. This division or subdivision is not formally

adopted by Antoninus, for, as already observed, there is no method in his

book; but it is virtually contained in it.

Cleanthes also connects Ethic and Politic, or the study of the principles

of morals and the study of the constitution of civil society; and

undoubtedly he did well in subdividing Ethic into two parts, Ethic in the

narrower sense and Politic; for though the two are intimately connected,

they are also very distinct, and many questions can only be properly

discussed by carefully observing the distinction. Antoninus does not

treat of Politic. His subject is Ethic, and Ethic in its practical

application to his own conduct in life as a man and as a governor. His

Ethic is founded on his doctrines about man's nature, the Universal

Nature, and the relation of every man to everything else. It is therefore

intimately and inseparably connected with Physic, or the nature of

Things, and with Theology, or the Nature of the Deity. He advises us to

examine well all the impressions on our minds and to form a right

judgment of them, to make just conclusions, and to inquire into the

meaning of words, and so far to apply Dialectic; but he has no attempt at

any exposition of Dialectic, and his philosophy is in substance purely

moral and practical. He says, "Constantly and, if it be possible, on the

occasion of every Impression on the soul, apply to it the principles of

Physic, of Ethic, and of Dialectic": which is only another way of telling

us to examine the impression in every possible way. In another passage

(III. 11) he says, "To the aids which have been mentioned, let this one

still be added: make for thyself a definition or description of the

object which is presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a

thing it is in its substance, in its nudity, in its complete entirety,

and tell thyself its proper name, and the names of the things of which it

has been compounded, and into which it will be resolved." Such an

examination implies a use of Dialectic, which Antoninus accordingly

employed as a means towards establishing his Physical, Theological, and

Ethical principles.

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