Thoughts Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus - Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (novels to read for beginners .TXT) 📗

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];[A] 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.

 

    [A] Comp. Ix. 3.

 

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[A] [From Other Things],  Nothing Worthy Of

Blame,  Nothing Which Seeks A Hiding-Place.

 

    [A] Viii. 34.

 

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

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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[A] I Attempt To Ascertain The Value Of Each.

 

    [A] Est Et Horum Quae Media Appellamus Grande

    Discrimen.--_Seneca_,  Ep. 82.

 

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,[A] Nor The Acts Of The Ancient Romans And Hellenes,  And The

Selections From Books Which Thou Wast Reserving For Thy Old Age.[B]

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.

 

    [A] [Greek: Hypomnêmata]: Or Memoranda,  Notes,  And The Like.

    See I. 17.

 

    [B] Compare Fronto,  Ii. 9; A Letter Of Marcus To Fronto,  Who

    Was Then Consul: "Feci Tamen Mihi Per Hos Dies Excerpta Ex

    Libris Sexaginta In Quinque Tomis." But He Says Some Of Them

    Were Small Books.

 

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 Sensation,  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[A] 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.

 

    [A] Compare Plato,  De Legibus,  I. P. 644,  [Greek: Oti Tauta Ta

    Pathê] Etc.; And Antoninus,  Ii. 2; Vii. 3; Xii. 19.

 

 

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Iv.

 

 

 

 

That Which Rules Within,  When It Is According To Nature,  Is So Affected

With Respect To The Events Which Happened,  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,[A] 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.

 

    [A] [Greek: Pros Tha Hêgoumena] Literally "Towards That Which

    Leads." The Exact Translation Is Doubtful. See Gataker's Note.

 

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