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

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

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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[A] 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.

 

    [A] 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.

 

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 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

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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 Things 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.

 

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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[A]

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