Introduction to the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This is a LibriVox recording, all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Shane Greenup. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, translated by George Long. Introduction. Marcus Arneus Verus was born in Rome in AD 121 and assumed the name of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, by which he is known to history on his adoption by the Emperor T. Aurelius Antoninus. He succeeded to the imperial throne in 161 and ruled till his death in 180. His reign, though marked by justice and moderation at home, was troubled by constant warfare on the frontiers of the empire, and Aurelius spent much of his later years in the uncongenial task of commanding armies that no longer proved irresistible against the barbarian hordes. Emma Aurelius was educated by the Aureta fronto, but turned aside from rhetoric to study of the stoic philosophy of which he was the last distinguished representative. The meditations, which he wrote in Greek, are among the most noteworthy expressions of this system and exhibit it favorably on its practical side. His own precepts he carried out with singular consistency, and both in his public and his private life he was in the highest degree conscientious. He and his predecessor are noted as the only Roman emperors who can be said to have ruled with a single eye to the welfare of their subjects. During his reign, Rome was visited by severe pestilence, and this, with reverses suffered by his armies, threw the populace into a panic and led them to demand the sacrifice of the Christians whom they regarded as having brought down the anger of the gods. Aurelius seems to have shared the panic and his record is stained by his sanction of the cruel persecution. This incident in the career of the last and one of the loftiest of the pagan moralists may be regarded as symbolic of the dying effort of hedonism to check the advancing tide of Christianity. The meditations picture with faithfulness the mind and character of this noblest of the emperors. Simple in style and sincere in tone they record for all time the height reached by pagan aspirations in its effort to solve the problem of conduct, and the essential agreement of his practice with his teaching proved that even in a palace life may be led well. End of introduction. Recording by Shane Greenup. ShaneGreenup.blogspot.com and papersaloud.com Chapter 1 of Meditations of Marcus Aurelius This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninas, translated by George Long. Chapter 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 labour, 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 Dignatus 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 demons 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 Bacchus, then of Tandasus, 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 oratory 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 Sinuissa 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 the superficial understanding of a book, nor hastily to give my assent to those who talk over much. 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 favours 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 effectation, 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, their grammarian, to refrain from fault-finding, and not in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any barbarous, or solacistic, 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, about the word, or by some other fit suggestion. 11. From Fronto I I learned to observe what envy and duplicity in 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 Catilus, 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 Demetius and Athanodotus, 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 Thrasia, Helvedius, Cado, Dion, Brutus, and from him I received the idea of apolity in which there is the same law for all, apolity 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 to 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 ventured to think himself a better man. 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 vane glory in those things which men call honours, and a love of labour and perseverance, and a readiness to listen to those who had anything to propose for the common wheel, an undeviating firmness in giving to every man according to his desserts, 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 joys, 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 a necessity when he went abroad, and those who 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 in 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 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 pedant, but everyone 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 offence of 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 thus 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 way 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 desserts. 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 act. He did not take the bath at unseasonable hours. He was not fond of building houses nor curious about what he eat, nor about the texture and colour of his clothes, nor about the beauty of his slaves. His dress came from Llorium, his villa on the coast, and from Lluvium generally. We know how he behaved to the toll-collector at Tusculum, who asked his pardon, and such was all his behaviour. 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. 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 favour 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 to the time. That I was subjected to a ruler and a father who was able to take away all pride for 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 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 than 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 in personal progress in them that I made haste to place those who brought me up in the station of honour which they seemed to desire without putting them off with hope of my doing at some 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 that have 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 is 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 humour with Rusticus I never did anything of which I had occasion 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 in 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 blood spitting 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 Caidi at the Granua End of Chapter 1 Chapter 2 of Meditations of Marcus Aurelius This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninas translated by George Long Chapter 2 1. Begin the morning by saying to thyself I shall meet with the busy body 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 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 cooperation like feet, like hands like eyelids like the rows of the upper and lower teeth to act against one another than 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 wasst now dying despise the flesh it is blood and bones and a network a conjecture 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 art and 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 an involution with the things which are ordered by providence which is besides necessity and that which is for the advantage of the whole universe of which thou art apart 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 mayst 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 apart and of what administrator of the universe thy existence is in a flux and that a limit of time is fixed for thee which if thou dost not use the clouds from thy mind it will go and thou wilt go and it will never return 5. Every moment thinks 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 doest 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 seized 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 in their part will require nothing more from him who observes these things 6. 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 world about but then thou must also avoid being carried about the other way for those too are triflers who have weary 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 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 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 apart 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 offenses 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 offenses rightly then and in a way worthy of philosophy he said that the offense 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 toward doing something by desire. 11. Since it is possible that thou mayest apart 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 not care for human things and they've 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 it is possible that the nature of the universe has overlooked them nor is it possible that is 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 twelve how quickly all these 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 who attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by pain or are noised about by vapoury 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 himself and by the abstract of power reflection dissolves 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 anyone 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 13 nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses everything in a round and prize into things beneath the earth as the poet says and seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbours without perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the demon within him and to reverence it sincerely and reverence of the demon consists in keeping it pure from passion and thoughtlessness and dissatisfaction with what comes and to men for the things from God's 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 this 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 anyone take this from him these two things in 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 gut out of it as far as it is true 16 the soul of man does violence to itself first of all when it becomes as 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 of 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 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 of 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 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 demon 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 end of chapter 2 chapter 3 of the meditations of Marcus Aurelius this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Shane Greenup the meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninas translated by George Long chapter 3 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 the different 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 too we ought to observe also that even the things which follow after the things which are reduced 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 that they are 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 a 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 child died foretold them deaths of many and then fate caught them too Alexander and Pompeius and Caes Caesar after so often completely destroying whole cities and in battle cutting to pieces many tens of 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 last destroyed Democritus and other last 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 it to state without sensation Thou sought 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 loses 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 wonder 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 the man should use himself to think of those things only about which if one should suddenly ask what has 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 these simple and benevolent and such as befits a social animal one that cares not for thoughts about pleasure or sensual enjoyment at all nor has any rivalry or envy and suspicion or anything else for which Thou would blush if Thou should 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 to 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 died deep with justice accepting with all his soul everything which happens and is assigned to him as his position and not even 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 act fair that 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 the 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 and in pure 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 common interest nor without due consideration nor with destruction nor let studied ornaments set off their thoughts not either a man of many words or busy about too many things and further let the deity which is in thee be it 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 neither of oath nor of any man's testimony be cheerful also and seek to help nor the tranquility which others give a man 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 hast placed anything better than this 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 is 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 less value than this give place to nothing else for if thou dost once diverge and incline to it thou wilt no longer without destruction 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 better well then if it is only useful to thee as a rational being keep to it but if it is only useful to thee as an animal so and maintain thy judgment without arrogance only take care that thou make us to the inquiry by a sure method seven never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise to lose thyself 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 demon 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 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 eight in the mind of one who is chastened and purified thou wilt find no corrupt matter no 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 effected nor too closely bound to other things nor yet detached from other things nothing worthy of blame nothing which seeks a hiding place nine reverence the faculty which produces opinion on this faculty it entirely depends whether there shall exist in their 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 ten throwing away then all things hold to these only which are few and besides bear in mind that every man lives only his 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 eleven to the aid 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 until 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 appointment and spinning of the threat 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 believe 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 reasons 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 would live happy and there is no man who is able to prevent this 13 as physicians have always the 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 doing everything even the smallest with a recollection of the bond which unites the divine and human to one another for neither will 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 will thou read thy own memoirs nor the acts of the ancient Romans and the Helens and the selections 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 affected 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 desires 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 a tranquil ready to depart and without any compulsion perfectly reconciled to his lot End of Chapter 3 Recording by Shane Greenup www.papersallowed.com Chapter 4 of Meditations of Marcus Aurelius This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus translated by George Long Chapter 4 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 but 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 Let no act be done without a purpose nor otherwise than according to the perfect principles of art Men the secret treats for themselves houses in the country seashores and the mountains and thou too art want 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 than 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 tranquility and I affirm that tranquility 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 changefulness 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 the whole earth is a point and how small a nook in it is this thy dwelling place 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 at look and things and as a human being as a citizen as a mortal but among the things readyest to thy hand to which thou shalt return let there be these which are too 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 seeest 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 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 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 of state for of what other common political community will anyone 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 such as generation is a mystery of nature a 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 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 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 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 the nature of that which is universally useful has been compelled to do this 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 that thou hast begun and whatever thou doest 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 and every action do not have such an opinion of things as he has who does thee wrong wishes thee to have but look at them as they are in truth 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 anyone at hand who sets thee right and moves thee from any opinion but this change of opinion must proceed only from a certain persuasion of what is just or of common advantage and the like not because it appears pleasant or brings reputation hast thou reason I have why then dost not thou use it for if this does its own work what else dost thou wish 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 many grains of frankincense on the same altar one falls before another falls after but it makes no difference 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 to worship of reason do not act as if thou weren't going to live ten thousand years death hangs over thee while thou livest while it is in thy power be good 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 he who has a vehement desire and misfame does not consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon that 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 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 everything which is in it any way beautiful is beautiful in itself and terminates in itself not having praise as a part of itself neither worse than 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 or gold ivory purple a lyre a little knife a flower a shrub 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 diffuse 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 of the matter the division into that which is material and that which is the cause of form the formal do not be world about but in every movement have respect to justice and on the occasion of every impression maintain the faculty of comprehension or understanding everything harmonizes with me which is harmonious to thee oh universe nothing for me is too early nor too late which is in due time for thee everything is fruit to me what shall I seasons bring of nature from thee are all things in thee are all things to thee all things return the poet says dear city of sea crops and wilt not thou say dear city of Zeus 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 whatever the reason of the animal which is naturally social requires and as it requires for this brings not only the tranquility 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 the superfluous acts will not follow after try how the life of a 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 has thou seen those things look also at these do not disturb thyself make thyself all simplicity does anyone do wrong it is to himself that he does 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 present by the aid of reason and justice be sober in thy relaxation either it is a well arranged universe or a chaos huddled together but still a universe but can a certain order subsist in thee and disorder in all and this too when all things are so separated and diffused and sympathetic a black character a womanish character a stubborn character bestial childish animal stupid counterfeit scurrilous fraudulent tyrannical 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 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 happened for the same nature produces this and has produced thee too he is a peace rent asunder from the state who tears his own soul from that of reasonable animals which is one 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 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 entrusted to the gods with his whole soul all that he has making himself neither the tyrant nor the slave of any man 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 removed to the time of Trajan again all is the same their life too is gone in like manner view also the other epics 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 applies thyself to smaller matters no further than its fit the words which are formerly familiar are now antiquated so also the names of those who were famed of old are now in a manner antiquated Camillus, Caesophilacus Leonatus 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 shown in a wondrous way for the rest and 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 act 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 a source of the same kind willingly give thyself up to Clotho, one of the fates allowing her to spin thy thread into whatever things she pleases everything is only for a day both that which remembers and that which is remembered 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 our 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 thou wilt soon die and thou art not yet simple not free from perturbations not without suspicion of being hurt by external things nor kindly disposed toward all thou yet place wisdom only in acting justly examine men's ruling principles even those of the wise what kind of things they avoid and what kind they pursue 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 which subsists the power of forming opinions about evils let this power then not form such opinions and all as well and if that which is nearest to it the poor body is cut, burnt filled with matter and rottenness nevertheless let the heart 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 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 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 cooperative causes of all things which exist observe to the continuous spinning of the thread and the contexture of the web thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse as epic textist used to say it is no evil for things to undergo change and no good for things to subsist in consequence of change 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 everything which happens is as familiar and well known as the rose and spring and the fruit and summer for such is disease and death and calamity and treachery and whatever else delights, fools or vexes then 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 only has 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 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 wither 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 seems 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 if any god told thee that thou shalt die tomorrow or certainly on the day after tomorrow thou wouldst not care much whether it was on the third day or on the morrow unless thou wasst in the highest degree mean spirited for how small is the difference so think it is no great thing to die after as many years as thou canst name rather than tomorrow 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 Helus 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 of this in a short time to conclude let's observe how ephemeral and worthless human things are and what was yesterday a little mucus tomorrow will be a mummy or ashes past 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 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 falsehoods will 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 and every occasion which leads thee to vexation to apply this principle not that this is a misfortune but that to bear it nobly is a good fortune it is a vulgar but still a useful help towards contempt of death to pass and review those who have tenaciously stuck to life what more than have they gained than those who have died early certainly they lie in their tomb somewhere at last cadicianus, phabeas, julianus, lepidus or anyone 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 past 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 always run 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 End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 of Meditations of Marcus Aurelius This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Translated by George Long Chapter 5 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 doth thou exist then to take thy pleasure and not at all for action or exertion doth 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 doth 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 both 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 stopest 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 valueest thy known 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 vain glorious 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 how easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable and immediately to be in all tranquility 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 the 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 I go through the things which happen according to nature and 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 thou sayest men cannot admire the sharpness of thy wits be it so but there are many other things I am not formed for them by nature show those qualities then which are all together 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 does 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 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 taking pleasure in thy dullness one man when he has done a service to another is ready to set it down to his account as a favour 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 that 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 of the 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 a prayer of the Athenians rain rain oh dear Zeus down on the plowed 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 just as we must understand when it is said that Escalapius prescribed to this man this 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 Esculopius 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 described 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 severly 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 thou cutest 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 tries to put anything out of the way be not disgusted nor discouraged nor dissatisfied if thou dost not succeed in doing everything according to the right principles but when thou hast failed return back again and be content if the greater part of what thou doest 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 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 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 they may be in the possession of a filthy wretch or whore 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 the 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 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 demon for there is no man who will compel me to do this 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 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 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 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 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 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 kator thoseis or right acts and this word signifies that they proceed by the right road 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 the accomplishment of this end and that which aids toward 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 such as are thy habitual thoughts such also will be the character of thy mind for the soul is died by the thoughts die why 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 toward this it is carried its end is in that toward 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 exist for the sake of the superior but the things which have life are superior to those which have life and of those which have life the superior are those which have reason to seek what is impossible is madness and it is impossible that the bad should not do something of this kind 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 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 as it may think proper to make such it makes for itself the things which present themselves to it 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 the 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 it's activity into an aid and so that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to enact and that which is an obstacle that helps us on this road 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 this 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 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 or makes himself miserable for they vex him only for a time and a short time think of the universal substance of which thou has the 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 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 let the part of my 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 effects to their parts but when these effects 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 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 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 demon wishes which Zeus have given to every man for his guardian and guide a portion of himself and this is every man's understanding and reason 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 pains 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 will cure him as thou intendest to live when thou are 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 thou werest suffering no harm the house is smoky and I quit it why does 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 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 seeest how it has subordinated coordinated and assigned to everything its proper portion and has brought together into concord with one another the things which are the best how has 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 indeed 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 have been devised and how many things called honourable thou hast spurned and to how many ill-minded folks thou hast shown a kind disposition 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 all time by fixed periods administers the universe 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 quarreling laughing and then straight way weeping but fidelity and modesty and justice and truth are fled up to Olympus from the widespread earth 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 to have good repute amid such a world as this is an empty thing why then does thou not wait in tranquility for thy end whether it is extinction or removal to another state and until that time comes what is sufficient why what else then 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 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 if this is neither my own badness nor an effect of my own badness and the commonwealth is not injured why am I troubled about it and what is the harm to the commonwealth 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 or 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 has thou forgotten man what these things are yes but they are objects of great concern to these people will thou to 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 end of chapter 5 chapter 6 of the meditations of Marcus Aurelius this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus translated by George Long chapter 6 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 or is anything harmed by it but all things are made imperfected according to this reason let it make no difference to thee whether thou are cold or warm if thou are doing thy duty and whether thou are drowsy or satisfied with sleep and whether ill-spoken or praised and whether dying or doing something else for it is one of the acts of this life this act by which we die it is sufficient then in this act also to do well by having hand look within let neither the peculiar quality of anything nor its value escape thee all existing things soon change and they will either be reduced to vapor if indeed all substances won or they will be dispersed the reason which governs knows what its own disposition is and what it does and on what material it works the best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrongdoer take pleasure in one thing and rest in it and passing from one social act to another social act thinking of God 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 to appear itself to be such as it wills 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 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 in 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 when thou has 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 and harmony by continually recurring to it if thou had us to stepmother and a mother at the same time thou wouldst be dutiful to thy stepmother but 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 appears tolerable in the court when we have meet before us in 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 phalernian is only a little grape juice and this purple robe some sheeps wool died with the blood of a shellfish 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 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 Krates 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 mired by men who are still more instructed are the things which are held together by a rational soul not however a universal soul a 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 actively conformable to reason and social life and he cooperates to this end with those who are of the same kind as himself some things are hurrying into existence 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 such as the uninterrupted course of time is always renewing the infinite duration of ages in the coming 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 is 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 such as it is to once have 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 elemental from which thou didst first draw it 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 but this is just like the act of separating and parting with the useless part of the 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 the 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 planner who looks after the vine and the horse breaker and he who trains the dog seeks this end but the education and the teaching of youth aim at something and this then is the value of the education and the teaching and if this is well that will not seek anything else well thou not cease to value many other things too then that will neither be free nor sufficient for their own happiness nor without passion for 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 in agreement with the gods that is praising all that they give and have ordered 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 that goes happily on its road 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 will ever see this they set much value on as if thou shouldst be grieved because those who have lived before thee did not praise thee but the 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 in the gymnastic exercises suppose that a man is 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 afterward as a treacherous fellow and yet we are on our guard against him not however as an enemy nor with suspicion but we quietly get out of his way something like this let they behavior be in all 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 or hatred if a man is able to convince me and show me that you do not think or act right 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 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 or things without 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 perplexed thyself about the length of time in which thou shalt do this for even three hours so spent are sufficient Alexander the Macedonian and his groom by death are 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 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 that will not wonder if many more things or rather all things which come into existence than that which is the one and all which we call cosmosed exist in it at the same time if any man should propose to thee the question how the name Antoninus is written would a style with a straining of the voice utter each letter what then if they grow angry will thou grow angry too will thou not go on with composure and number every letter just so then is this life also remember that every duty is made up of certain parts these it is thy duty to observe and without being disturbed by the anger towards those who are angry with thee to go on thy way and finish that which is set before thee how cruel it is not to allow men to strive after the things which appear to them to be suitable to thy nature and profitable yet in a manner thou does not allow them to do this when thou art vexed because they do wrong for they are certainly moved towards the things which they suppose them to be suitable to their nature and profitable to them but it is not so then and show them without being angry death is the cessation of the impression 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 it is a shame for the soul to be the first to give way in this life when thy body does not give way take care that thou art not made into a Caesar that thou art not died with this die things happen keep thyself then simple good, pure, serious free from affectation a friend of justice a worshiper of the gods kind, affectionate, strenuous and all proper acts strive to continue to be such as philosophy wish to make thee reverence the gods and help men short is life there is only one fruit in this terene life a pious disposition 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 continents 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 and how we did nothing in a hurry and how we listened not to calamities and how exact an examiner of manners and actions he was and not given to reproach people nor timid nor suspicious nor assothist and with how little he was satisfied such as lodging bed, dress, food, servants and how laborious and patient and how he was able in account of his sparing diet to hold out to the evening without even requiring to relieve himself by any evacuations except at the usual hour and with his firmness and uniformity and his friendships and how he tolerated freedom of speech and 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 when thy last hour comes as he had return to thy sober senses and call thyself back when thou hast roused thyself from sleep and hast perceived that they were only dreams which troubled thee now in they waking hours look at these the things about thee as thou didst look at those the dreams I consist of a little body and soul now to this little body all things are indifferent 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 things 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 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 hands so then neither to a man as a man is his labor contrary to nature as long as he does the things of a man but if the labor is not contrary to his nature neither is it an evil to him how many pleasures have been enjoyed by robbers patricides tyrants this thou not see how the handicraftsmen accommodate themselves up to a certain point to those which are not skilled in their craft nevertheless they claim 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 in the gods Asia, Europe are corners of the universe all the sea a drop in the universe Athos a little cloud in 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 proceeding or by way of sequence and accordingly the lions gaping jaws and that which is poisonous and every harmful thing as a thorn as mud are afterproducts of the grand and beautiful do not imagine then that they are of another kind from that which thou dost venerate but form a just opinion of the source of all 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 frequently consider the connection of all things in the universe in 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 composition and the unity of the substance adapt thyself to the things with which that lot has been cast and the men among whom thou has to receive thy portion love them but do it truly every instrument to vessel if it does that for which it has been made as well and yet he who made it is not there but in all things which are held together by nature there is within and there abides in them the power which made them where for the more it is 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 whatever of the things which are not within thy power thou shalt suppose to be good or evil it must of necessity be that if such a bad thing befall thee or the loss of such a good thing thou will 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 those 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 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 Heraclius I think who says that there are laborers and cooperators in the things which take place in the universe but men cooperate after different professions and even those cooperate abundantly who find fault with what happens and those who try to oppose it and to hinder it for the universe has need even of such men as these there remains then for thee to understand among what kind of workmen thou places 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 cooperators and of those whose laborers will be different for be not thou such a part as the mean and ridiculous verse in the play which precipice speaks of does the sun undertake to do the work of the rain or ice Galapius the work of the fruit bearer and how is it with respect to each of the stars are they not different and yet they work together to the same end if the gods have determined about me and about the things which must happen to me they have determined well 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 and to be determined 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 determined about none of the things which concern us I am able to determine about myself and I can acquire about that which is useful and that is useful to every man which is conformable to his own constitution but my nature is rational and social and my city and country as 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 whatever happens to every man this is for the interest of the universal this might be sufficient but further that will observe this also is a general truth 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 a set of things of the middle kind either good nor bad as it happens to thee in the amphitheater in 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? think continually that all kinds of men and all kinds of pursuits and of all nations are dead so that thy thoughts come down even to Philistian and Phoebus on Oregonian now turn thy thoughts to the other kinds of men to that place then we must remove where there are so many great orators so many noble philosophers Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Socrates so many heroes of former days and so many generals after them in 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 Manipus 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 thou art not dissatisfied I suppose because thou weist only so many leader and not 300 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 let us try to persuade them but act even against their will when the principles of justice lead that way if however any man using force stands in thy way may take thyself to contentment and tranquility and at the same time employ the hindrance toward the exercise of some other virtue and remember that thy attempt was with a reservation that thou didst not desire to do impossibilities what then didst thou desire some such effort is this that thou attainest thy object if the things to which thou weist move are accomplished 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 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 accustom thyself to attend carefully to what is said by another and as much as it is possible be in the speaker's mind that which is not good for the swarm neither is it good for the be if sailors abuse the helmsmen or the sick the doctor would they listen to anybody else and how could the helmsmen secure the safety of those in the ship or the doctor health of those whom he attends how many together with whom I came into the world are already gone out of it 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 does 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 no man will hinder thee from living according to the reason of that nature nothing will happen to the country to the reason of the universal nature what kind of people are those whom men wish to please and for what objects and by what kinds of acts how soon time will cover all things and how many it is covered already end with chapter 6 chapter 7 of meditations of Marcus Aurelius this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus translated by George Long chapter 7 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 impressions thought which correspond to them are extinguished but it is in my 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 effects and thou standest erect to recover thy life is in thy power look at things again as thou didst used 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 to cast to little dogs a bit of bread into fish ponds labourings of ants and burden carrying running's 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 should 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 I can 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 how then if being lame thou can't not mount up on the battle in its 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 useest 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 coordinated 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 end according to reason 12 be thou erect or be may direct 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 cooperation and the perception of this will be more if thou often say us to thyself that I am a member of the system of rational beings but if thou say us 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 doest it barely as a thing of propriety and not yet as doing good to thyself 14 but 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 anyone does or says I must be good just as if the gold or the emerald or the purple were always saying this whatever anyone 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 anyone else can frighten or pain it let him do so for the faculty itself will not by its own opinion turn 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 eudaimonia happiness is a good demon or a good thing what then art thou doing here oh 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 hence thou take a bath unless the wood undergoes a change and hence thou be nourished unless the food undergoes a change and can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change thus 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 cooperating with the whole the parts of our body with one another how many a chrysopis how many a socrates how many an epictectus as time already swallowed up and let the same thought occur to thee with reference to every man and thing 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 molds 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 24 a scowling look is altogether unnatural when it is often assumed 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 seeest and out of their substance will make other things and again other things from the substance of them in order that the world may ever be new 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 unkind 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 hast 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 tranquility 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 30 direct thy attention to what is said let thy understanding enter into the things that are doing and the things which do them 31 adorn thyself with simplicity and modesty and with indifference toward 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 pain the pain which is intolerable carries us off but that which lasts a long time is tolerable and the mind maintains its own tranquility 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 a view of all time and of all substance thus 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 not about it 39 to the immortal gods and us give joy 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 a good or a 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 the 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 and trust 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 round at the courses of the stars as if thou werest going along with them and constantly consider