|
If these words are genuine, Antoninus may have written
this
first book during the war with the Quadi. In the first
edition
of Antoninus, and in the older editions, the first
three
sections of the second book make the conclusion of the
first
book. Gataker placed them at the beginning of the second
book.
II.
Begin the morning by saying to thyself,
I shall meet with the busybody,
the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious,
unsocial. All these things
happen to them by reason of their ignorance of
what is good and evil.
But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is
beautiful, and of
the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does
wrong, that it
is akin to me; not [only] of the same blood or seed, but that
it
participates in [the same] intelligence and [the same] portion of
the
divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix
on
me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him.
For
we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids,
like
the rows of the upper and lower teeth.[A] To act against one
another,
then, is contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to
be
vexed and to turn away.
[A] Xenophon, Mem. ii. 3. 18.
2.
Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the
ruling
part. Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not
allowed;
but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood
and bones and
network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See
the breath also,
what kind of a thing it is; air, and not always the
same, but every moment
sent out and again sucked in. The third, then, is
the ruling part; consider
thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this
be a slave, no longer be pulled
by the strings like a puppet to unsocial
movements, no longer be either
dissatisfied with thy present lot, or
shrink from the future.
3. All
that is from the gods is full of providence. That which is from
fortune is
not separated from nature or without an interweaving and
involution with the
things which are ordered by providence. From thence
all things flow; and
there is besides necessity, and that which is for
the advantage of the whole
universe, of which thou art a part. But that
is good for every part of nature
which the nature of the whole brings,
and what serves to maintain this
nature. Now the universe is preserved,
as by the changes of the elements so
by the changes of things compounded
of the elements. Let these principles be
enough for thee; let them
always be fixed opinions. But cast away the thirst
after books, that
thou mayest not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and
from thy heart
thankful to the gods.
4. Remember how long thou hast
been putting off these things, and how
often thou hast received an
opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not
use it. Thou must now at last
perceive of what universe thou art a
part, and of what administrator of the
universe thy existence is an
efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed for
thee, which if thou dost
not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind,
it will go and thou
wilt go, and it will never return.
5. Every moment
think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast
in hand with perfect
and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and
freedom, and justice, and
to give thyself relief from all other
thoughts. And thou wilt give thyself
relief if thou 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 seest how few the things are, the which if a man
lays hold of, he
is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the
existence
of the gods; for the gods on their part will require nothing more
from
him who observes these things.
6. Do wrong[A] to thyself, do
wrong to thyself, my soul; but thou wilt
no longer have the opportunity of
honoring thyself. Every man's life is
sufficient.+ But thine is nearly
finished, though thy soul reverences
not itself, but places thy felicity in
the souls of others.
[A] Perhaps it should be, "thou art doing
violence to thyself."
[Greek: hybrizeis] not [Greek: hybrize].
7.
Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give
thyself time
to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled
around. But then
thou must also avoid being carried about the other way;
for those too are
triflers who have wearied themselves in life by their
activity, and yet have
no object to which to direct every movement, and,
in a word, all their
thoughts.
8. Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man
has seldom
been seen to be unhappy; but those who do not observe the
movements of
their own minds must of necessity be unhappy.
9. This
thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole,
and what is
my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of
a part it is of
what kind of a whole, and that there is no one who
hinders thee from always
doing and saying the things which are according
to the nature of which thou
art a part.
10. Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad acts--such a
comparison as
one would make in accordance with the common notions of
mankind--says,
like a true philosopher, that the 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 offences. Rightly, then, and in
a
way worthy of philosophy, he said that the offence which is
committed
with pleasure is more blamable than that which is committed with
pain;
and on the whole the one is more like a person who has been
first
wronged and through pain is compelled to be angry, but the other
is
moved by his own impulse to do wrong, being carried towards
doing
something by desire.
11. Since it is possible[A] that thou
mayest depart from life this very
moment, regulate every act and thought
accordingly.[B] But to go away
from among men, if there are gods, is not a
thing to be afraid of, for
the gods will not involve thee in evil; but if
indeed they do not exist,
or if they have no concern about human affairs,
what is it to me to live
in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of
providence? But in truth they
do exist, and they do care for human things,
and they have put all the
means in man's power to enable him not to fall into
real evils. And as
to the rest, if there was anything evil, they would have
provided for
this also, that it should be altogether in a man's power not to
fall
into it. Now that which does not make a man worse, how can it make
a
man's life worse? But neither through ignorance, nor--having
the
knowledge but not the power to guard against or correct these things,
is
it possible that the nature of the universe has overlooked them; nor
is
it possible that it has made so great a mistake, either through want
of
power or want of skill, that good and evil should
happen
indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But death certainly, and
life,
honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure,--all these things equally
happen
to good men and bad, being things which make us neither better
nor
worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil.
[A] Or it may
mean, "since it is in thy power to depart;" which
gives a meaning
somewhat different.
[B] See Cicero, Tuscul., i. 49.
12. How
quickly all things disappear,--in the universe the bodies
themselves, but in
time the remembrance of them. What is the nature of
all sensible things, and
particularly those which attract with the bait
of pleasure or terrify by
pain, or are noised abroad by vapory fame; how
worthless, and contemptible,
and sordid, and perishable, and dead they
are,--all this it is the part of
the intellectual faculty to observe. To
observe too who these are whose
opinions and voices give reputation;
what death is, and the fact that, if a
man looks at it in itself, and by
the abstractive power of reflection
resolves into their parts all the
things which present themselves to the
imagination in it, he will then
consider it to be nothing else than an
operation of nature; and if any
one is afraid of an operation of nature, he
is a child. This, however,
is not only an operation of nature, but it is also
a thing which
conduces to the purposes of nature. To observe too how man
comes near to
the Deity, and by what part of him, and when this part of man
is so
disposed+ (vi. 28).
13. Nothing is more wretched than a man who
traverses everything in a
round, and pries into the things beneath the earth,
as the poet[A] says,
and seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his
neighbors, without
perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon
within him, and
to reverence it sincerely. And reverence of the daemon
consists in
keeping it pure from passion and thoughtlessness, and
dissatisfaction
with what comes from gods and men. For the things from the
gods merit
veneration for their excellence; and the things from men should be
dear
to us by reason of kinship; and sometimes even, in a manner, they
move
our pity by reason of men's ignorance of good and bad; this defect
being
not less than that which deprives us of the power of
distinguishing
things that are white and black.
[A] Pindar, in the
Theaetetus of Plato. See xi. 1.
14. Though thou shouldest be going to
live three thousand years and as
many times ten thousand years, still
remember that no man loses any
other life than this which he now lives, nor
lives any other than this
which he now loses. The longest and shortest are
thus brought to the
same. For the present is the same to all, though that
which perish is
not the same;+[A] and so that which is lost appears to be a
mere
moment. For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what
a
man has not, how can any one take this from him? These two things
then
thou must bear in mind; the one, that all things from eternity are
of
like forms and come round in a circle, and that it makes no
difference
whether a man shall see the same things during a hundred years, or
two
hundred, or an infinite time; and the second, that the longest liver
and
he who will die soonest lose just the same. For the present is the
only
thing of which a man can be deprived, if it is true that this is
the
only thing which he has, and that a man cannot lose a thing if he has
it
not.
[A] See Gataker's note.
15. Remember that all is
opinion. For what was said by the Cynic Monimus
is manifest: and manifest too
is the use of what was said, if a man
receives what may be got out of it as
far as it is true.
16. The soul of man does violence to itself, first of
all, when it
becomes an abscess, and, as it were, a tumor on the universe, so
far as
it can. For to be vexed at anything which happens is a separation
of
ourselves from nature, in some part of which the natures of all
other
things are contained. In the next place, the soul does violence
to
itself when it turns away from any man, or even moves towards him
with
the intention of injuring, such as are the souls of those who are
angry.
In the third place, the soul does violence to itself when it
is
overpowered by pleasure or by pain. Fourthly, when it plays a part,
and
does or says anything insincerely and untruly. Fifthly, when it
allows
any act of its own and any movement to be without an aim, and
does
anything thoughtlessly and without considering what it is, it
being
right that even the smallest things be done with reference to an
end;
and the end of rational animals is to follow the reason and the law
of
the most ancient city and polity.
17. Of human life the time is a
point, and the substance is in a flux,
and the perception dull, and the
composition of the whole body subject
to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl,
and fortune hard to divine, and
fame a thing devoid of judgment. And, to say
all in a word, everything
which belongs to the body is a stream, and what
belongs to the soul is a
dream and vapor, and life is a warfare and a
stranger's sojourn, and
after fame is oblivion. What then is that which is
able to conduct a
man? One thing, and only one, philosophy. But this consists
in keeping
the daemon within a man free from violence and unharmed, superior
to
pains and pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet
falsely
and with hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man's doing or
not
doing anything; and besides, accepting all that happens, and all
that
is allotted, as coming from thence, wherever it is, from whence
he
himself came; and, finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind,
as
being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which
every
living being is compounded. But if there is no harm to the
elements
themselves in each continually changing into another, why should a
man
have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all
the
elements? For it is according to nature, and nothing is evil which
is
according to nature.
This in Carnuntum.[A]
[A] Carnuntum
was a town of Pannonia, on the south side of the
Danube, about thirty
miles east of Vindobona (Vienna).
Orosius (vii. 15) and Eutropius (viii.
13) say that Antoninus
remained three years at Carmuntum during his war
with the
Marcomanni.
III.
We ought to
consider not only that our life is daily wasting away and a
smaller part of
it is left, but another thing also must be taken into
the account, that if a
man should live longer, it is quite uncertain
whether the understanding will
still continue sufficient for the
comprehension of things, and retain the
power of contemplation which
strives to acquire the knowledge of the divine
and the human. For if he
shall begin to fall into dotage, perspiration and
nutrition and
imagination and appetite, and whatever else there is of the
kind, will
not fail; but the power of making use of ourselves, and filling up
the
measure of our duty, and clearly separating all appearances,
and
considering whether a man should now depart from life, and whatever
else
of the kind absolutely requires a disciplined reason,--all this
is
already extinguished. We must make haste, then, not only because we
are
daily nearer to death, but also because the conception of things and
the
understanding of them cease first.
2. We ought to observe also
that even the things which follow after the
things which are produced
according to nature contain something pleasing
and attractive. For instance,
when bread is baked some parts are split
at the surface, and these parts
which thus open, and have a certain
fashion contrary to the purpose of the
baker's art, are beautiful in a
manner, and in a peculiar way excite a desire
for eating. And again,
figs, when they are quite ripe, gape open; and in the
ripe olives the
very circumstance of their being near to rottenness adds a
peculiar
beauty to the fruit. And the ears of corn bending down, and the
lion's
eyebrows, and the foam which flows from the mouth of wild boars,
and
many other things,--though they are far from being beautiful if a
man
should examine them severally,--still, because they are consequent
upon
the things which are formed by nature, help to adorn them, and
they
please the mind; so that if a man should have a feeling and
deeper
insight with respect to the things which are produced in the
universe,
there is hardly one of those which follow by way of consequence
which
will not seem to him to be in a manner disposed so as to give
pleasure.
And so he will see even the real gaping jaws of wild beasts with no
less
pleasure than those which painters and sculptors show by imitation;
and
in an old woman and an old man he will be able to see a certain
maturity
and comeliness; and the attractive loveliness of young persons he
will
be able to look on with chaste eyes; and many such things will
present
themselves, not pleasing to every man, but to him only who has
become
truly familiar with Nature and her works.
3. Hippocrates, after
curing many diseases, himself fell sick and died.
The Chaldaei foretold the
deaths of many, and then fate caught them too.
Alexander and Pompeius, and
Caius Caesar, after so often completely
destroying whole cities, and in
battle cutting to pieces many ten
thousands of cavalry and infantry,
themselves too at last departed from
life. Heraclitus, after so many
speculations on the conflagration of the
universe, was filled with water
internally and died smeared all over
with mud. And lice destroyed Democritus;
and other lice killed Socrates.
What means all this? Thou hast embarked, thou
hast made the voyage, thou
art come to shore; get out. If indeed to another
life, there is no want
of gods, not even there; but if to a state without
sensation, thou wilt
cease to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a
slave to the
vessel, which is as much inferior as that which serves it is
superior:+
for the one is intelligence and deity; the other is earth
and
corruption.
4. Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts
about others, when
thou dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common
utility. For
thou losest the opportunity of doing something else when thou
hast such
thoughts as these,--What is such a person doing, and why, and what
is he
saying, and what is he thinking of, and what is he contriving,
and
whatever else of the kind makes us wander away from the observation
of
our own ruling power. We ought then to check in the series of
our
thoughts everything that is without a purpose and useless, but most
of
all the over-curious feeling and the malignant; and a man should
use
himself to think of those things only about which if one should
suddenly
ask, What hast thou now in thy thoughts? with perfect openness
thou
mightest immediately answer, This or That; so that from thy words
it
should be plain that everything in thee is simple and benevolent,
and
such as befits a social animal, and one that cares not for
thoughts
about pleasure or sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or
envy
and suspicion, or anything else for which thou wouldst blush if
thou
shouldst say that thou hadst it in thy mind. For the man who is
such,
and no longer delays being among the number of the best, is like
a
priest and minister of the gods, using too the [deity] which is
planted
within him, which makes the man uncontaminated by pleasure, unharmed
by
any pain, untouched by any insult, feeling no wrong, a fighter in
the
noblest fight, one who cannot be overpowered by any passion, dyed
deep
with justice, accepting with all his soul everything which happens
and
is assigned to him as his portion; and not often, nor yet without
great
necessity and for the general interest, imagining what another says,
or
does, or thinks. For it is only what belongs to himself that he
makes
the matter for his activity; and he constantly thinks of that which
is
allotted to himself out of the sum total of things, and he makes his
own
acts fair, and he is persuaded that his own portion is good. For the
lot
which is assigned to each man is carried along with him and carries
him
along with it.+ And he remembers also that every rational animal is
his
kinsman, and that to care for all men is according to man's nature;
and
a man should hold on to the opinion not of all, but of those only
who
confessedly live according to nature. But as to those who live not
so,
he always bears in mind what kind of men they are both at home and
from
home, both by night and by day, and what they are, and with what
men
they live an impure life. Accordingly, he does not value at all
the
praise which comes from such men, since they are not even satisfied
with
themselves.
5. Labor not unwillingly, nor without regard to the
common interest, nor
without due consideration, nor with distraction; nor let
studied
ornament set off thy thoughts, and be not either a man of many words,
or
busy about too many things. And further, let the deity which is in
thee
be the guardian of a living being, manly and of ripe age, and engaged
in
matter political, and a Roman, and a ruler, who has taken his post
like
a man waiting for the signal which summons him from life, and ready
to
go, having need neither of oath nor of any man's testimony. Be
cheerful
also, and seek not external help nor the tranquillity which
others
give. A man then must stand erect, not be kept erect by
others.
6. If thou findest in human life anything better than justice,
truth,
temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy
own
mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to
do
according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to
thee
without thy own choice; if, I say, thou seest anything better than
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 has subjected to itself all thy appetites,
and
carefully examines all the impressions, and, as Socrates said,
has
detached itself from the persuasions of sense, and has submitted
itself
to the gods, and cares for mankind; if thou findest everything
else
smaller and of less value than this, give place to nothing else, for
if
thou dost once diverge and incline to it, thou wilt no longer
without
distraction be able to give the preference to that good thing which
is
thy proper possession and thy own; for it is not right that anything
of
any other kind, such as praise from the many, or power, or enjoyment
of
pleasure, should come into competition with that which is rationally
and
politically [or, practically] good. All these things, even though
they
may seem to adapt themselves [to the better things] in a small
degree,
obtain the superiority all at once, and carry us away. But do thou,
I
say, simply and freely choose the better, and hold to it.--But
that
which is useful is the better.--Well, then, if it is useful to thee as
a
rational being, keep to it; but if it is only useful to thee as
an
animal, say so, and maintain thy judgment without arrogance: only
take
care that thou makest the inquiry by a sure method.
7. Never
value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee
to break thy
promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to
suspect, to curse, to
act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs
walls and curtains: for he
who has preferred to everything else his own
intelligence and daemon and the
worship of its excellence, acts no
tragic part, does not groan, will not need
either solitude or much
company; and, what is chief of all, he will live
without either pursuing
or flying from [death];[A] but whether for a longer
or a shorter time he
shall have the soul enclosed in the body, he cares not
at all: for even
if he must depart immediately, he will go as readily as if
he were going
to do anything else which can be done with decency and order;
taking
care of this only all through life, that his thoughts turn not away
from
anything which belongs to an intelligent animal and a member of a
civil
community.
[A] Comp. ix. 3.
8. In the mind of one who
is chastened and purified thou wilt find no
corrupt matter, nor impurity, nor
any sore skinned over. Nor is his life
incomplete when fate overtakes him, as
one may say of an actor who
leaves the stage before ending and finishing the
play. Besides, there is
in him nothing servile, nor affected, nor too closely
bound [to other
things], nor yet detached[A] [from other things], nothing
worthy of
blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place.
[A] viii.
34.
9. Reverence the faculty which produces opinion. On this faculty
it
entirely depends whether there shall exist in thy ruling part
any
opinion inconsistent with nature and the constitution of the
rational
animal. And this faculty promises freedom from hasty judgment,
and
friendship towards men, and obedience to the gods.
10. Throwing
away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and
besides, bear in
mind that every man lives only this present time, which
is an indivisible
point, and that all the rest of his life is either
past or it is uncertain.
Short then is the time which every man lives;
and small the nook of the earth
where he lives; and short too the
longest posthumous fame, and even this only
continued by a succession of
poor human beings, who will very soon die, and
who know not even
themselves, much less him who died long ago.
11. To
the aids which have been mentioned let this one still be added:
Make for
thyself a definition or description of the thing which is
presented to thee,
so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in
its substance, in its
nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell thyself
its proper name, and the
names of the things of which it has been
compounded, and into which it will
be resolved. For nothing is so
productive of elevation of mind as to be able
to examine methodically
and truly every object which is presented to thee in
life, and always to
look at things so as to see at the same time what kind of
universe this
is, and what kind of use everything performs in it, and what
value
everything has with reference to the whole, and what with reference
to
man, who is a citizen of the highest city, of which all other cities
are
like families; what each thing is, and of what it is composed, and
how
long it is the nature of this thing to endure which now makes
an
impression on me, and what virtue I have need of with respect to
it,
such as gentleness, manliness, truth, fidelity, simplicity,
contentment,
and the rest. Wherefore, on every occasion a man should say:
This comes
from god; and this is according to the apportionment + and
spinning of
the thread of destiny, and such-like coincidence and chance; and
this is
from one of the same stock, and a kinsman and partner, one who
knows
not, however, what is according to his nature. But I know; for
this
reason I behave towards him according to the natural law of
fellowship
with benevolence and justice. At the same time, however, in
things
indifferent[A] I attempt to ascertain the value of
each.
[A] Est et horum quae media appellamus
grande
discrimen.--_Seneca_, Ep. 82.
12. If thou workest at that
which is before thee, following right reason
seriously, vigorously, calmly,
without allowing anything else to
distract thee, but keeping thy divine part
pure, as if thou shouldst be
bound to give it back immediately; if thou
holdest to this, expecting
nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy
present activity
according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and
sound which
thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is
able to
prevent this.
13. As physicians have always their instruments
and knives ready for
cases which suddenly require their skill, so do thou
have principles
ready for the understanding of things divine and human, and
for doing
everything, even the smallest, with a recollection of the bond
which
unites the divine and human to one another. For neither wilt thou
do
anything well which pertains to man without at the same time having
a
reference to things divine; nor the contrary.
14. No longer wander
at hazard; for neither wilt thou read thy own
memoirs,[A] nor the acts of the
ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the
selections from books which thou wast
reserving for thy old age.[B]
Hasten then to the end which thou hast before
thee, and, throwing away
idle hopes, come to thy own aid, if thou carest at
all for thyself,
while it is in thy power.
[A] [Greek:
hypomnemata]: or memoranda, notes, and the like.
See i.
17.
[B] Compare Fronto, ii. 9; a letter of Marcus to Fronto,
who
was then consul: "Feci tamen mihi per hos dies excerpta
ex
libris sexaginta in quinque tomis." But he says some of
them
were small books.
15. They know not how many things are
signified by the words stealing,
sowing, buying, keeping quiet, seeing what
ought to be done; for this is
not effected by the eyes, but by another kind
of vision.
16. Body, soul, intelligence: to the body belong sensation, to
the soul
appetites, to the intelligence principles. To receive the
impressions of
forms by means of appearances belongs even to animals; to be
pulled by
the strings[A] of desire belongs both to wild beasts and to men who
have
made themselves into women, and to a Phalaris and a Nero: and to
have
the intelligence that guides to the things which appear suitable
belongs
also to those who do not believe in the gods, and who betray
their
country, and do their impure deeds when they have shut the doors.
If
then everything else is common to all that I have mentioned,
there
remains that which is peculiar to the good man, to be pleased
and
content with what happens, and with the thread which is spun for
him;
and not to defile the divinity which is planted in his breast,
nor
disturb it by a crowd of images, but to preserve it tranquil,
following
it obediently as a god, neither saying anything contrary to the
truth,
nor doing anything contrary to justice. And if all men refuse to
believe
that he lives a simple, modest, and contented life, he is neither
angry
with any of them, nor does he deviate from the way which leads to
the
end of life, to which a man ought to come pure, tranquil, ready
to
depart, and without any compulsion perfectly reconciled to his
lot.
[A] Compare Plato, De Legibus, i. p. 644, [Greek: oti tauta
ta
pathe] etc.; and Antoninus, ii. 2; vii. 3; xii.
19.
IV.
That which rules within, when it is
according to nature, is so affected
with respect to the events which
happened, that it always easily adapts
itself to that which is possible and
is presented to it. For it requires
no definite material, but it moves
towards its purpose,[A] under certain
conditions, however; and it makes a
material for itself out of that
which opposes it, as fire lays hold of what
falls into it, by which a
small light would have been extinguished; but when
the fire is strong,
it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped
on it, and
consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very
material.
[A] [Greek: pros tha hegoumena] literally "towards that
which
leads." The exact translation is doubtful. See Gataker's
note.
2. Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than
according to
the perfect principles of art.
3. Men seek retreats for
themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores,
and mountains; and thou too
art wont to desire such things very much.
But this is altogether a mark of
the most common sort of men, for it is
in thy power whenever thou shalt
choose to retire into thyself. For
nowhere either with more quiet or more
freedom from trouble does a man
retire than into his own soul, particularly
when he has within him such
thoughts that by looking into them he is
immediately in perfect
tranquillity; and I affirm that tranquillity is
nothing else than the
good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to
thyself this retreat,
and renew thyself; and let thy principles be brief and
fundamental,
which, as soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient
to
cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee back free from
all
discontent with the things to which thou returnest. For with what
art
thou discontented? With the badness of men? Recall to thy mind
this
conclusion, that rational animals exist for one another, and that
to
endure is a part of justice, and that men do wrong involuntarily;
and
consider how many already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, hatred,
and
fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced to ashes; and be quiet
at
last.--But perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that which is assigned
to
thee out of the universe.--Recall to thy recollection this
alternative;
either there is providence or atoms [fortuitous concurrence of
things];
or remember the arguments by which it has been proved that the world
is
a kind of political community [and be quiet at last].--But
perhaps
corporeal things will still fasten upon thee.--Consider then
further
that the mind mingles not with the breath, whether moving gently
or
violently, when it has once drawn itself apart and discovered its
own
power, and think also of all that thou hast heard and assented to
about
pain and pleasure [and be quiet at last].--But perhaps the desire of
the
thing called fame will torment thee.--See how soon everything
is
forgotten, and look at the chaos of infinite time on each side of
[the
present], and the emptiness of applause, and the changeableness and
want
of judgment in those who pretend to give praise, and the narrowness
of
the space within which it is circumscribed [and be quiet at last].
For
the whole earth is a point, and how small a nook in it is this
thy
dwelling, and how few are there in it, and what kind of people are
they
who will praise thee.
This then remains: Remember to retire into
this little territory of thy
own,[A] and above all do not distract or strain
thyself, but be free,
and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a
citizen, as a
mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou
shalt
turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not
touch
the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but
our
perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other
is
that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will
no
longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes
thou
hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is
opinion.
[A] Tecum habita, noris quam sit tibi
curta
supellex.--_Perseus_, iv. 52.
4. If our intellectual part is
common, the reason also, in respect of
which we are rational beings, is
common: if this is so, common also is
the reason which commands us what to
do, and what not to do; if this is
so, there is a common law also; if this is
so, we are fellow-citizens;
if this is so, we are members of some political
community; if this is
so, the world is in a manner a state.[A] For of what
other common
political community will any one say that the whole human race
are
members? And from thence, from this common political community,
comes
also our very intellectual faculty and reasoning faculty and
our
capacity for law; or whence do they come? For as my earthly part is
a
portion given to me from certain earth, and that which is watery
from
another element, and that which is hot and fiery from some
peculiar
source (for nothing comes out of that which is nothing, as nothing
also
returns to non-existence), so also the intellectual part comes from
some
source.
[A] Compare Cicero De Legibus, i. 7.
5. Death
is such as generation is, a mystery of nature; composition out
of the same
elements, and a decomposition into the same; and altogether
not a thing of
which any man should be ashamed, for it is not contrary
to [the nature of] a
reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason
of our
constitution.
6. It is natural that these things should be done by such
persons, it is
a matter of necessity; and if a man will not have it so, he
will not
allow the fig-tree to have juice. But by all means bear this in
mind,
that within a very short time both thou and he will be dead; and
soon
not even your names will be left behind.
7. Take away thy
opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, "I
have been harmed."
Take away the complaint, "I have been harmed," and
the harm is taken
away.
8. That which does not make a man worse than he was, also does not
make
his life worse, nor does it harm him either from without or from
within.
9. The nature of that which is [universally] useful has been
compelled
to do this.
10. Consider that everything which happens,
happens justly, and if thou
observest carefully, thou wilt find it to be so.
I do not say only with
respect to the continuity of the series of things, but
with respect to
what is just, and as if it were done by one who assigns to
each thing
its value. Observe then as thou hast begun; and whatever thou
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 in every
action.
11. Do not have such an opinion of things as he has who does thee
wrong,
or such as he wishes thee to have, but look at them as they are
in
truth.
12. A man should always have these two rules in readiness;
the one to do
only whatever the reason of the ruling and legislating faculty
may
suggest for the use of men; the other, to change thy opinion, if
there
is any one at hand who sets thee right and moves thee from any
opinion.
But this change of opinion must proceed only from a certain
persuasion,
as of what is just or of common advantage, and the like, not
because it
appears pleasant or brings reputation.
13. Hast thou
reason? I have.--Why then dost not thou use it? For if
this does its own
work, what else dost thou wish?
14. Thou hast existed as a part. Thou
shalt disappear in that which
produced thee; but rather thou shalt be
received back into its seminal
principle by transmutation.
15. Many
grains of frankincense on the same altar: one falls before,
another falls
after; but it makes no difference.
16. Within ten days thou wilt seem a
god to those to whom thou art now a
beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to
thy principles and the worship
of reason.
17. Do not act as if thou
wert going to live ten thousand years. Death
hangs over thee. While thou
livest, while it is in thy power, be good.
18. How much trouble he avoids
who does not look to see what his
neighbor says or does or thinks, but only
to what he does himself, that
it may be just and pure; or, as Agathon+ says,
look not round at the
depraved morals of others, but run straight along the
line without
deviating from it.
19. He who has a vehement desire for
posthumous fame does not consider
that every one of those who remember him
will himself also die very
soon; then again also they who have succeeded
them, until the whole
remembrance shall have been extinguished as it is
transmitted through
men who foolishly admire and perish. But suppose that
those who will
remember are even immortal, and that the remembrance will be
immortal,
what then is this to thee? And I say not what is it to the dead,
but
what is it to the living? What is praise, except + indeed so far as
it
has + a certain utility? For thou now rejectest unseasonably the
gift
of nature, clinging to something else ... +.
20. Everything which
is in any way beautiful is beautiful in itself, and
terminates in itself, not
having praise as part of itself. Neither worse
then nor better is a thing
made by being praised. I affirm this also of
the things which are called
beautiful by the vulgar, for example,
material things and works of art. That
which is really beautiful has no
need of anything; not more than law, not
more than truth, not more than
benevolence or modesty. Which of these things
is beautiful because it
is praised, or spoiled by being blamed? Is such a
thing as an emerald
made worse than it was, if it is not praised? or gold,
ivory, purple, a
lyre, a little knife, a flower, a
shrub?
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE PARTHENON]
21. If souls
continue to exist, how does the air contain them from
eternity?--But how does
the earth contain the bodies of those who have
been buried from time so
remote? For as here the mutation of these
bodies after a certain continuance,
whatever it may be, and their
dissolution, make room for other dead bodies,
so the souls which are
removed into the air after subsisting for some time
are transmuted and
diffused, and assume a fiery nature by being received into
the seminal
intelligence of the universe, and in this way make room for the
fresh
souls which come to dwell there. And this is the answer which a
man
might give on the hypothesis of souls continuing to exist. But we
must
not only think of the number of bodies which are thus buried, but
also
of the number of animals which are daily eaten by us and the
other
animals. For what a number is consumed, and thus in a manner buried
in
the bodies of those who feed on them! And nevertheless this
earth
receives them by reason of the changes [of these bodies] into blood,
and
the transformations into the aerial or the fiery element.
What is
the investigation into the truth in this matter? The division
into that which
is material and that which is the cause of form [the
formal], (vii.
29.)
22. Do not be whirled about, but in every movement have respect
to
justice, and on the occasion of every impression maintain the faculty
of
comprehension [or understanding].
23. Everything harmonizes with
me, which is harmonious to thee, O
Universe. Nothing for me is too early nor
too late, which is in due time
for thee. Everything is fruit to me which thy
seasons bring, O Nature:
from thee are all things, in thee are all things, to
thee all things
return. The poet says, Dear city of Cecrops; and wilt not
thou say, Dear
city of Zeus?
24. Occupy thyself with few things, says
the philosopher, if thou
wouldst be tranquil.--But consider if it would not
be better to say, Do
what is necessary, and whatever the reason of the animal
which is
naturally social requires, and as it requires. For this brings not
only
the tranquillity which comes from doing well, but also that which
comes
from doing few things. For the greatest part of what we say and do
being
unnecessary, if a man takes this away, he will have more leisure
and
less uneasiness. Accordingly, on every occasion a man should
ask
himself, Is this one of the unnecessary things? Now a man should
take
away not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for
thus
superfluous acts will not follow after.
25. Try how the life of
the good man suits thee, the life of him who is
satisfied with his portion
out of the whole, and satisfied with his own
just acts and benevolent
disposition.
26. Hast thou seen those things? Look also at these. Do not
disturb
thyself. Make thyself all simplicity. Does any one do wrong? It is
to
himself that he does the wrong. Has anything happened to thee? Well;
out
of the universe from the beginning everything which happens has
been
apportioned and spun out to thee. In a word, thy life is short.
Thou
must turn to profit the present by the aid of reason and justice.
Be
sober in thy relaxation.
27. Either it is a well-arranged
universe[A] or a chaos huddled
together, but still a universe. But can a
certain order subsist in thee,
and disorder in the All? And this too when all
things are so separated
and diffused and sympathetic.
[A]
Antoninus here uses the word [Greek: kosmos] both in the
sense of the
Universe and of Order; and it is difficult to
express his
meaning.
28. A black character, a womanish character, a stubborn
character,
bestial, childish, animal, stupid, counterfeit, scurrilous,
fraudulent,
tyrannical.
29. If he is a stranger to the universe who
does not know what is in it,
no less is he a stranger who does not know what
is going on in it. He is
a runaway, who flies from social reason; he is
blind, who shuts the eyes
of understanding; he is poor, who has need of
another, and has not from
himself all things which are useful for life. He is
an abscess on the
universe who withdraws and separates himself from the
reason of our
common nature through being displeased with the things which
happen, for
the same nature produces this, and has produced thee too: he is a
piece
rent asunder from the state, who tears, his own soul from that
of
reasonable animals, which is one.
30. The one is a philosopher
without a tunic, and the other without a
book: here is another half naked:
Bread I have not, he says, and I abide
by reason--and I do not get the means
of living out of my learning, +
and I abide [by my reason].
31. Love
the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be
content with it;
and pass through the rest of life like one who has
intrusted to the gods with
his whole soul all that he has, making
thyself neither the tyrant nor the
slave of any man.
32. Consider, for example, the times of Vespasian. Thou
wilt see all
these things, people marrying, bringing up children, sick,
dying,
warring, feasting, trafficking, cultivating the ground,
flattering,
obstinately arrogant, suspecting, plotting, wishing for some to
die,
grumbling about the present, loving, heaping up treasure,
desiring
consulship, kingly power. Well, then, that life of these people
no
longer exists at all. Again, remove to the times of Trajan. Again,
all
is the same. Their life too is gone. In like manner view also the
other
epochs of time and of whole nations, and see how many after
great
efforts soon fell and were resolved into the elements. But chiefly
thou
shouldst think of those whom thou hast thyself known
distracting
themselves about idle things, neglecting to do what was in
accordance
with their proper constitution, and to hold firmly to this and to
be
content with it. And herein it is necessary to remember that
the
attention given to everything has its proper value and proportion.
For
thus thou wilt not be dissatisfied, if thou appliest thyself to
smaller
matters no further than is fit.
33. The words which were
formerly familiar are now antiquated: so also
the names of those who were
famed of old, are now in a manner
antiquated, Camillus, Caeso, Volesus,
Leonnatus, and a little after also
Scipio and Cato, then Augustus, then also
Hadrianus and Antoninus. For
all things soon pass away and become a mere
tale, and complete oblivion
soon buries them. And I say this of those who
have shone in a wondrous
way. For the rest, as soon as they have breathed out
their breath they
are gone, and no man speaks of them. And, to conclude the
matter, what
is even an eternal remembrance? A mere nothing. What then is
that about
which we ought to employ our serious pains? This one thing,
thoughts
just, and acts social, and words which never lie, and a
disposition
which gladly accepts all that happens, as necessary, as usual,
as
flowing from a principle and source of the same kind.
34. Willingly
give thyself up to Clotho [one of the fates], allowing her
to spin thy thread
+ into whatever things she pleases.
35. Everything is only for a day,
both that which remembers and that
which is remembered.
36. Observe
constantly that all things take place by change, and
accustom thyself to
consider that the nature of the universe loves
nothing so much as to change
the things which are and to make new things
like them. For everything that
exists is in a manner the seed of that
which will be. But thou art thinking
only of seeds which are cast into
the earth or into a womb: but this is a
very vulgar notion.
37. Thou wilt soon die, and thou art not yet simple,
nor free from
perturbations, nor without suspicion of being hurt by external
things,
nor kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou yet place wisdom only
in acting justly. |
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