Thoughts Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (e book free reading TXT) 📖

To Hinder It; For The Universe Had Need Even Of

Such Men As These. It Remains Then For Thee To Understand Among What

Kind Of Workmen Thou Placest Thyself; For He Who Rules All Things Will

Certainly Make A Right Use Of Thee,  And He Will Receive Thee Among Some

Part Of The Co-Operators And Of Those Whose Labors Conduce To One End.

But Be Not Thou Such A Part As The Mean And Ridiculous Verse In The

Play,  Which Chrysippus Speaks Of.[A]

 

    [A] Plutarch,  Adversus Stoicos,  C. 14.

 

43. Does The Sun Undertake To Do The Work Of The Rain,  Or Aesculapius

The Work Of The Fruit-Bearer [The Earth]? And How Is It With Respect To

Each Of The Stars--Are They Not Different And Yet They Work Together To

The Same End?

 

44. If The Gods Have Determined About Me And About The Things Which Must

Happen To Me,  They Have Determined Well,  For It Is Not Easy Even To

Imagine A Deity Without Forethought; And As To Doing Me Harm,  Why

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Should They Have Any Desire Towards That? For What Advantage Would

Result To Them From This Or To The Whole,  Which Is The Special Object Of

Their Providence? But If They Have Not Determined About Me Individually,

They Have Certainly Determined About The Whole At Least,  And The Things

Which Happen By Way Of Sequence In This General Arrangement I Ought To

Accept With Pleasure And To Be Content With Them. But If They Determine

About Nothing,--Which It Is Wicked To Believe,  Or If We Do Believe It,

Let Us Neither Sacrifice Nor Pray Nor Swear By Them,  Nor Do Anything

Else Which We Do As If The Gods Were Present And Lived With Us,--But If

However The Gods Determine About None Of The Things Which Concern Us,  I

Am Able To Determine About Myself,  And I Can Inquire About That Which Is

Useful; And That Is Useful To Every Man Which Is Conformable To His Own

Constitution And Nature. But My Nature Is Rational And Social; And My

City And Country,  So Far As I Am Antoninus,  Is Rome,  But So Far As I Am

A Man,  It Is The World. The Things Then Which Are Useful To These Cities

Are Alone Useful To Me.

 

45. Whatever Happens To Every Man,  This Is For The Interest Of The

Universal: This Might Be Sufficient. But Further Thou Wilt Observe This

Also As A General Truth,  If Thou Dost Observe,  That Whatever Is

Profitable To Any Man Is Profitable Also To Other Men. But Let The Word

Profitable Be Taken Here In The Common Sense As Said Of Things Of The

Middle Kind [Neither Good Nor Bad].

 

46. As It Happens To Thee In The Amphitheatre And Such Places,  That The

Continual Sight Of The Same Things,  And The Uniformity,  Make The

Spectacle Wearisome,  So It Is In The Whole Of Life; For All Things

Above,  Below,  Are The Same And From The Same. How Long Then?

 

47. Think Continually That All Kinds Of Men And All Kinds Of Pursuits

And Of All Nations Are Dead,  So That Thy Thoughts Come Down Even To

Philistion And Phoebus And Origanion. Now Turn Thy Thoughts To The Other

Kinds [Of Men]. To That Place Then We Must Remove,  Where There Are So

Many Great Orators,  And So Many Noble Philosophers,  Heraclitus,

Pythagoras,  Socrates; So Many Heroes Of Former Days,  And So Many

Generals After Them,  And Tyrants; Besides These,  Eudoxus,  Hipparchus,

Archimedes,  And Other Men Of Acute Natural Talents,  Great Minds,  Lovers

Of Labor,  Versatile,  Confident,  Mockers Even Of The Perishable And

Ephemeral Life Of Man,  As Menippus And Such As Are Like Him. As To All

These Consider That They Have Long Been In The Dust. What Harm Then Is

This To Them; And What To Those Whose Names Are Altogether Unknown? One

Thing Here Is Worth A Great Deal,  To Pass Thy Life In Truth And Justice,

With A Benevolent Disposition Even To Liars And Unjust Men.

 

48. When Thou Wishest To Delight Thyself,  Think Of The Virtues Of Those

Who Live With Thee; For Instance,  The Activity Of One,  And The Modesty

Of Another,  And The Liberality Of A Third,  And Some Other Good Quality

Of A Fourth. For Nothing Delights So Much As The Examples Of The

Virtues,  When They Are Exhibited In The Morals Of Those Who Live With Us

And Present Themselves In Abundance,  As Far As Is Possible. Wherefore We

Must Keep Them Before Us.

 

49. Thou Art Not Dissatisfied. I Suppose,  Because Thou Weighest Only So

Many Litrae And Not Three Hundred. Be Not Dissatisfied Then That Thou

Must Live Only So Many Years And Not More; For As Thou Art Satisfied

With The Amount Of Substance Which Has Been Assigned To Thee,  So Be

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Content With The Time.

 

50. Let Us Try To Persuade Them [Men]. But Act Even Against Their Will,

When The Principles Of Justice Lead That Way. If However Any Man By

Using Force Stands In Thy Way,  Betake Thyself To Contentment And

Tranquillity,  And At The Same Time Employ The Hindrance Towards The

Exercise Of Some Other Virtue; And Remember That Thy Attempt Was With A

Reservation [Conditionally],  That Thou Didst Not Desire To Do

Impossibilities. What Then Didst Thou Desire?--Some Such Effort As

This.--But Thou Attainest Thy Object,  If The Things To Which Thou Wast

Moved Are [Not] Accomplished. +

 

51. He Who Loves Fame Considers Another Man's Activity To Be His Own

Good; And He Who Loves Pleasure,  His Own Sensations; But He Who Has

Understanding Considers His Own Acts To Be His Own Good.

 

52. It Is In Our Power To Have No Opinion About A Thing,  And Not To Be

Disturbed In Our Soul; For Things Themselves Have No Natural Power To

Form Our Judgments.

 

53. Accustom Thyself To Attend Carefully To What Is Said By Another,  And

As Much As It Is Possible,  Be In The Speaker's Mind.

 

54. That Which Is Not Good For The Swarm,  Neither Is It Good For The

Bee.

 

55. If Sailors Abused The Helmsman,  Or The Sick The Doctor,  Would They

Listen To Anybody Else? Or How Could The Helmsman Secure The Safety Of

Those In The Ship,  Or The Doctor The Health Of Those Whom He Attends?

 

56. How Many Together With Whom I Came Into The World Are Already Gone

Out Of It.

 

57. To The Jaundiced Honey Tastes Bitter,  And To Those Bitten By Mad

Dogs Water Causes Fear; And To Little Children The Ball Is A Fine Thing.

Why Then Am I Angry? Dost Thou Think That A False Opinion Has Less Power

Than The Bile In The Jaundiced Or The Poison In Him Who Is Bitten By A

Mad Dog?

 

58. No Man Will Hinder Thee From Living According To The Reason Of Thy

Own Nature: Nothing Will Happen To Thee Contrary To The Reason Of The

Universal Nature.

 

59. What Kind Of People Are Those Whom Men Wish To Please,  And For What

Objects,  And By What Kind Of Acts? How Soon Will Time Cover All Things,

And How Many It Has Covered Already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vii.

 

 

 

 

What Is Badness? It Is That Which Thou Hast Often Seen. And On The

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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 [Thoughts]

Which Correspond To Them Are Extinguished? But It Is In Thy Power

Continuously To Fan These Thoughts Into A Flame. I Can Have That Opinion

About Anything Which I Ought To Have. If I Can,  Why Am I Disturbed? The

Things Which Are External To My Mind Have No Relation At All To My

Mind.--Let This Be The State Of Thy Affects,  And Thou Standest Erect. To

Recover Thy Life Is In Thy Power. Look At Things Again As Thou Didst Use

To Look At Them; For In This Consists The Recovery Of Thy Life.

 

3. The Idle Business Of Show,  Plays On The Stage,  Flocks Of Sheep,

Herds,  Exercises With Spears,  A Bone Cast To Little Dogs,  A Bit Of Bread

Into Fishponds,  Laborings Of Ants And Burden-Carrying,  Runnings About

Of Frightened Little Mice,  Puppets Pulled By Strings--[All Alike]. It Is

Thy Duty Then In The Midst Of Such Things To Show Good Humor And Not A

Proud Air; To Understand However That Every Man Is Worth Just So Much As

The Things Are Worth About Which He Busies Himself.

 

4. In Discourse Thou Must Attend To What Is Said,  And In Every Movement

Thou Must Observe What Is Doing. And In The One Thou Shouldst See

Immediately To What End It Refers,  But In The Other Watch Carefully What

Is The Thing Signified.

 

5. Is My Understanding Sufficient For This Or Not? If It Is Sufficient,

I Use It For The Work As An Instrument Given By The Universal Nature.

But If It Is Not Sufficient,  Then Either I Retire From The Work And Give

Way To Him Who Is Able To Do It Better,  Unless There Be Some Reason Why

I Ought Not To Do So; Or I Do It As Well As I Can,  Taking To Help Me The

Man Who With The Aid Of My Ruling Principle Can Do What Is Now Fit And

Useful For The General Good. For What-Soever Either By Myself Or With

Another I Can Do,  Ought To Be Directed To This Only,  To That Which Is

Useful And Well Suited To Society.

 

6. How Many After Being Celebrated By Fame Have Been Given Up To

Oblivion; And How Many Who Have Celebrated The Fame Of Others Have Long

Been Dead.

 

7. Be Not Ashamed To Be Helped; For It Is Thy Business To Do Thy Duty

Like A Soldier In The Assault On A Town. How Then,  If Being Lame Thou

Canst Not Mount Up On The Battlements Alone,  But With The Help Of

Another It Is Possible?

 

8. Let Not Future Things Disturb Thee,  For Thou Wilt Come To Them,  If It

Shall Be Necessary,  Having With Thee The Same Reason