Thoughts Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (e book free reading TXT) 📖
- Author: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
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Brings To Each. And It Is For Its Good At The Time When Nature Brings
It.
21. "The Earth Loves The Shower;" And "The Solemn Ether Loves;" And The
Universe Loves To Make Whatever Is About To Be. I Say Then To The
Universe, That I Love As Thou Lovest. And Is Not This Too Said That
"This Or That Loves [Is Wont] To Be Produced?"[A]
22. Either Thou Livest Here And Hast Already Accustomed Thyself To It,
Or Thou Art Going Away, And This Was Thy Own Will; Or Thou Art Dying And
Hast Discharged Thy Duty. But Besides These Things There Is Nothing. Be
Of Good Cheer, Then.
23. Let This Always Be Plain To Thee, That This Piece Of Land Is Like
Any Other; And That All Things Here Are The Same With Things On The Top
Of A Mountain, Or On The Sea-Shore, Or Wherever Thou Choosest To Be. For
Thou Wilt Find Just What Plato Says, Dwelling Within The Walls Of A City
As In A Shepherd's Fold On A Mountain. [The Three Last Words Are Omitted
In The Translation.][B]
[A] These Words Are From Euripides. They Are Cited By
Aristotle, Ethic. Nicom. Viii. 1. Athenaeus (Xiii. 296) And
Stobaeus Quote Seven Complete Lines Beginning [Greek: Era Men
Ombrou Gaia]. There Is A Similar Fragment Of Aeschylus,
Danaides, Also Quoted By Athenaeus.
It Was The Fashion Of The Stoics To Work On The Meanings Of
Words. So Antoninus Here Takes The Verb [Greek: Philei],
"Loves," Which Has Also The Sense Of "Is Wont," "Uses," And The
Like. He Finds In The Common Language Of Mankind A
Philosophical Truth, And Most Great Truths Are Expressed In The
Common Language Of Life; Some Understand Them, But Most People
Utter Them Without Knowing How Much They Mean.
[B] Plato, Theaet. 174 D.E. But Compare The Original With The
Use That Antoninus Has Made Of It.
24. What Is My Ruling Faculty Now To Me? And Of What Nature Am I Now
Making It? And For What Purpose Am I Now Using It? Is It Void Of
Understanding? Is It Loosed And Rent Asunder From Social Life? Is It
Melted Into And Mixed With The Poor Flesh So As To Move Together With
It?
25. He Who Flies From His Master Is A Runaway; But The Law Is Master,
And He Who Breaks The Law Is A Runaway. And He Also Who Is Grieved Or
Angry Or Afraid, + Is Dissatisfied Because Something Has Been Or Is Or
Shall Be Of The Things Which Are Appointed By Him Who Rules All Things,
And He Is Law And Assigns To Every Man What Is Fit. He Then Who Fears Or
Is Grieved Or Is Angry Is A Runaway.[A]
[A] Antoninus Is Here Playing On The Etymology, Of [Greek:
Nomos], Law, Assignment, That Which Assigns ([Greek: Nemei]) To
Every Man His Portion.
26. A Man Deposits Seed In A Womb And Goes Away, And Then Another Cause
Takes It And Labors On It, And Makes A Child. What A Thing From Such A
Material! Again, The Child Passes Food Down Through The Throat, And Then
Another Cause Takes It And Makes Perception And Motion, And In Fine,
Life And Strength And Other Things; How Many And How Strange! Observe
Then The Things Which Are Produced In Such A Hidden Way, And See The
Power, Just As We See The Power Which Carries Things Downwards And
Upwards, Not With The Eyes, But Still No Less Plainly (Vii. 85).
27. Constantly Consider How All Things Such As They Now Are, In Time
Past Also Were; And Consider That They Will Be The Same Again. And Place
Before Thy Eyes Entire Dramas And Stages Of The Same Form, Whatever Thou
Hast Learned From Thy Experience Or From Older History; For Example, The
Whole Court Of Hadrianus, And The Whole Court Of Antoninus, And The
Whole Court Of Philippus, Alexander, Croesus; For All Those Were Such
Dramas As We See Now, Only With Different Actors.
28. Imagine Every Man Who Is Grieved At Anything Or Discontented To Be
Like A Pig Which Is Sacrificed And Kicks And Screams.
Like This Pig Also Is He Who On His Bed In Silence Laments The Bonds In
Which We Are Held. And Consider That Only To The Rational Animal Is It
Given To Follow Voluntarily What Happens; But Simply To Follow Is A
Necessity Imposed On All.
29. Severally On The Occasion Of Everything That Thou Dost, Pause And
Ask Thyself If Death Is A Dreadful Thing Because It Deprives Thee Of
This.
30. When Thou Art Offended At Any Man's Fault, Forthwith Turn To Thyself
And Reflect In What Like Manner Thou Dost Err Thyself; For Example, In
Thinking That Money Is A Good Thing, Or Pleasure, Or A Bit Of
Reputation, And The Like. For By Attending To This Thou Wilt Quickly
Forget Thy Anger, If This Consideration Also Is Added, That The Man Is
Compelled: For What Else Could He Do? Or, If Thou Art Able, Take Away
From Him The Compulsion.
31. When Thou Hast Seen Satyron[A] The Socratic,+ Think Of Either
Eutyches Or Hymen, And When Thou Hast Seen Euphrates, Think Of Eutychion
Or Silvanus, And When Thou Hast Seen Alciphron Think Of Tropaeophorus,
And When Thou Hast Seen Xenophon, Think Of Crito[B] Or Severus, And When
Thou Hast Looked On Thyself, Think Of Any Other Caesar, And In The Case
Of Every One Do In Like Manner. Then Let This Thought Be In Thy Mind,
Where Then Are Those Men? Nowhere, Or Nobody Knows Where. For Thus
Continuously Thou Wilt Look At Human Things As Smoke And Nothing At All;
Especially If Thou Reflectest At The Same Time That What Has Once
Changed Will Never Exist Again In The Infinite Duration Of Time. But
Thou, In What A Brief Space Of Time Is Thy Existence? And Why Art Thou
Not Content To Pass Through This Short Time In An Orderly Way? What
Matter And Opportunity [For Thy Activity] Art Thou Avoiding? For What
Else Are All These Things, Except Exercises For The Reason, When It Has
Viewed Carefully And By Examination Into Their Nature The Things Which
Happen In Life? Persevere Then Until Thou Shalt Have Made These Things
Thy Own, As The Stomach Which Is Strengthened Makes All Things Its Own,
As The Blazing Fire Makes Flame And Brightness Out Of Everything That Is
Story 3 (The Thoughts Of Marcus Aurelius Antonius) Pg 104Thrown Into It.
32. Let It Not Be In Any Man's Power To Say Truly Of Thee That Thou Are
Not Simple Or That Thou Art Not Good; But Let Him Be A Liar Whoever
Shall Think Anything Of This Kind About Thee; And This Is Altogether In
Thy Power. For Who Is He That Shall Hinder Thee From Being Good And
Simple? Do Thou Only Determine To Live No Longer Unless Thou Shalt Be
Such. For Neither Does Reason Allow [Thee To Live], If Thou Art Not
Such.[C]
[A] Nothing Is Known Of Satyron Or Satyrion; Nor, I Believe, Of
Eutyches Or Hymen. Euphrates Is Honorably Mentioned By
Epictetus (Iii. 15, 8; Iv. 8, 17). Pliny (Epp. I. 10) Speaks
Very Highly Of Him. He Obtained The Permission Of The Emperor
Hadrian To Drink Poison, Because He Was Old And In Bad Health
(Dion Cassius, 69, C. 8).
[B] Crito Is The Friend Of Socrates; And He Was, It Appears,
Also A Friend Of Xenophon. When The Emperor Says "Seen"
([Greek: Idôn]), He Does Not Mean With The Eyes.
[C] Compare Epictetus, I. 29, 28.
33. What Is That Which As To This Material [Our Life] Can Be Done Or
Said In The Way Most Conformable To Reason? For Whatever This May Be, It
Is In Thy Power To Do It Or To Say It, And Do Not Make Excuses That Thou
Art Hindered. Thou Wilt Not Cease To Lament Till Thy Mind Is In Such A
Condition That What Luxury Is To Those Who Enjoy Pleasure, Such Shall Be
To Thee, In The Matter Which Is Subjected And Presented To Thee, The
Doing Of The Things Which Are Conformable To Man's Constitution; For A
Man Ought To Consider As An Enjoyment Everything Which It Is In His
Power To Do According To His Own Nature. And It Is In His Power
Everywhere. Now, It Is Not Given To A Cylinder To Move Everywhere By Its
Own Motion, Nor Yet To Water Nor To Fire, Nor To Anything Else Which Is
Governed By Nature Or An Irrational Soul, For The Things Which Check
Them And Stand In The Way Are Many. But Intelligence And Reason Are Able
To Go Through Everything That Opposes Them, And In Such Manner As They
Are Formed By Nature And As They Choose. Place Before Thy Eyes This
Facility With Which The Reason Will Be Carried Through All Things, As
Fire Upwards, As A Stone Downwards, As A Cylinder Down An Inclined
Surface, And Seek For Nothing Further. For All Other Obstacles Either
Affect The Body Only, Which Is A Dead Thing; Or, Except Through Opinion
And The Yielding Of The Reason Itself, They Do Not Crush Nor Do Any Harm
Of Any Kind; For If They Did, He Who Felt It Would Immediately Become
Bad. Now, In The Case Of All Things Which Have A Certain Constitution,
Whatever Harm May Happen To Any Of Them, That Which Is So Affected
Becomes Consequently Worse; But In The Like Case, A Man Becomes Both
Better, If One May Say So, And More Worthy Of Praise By Making A Right
Use Of These Accidents. And Finally Remember That Nothing Harms Him Who
Is Really A Citizen, Which Does Not Harm The State; Nor Yet Does
Anything Harm The State, Which Does Not Harm Law [Order]; And Of These
Things Which Are Called Misfortunes Not One Harms Law. What Then Does
Not Harm Law Does Not Harm Either State Or Citizen.
34. To Him Who Is Penetrated By True Principles Even The Briefest
Precept Is Sufficient, And Any Common Precept, To Remind Him That He
Should Be Free From Grief And Fear. For Example:--
"Leaves, Some The Wind Scatters On The Ground--
So Is The Race Of Men."[A]
Leaves, Also, Are Thy Children; And Leaves, Too, Are They Who Cry Out As
If They Were Worthy Of Credit And Bestow Their Praise, Or On The
Contrary Curse, Or Secretly Blame And Sneer; And Leaves, In Like Manner,
Are Those Who Shall Receive And Transmit A Man's Fame To After-Times.
For All Such Things As These "Are Produced In The Season Of Spring," As
The Poet Says; Then The Wind Casts Them Down; Then The Forest Produces
Other Leaves In Their Places. But A Brief Existence Is Common To All
Things, And Yet Thou Avoidest And Pursuest All Things As If They Would
Be Eternal. A Little Time, And Thou Shalt Close Thy Eyes; And Him Who
Has Attended Thee To Thy Grave Another Soon Will Lament.
[A] Homer, Ii., Vi. 146.
35. The Healthy Eye Ought To See All Visible Things And Not To Say, I
Wish For Green Things; For This Is The Condition Of A Diseased Eye. And
The Healthy Hearing And Smelling Ought To Be Ready To Perceive All That
Can Be Heard And Smelled. And The Healthy Stomach Ought To Be With
Respect To All Food Just As The Mill With Respect To All Things Which It
Is Formed To Grind. And Accordingly The Healthy Understanding Ought To
Be Prepared For Everything Which Happens; But That Which Says, Let My
Dear Children Live, And Let All Men Praise Whatever I May Do, Is An Eye
Which Seeks For Green Things, Or Teeth Which Seek For Soft Things.
36. There Is No Man So Fortunate That There Shall Not Be By Him When He
Is Dying Some Who Are Pleased With What Is Going To Happen.[A] Suppose
That He Was A Good And Wise Man, Will There Not Be
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