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

At Least Some One To

Say To Himself,  Let Us At Last Breathe Freely,  Being Relieved From This

Schoolmaster? It Is True That He Was Harsh To None Of Us,  But I

Perceived That He Tacitly Condemns Us.--This Is What Is Said Of A Good

Man. But In Our Own Case How Many Other Things Are There For Which There

Are Many Who Wish To Get Rid Of Us? Thou Wilt Consider This,  Then,  When

Thou Art Dying,  And Thou Wilt Depart More Contentedly By Reflecting

Thus: I Am Going Away From Such A Life,  In Which Even My Associates In

Behalf Of Whom I Have Striven So Much,  Prayed,  And Cared,  Themselves

Wish Me To Depart,  Hoping Perchance To Get Some Little Advantage By It.

Why Then Should A Man Cling To A Longer Stay Here? Do Not,  However,  For

This Reason Go Away Less Kindly Disposed To Them,  But Preserving Thy Own

Character,  And Friendly And Benevolent And Mild,  And On The Other Hand

Not As If Thou Wast Torn Away; But As When A Man Dies A Quiet Death,  The

Poor Soul Is Easily Separated From The Body,  Such Also Ought Thy

Departure From Men To Be,  For Nature United Thee To Them And Associated

Thee. But Does She Now Dissolve The Union? Well,  I Am Separated As From

Kinsmen,  Not However Dragged Resisting,  But Without Compulsion; For

This,  Too,  Is One Of The Things According To Nature.

 

    [A] He Says [Greek: Kakon],  But As He Affirms In Other Places

    That Death Is No Evil,  He Must Mean What Others May Call An

    Evil,  And He Means Only "What Is Going To Happen."

 

37. Accustom Thyself As Much As Possible On The Occasion Of Anything

Being Done By Any Person To Inquire With Thyself,  For What Object Is

This Man Doing This? But Begin With Thyself,  And Examine Thyself First.

 

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38. Remember That This Which Pulls The Strings Is The Thing Which Is

Hidden Within: This Is The Power Of Persuasion,  This Is Life,  This,  If

One May So Say,  Is Man. In Contemplating Thyself Never Include The

Vessel Which Surrounds Thee And These Instruments Which Are Attached

About It. For They Are Like To An Axe,  Differing Only In This,  That They

Grow To The Body. For Indeed There Is No More Use In These Parts Without

The Cause Which Moves And Checks Them Than In The Weaver's Shuttle,  And

The Writer's Pen,  And The Driver's Whip.[A]

 

    [A] See The Philosophy Of Antoninus,  P. 72,  Note.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xi.

 

 

 

 

These Are The Properties Of The Rational Soul: It Sees Itself,  Analyzes

Itself,  And Makes Itself Such As It Chooses; The Fruit Which It Bears

Itself Enjoys--For The Fruits Of Plants And That In Animals Which

Corresponds To Fruits Others Enjoy--It Obtains Its Own End,  Wherever The

Limit Of Life May Be Fixed. Not As In A Dance And In A Play And In Such

Like Things,  Where The Whole Action Is Incomplete If Anything Cuts It

Short; But In Every Part,  And Wherever It May Be Stopped,  It Makes What

Has Been Set Before It Full And Complete,  So That It Can Say,  I Have

What Is My Own. And Further It Traverses The Whole Universe,  And The

Surrounding Vacuum,  And Surveys Its Form,  And It Extends Itself Into The

Infinity Of Time,  And Embraces And Comprehends The[A] Periodical

Renovation Of All Things,  And It Comprehends That Those Who Come After

Us Will See Nothing New,  Nor Have Those Before Us Seen Anything More,

But In A Manner He Who Is Forty Years Old,  If He Has Any Understanding

At All,  Has Seen By Virtue Of The Uniformity That Prevails All Things

Which Have Been And All That Will Be. This Too Is A Property Of The

Rational Soul,  Love Of One's Neighbor,  And Truth And Modesty,  And To

Value Nothing More Than Itself,  Which Is Also The Property Of Law.[B]

Thus The Right Reason Differs Not At All From The Reason Of Justice.

 

    [A] [Greek: Tên Periodikên Palingenesian]. See V. 13,  32; X.

    7.

 

    [B] Law Is The Order By Which All Things Are Governed.

 

2. Thou Wilt Set Little Value On Pleasing Song And Dancing And The

Pancratium,  If Thou Wilt Distribute The Melody Of The Voice Into Its

Several Sounds,  And Ask Thyself As To Each,  If Thou Art Mastered By

This; For Thou Wilt Be Prevented By Shame From Confessing It: And In The

Matter Of Dancing,  If At Each Movement And Attitude Thou Wilt Do The

Same; And The Like Also In The Matter Of The Pancratium. In All Things,

Then,  Except Virtue And The Acts Of Virtue,  Remember To Apply Thyself To

Their Several Parts,  And By This Division To Come To Value Them Little:

And Apply This Rule Also To Thy Whole Life.

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3. What A Soul That Is Which Is Ready,  If At Any Moment It Must Be

Separated From The Body,  And Ready Either To Be Extinguished Or

Dispersed Or Continue To Exist; But So That This Readiness Comes From A

Man's Own Judgment,  Not From Mere Obstinacy,  As With The Christians,[A]

But Considerately And With Dignity And In A Way To Persuade Another,

Without Tragic Show.

 

    [A] See The Life Of Antoninus. This Is The Only Passage In

    Which The Emperor Speaks Of The Christians. Epictetus (Iv. 7,

    6) Names Them Galilaei.

 

4. Have I Done Something For The General Interest? Well Then,  I Have

Had My Reward. Let This Always Be Present To Thy Mind,  And Never Stop

[Doing Such Good].

 

5. What Is Thy Art? To Be Good. And How Is This Accomplished Well Except

By General Principles,  Some About The Nature Of The Universe,  And Others

About The Proper Constitution Of Man?

 

6. At First Tragedies Were Brought On The Stage As Means Of Reminding

Men Of The Things Which Happen To Them,  And That It Is According To

Nature For Things To Happen So,  And That,  If You Are Delighted With What

Is Shown On The Stage,  You Should Not Be Troubled With That Which Takes

Place On The Larger Stage. For You See That These Things Must Be

Accomplished Thus,  And That Even They Bear Them Who Cry Out,[A] "O

Cithaeron." And,  Indeed,  Some Things Are Said Well By The Dramatic

Writers,  Of Which Kind Is The Following Especially:--

 

      "Me And My Children If The Gods Neglect,

      This Has Its Reason Too."[B]

 

And Again,--

 

      "We Must Not Chafe And Fret At That Which Happens."

 

And,--

 

      "Life's Harvest Reap Like The Wheat's Fruitful Ear."

 

And Other Things Of The Same Kind.

 

After Tragedy The Old Comedy Was Introduced,  Which Had A Magisterial

Freedom Of Speech,  And By Its Very Plainness Of Speaking Was Useful In

Reminding Men To Beware Of Insolence; And For This Purpose Too Diogenes

Used To Take From These Writers.

 

    [A] Sophocles,  Oedipus Rex.

 

    [B] See Vii. 41,  38,  40.

 

But As To The Middle Comedy,  Which Came Next,  Observe What It Was,  And

Again,  For What Object The New Comedy Was Introduced,  Which Gradually

Sank Down Into A Mere Mimic Artifice. That Some Good Things Are Said

Even By These Writers,  Everybody Knows: But The Whole Plan Of Such

Poetry And Dramaturgy,  To What End Does It Look?

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7. How Plain Does It Appear That There Is Not Another Condition Of Life

So Well Suited For Philosophizing As This In Which Thou Now Happenest To

Be.

 

8. A Branch Cut Off From The Adjacent Branch Must Of Necessity Be Cut

Off From The Whole Tree Also. So Too A Man When He Is Separated From

Another Man Has Fallen Off From The Whole Social Community. Now As To A

Branch,  Another Cuts It Off; But A Man By His Own Act Separates Himself

From His Neighbor When He Hates Him And Turns Away From Him,  And He Does

Not Know That He Has At The Same Time Cut Himself Off From The Whole

Social System. Yet He Has This Privilege Certainly From Zeus,  Who Framed

Society,  For It Is In Our Power To Grow Again To That Which Is Near To

Us,  And Again To Become A Part Which Helps To Make Up The Whole.

However,  If It Often Happens,  This Kind Of Separation,  It Makes It

Difficult For That Which Detaches Itself To Be Brought To Unity And To

Be Restored To Its Former Condition. Finally,  The Branch,  Which From The

First Grew Together With The Tree,  And Has Continued To Have One Life

With It,  Is Not Like That Which After Being Cut Off Is Then Ingrafted,

For This Is Something Like What The Gardeners Mean When They Say That It

Grows With The Rest Of The Tree,  But+ That It Has Not The Same Mind With

It.

 

9. As Those Who Try To Stand In Thy Way When Thou Art Proceeding

According To Right Reason Will Not Be Able To Turn Thee Aside From Thy

Proper Action,  So Neither Let Them Drive Thee From Thy Benevolent

Feelings Toward Them,  But Be On Thy Guard Equally In Both Matters,  Not

Only In The Matter Of Steady Judgment And Action,  But Also In The Matter

Of Gentleness To Those Who Try To Hinder Or Otherwise Trouble Thee. For

This Also Is A Weakness,  To Be Vexed At Them,  As Well As To Be Diverted

From Thy Course Of Action And To Give Way Through Fear; For Both Are

Equally Deserters From Their Post,--The Man Who Does It Through Fear,

And The Man Who Is Alienated From Him Who Is By Nature A Kinsman And A

Friend.

 

10. There Is No Nature Which Is Inferior To Art,  For The Arts Imitate

The Natures Of Things. But If This Is So,  That Nature Which Is The Most

Perfect And The Most Comprehensive Of All Natures,  Cannot Fall Short Of

The Skill Of Art Now All Arts Do The Inferior Things For The Sake Of

The Superior; Therefore The Universal Nature Does So Too. And,  Indeed,

Hence Is The Origin Of Justice,  And In Justice The Other Virtues Have

Their Foundation: For Justice Will Not Be Observed,  If We Either Care

For Middle Things [Things Indifferent],  Or Are Easily Deceived And

Careless And Changeable (V. 16. 30; Vii. 55).

 

11. If The Things Do Not Come To Thee,  The Pursuits And Avoidances Of

Which Disturb Thee,