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

Still In A Manner Thou Goest To Them. Let Then Thy

Judgment About Them Be At Rest,  And They Will Remain Quiet,  And Thou

Wilt Not Be Seen Either Pursuing Or Avoiding.

 

12. The Spherical Form Of The Soul Maintains Its Figure When It Is

Neither Extended Towards Any Object,  Nor Contracted Inwards,  Nor

Dispersed,  Nor Sinks Down,  But Is Illuminated By Light,  By Which It Sees

The Truth,--The Truth Of All Things And The Truth That Is In Itself

(Viii. 41,  45; Xii. 3).

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13. Suppose Any Man Shall Despise Me. Let Him Look To That Himself. But

I Will Look To This,  That I Be Not Discovered Doing Or Saying Anything

Deserving Of Contempt. Shall Any Man Hate Me? Let Him Look To It. But I

Will Be Mild And Benevolent Towards Every Man,  And Ready To Show Even

Him His Mistake,  Not Reproachfully,  Nor Yet As Making A Display Of My

Endurance,  But Nobly And Honestly,  Like The Great Phocion,  Unless Indeed

He Only Assumed It. For The Interior [Parts] Ought To Be Such,  And A

Man Ought To Be Seen By The Gods Neither Dissatisfied With Anything Nor

Complaining. For What Evil Is It To Thee,  If Thou Art Now Doing What Is

Agreeable To Thy Own Nature,  And Art Satisfied With That Which At This

Moment Is Suitable To The Nature Of The Universe,  Since Thou Art A Human

Being Placed At Thy Post In Order That What Is For The Common Advantage

May Be Done In Some Way?

 

14. Men Despise One Another And Flatter One Another; And Men Wish To

Raise Themselves Above One Another,  And Crouch Before One Another.

 

15. How Unsound And Insincere Is He Who Says,  I Have Determined To Deal

With Thee In A Fair Way!--What Are Thou Doing,  Man? There Is No Occasion

To Give This Notice. It Will Soon Show Itself By Acts. The Voice Ought

To Be Plainly Written On The Forehead. Such As A Man's Character Is,+ He

Immediately Shows It In His Eyes,  Just As He Who Is Beloved Forthwith

Reads Everything In The Eyes Of Lovers. The Man Who Is Honest And Good

Ought To Be Exactly Like A Man Who Smells Strong,  So That The Bystander

As Soon As He Comes Near Him Must Smell Whether He Choose Or Not. But

The Affectation Of Simplicity Is Like A Crooked Stick.[A] Nothing Is

More Disgraceful Than A Wolfish Friendship [False Friendship]. Avoid

This Most Of All. The Good And Simple And Benevolent Show All These

Things In The Eyes,  And There Is No Mistaking.

 

    [A] Instead Of [Greek: Skalmê] Saumaise Reads [Greek: Skambê].

    There Is A Greek Proverb,  [Greek: Skambon Xylon Oudepot

    Orthon]: "You Cannot Make A Crooked Stick Straight."

 

    The Wolfish Friendship Is An Allusion To The Fable Of The Sheep

    And The Wolves.

 

16. As To Living In The Best Way,  This Power Is In The Soul,  If It Be

Indifferent To Things Which Are Indifferent. And It Will Be Indifferent,

If It Looks On Each Of These Things Separately And All Together,  And If

It Remembers That Not One Of Them Produces In Us An Opinion About

Itself,  Nor Comes To Us; But These Things Remain Immovable,  And It Is We

Ourselves Who Produce The Judgments About Them,  And,  As We May Say,

Write Them In Ourselves,  It Being In Our Power Not To Write Them,  And It

Being In Our Power,  If Perchance These Judgments Have Imperceptibly Got

Admission To Our Minds,  To Wipe Them Out; And If We Remember Also That

Such Attention Will Only Be For A Short Time,  And Then Life Will Be At

An End. Besides,  What Trouble Is There At All In Doing This? For If

These Things Are According To Nature,  Rejoice In Them And They Will Be

Easy To Thee: But If Contrary To Nature,  Seek What Is Conformable To Thy

Own Nature,  And Strive Towards This,  Even If It Bring No Reputation; For

Every Man Is Allowed To Seek His Own Good.

 

17. Consider Whence Each Thing Is Come,  And Of What It Consists,  + And

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Into What It Changes,  And What Kind Of A Thing It Will Be When It Has

Changed,  And That It Will Sustain No Harm.

 

18. [If Any Have Offended Against Thee,  Consider First]: What Is My

Relation To Men,  And That We Are Made For One Another; And In Another

Respect I Was Made To Be Set Over Them,  As A Ram Over The Flock Or A

Bull Over The Herd. But Examine The Matter From First Principles,  From

This. If All Things Are Not Mere Atoms,  It Is Nature Which Orders All

Things: If This Is So,  The Inferior Things Exist For The Sake Of The

Superior,  And These For The Sake Of One Another (Ii. 1; Ix. 39; V. 16;

Iii. 4).

 

Second,  Consider What Kind Of Men They Are At Table,  In Bed,  And So

Forth; And Particularly,  Under What Compulsions In Respect Of Opinions

They Are; And As To Their Acts,  Consider With What Pride They Do What

They Do (Viii. 14; Ix. 34).

 

Third,  That If Men Do Rightly What They Do,  We Ought Not To Be

Displeased: But If They Do Not Right,  It Is Plain That They Do So

Involuntarily And In Ignorance. For As Every Soul Is Unwillingly

Deprived Of The Truth,  So Also Is It Unwillingly Deprived Of The Power

Of Behaving To Each Man According To His Deserts. Accordingly Men Are

Pained When They Are Called Unjust,  Ungrateful,  And Greedy,  And In A

Word Wrong-Doers To Their Neighbors (Vii. 62,  63; Ii. 1; Vii. 26; Viii.

29).

 

Fourth,  Consider That Thou Also Doest Many Things Wrong,  And That Thou

Art A Man Like Others; And Even If Thou Dost Abstain From Certain

Faults,  Still Thou Hast The Disposition To Commit Them,  Though Either

Through Cowardice,  Or Concern About Reputation,  Or Some Such Mean

Motive,  Thou Dost Abstain From Such Faults (I. 17).

 

Fifth,  Consider That Thou Dost Not Even Understand Whether Men Are Doing

Wrong Or Not,  For Many Things Are Done With A Certain Reference To

Circumstances. And In Short,  A Man Must Learn A Great Deal To Enable Him

To Pass A Correct Judgment On Another Man's Acts (Ix. 38; Iv. 51).

 

Sixth,  Consider When Thou Art Much Vexed Or Grieved,  That Man's Life Is

Only A Moment,  And After A Short Time We Are All Laid Out Dead (Vii. 58;

Iv. 48).

 

Seventh,  That It Is Not Men's Acts Which Disturb Us,  For Those Acts Have

Their Foundation In Men's Ruling Principles,  But It Is Our Own Opinions

Which Disturb Us. Take Away These Opinions Then,  And Resolve To Dismiss

Thy Judgment About An Act As If It Were Something Grievous,  And Thy

Anger Is Gone. How Then Shall I Take Away These Opinions? By Reflecting

That No Wrongful Act Of Another Brings Shame On Thee: For Unless That

Which Is Shameful Is Alone Bad,  Thou Also Must Of Necessity Do Many

Things Wrong,  And Become A Robber And Everything Else (V. 25; Vii. 16).

 

Eighth,  Consider How Much More Pain Is Brought On Us By The Anger And

Vexation Caused By Such Acts Than By The Acts Themselves,  At Which We

Are Angry And Vexed (Iv. 39,  49; Vii. 24).

 

Ninth,  Consider That A Good Disposition Is Invincible If It Be Genuine,

And Not An Affected Smile And Acting A Part. For What Will The Most

Violent Man Do To Thee,  If Thou Continuest To Be Of A Kind Disposition

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Towards Him,  And If,  As Opportunity Offers,  Thou Gently Admonishest Him

And Calmly Correctest His Errors At The Very Time When He Is Trying To

Do Thee Harm,  Saying,  Not So,  My Child: We Are Constituted By Nature For

Something Else: I Shall Certainly Not Be Injured,  But Thou Art Injuring

Thyself,  My Child.--And Show Him With Gentle Tact And By General

Principles That This Is So,  And That Even Bees Do Not Do As He Does,  Nor

Any Animals Which Are Formed By Nature To Be Gregarious. And Thou Must

Do This Neither With Any Double Meaning Nor In The Way Of Reproach,  But

Affectionately And Without Any Rancor In Thy Soul; And Not As If Thou

Wert Lecturing Him,  Nor Yet That Any Bystander May Admire,  But Either

When He Is Alone,  And If Others Are Present ...[A]

 

    [A] It Appears That There Is A Defect In The Text Here.

 

Remember These Nine Rules,  As If Thou Hadst Received Them As A Gift From

The Muses,  And Begin At Last To Be A Man While Thou Livest. But Thou

Must Equally Avoid Nattering Men And Being Vexed At Them,  For Both Are

Unsocial And Lead To Harm. And Let This Truth Be Present To Thee In The

Excitement Of Anger,  That To Be Moved By Passion Is Not Manly,  But That

Mildness And Gentleness,  As They Are More Agreeable To Human Nature,  So

Also Are They More Manly; And He Who Possesses These Qualities Possesses

Strength,  Nerves,  And Courage,  And Not The Man Who Is Subject To Fits Of

Passion And Discontent. For In The Same Degree In Which A Man's Mind Is

Nearer To Freedom From All Passion,  In The Same Degree Also Is It Nearer

To Strength: And As The Sense Of Pain Is A Characteristic Of Weakness,

So Also Is Anger. For He Who Yields To Pain And He Who Yields To Anger,

Both Are Wounded And Both Submit.

 

But If Thou Wilt,  Receive Also A Tenth Present From The Leader Of The

Muses [Apollo],  And It Is This,--That To Expect Bad Men Not To Do Wrong

Is Madness,  For He Who Expects This Desires An Impossibility. But To

Allow Men To Behave So To Others,  And To Expect Them Not To Do Thee Any

Wrong,  Is Irrational And Tyrannical.

 

19. There Are Four Principal Aberrations Of The Superior Faculty Against

Which Thou Shouldst Be Constantly On Thy Guard,  And When Thou Hast

Detected Them,  Thou Shouldst Wipe Them Out And Say On Each Occasion

Thus: This Thought Is Not Necessary: This Tends To Destroy Social Union:

This Which Thou Art Going To Say Comes Not From The Real Thoughts; For

Thou Shouldst Consider It Among The Most Absurd Of Things For A Man Not

To Speak From His Real Thoughts. But