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

The Fourth Is When Thou Shalt

Reproach Thyself For Anything,  For This Is An Evidence Of The Diviner

Part Within Thee Being Overpowered And Yielding To The Less Honorable

And To The Perishable Part,  The Body,  And To Its Gross Pleasures (Iv.

24; Ii. 16).

 

20. Thy Aerial Part And All The Fiery Parts Which Are Mingled In Thee,

Though By Nature They Have An Upward Tendency,  Still In Obedience To The

Disposition Of The Universe They Are Overpowered Here In The Compound

Mass [The Body]. And Also The Whole Of The Earthy Part In Thee And The

Watery,  Though Their Tendency Is Downward,  Still Are Raised Up And

Occupy A Position Which Is Not Their Natural One. In This Manner Then

The Elemental Parts Obey The Universal; For When They Have Been Fixed In

Any Place,  Perforce They Remain There Until Again The Universal Shall

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Sound The Signal For Dissolution. Is It Not Then Strange That Thy

Intelligent Part Only Should Be Disobedient And Discontented With Its

Own Place? And Yet No Force Is Imposed On It,  But Only Those Things

Which Are Conformable To Its Nature: Still It Does Not Submit,  But Is

Carried In The Opposite Direction. For The Movement Towards Injustice

And Intemperance And To Anger And Grief And Fear Is Nothing Else Than

The Act Of One Who Deviates From Nature. And Also When The Ruling

Faculty Is Discontented With Anything That Happens,  Then Too It Deserts

Its Post: For It Is Constituted For Piety And Reverence Towards The Gods

No Less Than For Justice. For These Qualities Also Are Comprehended

Under The Generic Term Of Contentment With The Constitution Of Things,

And Indeed They Are Prior[A] To Acts Of Justice.

 

    [A] The Word [Greek: Presbytera],  Which Is Here Translated

    "Prior," May Also Mean "Superior;" But Antoninus Seems To Say

    That Piety And Reverence Of The Gods Precede All Virtues,  And

    That Other Virtues Are Derived From Them,  Even Justice,  Which

    In Another Passage (Xi. 10) He Makes The Foundation Of All

    Virtues. The Ancient Notion Of Justice Is That Of Giving To

    Every One His Due. It Is Not A Legal Definition,  As Some Have

    Supposed,  But A Moral Rule Which Law Cannot In All Cases

    Enforce. Besides,  Law Has Its Own Rules,  Which Are Sometimes

    Moral And Sometimes Immoral; But It Enforces Them All Simply

    Because They Are General Rules,  And If It Did Not Or Could Not

    Enforce Them,  So Far Law Would Not Be Law. Justice,  Or The

    Doing What Is Just,  Implies A Universal Rule And Obedience To

    It; And As We All Live Under Universal Law,  Which Commands Both

    Our Body And Our Intelligence,  And Is The Law Of Our Nature,

    That Is,  The Law Of The Whole Constitution Of A Man,  We Must

    Endeavor To Discover What This Supreme Law Is. It Is The Will

    Of The Power That Rules All. By Acting In Obedience To This

    Will,  We Do Justice,  And By Consequence Everything Else That We

    Ought To Do.

 

21. He Who Has Not One And Always The Same Object In Life,  Cannot Be One

And The Same All Through His Life. But What I Have Said Is Not Enough,

Unless This Also Is Added,  What This Object Ought To Be. For As There Is

Not The Same Opinion About All The Things Which In Some Way Or Other Are

Considered By The Majority To Be Good,  But Only About Some Certain

Things,  That Is,  Things Which Concern The Common Interest,  So Also Ought

We To Propose To Ourselves An Object Which Shall Be Of A Common Kind

[Social] And Political. For He Who Directs All His Own Efforts To This

Object,  Will Make All His Acts Alike,  And Thus Will Always Be The Same.

 

22. Think Of The Country Mouse And Of The Town Mouse,  And Of The Alarm

And Trepidation Of The Town Mouse.[A]

 

23. Socrates Used To Call The Opinions Of The Many By The Name Of

Lamiae,--Bugbears To Frighten Children.

 

24. The Lacedaemonians At Their Public Spectacles Used To Set Seats In

The Shade For Strangers,  But Themselves Sat Down Anywhere.

 

25. Socrates Excused Himself To Perdiccas[B] For Not Going To Him,

Saying,  It Is Because I Would Not Perish By The Worst Of All Ends; That

Is,  I Would Not Receive A Favor And Then Be Unable To Return It.

 

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26. In The Writings Of The [Ephesians][C] There Was This Precept,

Constantly To Think Of Some One Of The Men Of Former Times Who Practiced

Virtue.

 

    [A] The Story Is Told By Horace In His Satires (Ii. 6),  And By

    Others Since But Not Better.

 

    [B] Perhaps The Emperor Made A Mistake Here,  For Other Writers

    Say That It Was Archelaus,  The Son Of Perdiccas,  Who Invited

    Socrates To Macedonia.

 

    [C] Gataker Suggested [Greek: Epekoureiôn] For [Greek:

    Ephesiôn].

 

27. The Pythagoreans Bid Us In The Morning Look To The Heavens That We

May Be Reminded Of Those Bodies Which Continually Do The Same Things

And In The Same Manner Perform Their Work,  And Also Be Reminded Of Their

Purity And Nudity. For There Is No Veil Over A Star.

 

28. Consider What A Man Socrates Was When He Dressed Himself In A Skin,

After Xanthippe Had Taken His Cloak And Gone Out,  And What Socrates Said

To His Friends Who Were Ashamed Of Him And Drew Back From Him When They

Saw Him Dressed Thus.

 

29. Neither In Writing Nor In Reading Wilt Thou Be Able To Lay Down

Rules For Others Before Thou Shalt Have First Learned To Obey Rules

Thyself. Much More Is This So In Life.

 

30. A Slave Thou Art: Free Speech Is Not For Thee.

 

31. And My Heart Laughed Within.

                          _Odyssey_,  Ix. 413.

 

32. And Virtue They Will Curse,  Speaking Harsh Words.

                 Hesiod,  _Works And Days_,  184.

 

33. To Look For The Fig In Winter Is A Mad-Man's Act: Such Is He Who

Looks For His Child When It Is No Longer Allowed (Epictetus,  Iii. 24,

87).

 

34. When A Man Kisses His Child,  Said Epictetus,  He Should Whisper To

Himself,  "To-Morrow Perchance Thou Wilt Die."--But Those Are Words Of

Bad Omen.--"No Word Is A Word Of Bad Omen," Said Epictetus,  "Which

Expresses Any Work Of Nature; Or If It Is So,  It Is Also A Word Of Bad

Omen To Speak Of The Ears Of Corn Being Reaped" (Epictetus,  Iii. 24,  88).

 

35. The Unripe Grape,  The Ripe Bunch,  The Dried Grape,  Are All Changes,

Not Into Nothing,  But Into Something Which Exists Not Yet (Epictetus,

Iii. 24).

 

36. No Man Can Rob Us Of Our Free Will (Epictetus,  Iii. 22,  105).

 

37. Epictetus Also Said,  A Man Must Discover An Art [Or Rules] With

Respect To Giving His Assent; And In Respect To His Movements He Must Be

Careful That They Be Made With Regard To Circumstances,  That They Be

Consistent With Social Interests,  That They Have Regard To The Value Of

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The Object; And As To Sensual Desire,  He Should Altogether Keep Away

From It; And As To Avoidance [Aversion],  He Should Not Show It With

Respect To Any Of The Things Which Are Not In Our Power.

 

38. The Dispute Then,  He Said,  Is Not About Any Common Matter,  But About

Being Mad Or Not.

 

39. Socrates Used To Say,  What Do You Want,  Souls Of Rational Men Or

Irrational?--Souls Of Rational Men.--Of What Rational Men,  Sound Or

Unsound?--Sound.--Why Then Do You Not Seek For Them?--Because We Have

Them.--Why Then Do You Fight And Quarrel?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xii.

 

 

 

 

All Those Things At Which Thou Wishest To Arrive By A Circuitous Road

Thou Canst Have Now,  If Thou Dost Not Refuse Them To Thyself. And This

Means,  If Thou Wilt Take No Notice Of All The Past,  And Trust The Future

To Providence,  And Direct The Present Only Conformably To Piety And

Justice. Conformably To Piety That Thou Mayest Be Content With The Lot

Which Is Assigned To Thee,  For Nature Designed It For Thee And Thee For

It. Conformably To Justice,  That Thou Mayst Always Speak The Truth

Freely And Without Disguise,  And Do The Things Which Are Agreeable To

Law And According To The Worth Of Each. And Let Neither Another Man's

Wickedness Hinder Thee,  Nor Opinion Nor Voice,  Nor Yet The Sensations Of

The Poor Flesh Which Has Grown About Thee; For The Passive Part Will

Look To This. If,  Then,  Whatever The Time May Be When Thou Shalt Be Near

To Thy Departure,  Neglecting Everything Else Thou Shalt Respect Only Thy

Ruling Faculty And The Divinity Within Thee,  And If Thou Shalt Be Afraid

Not Because Thou Must Some Time Cease To Live,  But If Thou Shalt Fear

Never To Have Begun To Live According To Nature--Then Thou Wilt Be A Man

Worthy Of The Universe Which Has Produced Thee,  And Thou Wilt Cease To

Be A Stranger In Thy Native Land,  And To Wonder At Things Which Happen

Daily As If They Were Something Unexpected,  And To Be Dependent On This

Or That.

 

2. God Sees The Minds [Ruling Principles] Of All Men Bared Of The

Material Vesture And Rind And Impurities. For With His Intellectual Part

Alone He Touches The Intelligence Only Which Has Flowed And Been Derived

From Himself Into These Bodies. And If Thou Also Usest Thyself To Do

This,  Thou Wilt Rid Thyself Of Thy Much Trouble. For He Who Regards Not

The Poor Flesh Which Envelops Him,  Surely Will Not Trouble Himself By

Looking After Raiment And Dwelling And Fame And Such Like Externals And

Show.

 

3. The Things Are Three Of Which Thou Art Composed: A Little Body,  A

Little Breath [Life],  Intelligence. Of These The First Two Are Thine,  So

Far As It Is Thy Duty To Take Care Of Them; But The Third Alone Is

Properly Thine. Therefore If Thou Shalt Separate From Thyself,  That Is,

From Thy Understanding,  Whatever Others Do Or Say,  And Whatever Thou

Hast Done Or Said Thyself,  And Whatever Future Things Trouble Thee

Because They May Happen,  And Whatever In The Body Which Envelops Thee Or

In The Breath [Life],  Which Is By Nature Associated With The Body,  Is

Attached To Thee Independent Of Thy Will,  And Whatever The External

Circumfluent Vortex Whirls Round,  So That The Intellectual Power Exempt

From The