Chapter five of Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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please visit LibriVox dot org. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,
translated by George Long. Chapter five. In the morning, when thou
risest unwillingly, let this thought be present, I am rising to the work
of a human being. Why then, am I dissatisfied? If I am
going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought
into the world? Or have I been made for this? To lie in
the bedclothes and keep myself warm? But this is more pleasant? Dost thou
exist then to take thy pleasure, and not at all for action or exertion.
Dost thou not see the little plants, the little birds, the ants,
the spiders, the bees, working together to put in order their several
parts of the universe. And art thou unwilling to do the work of a
human being? And dost thou not make haste to do that which is according
to thy nature? But it is necessary to take rest. Also it is
necessary However, Nature has fixed bounds to this too. She has fixed bounds
both to eating and drinking. And yet thou goest beyond these bounds, beyond
what is sufficient. Yet in thy acts it is not so, But thou
stoppest short of what thou canst do. So thou lovest not thyself. For
if thou didst, thou wouldst love thy nature and her will. But those
who love their several arts exhaust themselves in working at them, unwashed and without
food. But thou valuest thine own nature less than the turner values the turning
art, or the dancer, the dancing art or the lover of money values
his money, or the vainglorious man his little glory. And such men,
when they have a violent affection to a thing, choose neither to eat nor
to sleep, rather than to perfect the things which they care for. But
are the acts which concern society more vile in thy eyes and less worthy of
thy labor. How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression
which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility every word
and deed which are according to nature to be fit for THEE, and be
not diverted by the blame which follows from any people, nor by their words.
But if a thing is good to be done or said, do not
consider it unworthy of THEE. For those persons have their peculiar leading principle and
follow their peculiar movement, which things do not thou regard, but go straight
on following thy own nature and the common nature. And the way of both
is one. I go through the things which happen according to nature, and
I shall fall and rest, breathing out my breath into that element out of
which I daily draw it in, and falling upon that earth, out of
which my father collected the seed, and my mother the blood, and my
nurse the milk, out of which, during so many years I have been
supplied with food and drink, which bears me when I tread on it,
and abuse it for so many purposes. Thou sayest men cannot admire the sharpness
of thy wits. Be it so. But there are many other things of
which thou canst not say I am not formed for them by nature. Show
those qualities, then, which are altogether in thy power, sincerity, gravity,
endurance of labor, aversion to pleasure, contentment with thy portion, and
with few things benevolence, frankness, no love of superfluity, freedom from trifling
magnanimity. Dost thou not see how many qualities thou art immediately able to exhibit,
in which there is no excuse of natural incapacity and un fitness, And
yet thou still remainest voluntarily below the mark or art thou compelled through being defectively
furnished by nature to murmur, and to be stingy, and to flatter,
and to find fault with thy poor body, and to try to please men,
and to make great display, and to be restless in thy mind.
No by the gods, but thou mightest have been delivered from these things long
ago, only if in truth thou canst be charged with being rather slow and
dull of comprehension. Thou must exert thyself about this, also, not neglecting
it, nor yet taking pleasure in thy dullness. One man, when he
has done a service to another, is ready to set it down to his
account as a favor conferred. Is not ready to do this, but still
in his own mind he thinks of the man as his debtor, and he
knows what he has done. A third in a manner does not even know
what he has done. But he is like a vine which has produced grapes,
and seeks for nothing more after it has once produced its proper fruit,
as a horse when he has run, a dog when he has tracked the
game, a bee when it has made the honey. So a man,
when he has done a good act, does not call out for others to
come and see, but he goes on to another act, as a vine
goes on to produce again the grapes in season. Must a man then be
one of these who, in a manner, act thus without observing it.
Yes, but this very thing is necessary, the observation of what a man
is doing. For but it may be said it is characteristic of the social
animal to perceive that he is working in a social manner, and indeed to
wish that his social partner also should perceive it. It is true what thou
sayest, but thou dost not rightly understand what is now said. And for
this reason thou wilt become one of those of whom I spoke before, For
even they are misled by a certain show of reason. But if thou wilt
choose to understand the meaning of what is said. Do not fear that for
this reason thou wilt omit any social act. A prayer of the Athenians rain
rain O Dearsius down on the plowed fields of the Athenians and on the plains.
In truth, we ought not to pray at all, or we ought
to pray in this simple and noble fashion. Just as we must understand when
it is said that Esculapius prescribed to this man horse exercise, or bathing in
cold water, or going without shoes, so we must understand it when it
is said that the nature of the universe prescribed to this man disease or mutilation,
or laws, or anything else of the kind. For in the first
case, prescribed means something like this, he prescribed this for this man as
a thing adapted to procure health. And in the second case it means that
which happens to or suits every man, is fixed in a manner for him
suitably to his destiny. For this is what we mean when we say that
things are suitable to us, as the workmen say of squared zones in walls
or the pyramids, that they are suitable when they fit them to one another
in some kind of connection, for there is altogether one fitness, harmony.
And as the universe is made up out of all bodies to be such a
body as it is, so out of all existing causes, necessity destiny is
made up to be such a cause as it is. And even those who
are completely ignorant understand what I mean, for they say it necessity Destiny brought
this to such a person. This then was brought, and this was prescribed
to him. Let us then receive these things, as well as those which
Esculopius prescribes. Many as a matter of course, even among his prescriptions are
disagreeable, but we accept them in the hope of health. Let the perfecting
and accomplishment of the things which the common nature judges to be good be judged
by thee to be of the same kind as thy health. And so accept
everything which happens, even if it seem disagreeable, because it leads to this
to the health of the universe, and to the prosperity and felicity of Zeus
the universe. For he would not have brought on any man what he has
brought if it were not useful for the whole Neither does the nature of anything,
whatever it may be, cause anything which is not suitable to that which
is directed by it. For two reasons, then it is right to be
content with that which happens to THEE. The one because it was done for
THEE, and prescribed for THEE, and and in a manner had reference to
THEE originally from the most ancient causes spun with thy destiny. And the other
because even that which comes severely to every man is to the power which administers
the universe, a cause of felicity and perfection. Nay, even of its
very continuance, for the integrity of the whole is mutilated. If thou cuttest
off anything whatever from the conjunction and the continuity, either of the parts or
of the causes, and thou dost cut off as far as it is in
thy power, when thou art dissatisfied, and in a manner triest to put
anything out of the way, be not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor dissatisfied
if thou dost not succeed in doing everything according to right principles. But when
thou hast failed, turn back again and be content. If the greater part
of what thou doest is consistent with man's nature and love this to which thou
returnest, And do not return to philosophy as if she were a master,
But act like those who have sore eyes, and apply a bit of sponge
and egg, or as another applies a plaster or drenching with water. For
thus thou wilt not fail to obey reason, and thou wilt repose in it.
And remember that philosophy requires only the things which thy nature requires. But
thou wouldst have something else which is not according to nature. It may be
objected, why what is more agreeable than this which I am doing? But
is not this the very reason why pleasure deceives us? And consider if magnanimity,
freedom, simplicity, equanimi piety are not more agreeable, For what is
more agreeable than wisdom itself? When thou thinkest of the security and the happy
course of all things which depend on the faculty of understanding and knowledge, things
are in such a kind of envelopment that they have seemed to philosophers, not
a few, nor those common philosophers altogether unintelligible, nay even to the stoics
themselves. They seem difficult to understand, and all our assent is changeable.
For where is the man who never changes carry thy thoughts? Then to the
objects themselves, and consider how short lived they are and worthless, and that
they may be in the possession of a filthy wretch, or a whore or
a robber. Then turn to the morals of those who live with thee.
And it is hardly possible to endure even the most agreeable of them, to
say nothing of the man being hardly able to endure himself in such darkness,
then, and dirt, and in so constant a flux, both of substance
and of time, and of motion and of things moved. What there is
worth being highly prized, or even an object of serious pursuit I cannot imagine.
But on the contrary, it is a man's duty to comfort himself and
to wait for the natural dissolution, and not to be vexed at the delay,
but to rest in these principles only, the one that nothing will happen
to me which is not conformable to the nature of the universe, and the
other that it is in my power never to act contrary to my God and
demon. For there is no man who will compel me to do this.
About what am I now employing my own soul? On every occasion I must
ask myself this question and inquire, what have I now in this part of
me which they call the ruling principle? And whose soul have I now that
of a child, or of a young man, or of a feeble woman,
or of a tyrant, or of a domestic animal, or of a
wild beast. What kind of things those are which appear good to the many?
We may learn even from this. For if any man should conceive certain
things as being really good, such as prudence, temperance, justice, fortitude,
he would not, after having first conceived these, endure to listen to
anything which should not be in harmony with what is really good. But if
a man has first conceived as good the things which appear to them many to
be good, he will listen and readily receive as very applicable that which was
said by the comic writer. Thus even the many perceive the difference, for
were it not so, this saying would not offend and would not be rejected
in the first case, while we receive it when it is said of wealth
and of the means which further luxury and fame, as said fitly and wittily
go on, then, and ask if we should value and think those things
to be good to which, after their first conception in the mind. The
words of the comic writer might be aptly applied, that he who has them
through pure abundance has not a place to ease himself in I am composed of
the formal and the material, and neither of them will perish into non existence,
as neither of them came into existence out of non existence. Every part
of me, then will be reduced by change into some part of the universe,
and that again will change into another part of the universe, and so
on forever. And by consequence of such a change, I too exist,
and those who begot me, and so on forever in the other direction.
For nothing hinders us from saying so, even if the universe is administered according
to definite periods of revolution, Reason and the reasoning art philosophy are powers which
are sufficient for themselves and for their own works. They move, then,
from a first principle, which is their own, and they make their way
to the end which is proposed to them. And this is the reason why
such acts are named catorthosais or right acts, which which word signifies that they
proceed by the right road. None of these things ought to be called a
man's which do not belong to a man as man. They are not required
of a man, nor does man's nature promise them, nor are they the
means of man's nature attaining its end. Neither, then, does the end
of man lie in these things. Nor yet that which aids to the accomplishment
of this end, And that which aids toward this end is that which is
good. Besides, if any of these things did belong to man, it
would not be right for a man to despise them and to set himself against
them. Nor would a man be worthy of priests who showed that he did
not want these things, nor would he who stinted himself in any of them
be good, if indeed these things were good. But now the more of
these things a man deems himself of, or of other things like them,
or even when he is deprived of any of them, the more patiently he
endures the loss, just in the same degree he is a better man.
Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy
mind. For the soul is dyed by the thoughts die it then with a
continuous series of such thoughts as these, For instance, that where a man
can live there, he can also live well. But he must live in
a palace. Well, then he can also live well in a palace.
And again, consider that for whatever purpose each thing has been constituted, for
this it has been constituted, And toward this it is carried. And its
end is in that toward which it is carried. And where the end is
there also is the advantage and the good of each thing. Now, the
good for the reasonable animal is society, for that we are made for society
has been shown above. Is it not plain that the inferior exists for the
sake of the superior. But the things which have life are superior to those
which have not life, And of those which have life, the superior are
those which have reason to seek. What is impossible is madness, And it
is impossible that the bad should not do something of this kind. Nothing happens
to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear. The same
things happen to another. And either because he does not see that they have
happened, or because he would show a great spirit, he is firm and
remains unharmed. It is a shame, then, that ignorance and conceit should
be stronger than wisdom. Things themselves touch not the soul, not in the
least degree, nor have they admission to the soul. Nor can they turn
or move the soul. But the soul turns and moves itself alone, And
whatever judgments it may think proper to make such, it makes for itself the
things which present themselves to it. In one respect, man is the nearest
thing to me, so far as I must do good to men and endure
them. But so far as some men make themselves obstacles to my proper acts,
man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no less
than the sun, or wind, or a wild beast. Now it is
true that these may impede my action, but they are no impediments to my
effects and disposition, which have the power of acting conditionally and changing. For
the mind converts changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid, And so
that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to enact. And that which
is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road. Reverence, that
which is best in the universe and this is that which makes use of all
things and directs all things. And in like manner also reverence that which is
best in thyself. And this is of the same kind as that for in
thyself. Also that which makes use of everything else is this, and thy
life is directed by this. That which does no harm to the state does
no harm to the citizen. In the case of every appearance of harm,
apply this rule. If the state is not harmed by this, neither am
I harmed. But if the state is harm thou must not be angry with
him who does harm to the state. Show him where his error is.
Often think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear, both the
things which are and the things which are produced. For substance is like a
river in a continual flow. And the activities of things are in constant change,
and the causes work in infinite varieties. And there is hardly anything which
stands still. And consider this which is near to thee, this boundless abyss
of the past and of the future, in which all things disappear. How
then, is he not a fool who is puffed up with such things,
or plagued about them, or makes himself miserable, for they vex him only
for a time, and a short time. Think of the universal substance,
of which thou hast a very small portion, and of universal time, of
which a short and indivisible interval has been assigned to thee, and of that
which is fixed by destiny, And how small a part of it thou art
does another do me wrong? Let him look to it. He has his
own disposition, his own activity. I now have what the universal nature wills
me to have, and I do what my nature now wills me to do.
Let the part of thy soul which leads and governs, be undisturbed by
the movements in the flesh, whether of pleasure or of pain, and let
it not unite with them, but let it circumscribe itself, and limit those
effects to their parts. But when these effects rise up to the mind by
virtue of that other sympathy that naturally exists in a body which is all one,
then thou must not strive to resist the sensation, for it is natural.
But let not the ruling part of itself add to the sensation the opinion
that it is either good or bad. Live with the gods, and he
does live with the gods, who constantly shows to them that his own soul
is satisfied with that which is assigned to him, and that it does all
that the demon wishes, which Zeus have given to every man for his guardian
and guide a portion of himself. And this is every man's understanding and reason.
Art thou angry with him whose armpits stink? Art thou angry with him
whose mouth smells foul? What good will this anger do THEE? He has
such a mouth, he has such armpits. It is necessary that such an
emanation must come from such things. But the man has reason, it will
be said, And he is able if he takes pains to discover wherein he
offends. I wish THEE well of thy discovery. Well, then an thou
hast reason by thy rational faculty, stir up his rational faculty, show him
his error, admonish him, for if he listens, thou wilt cure him.
And there is no need of anger. As thou intendest to live when
thou art gone out, So it is in thy power to live here.
But if men do not permit THEE, then get away out of life.
Yet, so as if thou werst suffering no harm. The house is smoky,
and I quit it. Why dost thou think that this is any trouble.
But so long as nothing of the kind drives me out, I remain
am free, and no man shall hinder me from doing what I choose.
And I choose to do what is according to the nature of the rational and
social animal. The intelligence of the universe is social. Accordingly, it has
made the inferior things for the sake of the superior, and it has fitted
the superior to one another. Thou seest how it has subordinated, coordinated,
and assigned to everything its proper portion, and has brought together into conquord with
one another the things which are the best. How hast thou behaved hitherto to
the gods, thy parents, brethren, children, teachers, to those who
looked after thy infancy, to thy friends, kinsfolk, to thy slaves.
Consider if thou hast hitherto behaved to all in such a way that this may
be said of THEE never has wronged a man in deed or word, and
call to recollection, and both, how many things thou hast passed through,
and how many things thou hast been able to endure, And that the history
of thy life is now complete, and thy service is ended. And how
many beautiful things thou hast seen, and how many pleasures and pains thou hast
despised, and how many things called honorable thou hast spurned, And to how
many ill minded folks thou hast shown a kind disposition? Why do unskilled and
ignorant souls disturb him who has skill and knowledge? What soul then has skill
and knowledge, That which knows beginning and end, and knows the reason,
which pervades all substance, and through all time, by fixed periods, administers
the universe. Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes or a skeleton,
and either a name or not even a name. But name is sound
and echo. And the things which are much valued in life are empty and
rotten and trifling, and like little dogs biting one another, and little children
quarreling, laughing, and then straightway weeping. But fidelity and modesty, and
justice and truth are fled up to Olympus from the wide spread earth. What
then is there which still detains thee here? If the objects of sense are
easily changed and never stand still, and the organs of perception are dull and
easily receive false impressions, and the poor soul itself is an exhalation from blood.
But to have good repute amid such a world as this is an empty
thing, Why then dost thou not wait in tranquility for thy end, whether
it is extinction or removal to another state? And until that time comes?
What is sufficient? Why what else then, to venerate the gods and bless
them, and to do good to men, and to practice tolerance and self
restraint. But as to everything which is beyond the limits of the poor flesh
and breath, to remember that this is neither thine nor in thy power.
Thou canst pass thy life in an equable flow of happiness. If thou canst
go by the right way, and think and act in the right way.
These two things are common both to the soul of God and to the soul
of man, and to the soul of every rational being. Not to be
hindered by another, and to hold good, to consist in the disposition to
justice and the practice of it, and in this to let thy desire find
its termination. If this is neither my own badness nor an effect of my
own badness, and the commonwealth is not injured. Why am I troubled about
it? And what is the harm to the commonwealth? Do not be carried
along inconsiderately by the appearance of things, but give help to all according to
thy ability and their fitness. And if they should have sustained loss in matters
which are indifferent, do not imagine this to be a damage, for it
is a bad habit. But as the old man, when he went away,
asked back his foster child's top, remembering that it was a top,
so do thou in this case. Also when thou art calling out on the
rostra, hast thou forgotten man? What these things are? Yes? But
they are objects of great concern to these people? Wilt thou too then be
made fool for these things? I was once a fortunate man, but I
lost it. I know not how. But fortunate means that a man has
a signed to himself a good fortune, And a good fortune is good disposition
of the soul, good emotions, good actions. End of Chapter five