Book twelve. 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, indirect 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 mayest 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 sometime 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 happened daily as if they were something unexpected, and
to be dependent on this or that. 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 raymond
and dwelling, and fame and such like externals. And show the things are
three of which thou art composed, a little body, of little breath life
intelligence. Of these the first two are thine, as so far as it
is thy duty to take care of them, but the third alone and 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 around. So that the intellectual
power, exempt from the things of fate, can live pure and free by
itself doing what is just and accepting what happens, and saying the truth.
If thou wilt separate, i say, from this ruling faculty the things which
are attached to it by the impressions of sense, and the things of time
to come and of time that is passed, and wilt make thyself like and
Pedocle's sphere all round and in its joyous rest reposing. And if thou shalt
strive to live only what is really thy life, that is the present,
then thou wilt be able to pass that portion of life which remains for THEE
up to the time of thy death, free from perturbations, nobly and obedient
to thy own demon, to the God that is within thee. I have
often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest
of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than
on the opinion of others. If then, a god or a wise teacher
should present himself to a man and bid him to think of nothing and to
design nothing, which he would not express as soon as he conceived it,
he could not endure it even for a single day. So much more respect
have we to what our neighbors shall think of us than to what we shall
think of ourselves. How can it be that the Gods, after having arranged
all things well and benevolently for mankind, have overlooked this alone. That some
men, very good men, and men, who, as we may say,
have had most communion with the Divinity, and through pious acts and religious
observances, have been most intimate with the Divinity, when they have once died,
should never exist again, but should be completely extinguished. But if this
is so, be assured that if it ought to have been otherwise, the
gods would have done it. For if it were just it would also be
possible, and if it were according to nature, nature would have had it's
so. But because it is not so, If in fact it is not
so, be thou convinced that it ought not to have been so. For
thou seest ephen of thyself that in this inquiry thou art disputing with the deity.
And we should not thus dispute with the gods unless they were most excellent
and most just. But if this is so, they would not have allowed
anything in the ordering of the universe to be neglected unjustly and irrationally. Practice
thyself even in the things which thou dispaarest of accomplishing. For even the left
hand, which ineffectual for all other things, and for want of practice,
holds the bridle more vigorously than the right hand, for it has been practiced
in this. Consider in what condition, both in body and soul, a
man should be when he is overtaken by death. And consider the shortness of
life, the boundless abyss of time past and future, the feebleness of all
matter. Contemplate the formative principles, forms of things, bear of their coverings,
the purposes of actions. Consider what pain is, what pleasure is,
and death and fame. Who is to himself the cause of his uneasiness.
How no man is hindered by another. That everything is opinion. In the
application of thy principles, Thou must be like the pancratiist, not like the
gladiator. For the gladiator lets fall the sword which he uses and is killed,
But the other always has his hand and needs to do nothing else than
use it. See what things are in themselves, dividing them into matter,
form and purpose power. How our man has to do nothing except what God
will approve, and to accept all that God may give him. With respect
to that which happens conformably to nature, we ought to blame neither gods,
for they do nothing wrong, either voluntarily or involuntarily, nor men, for
they do nothing wrong except involuntarily. Consequently, we should blame nobody, how
ridiculous and what a stranger he is, who is surprised at anything which happens
in life. Either there is a fatal necessity, an invincible order, or
a kind providence, or a confusion without a purpose and without a director booked
A four. If then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist?
But if there is a providence, which allows itself to be propitiated,
Make thyself worthy of the help of the divinity. But if there is a
confusion without governor, be content that in such a tempest thou hast in thyself
a certain ruling intelligence. And even if the tempest carry thee away, let
it carry away the poor flesh, the poor breath, everything else, for
the intelligence, at least it will not carry away. Does the light of
the lamp shine without losing its splendor until it is extinguished? And shall the
truth which is in thee, and justice and temperance be extinguished before thy death.
When a man has presented the appearance of having done wrong, say,
how then do I know if this is a wrongful act? And even if
he has done it wrong, how do I know that he has not condemned
himself? And so this is like tearing his own face. Consider that he
who would not have the bad man do wrong, is like the man who
would not have the fig tree to bear, juice in the figs, and
infants to cry, and the horse to ney, and whatever else must of
necessity be. For what must a man do who has such a character?
If then thou art irritable cure this man's disposition. If it is not right,
do not do it. If it is not true, do not say
it. For let thy efforts be in everything. Always Observe what the thing
is which produces for THEE in appearance, and resolve it by dividing it into
the formal, the material, the purpose, and the time within which it
must end. Perceive at last that thou hast in THEE something better and more
divine than the things which cause the various effects. And as it will pull
THEE by the strings, what is there now in my mind? Is it
fear or suspicion, or desire, or anything of the kind. First,
do nothing inconsiderately nor without a purpose. Second, and make thy acts refer
to nothing else than to a social end. Consider that before long thou wilt
be nobody and nowhere, nor will any of the things exist which thou now
seest, nor any of those who are now living. For all things are
formed by nature to change and be turned, and to perish in order that
other things in continuous succession may exist. Consider that everything is opinion, and
opinion is in thy power. Take away, then, when thou choosest thy
opinion, And like a mariner who has doubled the promontory, thou wilt find
calm, everything stable, and a waveless bay. Any One activity, whatever
it may be, when it has ceased at its proper time, suffers no
evil because it has ceased. Nor he who has done this act does he
suffer any evil for this reason that the act has ceased in like manner.
Then the whole which consists of all the acts, which is our life,
if it ceased at its proper time, suffers no evil for this reason that
it has ceased. Nor he who has terminated this series at the proper time
has he been ill dealt with. But the proper time and the limit nature
fixes, sometimes, as in old age, the peculiar nature of man,
but always the universal nature, by the change of whose parts the whole universe
continues, ever young and perfect. In everything which is useful to the Universal
is always good and in season. Therefore, the termination of life for every
man is no evil, because neither is it shameful, since it is both
independent of the will and not opposed to the general interest. But it is
good since it is seasonable and profitable to and congruent with the Universal. For
thus two he is move by the deity, who has moved in the same
manner with the deity, and move towards the same things in his mind.
These three principles thou must have in readiness in the things which thou doest.
Do nothing either inconsiderately or otherwise, then as justice herself would act. But
with respect to what may happen to thee from without, consider that it happens
either by chance or according to providence. And thou must neither blame chance nor
accuse providence. Second, consider what every being is from the seed, two,
the time of its receiving a soul, and from the reception of a
soul to the giving back of the same. And of what things every being
is compounded, and into what things it is resolved. Third, if thou
shouldst suddenly be raised up above the earth, and shouldst look down on human
things and observe the variety of them, how great it is, And at
the same time also should see at a glance how great is the number of
beings who dwell around in the air and the ether. Consider that as often
as thou shouldst be raised up, thou wouldst see the same things. Sameness
of form and shortness of duration. Are these things to be proud of.
Castaway opinion thou Art saved, who then hinders THEE from casting it? It
away happen when thou Art troubled about anything, thou hast forgotten this, that
all things happen according to the universal nature, and forgotten at this that a
man's wrongful act is nothing to thee. And further, thou hast forgotten this,
that everything which happens always happened so, and will happen so, and
now happen so everywhere. Forgotten this as to how close is the kinship between
a man and the whole human race, For it is a community not of
a little blood or seed, but of intelligence. And thou hast forgotten this
too, that every man's intelligence is a god and is an efflux of the
deity. And forgotten this that nothing is a man's own, but that his
child, and his body, and his very soul came from the deity.
Forgotten this that everything is opinion. And lastly thou hast forgotten that every man
lives the present time only and loses only this. And constantly bring to thy
recollection those who have complained greatly about anything, those who have been most conspicuous
by the greatest fame, or misfortunes, or enmities, or fortunes of any
kind. Then think where are they all now? Smoke an ash and a
tale, or not even a tale, And let there be present to thy
mind also everything of this sort. How Fabius Catalinus lived in the country,
and Lucius Lupus in his gardens, and Stertinius at Bae, and Tiberius at
Caprae, and Velius Rufus or Rufus at Velia, And in fine think of
the eager pursuit and of anything conjoined with pride, and how worthless everything is
after which men violently strain, and how much more philosophical. And it is
for a man, in the opportunities presented to him, to show the end