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Book twelve. All those things at
which thou wishest to arrive by a circuitous

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road, thou canst have now if
thou dost not refuse them to thyself.

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And this means if thou wilt take
no notice of all the past, and

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trust the future to providence, indirect
the present only conformably to piety, and

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justice conformably to piety, that thou
mayest be content with the lot which is

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assigned to THEE, for Nature designed
it for THEE, and THEE for it

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conformably to justice. That thou mayest
always speak the truth freely and without disguise,

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and do the things which are agreeable
to law and according to the worth

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of each. And let neither another
man's wickedness hinder THEE, nor opinion,

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nor voice, nor yet the sensations
of the poor flesh which has grown about

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THEE. For the passive part will
look to this. If then, whatever

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the time may be, when thou
shalt be near to thy departure, neglecting

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everything else, thou shalt respect only
thy ruling faculty and the divinity within THEE.

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And if thou shalt be afraid not
because thou must sometime cease to live.

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But if thou shalt fear never to
have begun to live according to nature,

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then thou wilt be a man worthy
of the universe which has produced thee.

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And thou wilt cease to be a
stranger in thy native land, and

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to wonder at things which happened daily
as if they were something unexpected, and

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to be dependent on this or that. God sees the minds ruling principles of

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all men, bared of the material
vesture and rind and impurities. For with

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his intellectual part alone he touches the
intelligence only which has flowed and been derived

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from himself into these bodies. And
if thou also usest thyself to do this,

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thou wilt rid thyself of thy much
trouble. For he who regards not

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the poor flesh which envelops him surely
will not trouble himself by looking after raymond

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and dwelling, and fame and such
like externals. And show the things are

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three of which thou art composed,
a little body, of little breath life

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intelligence. Of these the first two
are thine, as so far as it

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is thy duty to take care of
them, but the third alone and is

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properly thine. Therefore, if thou
shalt separate from thyself, that is,

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from thy understanding, whatever others do
or say, and whatever thou hast done

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or said thyself, and whatever future
things trouble THEE because they may happen,

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And whatever in the body which envelops
THEE, or in the breath life which

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is by nature associated with the body, is attached to THEE independent of thy

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will, and whatever the external circumfluent
vortex whirls around. So that the intellectual

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power, exempt from the things of
fate, can live pure and free by

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itself doing what is just and accepting
what happens, and saying the truth.

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If thou wilt separate, i say, from this ruling faculty the things which

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are attached to it by the impressions
of sense, and the things of time

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to come and of time that is
passed, and wilt make thyself like and

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Pedocle's sphere all round and in its
joyous rest reposing. And if thou shalt

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strive to live only what is really
thy life, that is the present,

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then thou wilt be able to pass
that portion of life which remains for THEE

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up to the time of thy death, free from perturbations, nobly and obedient

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to thy own demon, to the
God that is within thee. I have

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often wondered how it is that every
man loves himself more than all the rest

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of men, but yet sets less
value on his own opinion of himself than

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on the opinion of others. If
then, a god or a wise teacher

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should present himself to a man and
bid him to think of nothing and to

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design nothing, which he would not
express as soon as he conceived it,

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he could not endure it even for
a single day. So much more respect

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have we to what our neighbors shall
think of us than to what we shall

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think of ourselves. How can it
be that the Gods, after having arranged

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all things well and benevolently for mankind, have overlooked this alone. That some

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men, very good men, and
men, who, as we may say,

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have had most communion with the Divinity, and through pious acts and religious

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observances, have been most intimate with
the Divinity, when they have once died,

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should never exist again, but should
be completely extinguished. But if this

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is so, be assured that if
it ought to have been otherwise, the

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gods would have done it. For
if it were just it would also be

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possible, and if it were according
to nature, nature would have had it's

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so. But because it is not
so, If in fact it is not

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so, be thou convinced that it
ought not to have been so. For

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thou seest ephen of thyself that in
this inquiry thou art disputing with the deity.

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And we should not thus dispute with
the gods unless they were most excellent

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and most just. But if this
is so, they would not have allowed

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anything in the ordering of the universe
to be neglected unjustly and irrationally. Practice

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thyself even in the things which thou
dispaarest of accomplishing. For even the left

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hand, which ineffectual for all other
things, and for want of practice,

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holds the bridle more vigorously than the
right hand, for it has been practiced

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in this. Consider in what condition, both in body and soul, a

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man should be when he is overtaken
by death. And consider the shortness of

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life, the boundless abyss of time
past and future, the feebleness of all

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matter. Contemplate the formative principles,
forms of things, bear of their coverings,

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the purposes of actions. Consider what
pain is, what pleasure is,

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and death and fame. Who is
to himself the cause of his uneasiness.

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How no man is hindered by another. That everything is opinion. In the

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application of thy principles, Thou must
be like the pancratiist, not like the

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gladiator. For the gladiator lets fall
the sword which he uses and is killed,

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But the other always has his hand
and needs to do nothing else than

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use it. See what things are
in themselves, dividing them into matter,

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form and purpose power. How our
man has to do nothing except what God

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will approve, and to accept all
that God may give him. With respect

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to that which happens conformably to nature, we ought to blame neither gods,

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for they do nothing wrong, either
voluntarily or involuntarily, nor men, for

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they do nothing wrong except involuntarily.
Consequently, we should blame nobody, how

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ridiculous and what a stranger he is, who is surprised at anything which happens

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in life. Either there is a
fatal necessity, an invincible order, or

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a kind providence, or a confusion
without a purpose and without a director booked

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A four. If then there is
an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist?

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But if there is a providence,
which allows itself to be propitiated,

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Make thyself worthy of the help of
the divinity. But if there is a

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confusion without governor, be content that
in such a tempest thou hast in thyself

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a certain ruling intelligence. And even
if the tempest carry thee away, let

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it carry away the poor flesh,
the poor breath, everything else, for

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the intelligence, at least it will
not carry away. Does the light of

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the lamp shine without losing its splendor
until it is extinguished? And shall the

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truth which is in thee, and
justice and temperance be extinguished before thy death.

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When a man has presented the appearance
of having done wrong, say,

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how then do I know if this
is a wrongful act? And even if

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he has done it wrong, how
do I know that he has not condemned

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himself? And so this is like
tearing his own face. Consider that he

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who would not have the bad man
do wrong, is like the man who

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would not have the fig tree to
bear, juice in the figs, and

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infants to cry, and the horse
to ney, and whatever else must of

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necessity be. For what must a
man do who has such a character?

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If then thou art irritable cure this
man's disposition. If it is not right,

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do not do it. If it
is not true, do not say

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it. For let thy efforts be
in everything. Always Observe what the thing

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is which produces for THEE in appearance, and resolve it by dividing it into

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the formal, the material, the
purpose, and the time within which it

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must end. Perceive at last that
thou hast in THEE something better and more

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divine than the things which cause the
various effects. And as it will pull

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THEE by the strings, what is
there now in my mind? Is it

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fear or suspicion, or desire,
or anything of the kind. First,

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do nothing inconsiderately nor without a purpose. Second, and make thy acts refer

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to nothing else than to a social
end. Consider that before long thou wilt

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be nobody and nowhere, nor will
any of the things exist which thou now

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seest, nor any of those who
are now living. For all things are

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formed by nature to change and be
turned, and to perish in order that

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other things in continuous succession may exist. Consider that everything is opinion, and

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opinion is in thy power. Take
away, then, when thou choosest thy

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opinion, And like a mariner who
has doubled the promontory, thou wilt find

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calm, everything stable, and a
waveless bay. Any One activity, whatever

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it may be, when it has
ceased at its proper time, suffers no

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evil because it has ceased. Nor
he who has done this act does he

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suffer any evil for this reason that
the act has ceased in like manner.

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Then the whole which consists of all
the acts, which is our life,

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if it ceased at its proper time, suffers no evil for this reason that

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it has ceased. Nor he who
has terminated this series at the proper time

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has he been ill dealt with.
But the proper time and the limit nature

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fixes, sometimes, as in old
age, the peculiar nature of man,

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but always the universal nature, by
the change of whose parts the whole universe

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continues, ever young and perfect.
In everything which is useful to the Universal

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is always good and in season.
Therefore, the termination of life for every

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man is no evil, because neither
is it shameful, since it is both

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independent of the will and not opposed
to the general interest. But it is

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good since it is seasonable and profitable
to and congruent with the Universal. For

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thus two he is move by the
deity, who has moved in the same

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manner with the deity, and move
towards the same things in his mind.

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These three principles thou must have in
readiness in the things which thou doest.

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Do nothing either inconsiderately or otherwise,
then as justice herself would act. But

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with respect to what may happen to
thee from without, consider that it happens

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either by chance or according to providence. And thou must neither blame chance nor

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accuse providence. Second, consider what
every being is from the seed, two,

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the time of its receiving a soul, and from the reception of a

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soul to the giving back of the
same. And of what things every being

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is compounded, and into what things
it is resolved. Third, if thou

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shouldst suddenly be raised up above the
earth, and shouldst look down on human

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things and observe the variety of them, how great it is, And at

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the same time also should see at
a glance how great is the number of

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beings who dwell around in the air
and the ether. Consider that as often

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as thou shouldst be raised up,
thou wouldst see the same things. Sameness

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of form and shortness of duration.
Are these things to be proud of.

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Castaway opinion thou Art saved, who
then hinders THEE from casting it? It

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away happen when thou Art troubled about
anything, thou hast forgotten this, that

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all things happen according to the universal
nature, and forgotten at this that a

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man's wrongful act is nothing to thee. And further, thou hast forgotten this,

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that everything which happens always happened so, and will happen so, and

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now happen so everywhere. Forgotten this
as to how close is the kinship between

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a man and the whole human race, For it is a community not of

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a little blood or seed, but
of intelligence. And thou hast forgotten this

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too, that every man's intelligence is
a god and is an efflux of the

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deity. And forgotten this that nothing
is a man's own, but that his

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child, and his body, and
his very soul came from the deity.

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Forgotten this that everything is opinion.
And lastly thou hast forgotten that every man

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lives the present time only and loses
only this. And constantly bring to thy

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recollection those who have complained greatly about
anything, those who have been most conspicuous

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by the greatest fame, or misfortunes, or enmities, or fortunes of any

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kind. Then think where are they
all now? Smoke an ash and a

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tale, or not even a tale, And let there be present to thy

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mind also everything of this sort.
How Fabius Catalinus lived in the country,

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and Lucius Lupus in his gardens,
and Stertinius at Bae, and Tiberius at

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Caprae, and Velius Rufus or Rufus
at Velia, And in fine think of

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the eager pursuit and of anything conjoined
with pride, and how worthless everything is

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after which men violently strain, and
how much more philosophical. And it is

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for a man, in the opportunities
presented to him, to show the end