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These are the properties of the rational
soul. It sees itself, analyzes itself,

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and makes itself, such as it
chooses the fruit which it bears itself

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enjoys for the fruit of plants,
and that in animals, which corresponds to

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fruits others in joy. It obtains
its own end wherever the limit of life

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may be fixed, not as in
a dance and in a play, and

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in suchlike things where the whole action
is incomplete, if anything cuts it short,

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but in every part, and wherever
it may be stopped, it makes

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what has been set before it full
and completes, so that it can say,

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I have what is my own.
And further, it traverses the whole

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universe and the surrounding vacuum, and
surveys its form, And it extends itself

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into the infinity of time, and
embraces and comprehends the periodical renovation of all

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things. And it comprehend hinds that
those who come after us will see nothing

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new, nor have those before us
seen anything more. But in a manner,

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he who is forty years old,
if he has any understanding at all,

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has seen, by virtue of the
uniformity that prevails all things which have

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been and all that will be.
This too is a property of the rational

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soul, love of one's neighbor,
and truth and modesty, and to value

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nothing more than itself, which is
also the property of law. Thus,

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then right reason differs not at all
from the reason of justice. Thou wilt

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set little value on pleasing song and
dancing and the pancreatium. If thou wilt

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distribute the melody of the voice into
its several sounds, and ask thyself as

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to each, if thou art mastered
by this, for thou wilt be prevented

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by shame from confessing it. And
in the matter of dancing, if at

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each movement and attitude thou wilt do
the same, and the like also in

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the matter of the pancasium. In
all things, then, except virtue and

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the acts of virtue, remember to
apply thyself to their several parts, and

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by this division, to come to
value them little. And apply this rule

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also to thy whole life. What
a soul that is which is ready if

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at any moment it must be separated
from the body, and ready to be

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extinguished or dispersed, or continue to
exist. But so that this readiness comes

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from a man's own judgment, not
from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians,

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but considerately and with dignity, and
in a way to persuade another without

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tragic show. Have I done something
for the general interest? Well, then

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I have had my reward. Let
this always be present to thy mind,

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and never stop doing such good.
What is thy art to be good?

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And how has this accomplished? Well? Except by general principles, some about

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the nature of the universe, and
others about the proper constitution of man.

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At first, tragedies were brought on
the stage as means of reminding men of

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the things which happen to them,
and that it is according to nature for

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things to happen so, and that
if you are delighted with what is shown

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on the stage, you should not
be troubled with that which takes place on

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the larger stage. For you see
that these things must be accomplished thus,

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and that even they bear them who
cry out o sytheon. And indeed some

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things are said well by the dramatic
writers, of which kind is the following,

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especially me and my children. If
the gods neglect this has its reason

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too. And again we must not
chafe and fret at that which happens,

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and life's harvest reap like the wheat's
fruitful ear, and other things of the

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same kind. After tragedy, the
old comedy was introduced, which had a

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magisterial freedom of speech, and by
its very plainness of speaking, was useful

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in reminding men to beware of insolence. And for this purpose too, Diogenes

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used to take from these writers.
But as to the middle comedy which came

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next, observe what it was,
and again for what object the new comedy

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was introduced, which gradually sunk down
into a mere mimic artifice. That some

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good things are said, even by
these writers, everybody knows, but the

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whole plan of such poetry and dramaturgy, to what end does it look?

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How plain does it appear? That
there is not another their condition of life

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so well suited for philosophizing as this, in which thou now happenest to be

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a branch cut off from the adjacent
branch, must of necessity be cut off

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from the whole tree. Also so
to a man, when he is separated

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from another man, has fallen off
from the whole social community. Now as

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to a branch, another cuts it
off But a man by his own act,

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separates himself from his neighbor when he
hates him and turns away from him,

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and he does not know that he
is at the same time cut himself

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off from the whole social system.
Yet he adds this privilege certainly from Zeus,

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who frames society. For it is
in our power to grow again to

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that which is near to us,
and again to become a part which helps

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us to make up the whole.
However, if it often happens this kind

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of separation, it makes it difficult
for that which detaches itself to be brought

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to unity and to be restored to
its former condition. Finally, the branch,

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which from the first grew together with
a tree and has continued to have

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one life with it, is not
like that which, after being cut off,

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is then ingrafted. For this is
something like what the gardeners mean when

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they say that it grows with the
rest of the tree, but that it

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has not the same mind with it
as those who try to stand in thy

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way. When thou art proceeding according
to right reason, will not be able

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to turn thee aside from thy proper
action. So neither let them drive thee

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from thy benevolent feelings towards them,
But be on thy guard equally in both

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matters, not only in the matter
of steady judgment and action, but also

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in the matter of gentleness towards those
who try to hinder or otherwise trouble thee.

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For this is also a weakness to
be vexed at them, as well

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as to be diverted from Thy course
of action, and to give way through

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fear. For both are equally deserters
from their post, the man who does

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it through fear and the man who
is alienated from him, who is by

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nature a kinsman and a friend.
There is no nature which is inferior to

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art, for the arts imitate the
natures of things. But if this is

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so, that nature, which is
the most perfect and the most comprehensive of

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all natures, cannot fall short of
the skill of art. Now, all

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arts do the inferior things for the
sake of the superior. Therefore the universal

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nature does so too, And indeed, hence is the origin of justice,

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and injustice the other virtues have their
foundation. For justice will not be observed

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if we either care for middle things
things indifferent, or are easily deceived and

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careless and changeable. If the things
do not come to thee, the pursuits

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and avoidances of which disturb the still
in a manner, thou goest to them.

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Let then thy judgment about them be
at rest, and they will remain

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quiet, and thou wilt not be
seen either pursuing or avoiding. The spherical

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form of the soul maintains its figure
when he is neither extended toward any object,

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nor contracted inwards, nor dispersed,
nor sink'st down, but is illuminated

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by light by which it sees the
truth, the truth of all things,

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and the truth that is in itself. Suppose any man shall despise me,

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let him look to that himself.
But I will look to this, that

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I be not discovered doing or saying
anything deserving of contempt. Shall any man

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hate me, let him look to
it. But I will be mild and

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benevolent towards every man, and ready
to show even him his mistake, not

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reproachfully, nor yet as making a
display of my endurance, but nobly and

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honestly, like the great Phocion,
unless indeed he only assumed it. For

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the interior parts ought to be such, and a man ought to be seen

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by the gods, neither dissatisfied with
anything, nor complaining, for what evil

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is it to thee? If thou
art now doing what is agreeable to thy

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own nature, and art satisfied with
that which, at this moment is suitable

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to the nature or the universe,
since thou art a human being placed at

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thy post in order that what is
for the common advantage may be done in

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some way, men despise one another
and flatter one another, and men wished

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to raise themselves above one another and
crouched before one another. How unsound and

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insincere is he who says, I
have determined to deal with THEE in a

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fair way? What art out doing? Man? There is no occasion to

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give this notice. It will soon
show itself by acts. The voice ought

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to be plainly written on the forehead, such as a man's character is.

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He immediately shows it in his eyes, just as he who is beloved forthwith

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reads everything in the eyes of lovers. The man who is honest and good

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ought to be exactly like a man
who smells strong, so that the bystander,

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as soon as he comes near him, must smell, whether he choose

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or not. But the affectation of
simplicity is like a crooked stick. Nothing

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is more disgraceful than a wolfish friendship. Avoid this most of all. The

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good and simple and benevolence. Show
all these things in the eyes, and

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there is no mistaking as to living
in the best way. This power is

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in the soul if it be indifferent
to things which are indifferent, and it

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will be indifferent if it looks on
each of these things separately and altogether,

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and if it remembers that not one
of them produces in us an opinion about

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itself, nor comes to us.
But these things remain immovable, and it

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is we ourselves who produce the judgments
about them, And as we may say,

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write them in ourselves, it being
in our power not to write them,

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and it being in our power if
perchance these judgments have imperceptibly got a

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mission to our minds, to wipe
them out. And if we remember also

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that such attention will only be for
a short time, and then life will

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be at an end. Besides,
what trouble is there at all in doing

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this? For if these things are
according to nature, rejoice in them,

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and they will be easy to thee. But if contrary to nature, seek

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what is conformable to thy own nature, and stride towards this, even if

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it bring no reputation, For every
man is allowed to seek his own good.

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Consider whence each thing is come,
and of what it consists, and

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into what it changes, in what
kind of a thing it will be when

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it is changed, and that it
will sustain no harm. If any have

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offended against thee, consider first what
is my relation to men? And that

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we are made for one another.
And in another respect, I was made

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to be said over them as a
ram over the flock, or a bull

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over the herd. But examine the
matter from first principles. From this,

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if all things are not mere atoms, it is nature which orders all things.

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If this is so, the inferior
things exist for the sake of the

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superior, and these for the sake
of one another. Second, consider what

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kind of men they are, at
table, in bed, and so forth,

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and particularly under what compulsions in respect
of opinions they are, And as

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to their acts, consider with what
pride they do what they do. Third,

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that if men do rightly what they
do, we ought not to be

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displeased. But if they do not
right it is plain that they do so

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involuntarily and in ignorance. For as
every soul is unwillingly deprived of the truth,

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so also it is unwillingly deprived of
the power of behaving to each man

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according to his deserts. Accordingly,
men are pained when they are called unjust,

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ungrateful, and greedy, and in
a word, wrong doest to their

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neighbors. Fourth, consider that thou
also doest many things wrong, and that

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thou art a man like others.
And even if thou dost abstain from certain

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faults, still thou hast the disposition
to commit them, though either through cowardice,

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or concern about reputation, or some
such mean motive, thou dost abstain

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from such faults. Fifth, consider
that thou dost not even understand whether men

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or doing wrong or not, For
many things are done with a certain reference

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to circumstances, And in short,
a man must learn a great deal to

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enable him to pass a correct judgment
on another man's acts. Sixth, consider,

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when thou art much vexed or grieved, that man's life is only a

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moment, and after a short time
we are all laid out dead. Seventh,

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that it is not men's acts which
disturb us, for those acts have

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their foundation in men's ruling principles,
but it is our own opinions which disturb

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us. Take away these opinions,
then, and resolve to dismiss thy judgment

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about an act as if it were
something grievous, and thy anger is gone.

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How then, shall I take away
these opinions by reflecting that no wrongful

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act of another brings shame on THEE, far less that which is shameful is

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alone bad. Thou also must of
necessity many things wrong, and become a

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robber and everything else. Eighth,
consider how much more pain is brought on

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us by the anger and vexation caused
by such acts than by the acts themselves

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at which we are angry and vexed. Ninth, consider that a good disposition

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is invincible if it be genuine and
not an affected smile in acting a part.

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For what will the most violent man
do to THEE if thou continuest to

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be of a kind disposition towards him, and if, as opportunity offers,

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thou gently admonishest him and calmly correctest
his errors at the very time when he

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is trying to do THEE harm,
saying not so, my child. We

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are constituted by nature for something else. I shall certainly not be injured.

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But thou art injuring thyself, my
child, and show him with gentle tact

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and by general principles, that this
is so, and that even bees do

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not do as he does, nor
any animals which are formed by nature to

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be gregarious. And thou must not
do this, neither with any double meaning,

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nor in the way of reproach,
but affectionately and without any rancor in

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thy soul. And not as if
thou wert lecturing him, nor yet that

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any bystander may admire, but either
when he is alone and if others are

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present. Remember these nine rules as
if thou hadst received them as a gift

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from the muses, and begin at
last to be a man while thou livest.

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But thou must equally avoid flattering men
and being vexed at them, for

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both are unsocial and lead to harm. And let this truth be present to

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thee in the excitement of anger,
that to be moved by passion is not

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manly, but that mildness and gentleness, as they are more agreeable to human

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nature, so also are they more
manly. And he who possesses these qualities

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possesses strength, nerves, and courage, and not the man whose subject of

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fits of passion and discontent. For
in the same degree in which a man's

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mind is nearer to freedom from all
passion, in the same degree also is

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it nearer to strength. And as
the sense of pain is a characteristic of

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weakness, so also is anger.
For he who yields to pain and he

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who yields to anger, both are
wounded, and both submit. But if

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thou wilt receive also a tenth present
from the leader of the muses, Apollo.

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And it is this that to expect
bad men not to do wrong is

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madness. For he who expects this
desires an impossibility. But to allow men

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to behave so to others, to
expect them not to do thee any wrong

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is irrational and tyrannical. There are
four principal aberrations of the superior faculty,

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against which thou shouldst be constantly on
thy guard, And when thou hadst detected

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them, thou shouldst wipe them out, and say, on each occasion,

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thus this thought is not necessary.
This tends to destroy a social union.

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This which thou art going to say, comes not from the real thoughts,

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for thou shouldst consider it among the
most absurd of things for a man not

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to speak from his real thoughts.
But the fourth is when thou shalt reproach

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thyself for anything, For this is
an evidence of the diviner part within Thee

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being overpowered and yielding to the less
honorable and to the perishable part the body,

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and to its gross pleasures. Thy
aerial part and all the fiery parts

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which are mingled in thee, though
by nature they have an upward tendency,

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still in obedience to the disposition of
the universe. They are overpowered here in

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the compound mass the body, and
also the whole of the earthy part in

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THEE and the watery though their tendency
is downwards, still a based up and

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occupy a position which is not the
natural one. In this manner, then

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the elemental parts obey the Universal,
For when they have been fixed in any

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place perforce, they remain there until
again the Universal shall sound the signal for

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dissolution. Is it not then strange
that thy intelligent part only should be disobedient

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and discontented with its own place,
and yet no force is imposed upon it,

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But only those things which are conformable
to its nature. Still it does

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not submit, but is carried in
the opposite direction, for the movement towards

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injustice and intemperance, and to anger
and grief and fear, as nothing else

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than the act of one who deviates
from nature. And also when the ruling

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faculty is discontented with anything that happens, then two it deserts its post.

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For it is constituted for piety and
reverence towards the gods, no less than

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for justice. For these qualities also
are comprehended under the generic term of contentment

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with the constitution of things, And
indeed they are prior to acts of justice.

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He who has not one and always
the same object in life cannot be

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one and the same all through his
life. But what I have said is

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not enough unless this also has added
what this object ought to be. For

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as there is not the same opinion
about all the things which, in some

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way or other are considered by the
majority to be good, but only about

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some certain things, that is,
things which concern the common interest, so

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also we ought to propose to ourselves
an object which shall be of a common

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kind, social and political. For
he who directs all his own efforts to

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this object will make all his acts
alike, and thus will always be the

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same. Think of the country mouse
and of the town mouse, and of

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the alarm and trepidation of the town
mouse. Socrates used to call the opinions

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of the many by the name of
lemie bugbears to frighten children. The Lacedaemonians,

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at their public spectacles used to set
seats in the shade for strangers,

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but themselves sat down anywhere. Socrates
excused himself to Perdicas for not going to

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him, saying, it is because
I would not perish by the worst of

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all ends, that is, I
would not receive a favor and then be

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unable to return it. In the
writings of the Ephesians there was this precept

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constantly to think of someone of the
men of former times who practice virtue.

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The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning
look to the heavens, that we may

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be reminded of those bodies which continually
do the same things and in the same

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manner perform their work, and also
be reminded of their purity and nudity.

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For there is no vail over a
star. Consider what a man Socrates was

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when he dressed himself in a skin, after Zuntippe had taken his cloak and

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gone out, And what Socrates said
to his friends, who are ashamed of

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him, and drew back from him
when they saw him dressed. Thus,

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neither in writing nor in reading,
wilt thou be able to lay down rules

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for others, before thou shalt have
learned to obey rules thyself. Much more

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is this so in life a slave
thou art. Free speech is not for

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thee, and my heart laughed within
Odyssey nine for thirteen, and virtue they

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will curse speaking harsh words. He
Siad works in Days one eighty four.

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To look for the fig in winter
is a madman's act, such as he

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who looks for his child when is
no longer allowed Epictetus three twenty four eighty

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seven. When a man kisses his
child, said Epictetus, he should whisper

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to himself tomorrow perchance thou wilt die. But those are words of bad omen.

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No word is a word of bad
omen, said Epictetus, which expresses

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any work of nature, or if
it is so, it is also a

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word of bad omen. To speak
of the ears of corn being reaped Epictetus

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three twenty four eighty eight, the
unripe grape, the ripe bunch, the

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dried grape. All our changes not
into nothing, but into something which exists

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not yet Epictetus three twenty four.
No man can rob us of our free

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will Epictetus three twenty two one o
five. Epictetus also said, a man

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must discover an art or rules.
With respect to giving his assent, and

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in respect to his movements, he
must be careful that they be made,

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with regard to circumstances, that they
be consistent with social interests that they have.

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Regard to the value of the object, And as to sensual desire,

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he should altogether keep away from it, and as to avoidance, he should

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not show it with respect to any
of the things which are not in our

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power. The dispute, then,
he said, is not about any common

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matter, but about being mad or
not. Socrates used to say, what

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do you want souls of rational men
or irrational souls of rational men? Of

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what rational men sound or unsound sound? Why then do you not seek for

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them because we have them? Why
then do you fight and quarrel