WEBVTT

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Book ten. Wilt thou, then
my soul, never be good and simple

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and one and naked, more manifest
than the body which surrounds THEE. Wilt

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thou never enjoy an affectionate and contented
disposition. Wilt thou never be full and

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without a want of any kind,
longing for nothing more, nor desiring anything,

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either animate or inanimate, for the
enjoyment of pleasures, nor yet desiring

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time wherein thou shalt have longer enjoyment, or place, or pleasant climate,

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or society of men with whom thou
mayst live in harmony. But wilt thou

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be satisfied with thy present condition and
pleased with all that is about THEE?

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And wilt thou convince thyself that thou
hast everything, and that it comes from

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the Gods, that everything is well
for THEE, and will be well whatever

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shall please them and whatever they shall
give for the conservation of the perfect living

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being, the good and just and
beautiful, which generates and holds together all

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things, and contains and embraces all
things which are dissolved for the production of

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other like things. Wilt thou never
be such that thou shalt so dwell in

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community with gods and men as neither
to find fault with them at all,

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nor to be condemned by them.
Observe what thy nature requires, so far

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as thou art governed by nature.
Only then do it and accept it.

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If thy nature, so far as
thou art a living being, shall not

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be made worse by it. And
next thou must observe what thy nature requires,

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so far as thou art a living
being. In all this thou mayst

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allow thyself. If thy nature,
so far as thou art a rational animal,

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shall not be made worse by it, but the rational animal is consequently

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also a political social animal. Use
these rules, then, and trouble thyself

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about nothing else. Everything which happens
either happens in such wise as thou art

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formed by nature to bear it,
or as thou art not formed by nature

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to bear. If then it happens
to thee in such way as thou art

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formed by nature to bear it,
do not complain, but bear it as

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thou art formed by nature to bear
it. But if it happens in such

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wise as thou art not formed by
nature to bear it, do not complain,

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for it will perish after it has
consumed thee. Remember, however,

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that thou art formed by nature to
bear everything with respect to which it depends

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on thy own opinion, to make
it endurable and tolerable, by thinking that

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it is either thy interest or thy
duty to do this. If a man

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is mistaken, instruct him kindly and
show him his error. But if thou

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art not able, blame thyself,
or blame not even thyself. Whatever may

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happen to THEE, it was prepared
for THEE from all eternity, and the

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implication of causes was from eternity spinning
the thread of thy being and of that

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which is incident to it. Whether
the universe is a concourse of atoms or

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nature is a system, let this
first be established that I am a part

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of the whole which is governed by
nature. Next, I am in a

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manner intimately related to the parts which
are of the same kind with myself.

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For remembering this, inasmuch as I
am a part, I shall be discontented

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with none of the things which are
assigned to me out of the whole.

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For nothing is injurious to the part
if it is for the advantage of the

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whole. For the whole contains nothing
which is not for its advantage, and

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all natures indeed have this common principle. But the nature of the universe has

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this principle besides that it cannot be
compelled, even by any external cause,

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to generate anything harmful to itself.
By remembering and then that I am a

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part of such a whole, I
shall be content with everything that happens.

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And inasmuch as I am in a
manner intimately related and added to the parts

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which are of the same kind with
myself, I shall do nothing unsocial.

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But I shall rather direct myself to
the things which are of the same kind

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with myself, and I shall turn
in my efforts to the common interest and

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divert them from the contrary. Now, if these things are done so,

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life must flow on happily, just
as thou mayest observe that the life of

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a citizen is happy who continues a
course of action which is advantage just to

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his fellow citizens, and is content
with whatever the state may assign to him.

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The parts of the whole, everything
I mean, which is naturally comprehended

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in the universe, must of necessity
perish. But let this be understood in

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this sense that they must undergo change. But if this is naturally both an

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evil and a necessity, for the
parts the whole would not continue to exist

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in a good condition, the parts
being subject to change and constituted so as

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to perish in various ways. For
whether did Nature herself designed to do evil

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to the things which are parts of
herself, and to make them subject to

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evil, and of necessity fall into
evil, or have such results happened without

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her knowing it? Both these suppositions
and indeed are incredible. But if a

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man should even drop the term nature
as an efficient power, and should speak

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of these things as natural, even
then it would be ridiculous to affirm at

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the same time that the parts of
the whole are in their nature subject to

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che and at the same time to
be surprised or vexed as if something were

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happening contrary to nature, particularly as
the dissolution of things is into those things

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of which each thing is composed,
For there is either a dispersion of the

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elements out of which everything has been
compounded, or a change from the solid

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to the earthy, and from the
airy to the aerial, so that these

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parts are taken back into the universal. Reason, whether this at certain periods

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is consumed by fire or renewed by
eternal changes. And do not imagine that

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the solid and the airy part belong
to THEE from the time of generation.

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For all this received it's accretion only
yesterday and the day before, as one

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may say, from the food and
the air which is inspired. This,

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then, which has received the accretion
change, is not that which thy mother

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brought forth. But suppose that this
which thy mother brought forth implicates THEE very

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much with that other part which has
the peculiar quality of change. This is

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nothing, in fact in the way
of objection to what is said. When

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thou hast assume these names good,
modest, true rational, a man of

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equanimity and magnanimous, take care that
thou dost not change these names, and

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if thou shouldst lose them, quickly
return to them. And remember that the

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term rational was intended to signify a
discriminating attention to every several thing and freedom

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from negligence, And that equanimity is
the voluntary acceptance of the things which are

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assigned to THEE by the common nature, and that magnanimity is the elevation of

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the intelligent part above the pleasurable or
painful sensations of the flesh, and above

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that poor thing called fame and death. In all such things, If then

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thou maintainest thyself in the possession of
these names, without desiring to be called

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by these names by others, thou
wilt be another person, and wilt enter

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on another life. For to continue
to be such as thou hast hitherto been,

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and to be tom in pieces and
defiled in such a life is the

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care of a very stupid man,
and one over fond of his life.

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And like those half devoured fighters with
wild beasts, who, though covered with

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wounds and gore, still entreat to
be kept to the following day, though

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they will be exposed in the same
state to the same claus and bites.

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Therefore, fix thyself in the possession
of these few names. And if thou

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art able to abide in them,
abide as if thou wast removed to certain

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islands of the happy. But if
thou shalt perceive that thou fallst out of

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them, and dost not maintain thy
hold, go courageously into some nook where

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thou shalt maintain them, or even
depart at once from life, not in

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passion, but with simplicity and freedom
and modesty. After doing this one laudable

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thing, at least in thy life, to have gone out of it.

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Thus, in order, however,
to the remembrance of these names, it

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will greatly help thee if thou rememberest
the gods, and that they wish not

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to be flattered, but wish all
reasonable beings to be made like themselves.

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And if thou rememberest that what does
the work of a fig tree is a

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fig tree, and that what does
the work of a dog is a dog,

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and that what does the work of
a bee is a bee, and

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that what does the work of a
man is a man. Mimi, War,

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astonishment, torpor, slavery will daily
wipe out those holy principles of thine.

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How many things, without studying nature
dost thou imagine, and how many

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dost thou neglect. But it is
thy duty so to look on and so

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to do everything, that at the
same time the power of dealing with circumstances

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is perfected, and the contemplative faculty
is exercised, and the confidence which comes

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from the knowledge of each several thing
is maintained without showing it, but yet

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not concealed. For when wilt thou
enjoy simplicity, when gravity, and when

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the knowledge of every several thing,
both what it is in substance and what

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place it has in the universe,
and how long it is formed to exist,

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and of what things it is compounded, and to whom it can belong,

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and who are able both to give
it and take it away. A

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spider is proud when it has caught
a fly, and another when he has

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caught a poor hair, and another
when he has taken a little fish in

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a net, and another when he
has taken wild boars, and another when

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he has taken bears, and another
when he has taken Sarmatians are not these

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robbers if thou examinest their opinions,
acquire the contemplative way of seeing how all

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things change into one another, and
constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself

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about this part of philosophy. For
nothing is so much adapted to produce magnanimity.

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Such a man has put off the
body, and as he sees that

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he must no one knows how soon
go away from among men and leave everything

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here. He gives himself up entirely
to just doing in all his actions and

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in everything else that happens. He
resigns himself to the universal nature. But

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as to what any man shall say
or think about him, or do against

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him, he never even thinks of
it. Being himself contented with these two

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things, with acting justly in what
he now does, and being satisfied with

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what is now assigned to him,
and he lays aside all distracting in busy

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pursuits, and desires nothing else than
to accomplish the straight course through the law,

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and by accomplishing the straight course,
to follow God. What need is

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there of suspicious fear, since it
is in thy power to inquire what ought

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to be done. And if thou
seest clear, go by this weigh content

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without turning back. But if thou
dost not see clear, stop and take

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the best advisers. But if any
other things oppose thee go on according to

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thy powers, with due consideration,
keeping to that which appears to be just,

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For it is best to reach this
object. And if thou dost fail,

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let thy failure be in attempting this. He who follows reason in all

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things is both tranquil and active at
the same time, and also cheerful and

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collected. Inquire of thyself as soon
as thou wakest from sleep, whether it

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will make any difference to THEE.
If another does what is just and right,

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it will make no difference. Thou
hast not forgotten. I suppose that

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those who assume arrogant airs in bestowing
their praise or blame on others are such

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as they are at bed and at
board, And thou hast not forgotten what

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they do, and what they avoid, and what they pursue, and how

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they steal, and how they rob, not with hands and feet, but

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with their most valuable part, by
means of which there is produced. When

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a man chooses fidelity, modesty,
truth, law, a good demon,

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happiness to her who gives and takes
back all to nature. The man who

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is instructed and madas says, give
what thou wilt, take back what thou

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wilt. And he says this not
proudly, but obediently and well pleased with

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her. Short is the little which
remains to thee of life. Live as

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on a mountain, For it makes
no difference whether a man lives there or

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here. If he lives everywhere in
the world, is in a state political

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community. Let men see, Let
them know a real man who lives according

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to nature. If they cannot endure
him let them kill him, for that

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is better than to live. Thus, as men do no longer talk at

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all about the kind of man that
a good man ought to be, but

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be such. Constantly contemplate the whole
of time and the whole of substance,

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And consider that all individual things,
as to substance, are a grain of

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a fig and as to time,
the turning of a gimlet. Look at

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everything that exists, and observe that
it is already in dissolution and in change,

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and as it were, a putrefaction
or dispersion, or that everything is

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so constituted by nature as to die. Consider what men are when they are

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eating, sleeping, generating, easing
themselves, and so forth. Then what

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kind of men they are when they
are imperious and arrogant, or angry and

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scolding from their elevated place. But
a short time ago to how many they

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were slaves and for what things?
And after a little time, consider in

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what a condition they will be.
That is for the good of each thing,

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which the universal nature brings to each, and it is for its good

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at the time when nature brings it. The earth loves the shower, and

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the solemn Ether loves, and the
universe loves to make whatever is about to

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be. I say then to the
universe, that I love as thou lovest.

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And is not this too said,
that this or that loves is wont

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to be produced. Either thou livest
here and hast already accustom thyself to it,

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or thou art going away and this
was thy own will, or thou

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art dying and hast discharged thy duty. But besides these things there is nothing

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be of good cheer. Then let
this always be plain to thee that this

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piece of land is like any other, and that all things here are the

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same with things on top of a
mountain, or on the seashore, or

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wherever thou choosest to be. For
thou wilt find just what Plato says,

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dwelling within the walls of a city
as in a shepherd's fold on a mountain.

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What is my ruling faculty now to
me? And of what nature am

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I now making it? And for
what purpose am I now using it?

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Is it void of understanding? Is
it loosed and rent asunder from social life?

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Is it melted into and mixed with
the poor flesh, so as to

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move together with it? He who
flies from his master is a runaway.

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But the law is master, and
he who breaks the law is a runaway.

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And he also who is grieved or
angry or afraid, is dissatisfied because

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something has been or said, is
or shall be, of the things which

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are appointed by Him who rules all
things. And he is law and assigns

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to every man what is fit.
He then, who fears or is grieved

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or as angry as a runaway,