Chapter twelve of Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, translated by George Long, Chapter twelve. All
those things at which thou wishest to arrive by a secuitous 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, and direct the present only conformably to piety and justice conformably to
piety. That thou mayst 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 mayst 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 sometimes 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 there were something unexpected, and
to be dependent on this or that. God sees the minds 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 raiment and dwelling,
and fame and such like externals, and show the things are three of
which thou art composed, a little body, a little breath. Intelligence.
Of these the first two thine, so far as it is thy duty to
take care of them, But the third alone 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, which is by nature associated with
the body, is attached to THEE independent of thy will, and whatever the
external circumfluent vortex whirls round. 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 past, and wilt make thyself like in Pedocles, a 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 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 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, and 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, or if it
were just, it would also be possible. And if it were according to
nature, nature would have had it 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 even of thyself that in this
inquiry thou art disputing with the deity. And we should not thus dispute with
the gods unless they are 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 despairest
of accomplishing. For even the left hand, which is ineffectual for all other
things, 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 in future,
the feebleness of all matter. Contemplate the formative principles 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 pancratist,
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. What a power. 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 and
invincible order, or a kind providence, or a confusion without a purpose and
without a director. If then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou
resist? But if the 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 a 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 wrong, how do I know that he is 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 neigh, 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 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 have in THEE something better and more divine than the things which cause
the various effects. And as it were, 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, make thy acte 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, wherever 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 cease 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, And 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, too incongruent with the universal. For thus too he is moved
by the deity, who is moved in the same manner with the deity,
and moved towards the same things in his mind. These three principles thou must
have in readiness. And the things which thou doest do nothing, either inconsiderately
or otherwise, 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 to 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 beings and observe the variety of
them, how great it is, And at the same time also shouldst see
at a glance. How great is the number of beings who dwell all around
in the air in 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? Cast away opinion?
Thou art saved, who then hinders thee from casting it away? When thou
art troubled about anything, thou hast forgotten this, that all things happen according
to the universal nature. And forgotten this that a man's wrongful act is nothing
to thee. And further, thou hast forgotten this, that everything which happens
always happens so, and will happen so, and now happen so everywhere.
Forgotten this too, 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 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 were 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 certain Us at by e I, and Tiberius at Caprie, and
Rufus at Vilia, and in fine Think of the eager pursuit of anything conjoined
with pride, and how worthless everything is after which men violently strain, And
how much more philosophical it is for a man, in the opportunities presented to
him, to show himself just, temperate, obedient to the gods, and
to do this with all simplicity. For the pride, which is proud of
its want of pride, is the most intolerable of all to those who ask,
where hast thou seen the gods? Or how dost thou comprehend that they
exist, and so worshipest them. I answer, in the first place,
they may be seen even with the eyes. In the second place, neither
have I seen even my own soul, and yet I honor it. Thus,
then, with respect to the gods, from what I constantly experience of
their power, From this I comprehend that they exist, and I venerate them.
The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what
it is itself, what is its material, what the formal part, with
all thy soul, to do justice and to say the truth? What remains?
Except to enjoy life by joining one good thing to another, so as
not to leave even the smallest intervals between. There is one light of the
sun, though it is interrupted by walls, mountains, and other things infinite.
There is one common substance, though it is distributed among countless bodies,
which have their several qualities. There is one soul, though it is distributed
among infinite natures and individual circumscriptions. There is one intelligent soul, though it
seems to be divided now in the things which have been mentioned. All the
other parts, such as those which are err and matter, are without sensation
and have no fellowship. And yet even these parts the intelligent principle holds together,
and the gravitation towards the same. But intellect in a peculiar manner,
tends to that which is of the same kin, and combines with it,
and the feeling for communion is not interrupted. What dost thou wish to continue
to exist? Well, dost thou wish to have sensation, movement, growth,
and then again to cease to grow? To use thy speech to think?
What is there of all these things which seems to thee worth desiring?
But if it is easy to set little value on all these things, turn
to that which remains, which is to follow reason in God. But it
is inconsistent with honoring reason in God to be troubled, because by death a
man will be deprived of the other things. How small a part of the
boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to every man, for it is very soon
swallowed up in the eternal, And how small a part of the whole substance,
And how small a part of the universal soul, And on what a
small claw of the whole earth Thou creepest. Reflecting on all this, consider
nothing to be great except to act as thy nature leads THEE, and to
endure that which the common nature brings. How does the ruling faculty make use
of itself? For all lies in this, But everything else, whether it
is in the power of thy will or not, is only lifeless ashes and
smoke. This reflection is most adapted to move us to contempt of death,
that even those who think pleasure to be a good, and pain and evil
still have despised it. The man to whom that only is good, which
comes in due season, and to whom it is the same thing, whether
he has done more or fewer acts conformable to right reason, and to whom
it makes no difference whether he contemplates the world for a longer or a shorter
time. For this man, neither is death a terrible thing. Man,
thou hast been a citizen in this great state the world? What difference does
it make to thee whether for five years or three? For that which is
conformable to the laws is just for all? Where is the heart? Then,
if no tyrant, nor yet an unjust judge sends THEE away from the
state, but nature who brought THEE into it, The same as if a
praetor who is employed an actor, dismisses him from the stage. But I
have not finished the five acts, but only three of them, thou sayest
well, But in life the three acts are the whole drama. For what
shall be a complete drama is determined by him who was once the cause of
its composition, and now of its dissolution. But thou art the cause of
neither depart then satisfied. For he also who releases thee is satisfied. End
of Chapter twelve.