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Chapter eleven of Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This is a LibriVox recording. All

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LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,

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please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by Leon Meyer. The Meditations of Marcus

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Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, translated
by George Long, Chapter eleven. These

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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 enjoys

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

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others enjoy. It obtains its own
end wherever the lumit of life may be

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fixed, not as in a dance
and in a play, and in such

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like things where the action is incomplete, if anything cuts it short, but

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in every part, and wherever it
may be stopped, it makes what has

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been set before it full and complete, so that it can say, I

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have what is my own. In
further, it traverses the whole universe and

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the surrounding vacuum, and surveys its
form, and it extends itself into the

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infinity of time, and embraces and
comprehends the periodical renovation of all things.

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And it comprehends that those who come
after us will see nothing new, nor

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have those before us seen anything more. But in a manner, he who

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

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by virtue of the uniformity that prevails
all things which have been in all that

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will be. This too, is
a property of the rational soul, love

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of one's neighbor, and truth and
modesty, and to value no more than

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itself, which is also the property
of law. Thus, then right reason

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differs not at all from the reason
of justice. Thou wilt set little value

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on pleasing song and dancing in the
pancratium, if thou wilt distribute the melody

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of the voice into its several sounds, and ask thyself as to each if

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thou art mastered by this, for
thou wilt be prevented by shame from confessing

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it. And in the matter of
dancing, if at each movement and attitude

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thou wilt do the same, and
the like also in the matter of the

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pancratium. In all things, then, except virtue and the acts of virtue.

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Remember to apply thyself to their several
parts, and by this division to

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come to value them little. And
apply this rule also to thy whole life.

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What a soul that is which is
ready if at any moment it must

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be separate from the body, and
ready to be extinguished or dispersed, or

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continue to exist. But so that
this readiness comes from a man's own judgment,

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not from mere obstinacy, as with
the Christians, but considerately and with

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dignity, and in a way to
persuade another without tragic show. Have I

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done something for the general interest?
Well, then I have had my reward.

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Let this always be present to thy
mind, and never stop doing such

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good. What is thy art to
be good? And how is this accomplished?

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Well? Except by general principles,
some about the nature of the universe,

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and others about the proper constitution of
man. At first, tragedies were

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brought on the stage as means of
reminding men of the things which happen to

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

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and that if you are delighted with
what is shown on the stage, you

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should not be troubled with that which
takes place on the larger stage. For

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you see that these things must be
accomplished thus, and that even they bear

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them who cry out o sytheroon.
And indeed, some things are said well

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by the dramatic writers, of which
kind is the following, especially me and

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my children. If the God's neglect, this has its reason too. And

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again we must not chafe and fret
at that which happens, and life's harvest

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reap like the wheat's fruitful ear,
and other things of the same kind.

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After tragedy, the old comedy was
introduced, which had a magisterial freedom of

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speech, and by its very plainness
of speaking, was useful in reminding men

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to beware of insolence. And for
this purpose too, Diogenes used to take

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from these writers. But as to
the middle comedy which came next, observe

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what it was, and again for
what object the new comedy was introduced,

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which gradually sunk down into a mere
mimic artifice. That some good things are

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said even by these writers, everybody
knows, but the whole plan of such

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poetry and dramaturgy to what end does
it look? How plain does it appear?

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That there is not another condition of
life? So well suited for philosophizing,

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as this in which thou now happenest
to be a branch cut off from

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the adjacent branch, must of necessity
be cut off from the whole tree.

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Also so to a man, when
he is separated from another, man has

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fallen off from the whole social community. Now as to a branch, another

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cuts it off. But a man
by his own act separates him from his

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neighbor when he hates him and turns
away from him, and he does not

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know that he is at the same
time cut himself off from the whole social

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system. Yet he has this privilege, certainly from zeus who frame society,

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for it is in our power to
grow again to that which is near to

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us, and again to become a
part which helps us to make up the

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whole. However, if it often
happens this kind of separation, it makes

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it difficult for that which detaches itself
to be brought to unity and to be

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restored to its former condition. Finally, the branch, which from the first

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grew together with the tree and has
continued to have one life with it,

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is not like that which, after
being cut off, is then ingrafted.

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For this is something like what the
gardeners mean when they say that it grows

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with the rest of the tree,
but that it has not the same mind

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with it as those who try to
stand in thy way. When thou art

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proceeded according to right reason, will
not be able to turn THEE aside from

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thy proper action. So neither let
them drive THEE from thy benevolent feelings towards

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them, but be on thy guard
equally in both matters, not only in

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the matter of steady judgment and action, but also in the matter of gentleness

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towards those who try to hinder or
otherwise trouble thee. For this is also

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a weakness to be vexed at them, as well as to be diverted from

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Thy course of action, and to
give way through fear. For both are

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equally deserters from their post, the
man who does it through fear, and

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the man who is alienated from him, who is by nature a kinsman and

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a friend. There is no nature
which is inferior to art, for the

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arts imitate the natures of things.
But if this is so, that nature,

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which is the most perfect and the
most comprehensive of all natures, cannot

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fall short of the skill of art. Now all arts do thee inferior things

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for the sake of the superior.
Therefore the universal nature does so too,

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And indeed hence is the origin of
justice, And injustice the other virtues have

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their foundation. For justice will not
be observed if we either care for middle

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things things indifferent, or are easily
deceived and careless and changeable. If the

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things do not come to THEE,
the pursuits and avoidances of which disturb THEE

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still in a manner, Thou goest
to them. Let then thy judgment about

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them be at rest, and they
will remain quiet, and thou wilt not

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be seen either pursuing or avoiding.
The spherical form of the soul maintains its

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figure when it is neither extended toward
any object, nor contracted inwards, nor

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dispersed, nor sinkst down, but
is illuminated by light by which it sees

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the truth, the truth of all
things, and the truth that is in

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itself. Suppose any man shall despise
me, let him look to that himself.

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But I will look to this,
that I be not discovered doing or

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saying anything deserving of contempt. Shall
any man hate me, let him look

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to it, But I will be
mild and benevolent towards every man, and

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ready to show even him his mistake, not reproachfully, nor yet as making

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a display of my endurance, but
nobly and honestly, like the great Phocion,

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unless indeed he only assumed it for
the interior parts ought to be such,

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and a man ought to be seen
by the gods, neither dissatisfied with

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anything, nor complaining. For what
evil is it to thee? If thou

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art now doing what is agreeable to
thy own nature, and art satisfied with

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that which, at this moment is
suitable to the nature of the universe,

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Since thou art a human being placed
at thy post in order that what is

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for the common advantage may be done
in some way, men despise one another

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and flatter one another, and men
wish to raise themselves above one another and

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crouch before one another. How unsound
and insincere is he who says I have

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determined to deal with THEE in a
fair way. What art thou doing?

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Man? There is no occasion to
give this notice. It will soon show

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itself by acts. The voice ought
to be plainly written on the forehead,

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such as a man's character is he
immediately shows it in his eyes, just

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as he who is beloved forthwith reads
everything in the eyes of lovers. The

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man who is honest and good ought
to be exactly like a man who smells

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strong, so that the bystander,
as soon as he comes near him,

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must smell, whether he choose or
not. But the affectation of simplicity is

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like a crooked stick. Nothing is
more disgraceful than a wolfish friendship. Avoid

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this most of all. The good
and simple and benevolence. Show all these

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things in the eyes, and there
is no mistaking as to living in the

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best way. This power is in
the soul if it be indifferent to things

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which are indifferent, and it will
be indifferent if it looks on each of

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these things separately and altogether, and
if it remembers that not one of them

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produces in us an opinion about itself, nor comes to us. But these

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things remain immovable, and it is
we ourselves who produce the judgments about them,

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and as we may say, write
them in ourselves, it being in

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our power not to write them,
and it being in our power if perchance

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these judgments have imperceptibly got a mission
to our minds to wipe them mouth.

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And if we remember also that such
attention will only be for a short time,

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and then life will be at an
end. Besides, what trouble is

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there at all in doing this?
For if these things are according to nature,

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rejoice in them, and they will
be easy to thee. But if

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contrary to nature, seek what is
conformable to thy own nature, and stride

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towards this, even if it bring
no reputation. For every man is allowed

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to seek his own good. Consider
whence each thing is come, and of

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what it consists, and into what
it changes, in what kind of a

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thing it will be when it is
changed, and that it will sustain no

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harm. If any have offended against
thee, consider first what is my relation

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to men? And that we are
made for one another. And in another

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respect, I was made to be
said over them as a ram over the

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flock or a bull over the herd. But examine the matter from first principles.

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From this, if all things are
not mere atoms, it is nature

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which orders all things. If this
is so, the inferior things exist for

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the sake of the superior, in
these for the sake of one another.

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Second, consider what kind of man
they are at table, in bed,

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and so forth, and particularly under
what compulsions in respective opinions they are,

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And as to their acts, consider
with what pride they do what they do.

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

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be displeased. But if they do
not write, it is plain that they

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do so involuntarily and in ignorance.
For as every soul is unwillingly deprived of

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the truth, so also it is
unwillingly deprived of the power of behaving to

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each man according to his deserts.
Accordingly, the men are pained when they

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are called unjust, ungrateful, and
greedy, and in a word, wrongdoers

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

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and that thou art a man like
others. And even if thou dost abstain

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from certain faults, still thou hast
the disposition to commit them, though either

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through cowardice or concern about reputation,
or some such mean motive, thou dost

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

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

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reference to circumstances, and in short, a man must learn a great deal

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

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

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

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Seventh, that it is not 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 act

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of another brings shame on thee For
unless that which is shameful is alone bad,

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thou also, must, of necessity
do many things wrong, and become

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

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

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

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disposition is invincible if it be genuine
and not an affected smile in acting apart,

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for what will the most violent man
due 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,

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we 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

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

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

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

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

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

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that any bystander may admire. But
either when he is alone, and if

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others are present, remember these nine
rules as if thou hast received them as

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a gift from the Muse, and
begin at last to be a man while

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

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

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present to thee in the excitement of
anger, that to be moved by passion

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is not manly, but that mildness
and gentleness. As they are more agreeable

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to human nature, so also are
they more manly. And he who possesses

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these qualities possesses strength, nerves,
and courage, and not the man who

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is subject to fits of passion and
discontent. For in the same degree in

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which a man's mind is nearer to
freedom from all passion, in the same

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degree also is it nearer to strength. And as the sense of pain is

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a characteristic of weakness, so also
is anger. For he who yields to

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pain and he who yields to anger, both are wounded, and both submit.

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But if thou well wilt receive also
a tenth present from the leader of

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the muses, Apollo. And it
is this that to expect bad men not

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to do wrong as madness, for
he who expects this desires an impossibility.

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But to allow men to behave so
to others, to expect them not to

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do thee any wrong is irrational and
tyrannical. There are four principal aberrations of

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the superior faculty, against which thou
shouldst be constantly on thy guard. And

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when thou hast detected them, thou
shouldst wipe them out, and say,

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on each occasion, thus this thought
is not necessary. This tends to destroy

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social union. This which thou art
going to say, comes not from the

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real thoughts, for thou shouldst consider
it among the most absurd of things,

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for man not to speak from his
real thoughts. But the fourth is when

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thou shalt reproach thyself for anything,
For this is an evidence of the diviner

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part within thee being over are powered
and yielding to the less honorable and to

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the perishable part, the body,
and to its gross pleasures, thy aerial

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part, and all the fiery parts
which are mingled in THEE. Though by

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nature they have an upward tendency,
still in obedience to the disposition of the

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universe, they are overpowered here in
the compound mass the body, and also

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the whole of the earthy part in
THEE, and the watery, though their

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tendency is downwards, still are raised
up and occupy a position which is not

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their natural one. In this manner, then the elemental parts obey the Universal,

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For when they have been fixed in
any place perforce, they remain there

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until again the Universal shall sound the
signal for dissolution. Is it not then

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strange that thy intelligent part only should
be disobedient and discontented with its own place,

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And yet no force is imposed on
it, but only those things which

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are conformable to its nature. Still
it does not submit, but is carried

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in the opposite direction. For the
movement toward injustice and in temperance, and

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to anger and grief and fear is
nothing else than the act of one who

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deviates from nature. And also when
the ruling faculty is discontented with anything that

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happens, then two it deserts its
post. For it is constituted for piety

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and reverence toward the Gods, no
less than for justice. For these qualities

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also are comprehended under the generic term
of contentment with the constitution of things,

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And indeed they are prior to acts
of justice. You, who has not

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one and always the same object in
life, cannot be one and the same

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all through his life. But what
I have said is not enough unless this

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also is added. What this object
ought to be. For as there is

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not the same opinion about all the
things which, in some way or other

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are considered by the majority to be
good, but only about some certain things,

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that is, things which concern the
common interest, so also we ought

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to propose to ourselves an object which
shall be of a common kind, social

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and political. For he who directs
all his own efforts to this object will

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make all his acts alike, and
thus will always be the same. Think

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of the country mouse and of the
town mouse, and of the alarm and

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trepidation of the town mouse. Socrates
used to call the opinions of the many

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by the name of lay me e
bugbears to frighten children. The Lacedaemonians,

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

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themselves sat down anywhere. Socrates excused
himself to Perdicus for not going to him,

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

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

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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

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

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For there is no veil over a
star. Consider what a man's Socrates

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was when he dressed himself in a
skin after Xanthipi 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 dress. Thus, neither

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in writing nor in reading will I'll
be able to lay down rules for others

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before thou shalt have learned to obey
rules thyself. Much more is this so

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in life a slave thou art.
Free speech is not for thee and my

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heart laughed within Odyssey nine four thirteen. And virtue they will curse speaking harsh

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words. He see it works in
Days one eighty four. To look for

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the fig in winter is a madman's
act. Such is he who looks for

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his child when is no longer allowed
Epictetus three twenty four eighty seven. When

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a man kisses his child, said
Epictetus, he should whisper to himself tomorrow,

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perchance thou wilt die. But those
are words of bad omen. No

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word is a word of bad omen, said Epictetus, which expresses any work

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of nature, or if it is
so, it is also a word of

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that omen. To speak of the
ears of corn being reaped Epictetus three twenty

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four, eighty eight. The unripe
grape, the ripe bunch, the dried

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grape, all are changes not into
nothing, but into something which exists not

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yet Epictetus three twenty four. No
man can rob us of our free will

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Epictetus three twenty two one oh five. Epictetus also said, a man must

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

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

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

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to the value of the object,
and as to sensual desire, he should

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altogether keep away from it, and
as to avoid he should not show it

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with respect to any of the things
which are not in our power. The

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dispute, then, he said,
is not about any common matter, but

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about being mad or not. Socrates
used to say, what do you want,

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souls of rational men or irrational souls
of rational men? Of what rational

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men sound or unsound sound? Why
then do you not seek for them because

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we have them? Why then do
you fight and quarrel? End of Chapter eleven,