Written 167 A.C.E.
Translated by George Long
Book Three
We ought to consider not only that our life is daily wasting away and a
smaller part of it is left, but another thing also must be taken into the
account, that if a man should live longer, it is quite uncertain whether
the understanding will still continue sufficient for the comprehension of
things, and retain the power of contemplation which strives to acquire the
knowledge of the divine and the human. For if he shall begin to fall into
dotage, perspiration and nutrition and imagination and appetite, and
whatever else there is of the kind, will not fail; but the power of making
use of ourselves, and filling up the measure of our duty, and clearly
separating all appearances, and considering whether a man should now
depart from life, and whatever else of the kind absolutely requires a
disciplined reason, all this is already extinguished. We must make haste
then, not only because we are daily nearer to death, but also because the
conception of things and the understanding of them cease first.
We ought to observe also that even the things which follow after the
things which are produced according to nature contain something pleasing
and attractive. For instance, when bread is baked some parts are split at
the surface, and these parts which thus open, and have a certain fashion
contrary to the purpose of the baker's art, are beautiful in a manner, and
in a peculiar way excite a desire for eating. And again, figs, when they
are quite ripe, gape open; and in the ripe olives the very circumstance of
their being near to rottenness adds a peculiar beauty to the fruit. And
the ears of corn bending down, and the lion's eyebrows, and the foam which
flows from the mouth of wild boars, and many other things- though they are
far from being beautiful, if a man should examine them severally- still,
because they are consequent upon the things which are formed by nature,
help to adorn them, and they please the mind; so that if a man should have
a feeling and deeper insight with respect to the things which are produced
in the universe, there is hardly one of those which follow by way of
consequence which will not seem to him to be in a manner disposed so as to
give pleasure. And so he will see even the real gaping jaws of wild beasts
with no less pleasure than those which painters and sculptors show by
imitation; and in an old woman and an old man he will be able to see a
certain maturity and comeliness; and the attractive loveliness of young
persons he will be able to look on with chaste eyes; and many such things
will present themselves, not pleasing to every man, but to him only who
has become truly familiar with nature and her works.
Hippocrates after curing many diseases himself fell sick and died. The
Chaldaei foretold the deaths of many, and then fate caught them too.
Alexander, and Pompeius, and Caius Caesar, after so often completely
destroying whole cities, and in battle cutting to pieces many ten
thousands of cavalry and infantry, themselves too at last departed from
life. Heraclitus, after so many speculations on the conflagration of the
universe, was filled with water internally and died smeared all over with
mud. And lice destroyed Democritus; and other lice killed Socrates. What
means all this? Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art
come to shore; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of
gods, not even there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease
to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel, which
is as much inferior as that which serves it is superior: for the one is
intelligence and deity; the other is earth and corruption.
Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others, when thou
dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility. For thou
losest the opportunity of doing something else when thou hast such
thoughts as these, What is such a person doing, and why, and what is he
saying, and what is he thinking of, and what is he contriving, and
whatever else of the kind makes us wander away from the observation of our
own ruling power. We ought then to check in the series of our thoughts
everything that is without a purpose and useless, but most of all the
over-curious feeling and the malignant; and a man should use himself to
think of those things only about which if one should suddenly ask, What
hast thou now in thy thoughts? With perfect openness thou mightest,
immediately answer, This or That; so that from thy words it should be
plain that everything in thee is simple and benevolent, and such as befits
a social animal, and one that cares not for thoughts about pleasure or
sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or envy and suspicion, or
anything else for which thou wouldst blush if thou shouldst say that thou
hadst it in thy mind. For the man who is such and no longer delays being
among the number of the best, is like a priest and minister of the gods,
using too the deity which is planted within him, which makes the man
uncontaminated by pleasure, unharmed by any pain, untouched by any insult,
feeling no wrong, a fighter in the noblest fight, one who cannot be
overpowered by any passion, dyed deep with justice, accepting with all his
soul everything which happens and is assigned to him as his portion; and
not often, nor yet without great necessity and for the general interest,
imagining what another says, or does, or thinks. For it is only what
belongs to himself that he makes the matter for his activity; and he
constantly thinks of that which is allotted to himself out of the sum
total of things, and he makes his own acts fair, and he is persuaded that
his own portion is good. For the lot which is assigned to each man is
carried along with him and carries him along with it. And he remembers
also that every rational animal is his kinsman, and that to care for all
men is according to man's nature; and a man should hold on to the opinion
not of all, but of those only who confessedly live according to nature.
But as to those who live not so, he always bears in mind what kind of men
they are both at home and from home, both by night and by day, and what
they are, and with what men they live an impure life. Accordingly, he does
not value at all the praise which comes from such men, since they are not
even satisfied with themselves.
Labour not unwillingly, nor without regard to the common interest, nor
without due consideration, nor with distraction; nor let studied ornament
set off thy thoughts, and be not either a man of many words, or busy about
too many things. And further, let the deity which is in thee be the
guardian of a living being, manly and of ripe age, and engaged in matter
political, and a Roman, and a ruler, who has taken his post like a man
waiting for the signal which summons him from life, and ready to go,
having need neither of oath nor of any man's testimony. Be cheerful also,
and seek not external help nor the tranquility which others give. A man
then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.
If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth,
temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's
self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to
right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without thy
own choice; if, I say, thou seest anything better than this, turn to it
with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best.
But if nothing appears to be better than the deity which is planted in
thee, which has subjected to itself all thy appetites, and carefully
examines all the impressions, and, as Socrates said, has detached itself
from the persuasions of sense, and has submitted itself to the gods, and
cares for mankind; if thou findest everything else smaller and of less
value than this, give place to nothing else, for if thou dost once diverge
and incline to it, thou wilt no longer without distraction be able to give
the preference to that good thing which is thy proper possession and thy
own; for it is not right that anything of any other kind, such as praise
from the many, or power, or enjoyment of pleasure, should come into
competition with that which is rationally and politically or practically
good. All these things, even though they may seem to adapt themselves to
the better things in a small degree, obtain the superiority all at once,
and carry us away. But do thou, I say, simply and freely choose the
better, and hold to it.- But that which is useful is the better.- Well
then, if it is useful to thee as a rational being, keep to it; but if it
is only useful to thee as an animal, say so, and maintain thy judgement
without arrogance: only take care that thou makest the inquiry by a sure
method.
Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to
break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect,
to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and
curtains: for he who has preferred to everything intelligence and daemon
and the worship of its excellence, acts no tragic part, does not groan,
will not need either solitude or much company; and, what is chief of all,
he will live without either pursuing or flying from death; but whether for
a longer or a shorter time he shall have the soul inclosed in the body, he
cares not at all: for even if he must depart immediately, he will go as
readily as if he were going to do anything else which can be done with
decency and order; taking care of this only all through life, that his
thoughts turn not away from anything which belongs to an intelligent
animal and a member of a civil community.
In the mind of one who is chastened and purified thou wilt find no corrupt
matter, nor impurity, nor any sore skinned over. Nor is his life
incomplete when fate overtakes him, as one may say of an actor who leaves
the stage before ending and finishing the play. Besides, there is in him
nothing servile, nor affected, nor too closely bound to other things, nor
yet detached from other things, nothing worthy of blame, nothing which
seeks a hiding-place.
Reverence the faculty which produces opinion. On this faculty it entirely
depends whether there shall exist in thy ruling part any opinion
inconsistent with nature and the constitution of the rational animal. And
this faculty promises freedom from hasty judgement, and friendship towards
men, and obedience to the gods.
Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and
besides bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which is
an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or
it is uncertain. Short then is the time which every man lives, and small
the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous
fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings,
who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him
who died long ago.
To the aids which have been mentioned let this one still be added:- Make
for thyself a definition or description of the thing which is presented to
thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in its substance,
in its nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell thyself its proper name,
and the names of the things of which it has been compounded, and into
which it will be resolved. For nothing is so productive of elevation of
mind as to be able to examine methodically and truly every object which is
presented to thee in life, and always to look at things so as to see at
the same time what kind of universe this is, and what kind of use
everything performs in it, and what value everything has with reference to
the whole, and what with reference to man, who is a citizen of the highest
city, of which all other cities are like families; what each thing is, and
of what it is composed, and how long it is the nature of this thing to
endure which now makes an impression on me, and what virtue I have need of
with respect to it, such as gentleness, manliness, truth, fidelity,
simplicity, contentment, and the rest. Wherefore, on every occasion a man
should say: this comes from God; and this is according to the
apportionment and spinning of the thread of destiny, and such-like
coincidence and chance; and this is from one of the same stock, and a
kinsman and partner, one who knows not however what is according to his
nature. But I know; for this reason I behave towards him according to the
natural law of fellowship with benevolence and justice. At the same time
however in things indifferent I attempt to ascertain the value of each.
If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason
seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract
thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to
give it back immediately; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing,
fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to
nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest,
thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this.
As physicians have always their instruments and knives ready for cases
which suddenly require their skill, so do thou have principles ready for
the understanding of things divine and human, and for doing everything,
even the smallest, with a recollection of the bond which unites the divine
and human to one another. For neither wilt thou do anything well which
pertains to man without at the same time having a reference to things
divine; nor the contrary.
No longer wander at hazard; for neither wilt thou read thy own memoirs,
nor the acts of the ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the selections from
books which thou wast reserving for thy old age. Hasten then to the end
which thou hast before thee, and throwing away idle hopes, come to thy own
aid, if thou carest at all for thyself, while it is in thy power.
They know not how many things are signified by the words stealing, sowing,
buying, keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; for this is not
effected by the eyes, but by another kind of vision.
Body, soul, intelligence: to the body belong sensations, to the soul
appetites, to the intelligence principles. To receive the impressions of
forms by means of appearances belongs even to animals; to be pulled by the
strings of desire belongs both to wild beasts and to men who have made
themselves into women, and to a Phalaris and a Nero: and to have the
intelligence that guides to the things which appear suitable belongs also
to those who do not believe in the gods, and who betray their country, and
do their impure deeds when they have shut the doors. If then everything
else is common to all that I have mentioned, there remains that which is
peculiar to the good man, to be pleased and content with what happens, and
with the thread which is spun for him; and not to defile the divinity
which is planted in his breast, nor disturb it by a crowd of images, but
to preserve it tranquil, following it obediently as a god, neither saying
anything contrary to the truth, nor doing anything contrary to justice.
And if all men refuse to believe that he lives a simple, modest, and
contented life, he is neither angry with any of them, nor does he deviate
from the way which leads to the end of life, to which a man ought to come
pure, tranquil, ready to depart, and without any compulsion perfectly
reconciled to his lot.