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.