Thoughts Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (best self help books to read .txt) 📕

Way As To Discharge His Duty,  And To Trouble Himself About Nothing Else.

He Should Live Such A Life That He Shall Always Be Ready For Death,  And

Shall Depart Content When The Summons Comes. For What Is Death? "A

Cessation Of The Impressions Through The Senses,  And Of The Pulling Of

The Strings Which Move The Appetites,  And Of The Discursive Movements Of

The Thoughts,  And Of The Service To The Flesh" (Vi. 28). Death Is Such

As Generation Is,  A Mystery Of Nature (Iv. 5). In Another Passage,  The

Exact Meaning Of Which Is Perhaps Doubtful (Ix. 3),  He Speaks Of The

Child Which Leaves The Womb,  And So He Says The Soul At Death Leaves Its

Envelope. As The Child Is Born Or Comes Into Life By Leaving The Womb,

So The Soul May On Leaving The Body Pass Into Another Existence Which Is

Perfect. I Am Not Sure If This Is The Emperor's Meaning. Butler Compares

It With A Passage In Strabo (P. 713) About The Brachmans' Notion Of

Death Being The Birth Into Real Life And A Happy Life,  To Those Who Have

Philosophized; And He Thinks Antoninus May Allude To This Opinion.[B]

    [A] "All Events Come Alike To All: There Is One Event To The

    Righteous And To The Wicked: To The Good And To The Clean And

    To The Unclean," &C. (Ecclesiastes,  Ix. V. 2); And (V. 3),

    "This Is An Evil Among All Things That Are Done Under The Sun,

    That There Is One Event Unto All." In What Sense "Evil" Is

    Meant Here Seems Rather Doubtful. There Is No Doubt About The

    Emperor's Meaning. Compare Epictetus,  Enchiridion,  C. I.,  &C.;

    And The Doctrine Of The Brachmans (Strabo P. 713,  Ed. Cas.):

    [Greek: Agathon De Ê Kakon Mêden Einai Tôn Sumbainontôn

    Anthrôpois].

    [B] Seneca (Ep. 102) Has The Same,  Whether An Expression Of His

    Own Opinion,  Or Merely A Fine Saying Of Others Employed To

    Embellish His Writings,  I Know Not. After Speaking Of The Child

    Being Prepared In The Womb To Live This Life,  He Adds,  "Sic Per

    Hoc Spatium,  Quod Ab Infantia Patet In Senectutem,  In Alium

    Naturae Sumimur Partum. Alia Origo Nos Expectat,  Alius Rerum

    Status." See Ecclesiastes,  Xii. 7; And Lucan,  I. 457:--

                   "Longae,  Canitis Si Cognita,  Vitae

             Mors Media Est."

Antoninus' Opinion Of A Future Life Is Nowhere Clearly Expressed. His

Doctrine Of The Nature Of The Soul Of Necessity Implies That It Does Not

Perish Absolutely,  For A Portion Of The Divinity Cannot Perish. The

Opinion Is At Least As Old As The Time Of Epicharmus And Euripides; What

Comes From Earth Goes Back To Earth,  And What Comes From Heaven,  The

Divinity,  Returns To Him Who Gave It. But I Find Nothing Clear In

Antoninus As To The Notion Of The Man Existing After Death So As To Be

Conscious Of His Sameness With That Soul Which Occupied His Vessel Of

Clay. He Seems To Be Perplexed On This Matter,  And Finally To Have

Rested In This,  That God Or The Gods Will Do Whatever Is Best,  And

Consistent With The University Of Things.

Nor,  I Think,  Does He Speak Conclusively On Another Stoic Doctrine,

Which Some Stoics Practised,--The Anticipating The Regular Course Of

Nature By A Man's Own Act. The Reader Will Find Some Passages In Which

This Is Touched On,  And He May Make Of Them What He Can. But There Are

Passages In Which The Emperor Encourages Himself To Wait For The End

Patiently And With Tranquillity; And Certainly It Is Consistent With All

His Best Teaching That A Man Should Bear All That Falls To His Lot And

Do Useful Acts As He Lives. He Should Not Therefore Abridge The Time Of

His Usefulness By His Own Act. Whether He Contemplates Any Possible

Cases In Which A Man Should Die By His Own Hand,  I Cannot Tell; And The

Matter Is Not Worth A Curious Inquiry,  For I Believe It Would Not Lead

To Any Certain Result As To His Opinion On This Point. I Do Not Think

That Antoninus,  Who Never Mentions Seneca,  Though He Must Have Known All

About Him,  Would Have Agreed With Seneca When He Gives As A Reason For

Suicide,  That The Eternal Law,  Whatever He Means,  Has Made Nothing

Better For Us Than This,  That It Has Given Us Only One Way Of Entering

Into Life And Many Ways Of Going Out Of It. The Ways Of Going Out Indeed

Are Many,  And That Is A Good Reason For A Man Taking Care Of Himself.[A]

    [A] See Plinius H.N. Ii.,  C. 7; Seneca,  De Provid. C. 6; And

    Ep. 70: "Nihil Melius Aeterna Lex," &C.

Happiness Was Not The Direct Object Of A Stoic's Life. There Is No Rule

Of Life Contained In The Precept That A Man Should Pursue His Own

Happiness. Many Men Think That They Are Seeking Happiness When They Are

Only Seeking The Gratification Of Some Particular Passion,  The Strongest

That They Have. The End Of A Man Is,  As Already Explained,  To Live

Conformably To Nature,  And He Will Thus Obtain Happiness,  Tranquillity

Of Mind,  And Contentment (Iii. 12; Viii. 1,  And Other Places). As A

Means Of Living Conformably To Nature He Must Study The Four Chief

Virtues,  Each Of Which Has Its Proper Sphere: Wisdom,  Or The Knowledge

Of Good And Evil; Justice,  Or The Giving To Every Man His Due;

Fortitude,  Or The Enduring Of Labor And Pain; And Temperance,  Which Is

Moderation In All Things. By Thus Living Conformably To Nature The Stoic

Obtained All That He Wished Or Expected. His Reward Was In His Virtuous

Life,  And He Was Satisfied With That. Some Greek Poet Long Ago Wrote:--

   "For Virtue Only Of All Human Things

   Takes Her Reward Not From The Hands Of Others.

   Virtue Herself Rewards The Toils Of Virtue."

Some Of The Stoics Indeed Expressed Themselves In Very Arrogant,  Absurd

Terms,  About The Wise Man's Self-Sufficiency; They Elevated Him To The

Rank Of A Deity.[A] But These Were Only Talkers And Lecturers,  Such As

Those In All Ages Who Utter Fine Words,  Know Little Of Human Affairs,

And Care Only For Notoriety. Epictetus And Antoninus Both By Precept And

Example Labored To Improve Themselves And Others; And If We Discover

Imperfections In Their Teaching,  We Must Still Honor These Great Men Who

Attempted To Show That There Is In Man's Nature And In The Constitution

Of Things Sufficient Reason For Living A Virtuous Life. It Is Difficult

Enough To Live As We Ought To Live,  Difficult Even For Any Man To Live

In Such A Way As To Satisfy Himself,  If He Exercises Only In A Moderate

Degree The Power Of Reflecting Upon And Reviewing His Own Conduct; And

If All Men Cannot Be Brought To The Same Opinions In Morals And

Religion,  It Is At Least Worth While To Give Them Good Reasons For As

Much As They Can Be Persuaded To Accept.

    [A] J. Smith In His Select Discourses On "The Excellency And

    Nobleness Of True Religion" (C. Vi.) Has Remarked On This

    Stoical Arrogance. He Finds It In Seneca And Others. In Seneca

    Certainly,  And Perhaps Something Of It In Epictetus; But It Is

    Not In Antoninus.

I.

From My Grandfather Verus[A] [I Learned] Good Morals And The Government

Of My Temper.

2. From The Reputation And Remembrance Of My Father,[B] Modesty And A

Manly Character.

3. From My Mother,[C] Piety And Beneficence,  And Abstinence,  Not Only

From Evil Deeds,  But Even From Evil Thoughts; And Further,  Simplicity In

My Way Of Living,  Far Removed From The Habits Of The Rich.

4. From My Great-Grandfather,[D] Not To Have Frequented Public Schools,

And To Have Had Good Teachers At Home,  And To Know That On Such Things A

Man Should Spend Liberally.

    [A] Annius Verus Was His Grandfather's Name. There Is No Verb

    In This Section Connected With The Word "From," Nor In The

    Following Sections Of This Book; And It Is Not Quite Certain

    What Verb Should Be Supplied. What I Have Added May Express The

    Meaning Here,  Though There Are Sections Which It Will Not Fit.

    If He Does Not Mean To Say That He Learned All These Good

    Things From The Several Persons Whom He Mentions,  He Means That

    He Observed Certain Good Qualities In Them,  Or Received Certain

    Benefits From Them,  And It Is Implied That He Was The Better

    For It,  Or At Least Might Have Been: For It Would Be A Mistake

    To Understand Marcus As Saying That He Possessed All The

    Virtues Which He Observed In His Kinsmen And Teachers.

    [B] His Father's Name Was Annius Verus.

    [C] His Mother Was Domitia Calvilla,  Named Also Lucilla.

    [D] Perhaps His Mother's Grandfather,  Catilius Severus.

5. From My Governor,  To Be Neither Of The Green Nor Of The Blue Party At

The Games In The Circus,  Nor A Partisan Either Of The Parmularius Or The

Scutarius At The Gladiators' Fights; From Him Too I Learned Endurance Of

Labor,  And To Want Little,  And To Work With My Own Hands,  And Not To

Meddle With Other People's Affairs,  And Not To Be Ready To Listen To

Slander.

6. From Diognetus,[A] Not To Busy Myself About Trifling Things,  And Not

To Give Credit To What Was Said By Miracle-Workers And Jugglers About

Incantations And The Driving Away Of Daemons And Such Things; And Not To

Breed Quails [For Fighting],  Nor To Give Myself Up Passionately To Such

Things; And To Endure Freedom Of Speech; And To Have Become Intimate

With Philosophy; And To Have Been A Hearer,  First Of Bacchius,  Then Of

Tandasis And Marcianus; And To Have Written Dialogues In My Youth; And