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

16. The Soul Of Man Does Violence To Itself,  First Of All,  When It

Becomes An Abscess,  And,  As It Were,  A Tumor On The Universe,  So Far As

It Can. For To Be Vexed At Anything Which Happens Is A Separation Of

Ourselves From Nature,  In Some Part Of Which The Natures Of All Other

Things Are Contained. In The Next Place,  The Soul Does Violence To

Itself When It Turns Away From Any Man,  Or Even Moves Towards Him With

The Intention Of Injuring,  Such As Are The Souls Of Those Who Are Angry.

In The Third Place,  The Soul Does Violence To Itself When It Is

Overpowered By Pleasure Or By Pain. Fourthly,  When It Plays A Part,  And

Does Or Says Anything Insincerely And Untruly. Fifthly,  When It Allows

Any Act Of Its Own And Any Movement To Be Without An Aim,  And Does

Anything Thoughtlessly And Without Considering What It Is,  It Being

Right That Even The Smallest Things Be Done With Reference To An End;

And The End Of Rational Animals Is To Follow The Reason And The Law Of

The Most Ancient City And Polity.

17. Of Human Life The Time Is A Point,  And The Substance Is In A Flux,

And The Perception Dull,  And The Composition Of The Whole Body Subject

To Putrefaction,  And The Soul A Whirl,  And Fortune Hard To Divine,  And

Fame A Thing Devoid Of Judgment. And,  To Say All In A Word,  Everything

Which Belongs To The Body Is A Stream,  And What Belongs To The Soul Is A

Dream And Vapor,  And Life Is A Warfare And A Stranger's Sojourn,  And

After Fame Is Oblivion. What Then Is That Which Is Able To Conduct A

Man? One Thing,  And Only One,  Philosophy. But This Consists In Keeping

The Daemon Within A Man Free From Violence And Unharmed,  Superior To

Pains And Pleasures,  Doing Nothing Without A Purpose,  Nor Yet Falsely

And With Hypocrisy,  Not Feeling The Need Of Another Man's Doing Or Not

Doing Anything; And Besides,  Accepting All That Happens,  And All That

Is Allotted,  As Coming From Thence,  Wherever It Is,  From Whence He

Himself Came; And,  Finally,  Waiting For Death With A Cheerful Mind,  As

Being Nothing Else Than A Dissolution Of The Elements Of Which Every

Living Being Is Compounded. But If There Is No Harm To The Elements

Themselves In Each Continually Changing Into Another,  Why Should A Man

Have Any Apprehension About The Change And Dissolution Of All The

Elements? For It Is According To Nature,  And Nothing Is Evil Which Is

According To Nature.

This In Carnuntum.[A]

    [A] Carnuntum Was A Town Of Pannonia,  On The South Side Of The

    Danube,  About Thirty Miles East Of Vindobona (Vienna).

    Orosius (Vii. 15) And Eutropius (Viii. 13) Say That Antoninus

    Remained Three Years At Carmuntum During His War With The

    Marcomanni.

Iii.

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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Labor 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 Tranquillity Which Others

Give. A Man Then Must Stand Erect,  Not Be Kept Erect By Others.

6. 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