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

Olive Falls Off When It Is Ripe,  Blessing Nature Who Produced It,  And

Thanking The Tree On Which It Grew.

    [A] Ovid,  Met. Xv. 293:--

        "Si Quaeras Helicen Et Burin Achaidas Urbes,

        Invenies Sub Aquis."

49. Be Like The Promontory Against Which The Waves Continually Break,

But It Stands Firm And Tames The Fury Of The Water Around It.

Unhappy Am I Because This Has Happened To Me? Not So,  But Happy Am I,

Though This Has Happened To Me,  Because I Continue Free From Pain,

Neither Crushed By The Present Nor Fearing The Future. For Such A Thing

As This Might Have Happened To Every Man; But Every Man Would Not Have

Continued Free From Pain On Such An Occasion. Why Then Is That Rather A

Misfortune Than This A Good Fortune? And Dost Thou In All Cases Call

That A Man's Misfortune Which Is Not A Deviation From Man's Nature? And

Does A Thing Seem To Thee To Be A Deviation From Man's Nature,  When It

Is Not Contrary To The Will Of Man's Nature? Well,  Thou Knowest The Will

Of Nature. Will Then This Which Has Happened Prevent Thee From Being

Just,  Magnanimous,  Temperate,  Prudent,  Secure Against Inconsiderate

Opinions And Falsehood; Will It Prevent Thee From Having Modesty,

Freedom,  And Everything Else,  By The Presence Of Which Man's Nature

Obtains All That Is Its Own? Remember Too On Every Occasion Which Leads

Thee To Vexation To Apply This Principle; Not That This Is A Misfortune,

But That To Bear It Nobly Is Good Fortune.

50. It Is A Vulgar,  But Still A Useful Help Towards Contempt Of Death,

To Pass In Review Those Who Have Tenaciously Stuck To Life. What More

Then Have They Gained Than Those Who Have Died Early? Certainly They

Lie In Their Tombs Somewhere At Last,  Cadicianus,  Fabius,  Julianus,

Lepidus,  Or Any One Else Like Them,  Who Have Carried Out Many To Be

Buried,  And Then Were Carried Out Themselves. Altogether The Interval Is

Small [Between Birth And Death]; And Consider With How Much Trouble,  And

In Company With What Sort Of People,  And In What A Feeble Body,  This

Interval Is Laboriously Passed. Do Not Then Consider Life A Thing Of Any

Value. + For Look To The Immensity Of Time Behind Thee,  And To The Time

Which Is Before Thee,  Another Boundless Space. In This Infinity Then

What Is The Difference Between Him Who Lives Three Days And Him Who

Lives Three Generations?[A]

    [A] An Allusion To Homer's Nestor,  Who Was Living At The War Of

    Troy Among The Third Generation,  Like Old Parr With His Hundred

    And Fifty-Two Years,  And Some Others In Modern Times Who Have

    Beaten Parr By Twenty Or Thirty Years If It Is True; And Yet

    They Died At Last. The Word Is [Greek: Trigerêniou] In

    Antoninus. Nestor Is Named [Greek: Trigerôn] By Some Writers;

    But Here Perhaps There Is An Allusion To Homer's [Greek:

    Gerênios Hippota Nestôr].

51. Always Run To The Short Way; And The Short Way Is The Natural:

Accordingly Say And Do Everything In Conformity With The Soundest

Reason. For Such A Purpose Frees A Man From Trouble,+ And Warfare,  And

All Artifice And Ostentatious Display.

V.

In The Morning When Thou Risest Unwillingly,  Let This Thought Be

Present,--I Am Rising To The Work Of A Human Being. Why Then Am I

Dissatisfied If I Am Going To Do The Things For Which I Exist And For

Which I Was Brought Into The World? Or Have I Been Made For This,  To Lie

In The Bed-Clothes And Keep Myself Warm?--But This Is More

Pleasant.--Dost Thou Exist Then To Take Thy Pleasure,  And Not At All For

Action Or Exertion? Dost Thou Not See The Little Plants,  The Little

Birds,  The Ants,  The Spiders,  The Bees Working Together To Put In Order

Their Several Parts Of The Universe? And Art Thou Unwilling To Do The

Work Of A Human Being,  And Dost Thou Not Make Haste To Do That Which,  Is

According To Thy Nature? But It Is Necessary To Take Rest Also.--It Is

Necessary. However,  Nature Has Fixed Bounds To This Too: She Has Fixed

Bounds To Eating And Drinking,  And Yet Thou Goest Beyond These Bounds,

Beyond What Is Sufficient; Yet In Thy Acts It Is Not So,  But Thou

Stoppest Short Of What Thou Canst Do. So Thou Lovest Not Thyself,  For If

Thou Didst,  Thou Wouldst Love Thy Nature And Her Will. But Those Who

Love Their Several Arts Exhaust Themselves In Working At Them Unwashed

And Without Food; But Thou Valuest Thy Own Nature Less Than The Turner

Values The Turning Art,  Or The Dancer The Dancing Art,  Or The Lover Of

Money Values His Money,  Or The Vain-Glorious Man His Little Glory. And

Such Men,  When They Have A Violent Affection To A Thing,  Choose Neither

To Eat Nor To Sleep Rather Than To Perfect The Things Which They Care

For. But Are The Acts Which Concern Society More Vile In Thy Eyes And

Less Worthy Of Thy Labor?

2. How Easy It Is To Repel And To Wipe Away Every Impression Which Is

Troublesome Or Unsuitable,  And Immediately To Be In All Tranquillity.

3. Judge Every Word And Deed Which Are According To Nature To Be Fit For

Thee; And Be Not Diverted By The Blame Which Follows From Any People,

Nor By Their Words,  But If A Thing Is Good To Be Done Or Said,  Do Not

Consider It Unworthy Of Thee. For Those Persons Have Their Peculiar

Leading Principle And Follow Their Peculiar Movement; Which Things Do

Not Thou Regard,  But Go Straight On,  Following Thy Own Nature And The

Common Nature; And The Way Of Both Is One.

4. I Go Through The Things Which Happen According To Nature Until I

Shall Fall And Rest,  Breathing Out My Breath Into That Element Out Of

Which I Daily Draw It In,  And Falling Upon That Earth Out Of Which My

Father Collected The Seed,  And My Mother The Blood,  And My Nurse The

Milk; Out Of Which During So Many Years I Have Been Supplied With Food

And Drink; Which Bears Me When I Tread On It And Abuse It For So Many

Purposes.

5. Thou Sayest,  Men Cannot Admire The Sharpness Of Thy Wits.--Be It So:

But There Are Many Other Things Of Which Thou Canst Not Say,  I Am Not

Formed From Them By Nature. Show Those Qualities Then Which Are

Altogether In Thy Power,  Sincerity,  Gravity,  Endurance Of Labor,

Aversion To Pleasure,  Contentment With Thy Portion And With Few Things,

Benevolence,  Frankness,  No Love Of Superfluity,  Freedom From Trifling,

Magnanimity. Dost Thou Not See How Many Qualities Thou Art Immediately

Able To Exhibit,  In Which There Is No Excuse Of Natural Incapacity And

Unfitness,  And Yet Thou Still Remainest Voluntarily Below The Mark? Or

Art Thou Compelled Through Being Defectively Furnished By Nature To

Murmur,  And To Be Stingy,  And To Flatter,  And To Find Fault With Thy

Poor Body,  And To Try To Please Men,  And To Make Great Display,  And To

Be So Restless In Thy Mind? No,  By The Gods; But Thou Mightest Have Been

Delivered From These Things Long Ago. Only If In Truth Thou Canst Be

Charged With Being Rather Slow And Dull Of Comprehension,  Thou Must

Exert Thyself About This Also,  Not Neglecting It Nor Yet Taking Pleasure

In Thy Dullness.

6. One Man,  When He Has Done A Service To Another,  Is Ready To Set It

Down To His Account As A Favor Conferred. Another Is Not Ready To Do

This,  But Still In His Own Mind He Thinks Of The Man As His Debtor,  And

He Knows What He Has Done. A Third In A Manner Does Not Even Know What

He Has Done,  But He Is Like A Vine Which Has Produced Grapes,  And Seeks

For Nothing More After It Has Once Produced Its Proper Fruit. As A Horse

When He Has Run,  A Dog When He Has Tackled The Game,  A Bee When It Has

Made The Honey,  So A Man When He Has Done A Good Act Does Not Call Out

For Others To Come And See,  But He Goes On To Another Act,  As A Vine

Goes On To Produce Again The Grapes In Season.--Must A Man Then Be One

Of These,  Who In A Manner Act Thus Without Observing It?--Yes.--But This

Very Thing Is Necessary,  The Observation Of What A Man Is Doing: For,  It

May Be Said,  It Is Characteristic Of The Social Animal To Perceive That

He Is Working In A Social Manner,  And Indeed To Wish That His Social

Partner Also Should Perceive It.--It Is True That Thou Sayest,  But Thou

Dost Not Rightly Understand What Is Now Said: And For This Reason Thou

Wilt Become One Of Those Of Whom I Spoke Before,  For Even They Are

Misled By A Certain Show Of Reason. But If Thou Wilt Choose To

Understand The Meaning Of What Is Said,  Do Not Fear That For This Reason

Thou Wilt Omit Any Social Act.

7. A Prayer Of The Athenians: Rain,  Rain,  O Dear Zeus,  Down On The

Ploughed Fields Of The Athenians And On The Plains.--In Truth We Ought

Not To Pray At All,  Or We Ought To Pray In This Simple And Noble

Fashion.

8. Just As We Must Understand When It Is Said,  That Aesculapius

Prescribed To This Man Horse-Exercise,  Or Bathing In Cold Water,  Or

Going Without Shoes,  So We Must Understand It When It Is Said,  That The

Nature Of The Universe Prescribed To This Man Disease,  Or Mutilation,  Or

Loss,  Or Anything Else Of The Kind. For In The First Case Prescribed

Means Something Like This: He Prescribed This For This Man As A Thing

Adapted To Procure Health; And In The Second Case It Means,  That Which

Happens[A] To [Or Suits] Every Man Is Fixed In A Manner For Him Suitably

To His Destiny. For This Is What We Mean When We Say That Things Are

Suitable To Us,  As The Workmen Say Of Squared Stones In Walls Or The

Pyramids,  That They Are Suitable,  When They Fit Them To One Another In

Some Kind Of Connection. For There Is Altogether One