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

Themselves To It.

20. In One Respect Man Is The Nearest Thing To Me,  So Far As I Must Do

Good To Men And Endure Them. But So Far As Some Men Make Themselves

Obstacles To My Proper Acts,  Man Becomes To Me One Of The Things Which

Are Indifferent,  No Less Than The Sun Or Wind Or A Wild Beast. Now It Is

True That These May Impede My Action,  But They Are No Impediments To My

Affects And Disposition,  Which Have The Power Of Acting Conditionally

And Changing: For The Mind Converts And Changes Every Hindrance To Its

Activity Into An Aid; And So That Which Is A Hindrance Is Made A

Furtherance To An Act; And That Which Is An Obstacle On The Road Helps

Us On This Road.

21. Reverence That Which Is Best In The Universe; And This Is That Which

Makes Use Of All Things And Directs All Things. And In Like Manner Also

Reverence That Which Is Best In Thyself; And This Is Of The Same Kind As

That. For In Thyself Also,  That Which Makes Use Of Everything Else Is

This,  And Thy Life Is Directed By This.

22. That Which Does No Harm To The State,  Does No Harm To The Citizen.

In The Case Of Every Appearance Of Harm Apply This Rule: If The State

Is Not Harmed By This,  Neither Am I Harmed. But If The State Is Harmed,

Thou Must Not Be Angry With Him Who Does Harm To The State. Show Him

Where His Error Is.

23. Often Think Of The Rapidity With Which Things Pass By And Disappear,

Both The Things Which Are And The Things Which Are Produced. For

Substance Is Like A River In A Continual Flow,  And The Activities Of

Things Are In Constant Change,  And The Causes Work In Infinite

Varieties; And There Is Hardly Anything Which Stands Still. And Consider

This Which Is Near To Thee,  This Boundless Abyss Of The Past And Of The

Future In Which All Things Disappear. How Then Is He Not A Fool Who Is

Puffed Up With Such Things Or Plagued About Them And Makes Himself

Miserable? For They Vex Him Only For A Time,  And A Short Time.

24. Think Of The Universal Substance,  Of Which Thou Hast A Very Small

Portion; And Of Universal Time,  Of Which A Short And Indivisible

Interval Has Been Assigned To Thee; And Of That Which Is Fixed By

Destiny,  And How Small A Part Of It Thou Art.

25. Does Another Do Me Wrong? Let Him Look To It. He Has His Own

Disposition,  His Own Activity. I Now Have What The Universal Nature Now

Wills Me To Have; And I Do What My Nature Now Wills Me To Do.

26. Let The Part Of Thy Soul Which Leads And Governs Be Undisturbed By

The Movements In The Flesh,  Whether Of Pleasure Or Of Pain; And Let It

Not Unite With Them,  But Let It Circumscribe Itself And Limit Those

Affects To Their Parts. But When These Affects Rise Up To The Mind By

Virtue Of That Other Sympathy That Naturally Exists In A Body Which Is

All One,  Then Thou Must Not Strive To Resist The Sensation,  For It Is

Natural: But Let Not The Ruling Part Of Itself Add To The Sensation The

Opinion That It Is Either Good Or Bad.

27. Live With The Gods. And He Does Live With The Gods Who Constantly

Shows To Them That His Own Soul Is Satisfied With That Which Is Assigned

To Him,  And That It Does All That The Daemon Wishes,  Which Zeus Hath

Given To Every Man For His Guardian And Guide,  A Portion Of Himself. And

This Is Every Man's Understanding And Reason.

28. Art Thou Angry With Him Whose Armpits Stink? Art Thou Angry With Him

Whose Mouth Smells Foul? What Good Will This Anger Do Thee? He Has Such

A Mouth,  He Has Such Armpits: It Is Necessary That Such An Emanation

Must Come From Such Things: But The Man Has Reason,  It Will Be Said,  And

He Is Able,  If He Takes Pains,  To Discover Wherein He Offends; I Wish

Thee Well Of Thy Discovery. Well Then,  And Thou Hast Reason: By Thy

Rational Faculty Stir Up His Rational Faculty; Show Him His Error,

Admonish Him. For If He Listens,  Thou Wilt Cure Him,  And There Is No

Need Of Anger. [+ Neither Tragic Actor Nor Whore. +][A]

    [A] This Is Imperfect Or Corrupt,  Or Both. There Is Also

    Something Wrong Or Incomplete In The Beginning Of S. 29,  Where

    He Says [Greek: Hôs Exelthôn Zên Dianoê],  Which Gataker

    Translates "As If Thou Wast About To Quit Life;" But We Cannot

    Translate [Greek: Exelthôn] In That Way. Other Translations Are

    Not Much More Satisfactory. I Have Translated It Literally And

    Left It Imperfect.

29. As Thou Intendest To Live When Them Art Gone Out,  ... So It Is In

Thy Power To Live Here. But If Men Do Not Permit Thee,  Then Get Away Out

Of Life,  Yet So As If Thou Wert Suffering No Harm. The House Is Smoky,

And I Quit It.[A] Why Dost Thou Think That This Is Any Trouble? But So

Long As Nothing Of The Kind Drives Me Out,  I Remain,  Am Free,  And No Man

Shall Hinder Me From Doing What I Choose; And I Choose To Do What Is

According To The Nature Of The Rational And Social Animal.

    [A] Epictetus,  I. 25,  18.

30. The Intelligence Of The Universe Is Social. Accordingly It Has Made

The Inferior Things For The Sake Of The Superior,  And It Has Fitted The

Superior To One Another. Thou Seest How It Has Subordinated,

Co-Ordinated,  And Assigned To Everything Its Proper Portion,  And Has

Brought Together Into Concord With One Another The Things Which Are The

Best.

31. How Hast Thou Behaved Hitherto To The Gods,  Thy Parents,  Brethren,

Children,  Teachers,  To Those Who Looked After Thy Infancy,  To Thy

Friends,  Kinsfolk,  To Thy Slaves? Consider If Thou Hast Hitherto Behaved

To All In Such A Way That This May Be Said Of Thee,--

      "Never Has Wronged A Man In Deed Or Word."

And Call To Recollection Both How Many Things Thou Hast Passed Through,

And How Many Things Thou Hast Been Able To Endure,  And That The History

Of Thy Life Is Now Complete And Thy Service Is Ended; And How Many

Beautiful Things Thou Hast Seen; And How Many Pleasures And Pains Thou

Hast Despised; And How Many Things Called Honorable Thou Hast Spurned;

And To How Many Ill-Minded Folks Thou Hast Shown A Kind Disposition.

32. Why Do Unskilled And Ignorant Souls Disturb Him Who Has Skill And

Knowledge? What Soul Then Has Skill And Knowledge? That Which Knows

Beginning And End,  And Knows The Reason Which Pervades All Substance,

And Though All Time By Fixed Periods [Revolutions] Administers The

Universe.

33. Soon,  Very Soon,  Thou Wilt Be Ashes,  Or A Skeleton,  And Either A

Name Or Not Even A Name; But Name Is Sound And Echo. And The Things

Which Are Much Valued In Life Are Empty And Rotten And Trifling,  And

[Like] Little Dogs Biting One Another,  And Little Children Quarreling,

Laughing,  And Then Straightway Weeping. But Fidelity And Modesty And

Justice And Truth Are Fled

      Up To Olympus From The Wide-Spread Earth.

                 Hesiod,  _Works,  Etc_. V. 197.

What Then Is There Which Still Detains Thee Here,  If The Objects Of

Sense Are Easily Changed And Never Stand Still,  And The Organs Of

Perception Are Dull And Easily Receive False Impressions,  And The Poor

Soul Itself Is An Exhalation From Blood? But To Have Good Repute Amid

Such A World As This Is An Empty Thing. Why Then Dost Thou Not Wait In

Tranquillity For Thy End,  Whether It Is Extinction Or Removal To Another

State? And Until That Time Comes,  What Is Sufficient? Why,  What Else

Than To Venerate The Gods And Bless Them,  And To Do Good To Men,  And To

Practise Tolerance And Self-Restraint;[A] But As To Everything Which Is

Beyond The Limits Of The Poor Flesh And Breath,  To Remember That This Is

Neither Thine Nor In Thy Power.

    [A] This Is The Stoic Precept [Greek: Anechou Kai Apechou]. The

    First Part Teaches Us To Be Content With Men And Things As They

    Are. The Second Part Teaches Us The Virtue Of Self-Restraint,

    Or The Government Of Our Passions.

34. Thou Canst Pass Thy Life In An Equable Flow Of Happiness,  If Thou

Canst Go By The Right Way,  And Think And Act In The Right Way. These Two

Things Are Common Both To The Soul Of God And To The Soul Of Man,  And To

The Soul Of Every Rational Being: Not To Be Hindered By Another; And To

Hold Good To Consist In The Disposition To Justice And The Practice Of

It,  And In This To Let Thy Desire Find Its Termination.

35. If This Is Neither My Own Badness,  Nor An Effect Of My Own Badness,

And The Common Weal Is Not Injured,  Why Am I Troubled About It,  And What

Is The Harm To The Common Weal?

36. Do Not Be Carried Along Inconsiderately By The Appearance Of

Things,  But Give Help [To All] According To Thy Ability And Their

Fitness; And If They Should Have Sustained Loss In Matters Which Are

Indifferent,  Do Not Imagine This To Be A Damage; For It Is A Bad Habit.

But As The Old Man,  When He Went Away,  Asked Back His Foster-Child's

Top,  Remembering That It Was A Top,  So Do Thou In This Case Also.

When Thou Art Calling Out On The Rostra,  Hast Thou Forgotten,  Man,  What

These Things Are?--Yes; But They Are Objects Of Great Concern To These

People--Wilt Thou Too Then Be Made A Fool For These Things? I Was Once A

Fortunate Man,  But I Lost It,  I Know Not How.--But Fortunate Means That

A Man Has Assigned To Himself A Good Fortune: And A Good Fortune Is Good

Disposition Of The Soul,  Good Emotions,  Good Actions.[A]

    [A] This Section Is Unintelligible. Many Of The Words May Be

    Corrupt,  And The General Purport Of The Section Cannot