The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

THE MEDITATIONS OF 
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS 

• BOOK ONE • 


From my grandfather Verus I learned good 
morals and the government of my temper. 

2. From the reputation and remembrance of 
my father,' modesty and a manly character. 

3. From my mother, piety and beneficence, 
and abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but 
even from evil thoughts; and further, simplic- 
ity in my way of living, far removed from the 
habits of the rich. 

4. From my gi eat grandfather, 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. 

5. From my governor, to be neither of the 
green nor of the blue party at the games in the 
Circus, nor a partizan either of the Parmula- 
rius or the Scutarius at the gladiators’ fights; 
from him too I learned endurance of labour, 
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, 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 pas- 
sionately to such things; and to endure free- 
dom of speech; and to have become intimate 
with philosophy; and to have been a hearer, 
first of Bacchius, then of Tandasis and Mar- 
cianus; and to have written dialogues in my 
youth; and to have desired a plank bed and 
skin, and whatever else of the kind belongs to 
the Grecian discipline. 

7. From Rusticus I received the impression 
that my character required improvement and 
discipline; and from him I learned not to be 

*IIis real £itber, Annius Verus. 


led astray to sophistic emulation, nor to writ- 
ing on speculative matters, nor to delivering 
little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself 
off as a man who practises much discipline, or 
does benevolent acts in order to make a dis- 
play; and to abstain from rhetoric, and poetry, 
and fine writing; and not to walk about in 
the house in my outdoor dress, nor to do other 
things of the kind; and to write my letters with 
simplicity, like the letter which Rusticus w’rotc 
from Sinuessa to my mother; and with respect 
to those who have offended me by words, or 
done me wrong, to be easily dis|)osed to be 
pacified and reconciled, as soon as they have 
shown a readiness to be reconciled; and to read 
carefully, and not to be satisfied with a super- 
ficial understanding of a book; nor hastily to 
give my assent to those who talk overmuch; 
and I am indebted to him for being acquainted 
with the discourses of Epictetus, which he 
communicated to me out of his own collection. 

8. From Apollonius I learned freedom of 
will and undeviating steadiness of purpose; 
and to look to nothing else, not even for a mo- 
ment, except to reason; and to be always the 
same, in sharp pains, on the occasion of the loss 
of a child, and in long illness; and to see clearly 
in a living example that the same man can be 
both most resolute and yielding, and not pee- 
vish in giving his instruction; and to have had 
before my eyes a man who clearly considered 
his experience and his skill in expounding 
philosophical principles as the smallest of his 
merits; and from him I learned how to receive 
from friends what are esteemed favours, with- 
out being either humbled by them or letting 
them pass unnoticed. 

9. From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, 
and the example of a family governed in a 


^53 



254 

fatherly manner, and the idea of living con- 
formably to nature; and gravity without affec- 
tation, and to look carefully after the interests 
of friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons, and 
those who form opinions without considera- 
tion: he had the power of readily accommodat- 
ing himself to all, so that intercourse with him 
was more agreeable than any flattery; and at 
the same time he was most highly venerated by 
those who associated with him: and he had the 
faculty both of discovering and ordering, in an 
intelligent and methodical way, the principles 
necessary for life; and he never showed anger 
or any other passion, but was entirely free from 
passion, and also most affectionate; and he 
could express approbation without noisy dis- 
play, and he possessed much knowledge with- 
out ostentation. 

10. From Alexander the grammarian, to 
refrain from fault-finding, and not in a re- 
proachful way to chide those who uttered any 
barbarous or solecistic or strange-sounding ex- 
pression; but dexterously to introduce the very 
expression which ought to have been used, and 
in the way of answer or giving confirmation, or 
joining in an inquiry about the thing itself, not 
about the word, or by some other fit sugges- 
tion. 

11. From Pronto I learned to observe what 
envy, and duplicity, and hypocrisy are* in a 
tyrant, and that generally those among us who 
are called Patricians are rather deficient in pa- 
ternal affection. 

12. From Alexander the Platonic, not fre- 
quently nor without necessity to say to any one, 
or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure; 
nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties 
required by our relation to those with whom 
we live, by alleging urgent occupations. 

13. From Catulus, not to be indifTcrcni when 
a friend finds fault, even if he should find fault 
without reason, but to try to restore him to his 
usual disposition; and to be ready to speak well 
of teachers, as it is reported of Domitius and 
Athenodotus; and to love my children truly. 

14. From my brother Severus, to love my 
kin, and to love truth, and to love justice; and 
through him I learned to know Thrasca, Hcl- 
vidius, Cato, Dion, Brutus; and from him I re- 
ceived the idea of a polity in which there is the 
same law for all, a polity administered with 


9-/6 

regard to equal rights and equal freedom of 
speech, and the idea of a kingly government 
which respects most of all the freedom of the 
governed; I learned from him also consistency 
and imdeviating steadiness in my regard for 
philosophy; and a disposition to do good, and 
to give to others readily, and to cherish good 
hopes, and to believe that I am loved by my 
friends; and in him I observed no concealment 
of his opinions with respect to those whom he 
condemned, and that his friends had no need 
to conjecture what he wished or did not wish, 
but it was quite plain. 

15. From Maximus I learned self-govern- 
ment, and not to be led aside by anything; and 
cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in 
illness; and a just admixture in the moral char- 
acter of sweetness and dignity, and to do what 
was set before me without complaining. I ob- 
served that everybody believed that he thought 
as he spoke, and that in all that he did he never 
had any bad intention; and he never showed 
amazement and surprise, and was never in a 
hurry, and never put off doing a thing, nor was 
perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh 
to disguise his vexation, nor, on the other hand, 
was he ever passionate or suspicious. He was 
accustomed to do acts of beiicficcnce, and was 
ready to forgive, and was free from all false- 
hood; and he presented the appearance of a 
man who could not be diverted from right 
rather than of a man who had been improved. 
I observed, too, that no rivin could ever think 
that he was despised by Maximus, or ever ven- 
ture to think himself a better man. He had also 
the art of being humorous in an agreeable way. 

16. In my father' I observed mildness of 
temper, and unchangeable resolution in the 
things which he had determined after due 
delil^eration; and no vainglory in those things 
which men call honours; and a love of labour 
and perseverance; and a readiness to listen to 
those who had anything to projxjse for the 
common weal; and undeviating firmness in 
giving to every man according to his deserts; 
and a knowledge derived from experience of 
the occasions for vigorous action and for re- 
mission. And I observed that he had overcome 
all passion for boys; and he considered him- 
;;clf no more than any other citizen; and he rc- 

* 1 lis adoptive father, ttic Emperor Antoninus Pius. 


MARCUS AURELIUS 



i&-iy 

leased his friends from all obligation to sup 
with him or to attend him of necessity when 
he went abroad, and those who had failed to 
accompany him, by reason of any urgent cir- 
cumstances, always found him the same. I ob- 
served too his habit of careful inquiry in all 
matters of deliberation, and his persistency, 
and that he never stopped his investigation 
through being satisfied with appearances which 
first present themselves; and that his disposi- 
tion was to keep his friends, and not to be soon 
tired of them, nor yet to be extravagant in his 
affection; and to Ix' satisfied on all occasions, 
and clicerful; and to foresee things a long way 
off, and to provide for the smallest without dis- 
play; and to check immediately popular ap- 
plause and all flattery; and to be ever watchful 
over the things which were necessary for the 
administration of the empire, and to be a good 
manager of the expenditure, and patiently to 
endure the blame which he got for such con- 
duct; and he wa:- neither superstitious with re- 
spect to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts 
or by trying to please them, or by flattering the 
populace; but he showed sobriety in all things 
and firmness, and never any mean thoughts or 
action, nor love of novelty. And the things 
which conduce in any way to the commodity 
of life, and of which fortune gives an abundant 
supply, he used without arrogance and with- 
out excusing himself; so that w'hen he had 
them, he enjoyed them without alTcctation, 
and when he had them not, he ditl not want 
them. No one could ever say of liini that he 
was either a 50 [)hist or a home-bred flippant 
slave or a pedant; but every one acknowledged 
him to be a man ripe, perfect, above flattery, 
able to manage his own and other men'saffairs. 
Besides tins, he hun()ured those who were true 
philosophers, and he did not reproach those 
who pretended to be philosophers, nor yet was 
he easily led by them. He was also easy in con- 
versation, and he made himself agreeable with- 
out any offensive aficciaiion. He took a reason- 
able care of his body’s health, not as one who 
was greatly attached to life, nor out of regard 
to personal appearance, nor yet in a careless 
way, but so that, through his own attention, he 
very seldom stood in need of the physician's 
art or of medicine or external applications. He 
was most ready to give way without envy to 


255 

those who possessed any particular faculty, 
such as that of eloquence or knowledge of the 
law or of morals, or of anything else; and he 
gave them his help, that each might enjoy rep- 
utation according to his deserts; and he always 
acted conformably to the institutions of his 
country, without showing any affectation of 
doing so. Further, he was not fond of change 
nor unsteady, but he loved to stay in the same 
places, and to employ himself about the same 
things; and after his paroxysms of headache he 
came immediately fresh and vigorous to his 
usual occupations. His secrets were not many, 
but very few and very rare, and these only 
about public matters; and he showed prudence 
and economy in the exhibition of the public 
s{>cctacles and the construction of public build- 
ings, his donations to the people, and in such 
things, for hr was a man who looked to what 
ought to be done, not to the reputation which 
is got by a man’s acts. He did not take the 
bath at unseasonable hours; he was not fond of 
building houses, nor curious about what he ate, 
nor alx>ut the texture and colour of his clothes, 
nor about the beauty of his slaves. His dress 
came from Lorium, his villa on the coast, and 
irom Lanuvium generally. We know how' he 
behaved to the toll-collector at Tusculum who 
asked his pardon; and such was all his behav- 
iour. There was in him nothing harsh, nor im- 
placable, nor violent, nor, as one may say, any- 
thing carried lo the sweating point; but he 
examined all things severally, as if he had 
abundance of time, and without confusion, in 
an orderly way, vigorously and consistently. 
And that might be applied to him which is re- 
corded of Socrates, that he was able both to 
abstain from, and to enjoy, those things which 
many are too weak to abstain from, and cannot 
enjoy without excess. But to be strong enough 
lx)th to bear the one and to be sober in the other 
is the mark of a man who has a perfect and in- 
vincible soul, such as he showed in the illness 
of Maximus. 

17. To the gods I am indebted for having 
good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, 
good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen 
and friends, nearly everything good. Further, 
I owe it to the gods that \ tvas not hurried into 
any offence against any of them, though I had 
a disposition which, if opportunity had offered, 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK I 



256 MARCUS AUKEUVS ij 


might have led me to do something of this 
kind; but, through their favour, there never 
was such a concurrence of circumstances as 
put me to the trial. Further, 1 am thankful to 
the gods that I was not longer brought up with 
my grandfather’s concubine, and that I pre* 
served the flower of my youth, and that I did 
not make proof of my virility before the proper 
season, but even deferred the time; that I was 
subjected to a ruler and a father who was able 
to take away all pride from me, and to bring 
me to the knowledge that it is possible for a 
man to live in a palace without wanting either 
guards or embroidered dresses, or torches and 
statues, and such-like show; but that it is in 
such a man’s power to bring himself very near 
to the fashion of a private person, without be- 
ing for this reason either meaner in thought, 
or more remiss in action, with respect to the 
things which must be done for the public inter- 
est in a manner that befits a ruler. I thank 
the gods for giving me such a brother,^ who 
was able by his moral character to rouse me to 
vigilance over myself, and who, at the same 
time, pleased me by his respect and affection; 
that my children have not been stupid nor de- 
formed in body; that I did not make more pro- 
ficiency in rhetoric, poetry, and the other 
studies, in which I should perhaps have been 
completely engaged, if I had seen that i was 
making progress in them;. that I made haste to 
place those who brought me up in the station 
of honour, which they seemed to desire, with- 
out putting them off with hope of my doing it 
some time after, because they were then still 
young; that I knew Apollonius, Rusticus, Max- 


• BOOK 

Begin the morning by saying to thy^self, I shall 
meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, ar- 
rogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these 
things happen to them by reason of their ig- 
norance of what is good and eviL But 1 who 
have seen the nature of the good that it is 
beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the 
nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin 
to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but 
^ Probably his adoptive brother, L. Verut. 


imus; that I received clear and frequent im- 
pressions about living according to nature, and 
what kind of a life that is, so that, so far as de- 
pended on the gods, and their gifts, and help, 
and inspirations, nothing hindered me from 
forthwith living according to nature, though I 
still fall short of it through my own fault, and 
through not observing the admonitions of the 
gods, and, I may almost say, their direct in- 
structions; that my body has held out so long 
in such a kind of life; that I never touched 
either Benedicta or Theodotus, and that, after 
having fallen into amatory passions, I was 
cured; and, though 1 was often out of humour 
with Rusticus, I never did anything of which I 
had occasion to repent; that, though it was my 
mother’s fate to die young, she spent the last 
years of her life with me; that, whenever I 
wished to help any man in his need, or on any 
other occasion, I was never told that I had not 
the means of doing it; and that to myself the 
same necessity never hapj^ened, to receive any- 
thing from another; that I have such a wife, so 
obedient, and so affectionate, and so simple; 
that I had abundance of good masters for my 
children; and that remedies have been shown 
to me by dreams, both others, and against 
bloocispitting and giddineti . . . ; and that, 
when 1 had an inclination to philosophy, I did 
not fall into the hands of any sophist, and that 
I did not waste my time on writers of histories, 
or in the resolution of syllogisms, or occupy 
myself about the investigation of appearances 
in the heavens; for all these things require the 
help of the gods and fortune. 

Among the Quadi at the Granua. 


TWO • 

that it participates in the sam^ intelligence and 
the same portion of the diviiiity, I can neither 
be injured by any of them, ^r no one can fix 
on me what is ugly, nor cait I be angry with 
my kinsman, nor hate him. jpor we are made 
for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eye- 
lids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. 
To act against one another then is contrary to 
nature; and it is acting against one another to 
be vexed and to turn away* 



2-/0 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK II 


2. Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh 
and breath, and the ruling part. Throw away 
thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not 
allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, despise 
the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, 
a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See 
the breath also, what kind of a thing it is, air, 
and not always the same, but every moment 
sent out and again sucked in. The third then 
is the ruling part: consider thus: Thou art an 
old man; no longer let this be a slave, no 
longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to 
unsocial movements, no longer be either dis- 
satisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from 
the future. 

3. All that is from the gods is full of Provi- 
dence. That which is from fortune is not sepa- 
rated from nature or without an interweaving 
and involution with the things which are or- 
dered by Providence. From thence all things 
flow; and there is besides necessity, and that 
which is for the advantage of the whole uni- 
verse, of which thou art a part. But that is good 
for every part of nature which the nature of the 
whole brings, and what serves to maintain this 
nature. Now the universe is preserved, as by 
the changes of the elements so by the changes 
of things compounded of the elements. Let 
these principles be enough for thee, let them 
always be fixed opinions. But cast away the 
thirst after books, that thou mayest not die 
murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and from 
thy heart thankful to the gods. 

4. Rememl^r how long thou hast been put- 
ting off these thingf, and how often thou hast 
received an opportunity from the gods, and 
yet dost not use it. Thou must now at last per- 
ceive of what universe thou art a part, and of 
what administrator of the universe thy exist- 
ence is an efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed 
for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing 
away the clouds from thy mind, it will go and 
thou wilt go, and it will never return. 

5. Every moment think steadily as a Roman 
and a man to do what thou hast in hand with 
perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affec- 
tion, and freedom, and justice; and to give thy- 
self relief from all other thoughts. And thou 
wilt give thyself relief, if thou docst every act 
of thy life as if it were the last, laying aside all 
carelessness and passionate aversion from the 


commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and 
self-love, and discontent with the portion which 
has been given to thee. Thou seest how few the 
things are, the which if a man lays hold of, he 
is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is 
like the existence of the gods; for the gods on 
their part will require nothing more from him 
who observes these things. 

6. Do wrong to thyself, do wrong to thyself, 
my soul; but thou wilt no longer have the op- 
portunity of honouring thyself. Every man’s 
life is sufficient. But thine is nearly finished, 
though thy soul reverences not itself, but places 
thy felicity in the souls of others. 

7. Do the things external which fall upon 
thee distract thee.^ Give thyself time to learn 
something new and good, and cease to be 
whirled around. But then thou must also avoid 
being carried about the other way. For those 
too arc triflers who have wearied themselves in 
life by their activity, and yet have no object to 
which to direct every movement, and, in a 
word, all their thoughts. 

8. Through not observing what is in the 
mind of another a man has seldom been seen 
to be unhappy; but those who do not observe 
the movements of their own minds must of 
necessity be unhappy. 

9. This thou must always bear in mind, what 
is the nature of the whole, and what is my na- 
ture, and how this is related to that, and what 
kind of a part it is of what kind of a whole; 
and that there is no one who hinders thee from 
always doing and saying the things which are 
according to the nature of which thou art a 
part. 

10. Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad 
acts — such a comparison as one would make in 
accordance with the common notions of man- 
kind — says, like a true philosopher, that the 
offences which arc committed through desire 
are more blameable than those which are com- 
mitted through anger. For he who is excited 
by anger seems to turn away from reason with 
a certain pain and unconscious contraction; but 
he who offends through desire, being overpow- 
ered by pleasure, seems to be in a manner more 
intemperate and more^omanish in his of- 
fences. Rightly then, afld in a way worthy of 
philosophy, he said that the offence which is 
committed with pleasure is more blameable 



asS 

than that which is committed with pain; and 
on the whole the one is more like a person who 
has been first wronged and through pain is 
compelled to be angry; but the other is moved 
by his own impulse to do wrong, being carried 
towards doing something by desire. 

11. Since it is possible that thou mayest de- 
part from life this very moment, regulate every 
act and thought accordingly. But to go away 
from among men, if there are gods, is not a 
thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not in- 
volve thee in evil; but if indeed they do not 
exist, or if they have no concern about human 
affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe de- 
void of gods or devoid of Providence? But in 
truth they do exist, and they do care for human 
things, and they have put all the means in 
man’s power to enable him not to fall into real 
evils. And as to the rest, if there was anything 
evil, they would have provided for this also, 
that it should be altogether in a man’s power 
not to fall into it. Now that which does not 
make a man worse, how can it make a man’s 
life worse? But neither through ignorance, nor 
having the knowledge, but not the power to 
guard against or correct these things, is it pos- 
sible that the nature of the universe has os'er- 
lookcd them; nor is it possible that it has made 
so great a mistake, cither through want of pow- 
er or want of skill, that good and evil should 
happen indiscriminately to the good and the 
bad. But death certainly, and life, honour and 
dishonour, pain and pleasure, all these things 
equally happen to good men and bad, being 
things which make us neither better nor worse. 
Therefore they arc neither good nor evil. 

12. How quickly all things disappear, in the 
universe the bodies themselves, but in time the 
remembrance of them; what is the nature of 
all sensible things, and particularly thoscwhich 
attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by 
pain, or are noised abroad by vapoury fame; 
how worthless, and contemptible, and sordid, 
and perishable, and dead they arc — all this it 
is the part of the intellectual faculty to observe. 
To observe too who these are whose opinions 
and voices give reputation; what death is, and 
the fact that, if a man looks at it in itself, and 
by the abstractive power of reflection resolves 
into their parts all the things which present 
themselves to the imagination in it, he will 


10-14. 

then consider it to be nothing else than an oper- 
ation of nature; and if any one is afraid of an 
operation of nature, he is a child. This, how- 
ever, is not only an operation of nature, but it 
is also a thing which conduces to the purposes 
of nature. To observe too how man comes near 
to the deity, and by what part of him, and 
when this part of man is so disposed. 

13. Nothing is more wretched than a man 
who traverses everything in a round, and pries 
into the things beneath the earth, as the poet ^ 
says, and seeks by conjecture what is in the 
minds of his neighbours, without perceiving 
that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon 
within him, and to reverence it sincerely. And 
reverence of the daemon consists in keeping it 
pure from passion and thoughtlessness, and 
dissatisfaction with what comes from gods and 
men. For the things from the gods merit vener- 
ation for their excellence; and the things from 
men should be dear to us by reason of kinship; 
and sometimes even, in a manner, they jnovc 
our pity by reason of men’s ignorance of good 
and bad; this defect being not less than that 
which deprives us of the power of distinguish- 
ing things that are white and black. 

14. Though thou shouldst be going to live 
three thousand years, and'^s many limes ten 
thousand years, still remember that no man 
loses any other life than this which he now 
lives, nor lives any other than this which he 
now loses. The longest and shortest are thus 
brought to the same. For the present is the 
same to all, though that which perishes is not 
the same; and so that which is lost appears to 
be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose 
cither the past or the future: for what a man 
has not, how can any one take this from him? 
These two things then thou must bear in mind; 
the one, that all things from eternity arc of 
like forms and come round it) a circle, and that 
it makes no difference whether a man shall sec 
the same things during a hundred years or 
two hundred, or an infinite time; and the 
second, that the longest liver and he who will 
die soonest lose just the same. For the present 
is the only thing of which a man can be de- 
prived, if it is true that this is the only thing 
which he has, and that a man cannot lose a 
thing if he has it not. 

^Cf. Plato, Thtxteiut, 


MARCUS AUREUUS 



1^2 

15. Remember that all is opinion. For what 
was said by the Cynic Monimus is manifest: 
and manifest too is the use of what was said, if 
a man receives what may be got out of it as 
far as it is true. 

16. The soul of man docs violence to itself, 
first of all, when it becomes an abscess and, as 
it were, a tumour on the universe, so far as it 
can. For to be vexed at anything which hap- 
pens is a separation of ourselves from nature, 
in some part of which the natures of all other 
things arc contained. In the next place, the soul 
docs violence to itself when it turns away from 
any man, or even moves towards him with the 
intention of injuring, such as arc the souls of 
those who are angry. In the third place, the 
soul docs violence to itself when it is overpow- 
ered by pleasure or by pain. Fourthly, when 
it plays a part, and does or says anything insin- 
cerely and untruly. Fifthly, when it allows any 
act of its own and any movement to be without 
an aim, and docs anything thoughtlessly and 
without considering what it is, it being right 
that even the smallest things be done with ref- 
erence to an end; and the end of rational ani- 
mals is to follow the reason and the law of the 
most ancient city and polity. 

17. Of human lil * the time is a point, and 
the substance is in a flux, and the perception 


259 

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 judgement. 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 vapour, and life is a warfare and a stran- 
ger’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 con- 
tinually changing into another, why should a 
man have any apprehension about the change 
and dissolution ot all the elements? For it is ac- 
cording to nature, and nothing is evil which is 
according to nature. 

This in Carnuntum. 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK III 


: 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 comprehen- 
sion of things, and retain the power of contem- 
plation which strives to acquire the knowledge 
of the divine and the human. For if he shall be- 
gin to fall into dotage, perspiration and nutri- 
tion and imagination and appetite, and what- 
ever 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 clear- 
ly separating all appearances, and considering 
whether a man should now depart from life, 
and whatever else of the kind absolutely re- 


quires 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 arc 
produced according to nature contain some- 
thing pleasing and attractive. For instance, 
when bread is baked some parts arc split at the 
surface, and these parts wffiich thus open, and 
have a certain fashion contrary to the purpose 
of the baker’s art, arc 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 circum- 
stance of their being near to rottenness adds a 



26 o 

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 uni- 
verse, 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 sec even the real gap- 
ing 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 fore- 
told 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. Her- 
aclitus, after so many speculations on the con- 
flagration 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 sed^ation, thou 
wilt cease to be held by patfls 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 re- 
fer thy thoughts to some object of common util- 
ity. For thou loscst the opportunity of doing 


a-4 

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 use- 
less, 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 tliou 
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 min- 
ister of the gods, using too the deity which is 
planted within him, which makes the man un- 
contaminated by pleasure, unharmed by any 
pain, untouched by any^nsult, 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 with- 
out great necessity and for the general interest, 
imagining what another says, or docs, or thinks. 
For it is only what belongs to himself that he 
makes the matter for his activity; and he con- 
stantly thinks of that which is allotted to him- 
self out of the sum total of things, and he 
makes his own acts fair, and he is persuaded 
that his own portion is goodl For the lot which 
is assigned to each man is carried along with 
him and carries him along ^vith it. And he re- 
members also that every rational animal is his 
kinsman, and that to care for all men is accord- 
ing 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 arc both at home and 
from home, both by night and by day, and what 


MARCUS AUREUUS 



^10 MEDITATIONS, BOOK III 261 


they are, and with what men they live an im- 
pure life. Accordingly, he does not value at all 
the praise which comes from such men, since 
they are not even satisfied with themselves. 

5. Labour not unwillingly, nor without re- 
gard 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 be- 
ing, 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 hndest 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 care- 
fully examines all the impressions, and, as Soc- 
rates said, has detached itself from the persua- 
sions of sense, and has submitted itself to the 
gods, and cares for mankind; if thou findcst 
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 prac- 
tically 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 main- 
tain thy judgement without arrogance: only 
take care that thou makest the inquiry by a 
sure method. 

7. Never value anything as profitable to thy- 
self which shall compel thee to break thy prom- 
ise, 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 else his own 
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 im- 
mediately, 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. 

8. 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 loo closely bound to other things, nor yet 
detached from other things, nothing worthy of 
blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place. 

9. Reverence the faculty which produces opin- 
ion. On this faculty it entirely depends whether 
there shall exist in thy ruling part any opin- 
ion inconsistent with nature and the consti- 
tution of the rational animal. And this faculty 
promises freedom from hasty judgement, and 
friendship towards men, and obedience to the 
gods. 

10. Throwing away then all things, hold to 
these only which are fewj;;md 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 uncer- 



262 MARCUS AUREUUS 10-16 


tain. 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 suc- 
cession of poor human beings, who will very 
soon die, and who know not even themselves, 
much less him who died long ago. 

11. 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 sec distinctly what 
kind of a thing it is in its substance, in its nu- 
dity, 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 produc- 
tive of elevation of mind as to be able to exam- 
ine 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 arc 
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, manli- 
ness, 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 spin- 
ning of the thread of destiny, and such-like co- 
incidence and chance; and this is from one of 
the same stock, and a kinsman and partner, 
one w'ho knows not however what is according 
to his nature. But 1 know; for this reason 
I behave towards him according to the nat- 
ural law of fellowship with benevolence and 
justice. At the same time however in things 
indifferent I attempt to ascertain the value 
of each. 

12. If thou workest at that which is before 
thee, following right reason seriously, vigor- 
ously, 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 boldest to this, ex- 
pecting 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. 

13. As physicians have always their instru- 
ments and knives ready for cases which sud- 
denly require their skill, so do thou have prin- 
ciples ready for the understanding of things 
divine and human, and for doing everything, 
even the smallest, with a recollection of the 
bond w'hich 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. 

14. 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 throw- 
ing away idle hopes, come to thy own aid, if 
thou carcst at all for thyself, wdiilc it is in thy 
pow'er. 

15. They know not how many things are sig- 
nified by the words stealing, sowing, buying, 
keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; 
for this is not effected by 4J1C eyes, but by an- 
other kind of vision. 

16. Body, soul, intelligence: to the body be- 
long sensations, to the soul apjx:tilcs, to the in- 
telligence principles. To receive the impres- 
sions of forms by means of appearances be- 
longs 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 he 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, follow- 
ing it obediently as a god, neither saying any- 
thing contrary to the truth, nor doing any- 



/-J 

thing 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 docs he deviate from the way which 


263 

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. 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK IV 


BOOK FOUR 


That which rules within, when it is according 
to nature, is so affected with respect to the 
events which happen, that it always easily 
adapts itself to that which is possible and is 
presented to it. For it requires no definite ma- 
terial, but it moves towards its purpose, under 
certain conditions however; and it makes a 
material for itself out of that which opposes it, 
as fire lays hold of what falls into it, by which 
a small light would have been extinguished: 
but when the fire is strong, it soon appropri- 
ates to itself the matter which is heaped on it, 
and consumes it, and rises higher by means of 
this very material. 

2. Let no act be done without a purpose, nor 
otherwise than according to the perfect prin- 
ciples of art. 

3. Men seek retreats for themselves, houses 
in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and 
thou too art wont to desire such things very 
much. But this is altogether a mark of the 
most common sort of men, for it is in thy 
power whenever thou shalt choose to retire 
into thyself. For nowhere cither with more 
quiet or more freedom from trouble does a 
man retire than into his own soul, particularly 
when he has within him such thoughts that 
by looking into them he is immediately in per- 
fect tranquillity; and 1 affirm that tranquillity 
is nothing else than the good ordering of the 
mind. Constantly then give to thyself this re- 
treat, and renew thyself; and let thy principles 
be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as 
thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to 
cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee 
back free from all discontent with the things 
to which thou returncst. For with what art 
thou discontented? With the badness of men? 
Recall to thy mind this conclusion, that ra- 
tional animals exist for one another, and that 
to endure is a part of justice, and that men do 
wrong involuntarily; and consider how many 


already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, 
hatred, and fighting, have been stretched dead, 
reduced to ashes; and be quiet at last. — But 
perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that which 
is assigned to thee out of the universe. — Recall 
to thy recollection this alternative; cither there 
is providence or atoms, fortuitous concurrence 
of things; or remember the arguments by 
which it has been proved that the world is a 
kind of political community, and be quiet at 
last. — But perhaps corporeal things will still 
fasten upon thee. — Consider then further that 
the mind mingles not with the breath, whether 
moving gently or violently, when it has once 
drawn itself apart and discovered its own 
power, and think also of all that thou hast 
heard and assented to about pain and pleasure, 
and be quiet at last. — But perhaps the desire 
of the thing called fame will torment thee. — 
Sec how soon everything is forgotten, and 
look at the chaos of infinite time on each side 
of the present, and the emptiness of applause, 
and the changeablcncss and want of judge- 
ment in those w^ho pretend to give praise, and 
the narrowness of the space within which it is 
circumscribed, and be quiet at last. For the 
whole earth is a point, and how small a nook 
in it is this thy dwelling, and how few are 
there in it, and w^hat kind of people arc they 
who will praise thee. 

This then remains: Remember to retire into 
this little territory of thy own, and above all 
do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, 
and look at things as a man, as a human being, 
as a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things 
readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, 
let there be these, which arc two. One is that 
things do not touch the soul, for they are ex- 
ternal and remain immov^lc; but our pertur- 
bations come only from the opinion which is 
within. The other is that all these things, 
which thou seest, change immediately and will 



2fi4 MARCUS AUREUUS 3^18 


no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how 
many of these changes thou hast already wit- 
nessed. The universe is transformation: life is 
opinion. 

4. If our intellectual part is common, the 
reason also, in respect of which we are rational 
beings, is common: if this is so, common also 
is the reason which commands us what to do, 
and what not to do; if this is so, there is a 
common law also; if this is so, we are fellow- 
citizens; if this is so, we arc members of some 
political community; if this is so, the world is 
in a manner a state. For of what other com- 
mon political community will any one say that 
the whole human race are members? And 
from thence, from this common political com- 
munity comes also our very intellectual faculty 
and reasoning faculty and our capacity for 
law; or whence do they come? For as my 
earthly part is a portion given to me from cer- 
tain earth, and that which is watery from an- 
other element, and that which is hot and Eery 
from some peculiar source (for nothing comes 
out of that which is nothing, as nothing also 
returns to non-existence), so also the intellec- 
tual part comes from some source. 

5 . Death is such as generation is, a mystery 
of nature; a composition out of the same ele- 
ments, and a decomposition into the same; and 
altogether not a thing of which any' man 
should be ashamed, for it is not contrary to the 
nature of a reasonable animal, and not con- 
trary to the reason of our constitution. 

6. It is natural that these things should be 
done by such persons, it is a matter of neces- 
sity; and if a man will not have it so, he will 
not allow the fig-tree to have juice. But by 
all means bear this in mind, that within a 
very short time both thou and he will be dead; 
and soon not even your names will be left 
behind. 

7. Take away thy opinion, and then there is 
taken away the complaint, “I have been 
harmed.” Take away the complaint, ”I have 
been harmed,” and the harm is taken away. 

8. That which does not make a man worse 
than he was, abo does not make his life worse, 
nor does it harm him cither from without or 
from within. 

9. The nature of that which is universally 
useful has been compelled to do this. 


10. Consider that everything which hap- 
pens, happens jusdy, and if thou observest 
carefully, thou wilt find it to be so. I do not 
say only with respect to the continuity of the 
series of things, but with respect to what is 
just, and as if it were done by one who as- 
signs to each thing its value. Observe then as 
thou hast begun; and whatever thou doest, do 
it in conjunction with this, the being good, and 
in the sense in which a man is properly under- 
stood to be good. Keep to this in every action. 

11. Do not have such an opinion of things as 
he has who does thee wrong, or such as he 
wishes thee to have, but look at them as they 
are in truth. 

12. A man should always have these two 
rules in readiness; the one, to do o?ily what- 
ever the reason of the ruling and legislating 
faculty may suggest for the use of men; the 
other, to change thy opinion, if there is any 
one at hand w^ho sets thee right and moves 
thee from any opinion. But this change of 
opinion must proceed only from a certain per- 
suasion, as of what is just or of common ad- 
vantage, and the like, not because it appears 
pleasant or brings reputation. 

13. Hast thou reason? I have. — ^Why then 
dost not thou use it? Fortf this docs its own 
work, what else dost thou wish? 

14. Thou hast existed as a part. Thou shall 
disappear in that which produced thee; but 
rather thou shall lie received back into its 
seminal principle by tranranumtion. 

15. Many grains of frankincense on the same 
altar: one falls before, another falls after; but 
it makes no difTerence. 

16. Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to 
those to whom thou art now a beast and an 
ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and 
the worship of reason. 

17. Do not act as if thou Wert going to live 

ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. 
While thou livest, while it Us in thy power, 
be good. t 

18. How much trouble h^ avoids who does 
not look to see what his neighbour says or does 
or thinks, but only to what he does himself, 
that it may be just and pure; or as Agathon 
says, look not round at the depraved morals of 
others, but run straight along the line without 
deviating from it. 



79-26 MEDITATIONS, BOOK IV 265 

19. He who has a vehement desire for post- thcless this earth receives them hy reason of 


humous fame does not consider that every one 
of those who remember him will himself also 
die very soon; then again also they who have 
succeeded them, until the whole remembrance 
shall have been extinguished as it is transmit- 
ted through men who foolishly admire and 
perish. But suppose that those who will re- 
member are even immortal, and that the re- 
membrance will be immortal, what then is this 
to thee? And I say not what is it to the dead, 
but what is it to the living? What is praise ex- 
cept indeed so far as it has a certain utility? 
For thou now rejectest unseasonably the gift 
of nature, clinging to something else . . . 

20. Everything which is in any way beauti- 
ful is beautiful in itself, and terminates in it- 
self, not having praise as part of itself. Neither 
worse then nor better is a thing made by being 
praised. I aflirm this also of the things which 
are called beautiful bv the vulgar, for example, 
material things and works of art. That which 
is really beautiful has no need of anything; 
not more than law, not more than truth, not 
more than benevolence or modesty. Which of 
these things is beautiful because it is praised, 
or spoiled by being blamed? Is such a thing as 
an emerald made worse than it was, if it is not 
praised? Or gold, ivory, purple, a lyre, a little 
knife, a flower, a shrub? 

21. If souls continue to exist, how does the 
air contain them from eternity? — But how 
docs the earth contain the bodies of those who 
have been buried from time so remote? For as 
here the mutation of these bodies after a cer- 
tain continuance, whatever it may be, and their 
dissolution make room for other dead bodies; 
so the souls which are removed into the air 
after subsisting for some time are transmuted 
and diffused, and assume a fiery nature by be- 
ing received into the seminal intelligence of 
the universe, and in this way make room for 
the fresh souls which come to dwell there. And 
this is the answer which a man might give on 
the hypothesis of souls continuing to exist. 
But we must not only think of the number of 
bodies which are thus buried, but also of the 
number of animals which are daily eaten by us 
and the other animals. For what a number is 
consumed, and thus in a manner buried in the 
bodies of those who feed on them! And never- 


the changes of these bodies into blood, and the 
transformations into the aerial or the fiery ele- 
ment. 

What is the investigation into the truth in 
this matter? The division into that which is 
material and that which is the cause of form, 
the formal. 

22. Do not be whirled about, but in every 
movement have respect to justice, and on the 
occasion of every impression maintain the fac- 
ulty of comprehension or understanding. 

23. Everything harmonizes with me, which 
is harmonious to thee, O Universe. Nothing 
for me is too early nor too late, which is in due 
time for thee. Everything is fruit to me which 
thy seasons bring, O Nature: from thee arc all 
things, in thee are all things, to thee all things 
return. The poet says, Dear city of Cecrops; 
and wilt not thou say. Dear city of Zeus? 

24. Occupy thyself with few things, says the 
philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil. — But 
consider if it would not be better to say, Do 
what is necessary, and whatever the reason of 
the animal which is naturally social requires, 
and as it requires. For this brings not only the 
tranquillity which comes from doing well, but 
also that which comes from doing few things. 
For the greatest part of what we say and do 
being unnecessary, if a man takes this away, 
he will have more leisure and less uneasiness. 
Accordingly on every occasion a man should 
ask himself, Is this one of the unnecessary 
things? Now a man should take away not only 
unnecessary acts, but also, unnecessary 
thoughts, for thus superfluous acts will not 
follow after. 

25. Try how the life of the good man suits 
thee, the life of him who is satisfied with his 
portion out of the whole, and satisfied with 
his own just acts and benevolent disposition. 

26. Hast thou seen those things? Look also 
at these. Do not disturb thyself. Make thyself 
all simplicity. Does any one do wrong? It is to 
himself that he does the wrong. Has anything 
happened to thee? Well; out of the universe 
from the beginning everything which happens 
has been apportioned anc^un out to thee. In 
a word, thy life is short. Thou must turn to 
profit the present by the aid of reason and 
justice. Be sober in thy relaxation. 



266 MARCUS 

27. Either it is a well-arranged universe or 
a chaos huddled together, but still a universe. 
But can a certain order subsist in thee, and 
disorder in the All? And this too when all 
things are so separated and diffused and sym- 
pathetic. 

28. A black character, a womanish char- 
acter, a stubborn character, bestial, childish, 
animal, stupid, counterfeit, scurrilous, fraudu- 
lent, tyrannical. 

29. If he is a stranger to the universe who 
does not know what is in it, no less is he a 
stranger who does not know what is going on 
in it. He is a runaway, who flies from social 
reason; he is blind, who shuts the eyes of the 
understanding; he is poor, who has need of 
another, and has not from himself all things 
which are useful for life. He is an abscess on 
the universe who withdraws and separates 
himself from the reason of our common nature 
through being displeased with the things 
which happen, for the same nature produces 
this, and has produced thee too: he is a piece 
rent asunder from the state, who tears his own 
soul from that of reasonable animals, which is 
one. 

30. The one is a philosopher without a tunic, 
and the other without a book: here is another 
half naked: Bread I have not, he says, and I 
abide by reason. — And I do not get the hicans 
of living out of my learning, and 1 abide by my 
reason. 

31. Love the art, poor as it may be, which 
thou hast learned, and be content with it; and 
pass through the rest of life like one who has 
intrusted to the gods with his whole soul all 
that he has, making thyself neither the tyrant 
nor the slave of any man. 

32. Consider, for example, the times of Ves- 
pasian. Thou wilt see all these things, pxrople 
marrying, bringing up children, sick, dying, 
warring, feasting, trafficking, cultivating the 
ground, flattering, obstinately arrogant, sus- 
pecting, plotting, wishing for some to die, 
grumbling about the present, loving, heaping 
up treasure, desiring counsulship, kingly pow- 
er. Well then, that life of these people no 
longer exists at all. Again, remove to the times 
of Trajan. Again, all is the same. Their life 
too is gone. In like manner view also the other 
epochs of time and of whole nations, and see 


AURELIUS 27-37 

how many after great efforts soon fell and 
were resolved into the elements. But chiefly 
thou shouldst think of those whom thou hast 
thyself known distracting themselves about 
idle things, neglecting to do what was in ac- 
cordance with their proper constitution, and 
to hold firmly to this and to be content with it. 
And herein it is necessary to remember that 
the attention given to everything has its proper 
value and proportion. For thus thou wilt not 
be dissatisfied, if thou appliest thyself to small- 
er matters no further than is fit. 

33. The words which were formerly familiar 
are now antiquated: so also the names of those 
who were famed of old, are now in a manner 
antiquated, Camillus, Caeso, Volcsus, l^on- 
natus, and a little after also Scipio and Cato, 
then Augustus, then also Hadrian and An- 
toninus. For all things soon pass away ami be- 
come a mere tale, and complete oblivion soon 
buries them. And I say this of those who have 
shone in a wondrous w'ay. For the rest, as 
soon as they have breathed out their breath, 
they are gone, and no man speaks of them. 
And, to conclude the matter, what is even an 
eternal remembrance? A mere nothing. What 
then is that about which we ought to employ 
our serious pains? This one thing, thoughts 
Just, and acts social, and words which never 
lie, and a disposition which gladly accepts 
all that happens, as necessary, as usual, as flow- 
ing from a principle and source of the same 
kind. 

34. Willingly give thyself up to Clotho, one 
of the I'ales, allowing her to spin thy thread 
into whatever things she pleases. 

35. Everything is only for a day, both that 
which remembers and that which is remem- 
bered. 

36. Observe constantly that all things take 
place by change, and accustom thyself to con- 
sider that the nature of the Universe loves 
nothing so much as to change the things which 
are and to make new things like them. For 
everything that exists is in a manner the seed 
of that which will be. But thou art thinking 
only of seeds which are cast into the earth or 
into a womb: but this is a very vulgar notion. 

37. Thou wilt soon die, and thou art not yet 
simple, not free from i^rturbalions, nor with- 
out suspicion of being hurt by external things, 



37-4S 

nor kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou 
yet place wisdom only in acting justly. 

38. Examine men’s ruling principles, even 
those of the wise, what kind of things they 
avoid, and what kind they pursue. 

39. What is evil to thee does not subsist in 
the ruling principle of another; nor yet in any 
turning and mutation of thy corporeal cover- 
ing. Where is it then? It is in that part of thee 
in which subsists the power of forming opin- 
ions about evils. Let this power then not form 
such opinions, and all is well. And if that 
which is nearest to it, the poor body, is cut, 
burnt, filled wdth matter and rottenness, never- 
theless let the part which forms opinions about 
these things be quiet, that is, let it judge that 
nothing is either bad or good which can hap- 
pen equally to the bad man and the good. For 
that which hap|xns equally to him who lives 
contrary to nature and to him who lives ac- 
cording to nature- is neither according to 
nature nor contrary to nature. 

40. Constantly regard the universe as one liv- 
ing being, having one substance and one soul; 
and observe how all things have reference to 
one perception, the perception of this one liv- 
ing being; and how all things act with one 
movement; and how all things arc the co- 
operating causes of all things which exist; ob- 
serve loo the continuous spinning of the thread 
and the contexture of the web. 

41. Thou art a little soul bearing about a 
corpse, as Epictetus used to say. 

42. It is no evil for things to undergo change, 
and no good for thi4)gs to subsist in conse- 
quence of change. 

43. Time is like a river made up of the 
events which happen, and a violent stream; for 
as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried 
away, and another comes in its place, and this 
will be carried away too. 

44. Everything which happens is as familiar 
and well known as the rose in spring and the 
fruit in summer; for such is disease, and death, 
and calumny, and treachery, and whatever else 
delights fools or vexes them. 

45. In the scries of things those which follow 
arc always aptly fitted to those which have 
gone before; for this series is not like a mere 
enumeration of disjointed things, which has 
only a necessary sequence, but it is a rational 


267 

connection: and as all existing things arc ar- 
ranged together harmoniously, so the things 
which come into existence exhibit no mere suc- 
cession, but a certain wonderful relationship. 

46. Always remember the saying of Heracli- 
tus, that the death of earth is to become water, 
and the death of water is to become air, and 
the death of air is to become fire, and re- 
versely. And think too of him who forgets 
whither the way leads, and that men quarrel 
with that with which they are most constantly 
in communion, the reason which governs the 
universe; and the things which they daily meet 
with seem to them strange: and consider that 
we ought not to act and speak as if we were 
asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and 
speak; and that we ought not, like children 
who learn from their parents, simply to act 
and speak as we have been taught. 

47. If any god told thee that thou shalt die 
to-morrow, or certainly on the day after to- 
morrow, thou would st not care much whether 
it was on the third day or on the morrow, un- 
less thou wast in the highest degree mean- 
spirited — for how small is the difference? — so 
think it no great thing to die after as many 
years as thou canst name rather than to-mor- 
row. 

48. Think continually how many physicians 
are dead after often contracting their eyebrows 
over the sick; and how many astrologers after 
predicting with great pretensions the deaths 
of others; and how many philosophers after 
endless discourses on death or immortality; 
how many heroes after killing thousands; and 
how many tyrants who have used their power 
over men's lives with terrible insolence as if 
they were immortal; and how many cities are 
entirely dead, so to speak, Helicc and Pompeii 
and Herculaneum, and others innumerable. 
Add to the reckoning all whom thou hast 
known, one after another. One man after 
burying another has been laid out dead, and 
another buries him: and all this in a short 
time. To conclude, always obser\'e how ephem- 
eral and worthless human things are, and 
what was yesterday a little mucus to-morrow 
will be a mummy or ashej^ass then through 
this little space of time conformably to nature, 
and end thy journey in content, just as an 
olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature 


MEDITATIONS. BOOK IV 



a68 MARCUS AURELIUS 48-51 


who produced it» and thanking the tree on 
which it grew. 

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 misfor- 
tune, 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 w'ill of nature. Will then 
this which has happened prevent thee from be- 
ing just, magnanimous, temperate, prudent, 
secure against inconsiderate opinions and false- 
hood; will it prevent thee from having mod- 
esty, 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 prin- 


BOOK 

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 dis- 
satisfied if I am going to do the things for 
which 1 exist and for which I was brought 
into the world? Or have 1 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 
litde 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: 


ciple: not that thi.i is a misfortune, but that 
to bear it nobly is good fortune. 

50. It is a vulgar, but still a useful help to- 
wards 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 gen- 
erations? 

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. 


FIVE 

she has fixed bounds both to eating and drink- 
ing, 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 ex- 
haust themselves in working at them un- 
washed and without food; 'but thou valuest 
thy own nature less than thci turner values the 
turning art, or the dancer the dancing art, or 
the lover of money values his money, or the 
vainglorious 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 perfert the things which they care for. 
But are the acts which concern society more 
vile in tliy eyes and less worthy of thy labour? 



2-8 MEDITATIONS, BOOK V 269 

2. How easy it is to repel and to wipe away another, is ready to set it down to his account 


every impression which is troublesome or un- 
suitable, and immediately to be in all tran- 
quillity. 

3. Judge every word and deed which arc ac- 
cording 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 un- 
worthy 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. 1 go through the tilings which happen ac- 
cording 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 for them by nature. Show 
those qualities then which are altogether in 
thy power, sincerity, gravity, endurance of 
labour, aversion to pleasure, contentment with 
thy portion and with few things, benevolence, 
frankness, no love of superfluity, freedom from 
trifling magnanimity. Dost thou not sec how 
many qualities thou art immediately able to 
exhibit, in which there is no excuse of natural 
incapacity and unfitness, and yet thou still re- 
mainest voluntarily below the mark? Or art 
thou compelled through being defectively fur- 
nished 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 neglect- 
ing it nor yet taking pleasure in thy dulness. 

6. One man, when he has done a service to 


as a favour 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 tracked 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 man- 
ner, and indeed to wish that his social partner 
also should perceive it. — It is true what 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 
horsc-cxcrcisc, or bathing in cold water or go- 
ing 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 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 t^gs arc 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 



270 MARCUS AURELIUS 8-ii 


kind of connexion. For there is altogether one 
fitness, harmony. And as the universe is made 
up out of all bodies to be such a body as it is, so 
out of all existing causes necessity (destiny) is 
made up to be such a cause as it is. And even 
those who are completely ignorant understand 
what I mean, for they say, It (necessity, des- 
tiny) brought this to such a person. — This 
then was brought and this was precribed to 
him. Let us then receive these things, as well 
as those which Aesculapius prescribes. Many 
as a matter of course even among his prescrip- 
tions are disagreeable, but wo accept them in 
the hope of health. Let the perfecting and ac- 
complishment of the things, which the com- 
mon nature judges to be good, be judged by 
thee to be of the same kind as thy health. And 
so accept everything which happens, even if it 
seem disagreeable, because it leads to this, to 
the health of the universe and to the prosperity 
and felicity of Zeus (the universe). For he 
would not have brought on any man what he 
has brought, if it were not useful for the whole. 
Neither does the nature of anything, whatever 
it may be, cause anything which is not suitable 
to that which is directed by it. For two reasons 
then it is right to be content with that which 
happens to thee; the one, because it was done 
for thee and prescribed for thee, and in a man- 
ner had reference to thee, originally from the 
most ancient causes spun with thy destiny; 
and the other, because even that which comes 
severally to every man is to the {X)wer which 
administers the universe a cause of felicity and 
perfection, nay even of its very continuance. 
For the integrity of the whole is mutilated, if 
thou cuttest off anything whatever from the 
conjunction and the continuity cither of the 
parts or of the causes. And thou dost cut off, 
as far as it is in thy power, when thou art dis- 
satisfied, and in a manner triest to put any- 
thing out of the way. 

9. He not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor 
dissatisfied, if thou dost not succeed in doing 
everything according to right principles; but 
when thou hast failed, return back again, and 
be content if the greater part of what thou do- 
est is consistent with man’s nature, and love 
this to which thou rcturnest; and do not return 
to philosophy as if she were a master, but act 
like those who have sore eyes and apply a bit 


of sponge and egg, or as another applies a 
plaster, or drenching with water. For thus 
thou wilt not fail to obey reason, and thou wilt 
repose in it. And remember that philosophy 
requires only the things which thy nature re- 
quires; but thou wouldst have something else 
which is not according to nature. — It may be 
objected, Why what is more agreeable than 
this which I am doing? — But is not this the 
very reason why pleasure deceives us? And 
consider if magnanimity, freedom, simplicity, 
equanimity, piety, are not more agreeable. 
For what is more agreeable than w'isdorn itself, 
when thou thinkest of the security and the 
happy course of all things which dejXMid on 
the faculty of understanding and knowledge? 

10. Things are in such a kind of envelop- 
ment that they have seemed to philosophers, 
not a few nor those common philosophers, al- 
together unintelligible; nay even to the Stoics 
themselves they seem dilllcult to understand. 
And all our assent is changeable; for where is 
the man who never changes? Carry thy 
thoughts then to the objects themselves, and 
consider how short-lived they are and worth- 
less, and that they may be in the possession of 
a filthy wretch or a whore or a robber. Then 
turn to the morals of thos?“who live with thee, 
and it is hardly possible to endure even the 
most agreeable of them, to say nothing of a 
man being hardly able to endure himself. In 
such darkness then and dirt and in so constant 
a flux both of substance and of time, and of 
motion and of things moved, what there is 
worth being highly prized or even an object of 
serious pursuit, I cannot imagine. But on the 
contrary it is a man’s duty to comfort himself, 
and to wait for the natural dissolution and not 
to be vexed at the delay, but to rest in these 
principles only: the one, that nothing will hap- 
pen to me which is not conformable to the 
nature of the universe; and the other, that it is 
in my power never to act contrary to my god 
and daemon: for there is fio man who will 
com})el me to this. 

11. About what am I now employing my 
own soul? On every occasion I must ask my- 
self this question, and inquire, what have I 
now in this part of me which they call the rul- 
ing principle? And whose soul have I now? 
That of a child, or of a young man, or of a 



//-/S 

feeble woman, or of a tyrant, or of a domestic 
animal, or of a wild beast? 

12. What kind of things those are which ap- 
pear good to the many, we may learn even 
from this. For if any man should conceive cer- 
tain things as being really good, such as pru- 
dence, temperance, justice, fortitude, he would 
not after having first conceived these endure to 
listen to anything which should not be in har- 
mony with what is really good. But if a man 
has first conceived as good the things which 
appear to the many to be good, he will listen 
and readily receive as very applicable that 
which was said by the comic writer. Thus 
even the many perceive the difference. For 
were it not so, this saying would not offend 
and would not be rejected in the first case, 
while we receive it when it is said of wealth, 
and of the means which further luxury and 
fame, as said fitly and wittily. Go on then and 
ask if we should * '»hic and think those things 
to be good, to which after their first concep- 
tion in the mind the words of the comic writer 
might he aptly applied — that he who has them, 
through pure abundance has not a place to 
ease himself in.^ 

13. I am composed of the formal and the 
material; and neither of them will j>erish into 
non-cxisiencc, as neither of them came into 
existence out of non-cxistcncc. F.very part of 
me then will be reduced by change into some 
part of the universe, and that again will 
change into another part of the universe, and 
so on for ever. And by consequence of such a 
change I too exist, and those who begot me, 
and so on for ever in the other direction. For 
nothing hinders us from saying so, even if the 
universe is administered according to definite 
periods of revolution. 

14. Reason and the reasoning art (philoso- 
phy) arc powers which arc sufficient for them- 
selves and for their own works. They move 
then from a first principle which is their own, 
and they make their way to the end which is 
proposed to them; and this is the reason why 
such acts are named catorthosds or right acts, 
which word signifies that they proceed by the 
right road. 

15. None of these things ought to be called 
a man’s, which do not belong to a man, as 

^Meoander. 


271 

man. They are not required of a man, nor docs 
man’s nature promise them, nor are they the 
means of man’s nature attaining its end. 
Neither then docs the end of man lie in these 
things, nor yet that which aids to the accom- 
plishment of this end, and that which aids to- 
wards this end is that which is good. Besides, 
if any of these things did belong to man, it 
would not be right for a man to despise them 
and to set himself against them; nor would a 
man be worthy of praise who showed that he 
did not want these things, nor would he who 
stinted himself in any of them be good, if in- 
deed these things were good. But now the 
more of these things a man deprives himself 
of, or of other things like them, or even when 
he is deprived of any of them, the more pa- 
tiently he endures the loss, just in the same de- 
gree he is a better man. 

16. Such as arc thy habitual thoughts, such 
also will be the character of thy mind; for the 
soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with 
a continuous series of such thoughts as these: 
for instance, that where a man can live, there 
he can also live well. But he must live in a 
palace; — well then, he can also live well in a 
palace. And again, consider that for whatever 
purpose each thing has been constituted, for 
this it has been constituted, and towards this 
it is carried; and its end is in that towards 
which it is carried; and where the end is, there 
also is the advantage and the good of each 
thing. Now the good for the reasonable animal 
is society; for that we are made for society has 
been shown above.^ Is it not plain that the infe- 
rior exist for the sake of the superior? But the 
things which have life are superior to those 
which have not life, and of those which have 
life the superior are those which have reason. 

17. To seek what is impossible is madness: 
and it is impossible that the bad should not do 
something of this kind. 

18. Nothing hapj>ens to any man which he 
is not formed by nature to bear. The same 
things happen to another, and cither because 
he docs not see that they have happened or be- 
cause he w’ould show a great spirit he is firm 
and remains unharmed. It^a shame then that 
ignorance and conceit should be stronger than 
wisdom. 

* Cf. H(x)k IT, section x. 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK V 



272 

ip. Things themselves touch not the soul, 
not in the least degree; nor have they admis- 
sion to the soul, nor can they turn or move the 
soul: but the soul turns and moves itself alone, 
and whatever judgements it may think proper 
to make, such it makes for itself the things 
which present themselves to it. 

20. In one respect man is the nearest thing 
to me, so far as I must do good to men and en- 
dure them. But so far as some men make 
themselves obstacles to my proper acts, man 
becomes to me one of the things which are in- 
different, no less than the sun or wind or a 
wild beast. Now it is true that these may im- 
pede 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 hin- 
drance 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 uni- 
verse; and this is that which makes use of all 
things and directs all things. And in like man- 
ner 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 every- 
thing 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 arc and the things which arc pro- 
duced. For substance is like a river in a con- 
tinual flow, and the activities of things are in 
constant change, and the causes yvork in in- 
finite 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 disap- 
pear. 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. 


79-29 

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. Docs another do me wrong? Let him 
look to it. He has his own disposition, his own 
activity. I now have what the universal nature 
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 circum- 
scribe 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 it- 
self 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 docs all that the 
daemon wishes, which Zeus hath given to 
every man for his guardrsn and guide, a por- 
tion of himself. And this is every man’s under- 
standing and reason. 

28. Art thou angry with him whose arm- 
pits stink? Art thou angry with him whose 
mouth smells foul? What good will this dan- 
ger do thee? He has such a mouth, he has 
such arm-pits: 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 pain, to discover wherein he 
offends — I wish thee well of thy discovery. 
Well then, and thou hast reason: by thy ra- 
tional faculty stir up his rational faculty; show 
him his error, admonish him. For if he listens, 
thou wilt cure him, and tl^crc is no need of 
anger. Neither tragic actor nor whore . • . 

29. As thou intendest to live when thou 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. Why 
dost thou think that this is any trouble? But 


MARCUS AUREUUS 



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 ra- 
tional and social animal. 

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 thbu 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 p^iscl 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 pleas- 
ures and pains thou hast despised; and how 
many things called honourable 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 
through all time by fixed periods (revolu- 
tions) administers the universe. 

33. Soon, very soon, thou wilt Ik ashes, or a 
skeleton, and cither a name or not even a 
name; but name is sound and echo. And the 
things which are much valued in life arc emp- 
ty and rotten and trifling, and like little dogs 
biting one another, and little children quar- 
relling, laughing, and then straightway weep- 
ing. But fidelity and modesty and justice and 
truth arc fled 

Up to Olympus from the wide-spread earth} 

* Homer, Odyssey^ iv. 690. 

^Hesicxl, Worlds and Days^ 197. 


273 

What then is there which still detains thee 
here? If the objects of sense arc easily changed 
and never stand still, and the organs of per- 
ception arc dull and easily receive false impres- 
sions; and the poor soul itself is an exhalation 
from blood. But to have good repute amidst 
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 an- 
other 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-re- 
straint; but as to everything which is beyond 
the limits of the poor flesh and breath, to re- 
member that this is neither thine nor in thy 
power. 

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 arc 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 dis- 
position 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 mat- 
ters which arc 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 
arc? — Yes; but they are objects of great con- 
cern 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 spul, good emotions, 
good actions. " 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK V 



MARCUS AURELIUS 


1-14 


m 


• BOOK SIX • 


The substance of the universe is obedient and 
compliant; and the reason which governs it 
has in itself no cause for doing evil, for it has 
no malice, nor does it do evil to anything, 
nor is anything harmed by it. But all things 
are made and perfected according to this rea- 
son. 

2. Let it make no difference to thee whether 
thou art cold or warm, if thou art doing thy 
duty; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied 
with sleep; and whether ill-spoken of or 
praised; and whether dying or doing some- 
thing else. For it is one of the acts of life, this 
act by which we die: it is sufficient then in tliis 
act also to do well what we have in hand. 

3. Look within. Let neither the peculiar 
quality of anything nor its value escape thee. 

4. All existing things soon change, and they 
will either be reduced to vapour, if indeed all 
substance is one, or they will be dispersed. 

5. The reason which governs knows what 
its own disposition is, and what it does, and on 
what material it works. 

6. The best way of avenging thyself is not to 
become like the wrong doer, 

7. Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it, 
in passing from one social act to another social 
act, thinking of God. 

8. The ruling principle is that which rouses 
and turns itself, and while it makes itself such 
as it is and such as it wills to be, it also makes 
everything which happens appear to itself to 
be such as it wills. 

9. In conformity to the nature of the uni- 
verse every single thing is accomplished, for 
certainly it is not in conformity to any other 
nature that each thing is accomplished, either 
a nature which externally comprehends this, 
or a nature which is comprehended within this 
nature, or a nature external and independent 
of this. 

10. The universe is cither a confusion, and 
a mutual involution of things, and a disper- 
sion; or it is unity and order and providence. 
If then it is the former, why do I desire to 
tarry in a fortuitous combination of things and 


such a disorder? And why do I care about any- 
thing else than how 1 shall at last become 
earth? And why am I disturbed, for the dis- 
persion of my elements will happen whatever 
I do. But if the other supposition is true, I 
venerate, and I am firm, and I trust in him 
who governs. 

11. When thou hast been compelled by cir- 
cumstances to be disturbed in a manner, 
quickly return to thyself and do not continue 
out of tune longer than the compulsion lasts; 
for thou wilt have- more mastery over the har- 
mony by continually recurring to it. 

12. If thou hadst a step-mother and a mother 
at the same time, thou wouldst lie dutiful to 
thy step-mother, but still thou wouldst con- 
stantly return to thy mother. Let the court 
and philosophy now be to thee step-mother 
and mother: return to philosophy frequently 
and repose in her, through whom what thou 
mectest with in the court appears to thee tol- 
erable, and thou appearest tolerable in the 
court. 

13. When we have meat before us and such 
eatables, we receive the impression, that this is 
the dead body of a fish, and this is the dead 
body of a bird or of a pig; and again, that this 
Falernian is only a little grape juice, and this 
purple robe some sheep s wool dyed with the 
blood of a shell-fish: such then arc these im- 
pressions, and they reach the things themselves 
and penetrate them, and so we sec what kind 
of things they are. Just in the same way ought 
we to act all through life, and where there arc 
things which appear most worthy of our ap- 
probation, wc ought to lay them bare and look 
at their w'orthlcssness and strip them of all the 
words by which they are exalted. For outward 
show is a wonderful perverter of the reason, 
and when thou art most sure that thou art 
employed about things worth thy pains, it is 
then that it cheats thee most. Consider then 
what Crates says of Xcnocrates himself. 

14. Most of the things which the multitude 
admire are referred to objects of the most gen- 
eral kind, those which are held together by co- 



J 4 -I 9 MEDITATIONS, BOOK VI 275 


hesion or natural organization, such as stones, 
wood, fig-trees, vines, olives. But those which 
are admired by men who arc a little more rea- 
sonable are referred to the things which arc 
held together by a living principle, as flocks, 
herds. Those which arc admired by men who 
arc still more instructed arc the things which 
arc held together by a rational soul, not how- 
ever a universal soul, but rational so far as it 
is a soul skilled in some art, or expert in some 
other way, or simply rational so far as it pos- 
sesses a number of slaves. But he who values 
a rational soul, a soul universal and fitted for 
political life, regards nothing else except this; 
and above all things he keeps his soul in a 
condition and in an activity conformable to 
reason and social life, and he co-operates to 
this end with those who are of the same kind 
as himself. 

15. Some things are hurrying into existence, 
and others are hurrying out of it; and of that 
which is coming into existence part is already 
extinguished. Motions and changes arc con- 
tinually renewing the world, just as the unin- 
terrupted course of time is always renewing 
the infinite duration of ages. In this flowing 
stream then, on which there is no abiding, 
what is there of the things which hurry by on 
which a man would set a high price? It would 
be just as if a man should fall in love with one 
of the sparrows which fly by, but it has al- 
ready passed out of sight. Something of this 
kind is the very life of every man, like the 
exhalation of the blood and the respiration of 
the air. For such as it is to have once drawn in 
the air and to have given it back, which we do 
every moment, just the same is it with the 
whole respiratory power, which thou didst re- 
ceive at thy birth yesterday and the day before, 
to give it back to the element from which thou 
didst first draw it. 

16. Neither is transpiration, as in plants, a 
thing to be valued, nor respiration, as in do- 
mesticated animals and wild beasts, nor the re- 
ceiving of impressions by the appearances of 
things, nor being moved by desires as puppets 
by strings, nor assembling in herds, nor being 
nourished by food; for this is just like the act 
of separating and parting with the useless part 
of our food. What then is worth being valued? 
To be received with clapping of hands? No. 


Neither must we value the clapping of 
tongues, for the praise which comes from the 
many is a clapping of tongues. Suppose then 
that thou hast given up this worthless thing 
called fame, what remains that is worth valu- 
ing? This in my opinion, to move thyself and 
to restrain thyself in conformity to thy proper 
constitution, to which end both all employ- 
ments and arts lead. For every art aims at this, 
that the thing which has been made should be 
adapted to the work for which it has been 
made; and both the vine-planter who looks 
after the vine, and the horse-breaker, and he 
who trains the dog, seek this end. But the edu- 
cation and the teaching of youth aim at some- 
thing. In this then is the value of the educa- 
tion and the teaching. And if this is well, thou 
wilt not seek anything else. Wilt thou not 
cease to value many other things too? Then 
thou wilt be neither free, nor sufficient for thy 
own happiness, nor without passion. For of 
necessity thou must be envious, jealous, and 
suspicious of those who can take away those 
things, and plot against those who have that 
which is valued by thee. Of necessity a man 
must be altogether in a state of perturbation 
who wants any of these things; and besides, he 
must often find fault with the gods. But to rev- 
erence and honour thy own mind will make 
thee content with thyself, and in harmony 
with society, and in agreement with the gods, 
that is, praising all that they give and have 
ordered. 

17. Above, below, all around arc the move- 
ments of the elements. But the motion of vir- 
tue is in none of these: it is something more 
divine, and advancing by a way hardly ob- 
served it goes happily on its road. 

18. How strangely men act. They will not 
praise those who are living at the same time 
and living with themselves; but to be them- 
selves praised by posterity, by those whom they 
have never seen or ever will sec, this they set 
much value on. But this is very much the same 
as if thou shouldst be grieved because those 
who have lived before thee did not praise thee. 

19. If a thing is difficult to be accomplished 
by thyself, do not think that it is impossible 
for man: but if anything# is possible for man 
and conformable to his feature, think that this 
can be attained by thyself too. 



376 MARCUS 

20. In the gymnastic exercises suppose that 
a man has torn thee with his nails, and by 
dashing against thy head has inflicted a 
wound. Well, we neither show any signs of 
vexation, nor are we offended, nor do we sus- 
pect him afterwards as a treacherous fellow; 
and yet we are on our guard against him, not 
however as an enemy, nor yet with suspicion, 
but we quietly get out of his way. Something 
like this let thy behaviour be in all the other 
parts of life; let us overlook many things in 
those who are like antagonists in the gymna- 
sium. For it is in our power, as I said, to get 
out of the way, and to have no suspicion nor 
hatred. 

21. If any man is able to convince me and 
show me that I do not think or act right, I will 
gladly change; for I seek the truth by which 
no man was ever injured. But he is injured 
who abides in his error and ignorance. 

22. I do my duty: other things trouble me 
not; for they are either things without life, or 
things without reason, or things that have 
rambled and know not the way. 

23. As to the animals which have no reason 
and generally all things and objects, do thou, 
since thou hast reason and they have none, 
make use of them with a generous and liberal 
spirit. But towards human beings, as they have 
reason, behave in a social spirit. And on all oc- 
casions call on the gods, and do not 'perplex 
thyself about the length. of time in which thou 
shalt do this; for even three hours so spent are 
suflicient. 

24. Alexander the Macedonian and his 
groom by death were brought to the same 
state; for either they were received among the 
same seminal principles of the universe, or 
they were alike dispersed among the atoms. 

25. Consider how many things in the same 
indivisible time take place in each of us, things 
which concern the body and things which con- 
cern the soul: and so thou wilt not wonder if 
many more things, or rather all things which 
come into existence in that which is the one 
and all, which we call Cosmos, exist in it at 
the same time. 

26. If any man should propose to thee the 
question, how the name Antoninus is written, 
wouldst thou with a straining of the voice 
utter each letter? What then if they grow 


AURELIUS 20-30 

angry, wilt thou be angry too? Wilt thou not 
go on with composure and number every let- 
ter? Just so then in this life also remember 
that every duty is made up of certain parts. 
These it is thy duty to observe and without be- 
ing disturbed or showing anger towards those 
who are angry with thee to go on thy way and 
finish that which is set before thee. 

27. How cruel it is not to allow men to 
strive after the things which appear to them to 
be suitable to their nature and proiitablel And 
yet in a manner thou dost not allow them to 
do this, when thou art vexed because they do 
wrong. For they are certainly moved towards 
things because they suppose them to be suit- 
able to their nature and profitable to them. — 
But it is not so. — ^Tcach them then, and show 
them without being angry. 

28. Death is 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. 

29. It is a shame for the soul to be first to 
give way in this life, when thy body does not 
give way. 

30. Take care that thou art not made into a 
Caesar, that thou art not dyed with this dye; for 
such things happen. Keep* thyself then simple, 
good, pure, serious, free from affectation, a 
friend of justice, a worshipper of the gods, 
kind, affectionate, strenuous in all proper acts. 
Strive to continue to be such as philosophy 
wished to make thee. Reverence the gods, and 
help men. Short is life. There is only one fruit 
of this terrene life, a pious disposition and so- 
cial acts. Do everything as a disciple of AntO' 
ninus. Remember his constancy in every act 
which was conformable to reason, and his 
evenness in all things, and his piety, and the 
serenity of his countenance^ and his sweetness, 
and his disregard of empty fame, and his ef- 
forts to understand things; and how he would 
never let anything pass ^thout having first 
most carefully examined it and clearly under- 
stood it; and how he bore with those who 
blamed him unjustly without blaming them 
in return; how he did nothing in a hurry; and 
how he listened not to calumnies, and how 
exact an examiner of manners and actions he 
was; and not given to reproach people, nor tim- 



jo-4i 

id, nor suspicious, nor a sophist; and with how 
little he was satisfied, such as lodging, bed, 
dress, food, servants; and how laborious and 
patient; and how he was able on account of his 
sparing diet to hold out to the evening, not 
even requiring to relieve himself by any evac- 
uations except at the usual hour; and his firm- 
ness and uniformity in his friendships; and 
how he tolerated freedom of speech in those 
who opposed his opinions; and the pleasure 
that he had when any man showed him any- 
thing better; and how religious he was with- 
out superstition. Imitate all this that thou may- 
cst have as good a conscience, when thy last 
hour comes, as he had. 

31. Return to thy sober senses and call thy- 
self back; and when thou hast roused thyself 
from sleep and hast perceived that they were 
only dreams which troubled thee, now in 
thy waking hours look at these (the things 
about thee) as thou didst look at those (the 
dreams). 

32 . 1 consist of a little body and a soul. Now 
to this little body all things are indifferent, for 
it is not able to perceive differences. But to 
the understanding those things only are indif- 
ferent, which arc not the works of its own ac- 
tivity. But whatever things are the works of 
its own activity, all these arc in its power. And 
of these however only those which are done 
with reference to the present; for as to the fu- 
ture and the past activities of the mind, even 
these are for the present indifferent. 

33. Neither the labour which the hand docs 
nor that of the foot is contrary to nature, so 
long as the foot docs the foot’s work and the 
hand the hand’s. So then neither to a man as 
a man is his labour contrary to nature, so long 
as it docs the things of a man. But if the labour 
is not contrary to his nature, neither is it an 
evil to him. 

34. How many pleasures have been enjoyed 
by robbers, patricides, tyrants. 

35. Dost thou not sec how the handicrafts- 
men accommodate themselves up to a certain 
point to those who arc not skilled in their 
craft — nevertheless they cling to the reason 
(the principles) of their art and do not endure 
to depart from it? Is it not strange if the archi- 
tect and the physician shall have more respect 
to the reason (the principles) of their own arts 


277 

than man to his own reason, which is common 
to him and the gods? 

36. Asia, Europe arc corners of the universe: 
all the sea a drop in the universe; Athos a little 
clod of the universe: all the present time is a 
point in eternity. All things are little, change- 
able, perishable. All things come from thence, 
from that universal ruling power cither direct- 
ly proceeding or by way of sequence. And ac- 
cordingly the lion’s gaping jaws, and that 
which is poisonous, and every harmful thing, 
as a thorn, as mud, are after-products of the 
grand and beautiful. Do not then imagine that 
they are of another kind from that which thou 
dost venerate, but form a just opinion of the 
source of all. 

37. He who has seen present things has seen 
all, both everything which has taken place 
from all eternity and everything which will be 
for time without end; for all things arc of one 
kin and of one form. 

38. Frequently consider the connexion of all 
things in the universe and their relation to one 
another. For in a manner all things arc im- 
plicated with one another, and all in this way 
are friendly to one another; for one thing 
comes in order after another, and this is by 
virtue of the active movement and mutual con- 
spiration and the unity of the substance. 

39. Adapt thyself to the things with which 
thy lot has been cast: and the men among 
whom thou hast received thy portion, love 
them, but do it truly, sincerely. 

40. Every instrument, tool, vessel, if it does 
that for which it has been made, is well, and 
yet he who made it is not there. But in the 
things which arc held together by nature there 
is within and there abides in them the power 
which made them; wherefore the more is it 
fit to reverence this power, and to think, that, 
if thou dost live and act according to its will, 
everything in thee is in conformity to intel- 
ligence. And thus also in the universe the 
things which belong to it are in conformity to 
intelligence. 

41. Whatever of the things which arc not 
within thy power thou shalt suppose to lie 
good for thee or evil, it must of necessity be 
that, if such a bad thing,bcfall thee or the loss 
of such a good thing, thou wilt blame the gods, 
and hate men too, those who are the cause of 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK VI 



278 MARCUS 

the misfortune or the loss, or those who are 
suspected of being likely to be the cause; and 
indeed we do much injustice, because we 
make a difference between these things. But if 
we judge only those things which arc in our 
power to be good or bad, there remains no 
reason either for finding fault with God or 
standing in a hostile attitude to man. 

42. We arc all working together to one end, 
some with knowledge and design, and others 
without knowing what they do; as men also 
when they arc asleep, of whom it is Heraclitus, 
I think, who says that they are labourers and 
co-operators in the things which take place in 
the universe. But men co-operate after different 
fashions: and even those co-oj^rate abundant- 
ly, who find fault with what happens and 
those who try to oppose it and to hinder it; 
for the universe had need even of such men as 
these. It remains then for thee to understand 
among what kind of workmen thou placest 
thyself; for he who rules all things will cer- 
tainly make a right use of thee, and he will 
receive thee among some part of the co-oper- 
ators and of those whose labours conduce to 
one end. But be not thou such a part as the 
mean and ridiculous verse in the play, which 
Chrysippus speaks of.^ 

43. Docs the sun undertake to do the work 
of the rain, or Aesculapius the work of the 
Fruit-bearer (the earth)? And how is- it with 
respect to each of the stars, are they not dif- 
ferent and yet they work together to the same 
md? 

44. If the gods have determined about me 
and about the things which must happen to 
me, they have determined well, for it is not 
easy even to imagine a deity without fore- 
thought; and as to doing me harm, why 
should they have any desire towards that? For 
what advantage would result to them from 
this or to the whole, which is the special object 
of their providence? But if they Jiiave not de- 
termined about me individually, they have 
certainly determined about the whole at least, 
and the things which happen by way of se- 
quence in this general arrangement I ought 
to accept with pleasure and to be content with 
them. But if they determine about nothing — 
which it is wicked to believe, or if we do bc- 

* CL Plutarch, adversus Stoicost i3'i4 


AURELIUS 41^47 

lieve it, let us neither sacrifice nor pray nor 
swear by them nor do anything else which we 
do as if the gods were present and lived with 
us — but if however the gods determine about 
none of the things which concern us, I am 
able to determine about myself, and I can in- 
quire about that which is useful; and that is 
useful to every man which is conformable to 
his own constitution and nature. But my na- 
ture is rational and social; and my city and 
country, so far as I am Antoninus, is Rome, 
but so far as I am a man, it is the world. The 
things then which are useful to these cities 
are alone useful to me. 

45. Whatever happens to every man, this is 
for the interest of the universal: this might be 
sufficient. But further thou wilt observe this 
also as a general truth, if thou dost observe, 
that whatever is profitable to any man is profit- 
able also to other men. But let the word profit- 
able Ik taken here in the common sense as 
said of things of the middle kind, neither good 
nor bad. 

46. As it hapjKns to thee in the amphi- 
theatre and such places, that the continual 
sight of the same things and the uniformity 
make the sjKctacle wearisome, so it is in the 
whole of life; for all things above, below, arc 
the same and from the same. How long then? 

47. Think continually that all kinds of men 
and of all kinds of pursuits and of all nations 
are dead, so that thy thoughts come down even 
to Philisiion and Phoebus and Origanion. 
Now turn thy thoughts to the other kinds of 
men. To that place then wc must remove, 
where there arc so many great orators, and so 
many noble philosophers, Heraclitus, Pythag- 
oras, Socrates; so many heroes of former days, 
and so many generals after them, and ty- 
rants; iKsides these, Eudoxus, Hipparchus, 
Archimedes, and other men of acute natural 
talents, great minds, lovers of labour, versatile, 
confident, mockers even of the perishable and 
ephemeral life of man, as Menippus and such 
as are like him. As to all these consider that 
they have long been in the dust. What harm 
then is this to them; and what to those whose 
names arc altogether unknown? One thing 
here is worth a great deal, to pass thy life in 
truth and justice, with a benevolent disposi- 
tion even to liars and unjust men. 



48. When thou wishcst to delight thyself, 
think of the virtues of those who live with 
thee; for instance, the activity of one, and the 
modesty of another, and the liberality of a 
third, and some other good quality of a fourth. 
For nothing delights so much as the examples 
of the virtues, when they arc exhibited in 
the morals of those who live with us and 
present themselves in abundance, as far as is 
possible. Wherefore we must keep them be- 
fore us. 

49. Thou art not dissatisfied, I suppose, be- 
cause thou weighest only so many litrae and 
not three hundred. Be not dissatisfied then that 
thou must live only so many years and not 
more; for as thou art satisfied with the amount 
of substance which has been assigned to thee, 
so 1^ content with the time. 

50. Let us try to persuade them (men). Rut 
act even against their will, when the principles 
of justice lead that way. If however any man 
by using force stands in thy way, betake thy- 
self to contentment and tranquillity, and at 
the same time employ the hindrance towards 
the exercise of some other virtue; and remem- 
ber that thy attempt was with a reservation, 
that thou didst not desire to do impossibilities. 
What then didst thou desire? — Some such 
ellort as this. — But thou attainest thy object, 
if the things to which thou wast moved are 
accomplished. 

51. He who loves fame considers another 
man’s activity to be his own good: and he who 
loves pleasure, his own sensations; but he who 


279 

has understanding, considers his own acts to 
be his own good. 

52. It is in our power to have no opinion 
about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our 
soul; for things themselves have no natural 
power to form our judgements. 

53. Accustom thyself to attend carefully to 
what is said by another, and as much as it is 
possible, be in the speaker’s mind. 

54. That which is not good for the swarm, 
neither is it good for the bee. 

55. If sailors abused the helmsman or the 
sick the doctor, would they listen to anybody 
else; or how could the helmsman secure the 
safety of those in the ship or the doctor the 
health of those whom he attends? 

56. How many together with whom I came 
into the w'orld are already gone out of it. 

57. To the jaundiced honey tastes bitter, and 
to those bitten by mad dogs water causes fear; 
and to little children the ball is a fine thing. 
Why then am I angry? Dost thou think that 
a false opinion has less power than the bile in 
the jaundiced or the poison in him who is 
bitten by a mad dog? 

58. No man will hinder thee from living 
according to the reason of thy own nature: 
nothing will happen to thee contrary to the 
reason of the universal nature. 

59. What kind of people arc those whom 
men w'ish to please, and for what objects, and 
by what kind of acts? How soon will time 
cover all things, and how many it has covered 
already. 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK VII 


BOOK SEVEN 


What is badness? It is that which thou hast 
often seen. And on the occasion of everything 
which hapjxns keep this in mind, that it is 
that which thou hast often seen. Everywhere 
up and down thou wilt find the same things, 
with which the old histories are filled, those of 
the middle ages and those of our own day; with 
which cities and houses are filled now. There 
is nothing new: all things are both familiar 
and short-lived. 

2. How can our principles become dead, un- 
less the impressions (thoughts) which cor- 


respond to them are extinguished? But it is in 
thy power continuously to fan these thoughts 
into a flame. I can have that opinion about 
anything, which I ought to have. If I can, why 
am I disturbed? The things which are ex- 
ternal to my mind have no relation at all to 
my mind. — Let this be the state of thy affects, 
and thou standest erect. To recover thy life is 
in thy power. Look at things again as thou 
didst use to look at them^for in this consists 
the recovery of thy life. 

3. The idle business of show, plays on the 



a8o MARCUS AURELIUS j-t6 


stage, flocks of sheep, herds, exercises with 
spears, a bone cast to little dogs, a bit of bread 
into fish-ponds, labourings of ants and bur- 
den-carrying, runnings about of frightened 
little mice, puppets pulled by strings — ^all alike. 
It is thy duty then in the midst of such things 
to show good humour and not a proud air; to 
understand however that every man is worth 
just so much as the things are worth about 
which he busies himself, 

4. In discourse thou must attend to what is 
said, and in every movement thou must ob- 
serve what is doing. And in the one thou 
shouldst see immediately to what end it refers, 
but in the other watch carefully what is the 
thing signified. 

5. Is my understanding sufficient for this or 
not? If it is sufficient, I use it for the work as 
an instrument given by the universal nature. 
But if it is not sufficient, then cither I retire 
from the work and give way to him who is 
able to do it better, unless there be some reason 
why I ought not to do so; or I do it as well as 
I can, taking to help me the man who with the 
aid of my ruling principle can do what is now 
fit and useful for the general good. For what- 
soever either by myself or with another I can 
do, ought to be directed to this only, to that 
which is useful and well suited to society. 

6. How many after being celebrated by fame 
have been given up to oblivion; and how many 
who have celebrated the fame of others have 
long been dead. 

7 . Be not ashamed to be helped; for it is thy 
business to do thy duty like a soldier in the as- 
sault on a town. How then, if being lame thou 
canst not mount up on the battlements alone, 
but with the help of another it is possible? 

8. Let not future things disturb thee, for 
thou wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, 
having with thee the same reason which now 
thou usest for present things. 

9. All things are implicated .}vith one an- 
other, and the bond is holy; and there is hard- 
ly anything unconnected with any other thing. 
For things have been co-ordinated, and they 
combine to form the same universe (order). 
For there is one universe made up of all things, 
and one God who pervades all things, and one 
substance, and one law, one common reason in 
all intelligent animals, and one truth; if indeed 


there is also one perfection for all animals 
which are of the same stock and participate in 
the same reason. 

TO. Everything material soon disappears in 
the substance of the whole; and everything 
formal (causal) is very soon taken back into 
the universal reason; and the memory of every- 
thing is very soon overwhelmed in time. 

11. To the rational animal the same act is 
according to nature and according to reason. 

12. Be thou erect, or be made erect. 

13. Just as it is with the members in those 

bodies which are united in one, so it is with 
rational beings which exist separate, for they 
have been constituted for one co-operation. 
And the p>crception of this w'ill be more ap- 
parent to thee, if thou often sayest to thyself 
that I am a member (jueXos) of the system of 
rational beings. But if (using the letter r) thou 
sayest that thou art a part thou dost 

not yet love men from thy heart; beneficence 
does not yet delight thee for its own sake; thou 
still doest it barely as a thing of propriety, and 
not yet as doing good to thyself. 

14. Let there fall externally what w’ill on the 
parts which can feel the effects of this fall. For 
those parts which have felt will complain, if 
they choose. But I, unless I think that what 
has hapi^cned is an cvilnim not injured. And 
it is in my power not to think so. 

15. Whatever any one does or says, I must 
be good, just as if the gold, or the emerald, or 
the purple v/ctc always saying this, Whatever 
any one docs or says, I must be emerald and 
keep my colour. 

16. The ruling faculty docs not disturb it- 
self; I mean, docs not frighten itself or cause 
itself pain. But if any one else can frighten or 
pain it, let him do so. For the faculty itself 
will not by its own opinion turn itself into 
such ways. Let the body itself take care, if it 
can, that is suffer nothing, and let it speak, if 
it suffers. But the soul itself, that which is sub- 
ject to fear, to pain, which has completely the 
power of forming an oi)inion about these 
things, will suffer nothii^, for it will never 
deviate into such a judgement. The leading 
principle in itself wants nothing, unless it 
makes a want for itself; and therefore it is 
both free from perturbation and unimpeded, 
if it does not disturb and impede itself. 



/T-J/ MEDITATIONS, BOOK VII 281 


17. Eudaemonia (happiness) is a good dae- 
mon, or a good thing. What then art thou do- 
ing here, O imagination? Go away, I entreat 
thee by the gods, as thou didst come, for I 
want thee not. But thou art come according to 
thy old fashion. 1 am not angry with thee: only 
go away. 

18. Is any man afraid of change? Why what 
can take place without change? What then is 
more pleasing or more suitable to the universal 
nature? And canst thou take a bath unless the 
wood undergoes a change? And canst thou be 
nourished, unless the food undergoes a 
change? And can anything else that is useful 
be accomplished without change? Dost thou 
not see then that for thyself also to change is 
just the same, and equally necessary for the 
universal nature? 

19. 'rhrough the universal substance as 
through a furious torrent all bodies are car- 
ried, being by their nature united with and co- 
operating with the whole, as the parts of our 
body with one another. How many a Chrysip- 
pus, how many a Socrates, how many an Epic- 
tetus has time already swallowed up? And let 
the same thought occur to thee with reference 
to every man and thing. 

20. One thing only troubles me, lest I should 
do something which the constitution of man 
does not allow, or in the way which it docs 
not allow, or what it does not allow now. 

21. Near is thy forgetfulness of all things; 
and near the forgetfulness of thee by all. 

22. It is peculiar to man to love even those 
who do wrong. And this happens, if when 
they do wrong it occurs to thee that they arc 
kinsmen, and that they do wrong through ig- 
norance and unintentionally, and that soon 
both of you will die; and above all, that the 
wrong-doer has done thee no harm, for he has 
not made thy ruling faculty worse than it was 
before. 

23. The universal nature out of the universal 
substance, as if it were wax, now moulds a 
horse, and when it has broken this up, it uses 
the material for a tree, then for a man, then 
for something else; and each of these things 
subsists for a very short time. But it is no hard- 
ship for the vessel to be broken up, just as 
there was none in its being fastened together. 

24. A scowling look is altogether unnatural; 


when it is often assumed, the result is that all 
comeliness dies away, and at last is so com- 
pletely extinguished that it cannot be again 
lighted up at all. Try to conclude from this 
very fact that it is contrary to reason. For if 
even the perception of doing wrong shall de- 
part, what reason is there for living any longer? 

25. Nature which governs the whole will 
soon change all things which thou seest, and 
out of their substance will make other things, 
and again other things from the substance of 
them, in order that the world may be ever new. 

26. When a man has done thee any wrong, 
immediately consider with what opinion about 
good or evil he has done wrong. For when 
thou hast seen this, thou wilt pity him, and 
wilt neither wonder nor be angry. For either 
thou thyself thinkest the same thing to be good 
that he does or another thing of the same kind. 
It is thy duty then to pardon him. But if thou 
dost not think such things to be good or evil, 
thou wilt more readily be well disposed to him 
who is in error. 

27. Think not so much of what thou hast 
not as of what thou hast: but of the things 
which thou hast select the best, and then re- 
flect how eagerly they would have been sought, 
if thou hadst them not. At the same time how- 
ever take care that thou dost not through be- 
ing so pleased with them accustom thyself to 
overvalue them, so as to be disturbed if ever 
thou shouldst not have them. 

28. Retire into thyself. The rational principle 
which rules has this nature, that it is content 
with itself when it does what is just, and so 
secures tranquillity. 

29. Wipe out the imagination. Stop the pull- 
ing of the strings. Confine thyself to the pres- 
ent. Understand well what happens either to 
thee or to another. Divide and distribute every 
object into the causal (formal) and the ma- 
terial. Think of thy last hour. Let the wrong 
which is done by a man stay there where the 
wrong was done. 

30. Direct thy attention to what is said. Let 
thy understanding enter into the things that 
are doing and the things which do them. 

31. Adorn thyself with simplicity and mod- 
esty and with indiflercn^ towards the things 
which lie between virtue and vice. Love man- 
kind. Follow God. The poet says that Law 



282 MARCUS 

rules all. — ^And it is enough to remember that 
Law rules all. 

32. About death: Whether it is a dispersion, 
or a resolution into atoms, or annihilation, it is 
either extinction or change. 

33. About pain: The pain which is intoler- 
able carries us off; but that which lasts a long 
time is tolerable; and the mind maintains its 
own tranquillity by retiring into itself, and the 
ruling faculty is not made worse. But the parts 
which arc harmed by pain, let them, if they 
can, give their opinion about it. 

34. About fame: Look at the minds of those 
who seek fame, observe what they arc, and 
what kind of things they avoid, and what kind 
of things they pursue. And consider that as the 
heaps of sand piled on one another hide the 
former sands, so in life the events which go 
before are soon covered by those which come 
after. 

35. From Plato: The man who has an ele- 
vated mind and takes a view of all time and 
of all substance, dost thou sup|K)se it possible 
for him to think that human life is anything 
great? it is not possible, he said. — Such a man 
then will think that death also is no evil. — 
Certainly not.^ 

36. From Antisthenes: It is royal to do good 
and to be abused. 

37. It is a base thing for the countenance to 
be obedient and to regulate and compose itself 
as the mind commands^ and for the mind not 
to be regulated and composed by itself. 

38. It is not right to vex ourselves at things. 
For they care nought about it.^ 

39. To the immortal gods and us give joy. 

40. Life must be reaped like the ripe cars of 
corn: 

One man is born; another dies.* 

41. If gods care not for me and for my chil- 
dren, 

There is a reason for it.* 

42. For the good is with me, and the just.* 

43. No joining others in their wailing, no 
violent emotion. 

44. From Plato: But I would make this man 
a sufficient answer, which is this: Thou sayest 
not well, if thou thinkest that a man who is 
good for anything at all ought to compute the 

^ Republic^ 486. 

* Toesc arc lra|^cnts of Euripidcan plays. 


AURELIUS 31-49 

hazard of life or death, and should not rather 
look to this only in all that he does, whether 
he is doing what is just or unjust, and the 
works of a good or a bad man.® 

4*5. For thus it is, men of Athens, in truth: 
wherever a man has placed himself thinking it 
the best place for him, or has been placed by 
a commander, there in my opinion he ought 
to stay and to abide the hazard, taking noth- 
ing into the reckoning, either death or any- 
thing else, before the baseness of deserting his 
post.^ 

46. But, my good friend, reflect whether 
that which is noble and good is not something 
different from saving and being saved; for as 
to a man living such or such a time, at least 
one who is really a man, consider if this is not 
a thing to be dismissed from the thoughts: and 
there must be no love of life: but as to these 
matters a man must intrust them to the deity 
and believe what the women say, that no man 
can escape his destiny, the next inquiry being 
how he may best live the time that he has to 
livc.^ 

47. Look round at the courses of the stars, 
as if thou wert going along with them; and 
constantly consider the changes of the elements 
into one another; for such thoughts purge 
away the filth of the ternfne life. 

48. This is a fine saying of Plato: That he 
who is discoursing about men should look also 
at earthly things as if he viewed them from 
some higher place; should look at them in 
their assemblies, armic’, agricultural labours, 
marriages, treaties, births, deaths, noise of the 
courts of justice, desert places, various nations 
of barbarians, feasts, lamentations, markets, a 
mixture of all things and an orderly combina- 
tion of contraries. 

49. Consider the past; such great changes of 
political supremacies. Thou mayest foresee also 
the things which will be. For they will cer- 
tainly be of like form, and it is not possible 
that they should deviate from the order of the 
things which take place now: accordingly to 
have contemplated human life for forty years 
is the same as to have contemplated it for ten 
thousand years. For what more wilt thou sec? 

• /Ipology, 28. 

^ /'Ipfjlogy^ 28. 

S Plato, GorgiaSt 512. 



5f>^2 MEDITATIONS, BOOK VII 283 


50. That which has grown from the earth to 
the earth, 

But that which has sprung from heaven- 
ly seed, 

Back to the heavenly realms returns.* 

This is cither a dissolution of the mutual in- 
volution of the atoms, or a similar dispersion 
of the unscnticnt elements. 

51. With food and drinks and cunning mag- 
ic arts 

Turning the channel’s course to ’scape 
from death. ^ 

The breeze which heaven has sent 
We must endure, and toil without com- 
plaining. 

52. Another may be more expert in casting 
his opf>oncnt; but he is not more social, nor 
more modest, nor better disciplined to meet 
all that happens, nor more considerate with re* 
sj^ect to the faults of his neighlxiurs. 

53. Where any work can be done conform- 
ably to the reason which is common to gods 
and men, there we have nothing to fear: for 
where we are able to get profit by means of the 
activity which is successful and proceeds ac- 
cording to our constitution, there no harm is to 
be susjxxted. 

54. pA'crywherc and at all times it is in thy 
power piously to acniicscc in thy present con- 
dition, and to Ix'have justly to those who are 
about thee, and to exert thy skill upon thy 
present thoughts, that nothing shall steal into 
them without being well examined. 

55. Do not look around thee to discover 
other men's ruling principles, but look straight 
to this, to what nature leads thee, both the uni- 
versal nature through the things which hap- 
pen to thee, and thy own nature through the 
acts which must lx done by thee. But every Ix- 
ing ought to do that which is according to its 
constitution; and all other things have been 
constituted for the sake of rational beings, just 
as among irrational things the inferior for the 
sake of the superior, but the rational for the 
sake of one another. 

The prime principle then in man’s constitu- 
tion is the social. And the second is not to 
yield to the persuasions of the body, for it is 
the jxculiar office of the rational and intel- 

* Euripides, fragment. 

• Euripides, Suppltarus, 1 1 lO. 


ligent motion to circumscribe itself, and never 
to be overpowered either by the motion of the 
senses or of the appetites, for both are animal; 
but the intelligent motion claims superiority 
and does not permit itself to be overpowered 
by the others. And with good reason, for it is 
formed by nature to use all of them. The 
third thing in the rational constitution is free- 
dom from error and from deception. Let then 
the ruling principle holding fast to these 
things go straight on, and it has what is its 
own. 

56. Consider thyself to be dead, and to have 
completed thy life up to the present time; and 
live according to nature the remainder which 
is allowed thee. 

57. Love that only which happens to thee 
and is sf>un with the thread of thy destiny. 
For what is more suitable? 

58. In everything which happens keep be- 
fore thy eyes those to whom the same things 
happened, and how they were vexed, and 
treated them as strange things, and found 
fault with them: and now where arc they? 
Nowhere. Why then dost thou too choose to 
act in the same way? And why dost thou not 
leave these agitations which arc foreign to 
nature, to those who cause them and those 
who are moved by them? And why art thou 
not altogether intent upon the right way of 
making use of the things which happen to 
thee? For then thou wilt use them well, and 
they will be a material for thee to work on. 
Only attend to thyself, and resolve to be a good 
man in every act which thou doest: and re- 
member . . . 

59. Look within. Within is the fountain of 
good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt 
ever dig. 

60. The body ought to be compact, and to 
show no irregularity cither in motion or at- 
titude. For what the mind shows in the face by 
maintaining in it the expression of intelligence 
and propriety, that ought to be required also 
in the whole body. But all of these things 
should be observed without affectation. 

61. The art of life is more like the wrestler’s 
art than the dancer’s, in respect of this, that it 
should stand ready and ^rm to meet onsets 
which are sudden and unexpected. 

62. Constantly observe who those arc whose 



204 MARCUS AVREUUS 6^0 


approbation thou wishest to have, and what 
ruling principles they possess. For then thou 
wilt neither blame those who offend involun- 
tarily, nor wilt thou want their approbation, 
if thou lookest to the sources of their opinions 
and appetites. 

63. Every soul, the philosopher says, is in- 
voluntarily deprived of truth; consequently in 
the same way it is deprived of justice and 
temperance and benevolence and everything of 
the kind. It is most necessary to bear this con- 
stantly in mind, for thus thou wilt be more 
gentle towards all. 

64. In every pain let this thought be present, 
that there is no dishonour in it, nor does it 
make the governing intelligence worse, for it 
docs not damage the intelligence cither so far 
as the intelligence is rational or so far as it is 
social. Indeed in the case of most pains let this 
remark of Epicurus aid thee, that pain is 
neither intolerable nor everlasting, if thou 
bearest in mind that it has its limits, and 
if thou addest nothing to it in imagination: 
and remember this too, that we do not per- 
ceive that many things which are disagreeable 
to us are the same as pain, such as excessive 
drowsiness, and the being scorched by heat, 
and the having no appetite. When- then 
thou art discontented about any of these 
things, say to thyself, that thou art yielding to 
pain. 

65. Take care not to feel towards the in- 
human, as they feel towards men. 

66. How do we know if Telauges was not 
superior in character to Socrates? For it is not 
enough that Socrates died a more noble death, 
and disputed more skilfully with the sophists, 
and passed the night in the cold with more en- 
durance, and that when he was bid to arrest 
Leon of Salamis, he considered it more noble 
to refuse, and that he walked in a swaggering 
way in the streets^ — though as to this fact one 
may have great doubts if it was irue. But we 
ought to inquire, what kind of a soul it was 
that Socrates possessed, and if he was able to 
be content with being just towards men and 
pious towards the gods, neither idly vexed on 
account of men’s villainy, nor yet making him- 
self a slave to any man’s ignorance, nor re- 
ceiving as strange anything that fell to his 

^ C£ Aristophanes, Clouds^ 363. 


share out of the universal, nor enduring it as 
intolerable, nor allowing his understanding to 
sympathize with the affects of the miserable 
flesh. 

67. Nature has not so mingled the intel- 
ligence with the composition of the body, as 
not to have allowed thee the power of circum- 
scribing thyself and of bringing under sub- 
jection to thyself all that is thy own; for it is 
very possible to be a divine man and to be 
recognised as such by no one. Always bear 
this in mind; and another thing too, that very 
little indeed is necessary for living a happy 
life. And because thou hast despaired of be- 
coming a dialectician and skilled in the knowl- 
edge of nature, do not for this reason renounce 
the hope of being both free and modest and 
social and obedient to God. 

68. It is in thy power to live free from all 
compulsion in the greatest tranquillity of 
mind, even if all the world cry out against 
thee as much as they choose, and even if wild 
beasts tear in pieces the meml^ers of this 
kneaded matter which has grown around thee. 
For what hinders the mind in the midst of all 
this from maintaining itself in tranquillity and 
in a just judgement of all surrounding things 
and in a ready use of the objects which are 
presented to it, so that thtr judgement may say 
to the thing which falls under its observation: 
This thou art in substance (reality), though 
in men’s opinion thou mayest appear to be of a 
different kind; and the use shall say to that 
which falls under the hand: Thou art the 
thing that I was seeking; for to me that which 
presents itself is always a material for virtue 
both rational and political, and in a word, for 
the exercise of art, which belongs to man or 
God. For everything which happens has a re- 
lationship either to Gcd or man, and is neither 
new nor difficult to handle, but usual and apt 
matter to work on. 

69. The perfection of moral character con- 
sists in this, ill passing evfry day as the last, 
and in being neither videntiy excited nor 
torpid nor playing the hypjbcrite. 

70. The gods who are- immortal are not 
vexed because during so long a time they must 
tolerate continually men such as they are and 
so many of them bad; and besides this, they 
also take care of them in all ways. But thou, 



1-6 MEDITATIONS, BOOK VIII 285 


who art destined to end so soon, art thou 
wearied of enduring the bad, and this too 
when thou art one of them? 

71. It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to 
fly from his own badness, which is indeed 
possible, but to fly from other men’s badness, 
which is impossible. 

72. Whatever the rational and political (so- 
cial) faculty finds to be neither intelligent 
nor social, it properly judges to be inferior to 
itself. 

73. When thou hast done a gt)od act and 
another has received it, why dost thou look for 
a third thing besides these, as fools do, either 


to have the reputation of having done a good 
act or to obtain a return? 

74. No man is tired of receiving what is use- 
ful. But it is useful to act according to nature. 
Do not then be tired of receiving what is use- 
ful by doing it to others. 

75. The nature of the All moved to make 
the universe. But now cither everything that 
takes place comes by way of consequence or 
continuity; or even the chief things towards 
which the ruling power of the universe directs 
its own movement are governed by no rational 
principle. If this is remembered it will make 
thee more tranquil in many things. 


• BOOK EIGHT 


This reflection also tends to the removal of the 
desire of empty fame, that it is no longer in 
thy power to have lived the whole of thy life, 
or at least thy life from thy youth upwards, 
like a philosopher; but both to many others 
and to thyself it is plain that thou art far from 
philosophy. Thou hast fallen into disorder 
then, so that it is no longer easy for thee to get 
the reputation of a philosopher; and thy plan 
of life also opposes it. If then thou hast truly 
seen where the matter lies, throw away the 
thought, How thou shall seem to others, and 
Ik content if thou shall live the rest of thy life 
in such wise as thy nature wills. Observe then 
what it wills, and let nothing else distract 
thee; for thou hast had experience of many 
wanderings without having found happiness 
anywhere, not in syllogisms, nor in wealth, 
nor in reputation, nor in enjoyment, nor any- 
where. Where is it then? In doing w^hat man’s 
nature requires. How then shall a man do 
this? If he has principles from which come his 
affects and his acts. What principles? Those 
which relate to good and bad: the belief that 
there is nothing good for man, which docs not 
make him just, temperate, manly, free; and 
that there is nothing bad, which does not do 
the contrary to what has been mentioned. 

2. On the occasion of every act ask thyself, 
How is this with respect to me? Shall I repent 
of it? A little time and I am dead, and all is 
gone. What more do I seek, if what I am now 


doing is work of an intelligent living being, 
and a social being, and one who is under the 
same law with God? 

3. Alexander and Gains' and Pompeius, 
what are they in comparison with Diogenes 
and Heraclitus and Socrates? For they were 
acquainted with things, and their causes 
(forms), and their matter, and the ruling 
principles of these men were the same. But as 
to the others, how many things had they to 
care for, and to how many things were they 
slaves ? 

4. Consider that men will do the same things 
nevertheless, even though thou shouldst burst. 

5. This is the chief thing: Be not perturbed, 
for all things are according to the nature of 
the universal; and in a little time thou wilt be 
nobody and nowhere, like Hadrian and Au- 
gustus. In the next place having fixed thy 
eyes steadily on thy business look at it, and at 
the same time remembering that it is thy duty 
to be a good man, and what man’s nature de- 
mands, do that without turning aside; and 
speak as it seems to thee most just, only let it 
be with a good disposition and with modesty 
and without hypocrisy. 

6. The nature of the universal has this work 
to do, to remove to that place the things which 
arc in this, to change them, to take them away 
hence, and to carry then^here. All things arc 
change, yet we need not fear anything new. 

^ I.C., Julius Caesar. 



286 MARCUS 

All things are familiar to us; but the distribu- 
tion of them still remains the same. 

7. Every nature is contented with itself when 
it goes on its way well; and a rational nature 
goes on its way well^ when in its thoughts it 
assents to nothing false or uncertain^ and 
when it directs its movements to social acts 
only, and when it confines its desires and aver- 
sions to the things which are in its power, and 
when it is satisfied with everything that is as- 
signed to it by the common nature. For of this 
common nature every particular nature is a 
part, as the nature of the leaf is a part of the 
nature of the plant; except that in the plant 
the nature of the leaf is part of a nature which 
has not perception or reason, and is subject to 
be impeded; but the nature of man is part of a 
nature which is not subject to impediments, 
and is intelligent and just, since it gives to 
everything in equal portions and according to 
its worth, times, substance, cause (form), ac- 
tivity, and incident. But examine, not to dis- 
cover that any one thing compared with any 
other single thing is equal in all respects, but 
by taking all the parts together of one thing 
and comparing them with all the parts to- 
gether of another. 

8. Thou hast not leisure or ability to read. 
But thou hast leisure or ability to check ar- 
rogance: thou hast leisure to be superior to 
pleasure and pain: thou hast leisure to be su- 
perior to love of fame, and not to be vexed at 
stupid and ungrateful people, nay even to care 
for them. 

9. Let no man any longer hear thee finding 
fault with the court life or with thy own. 

10. Repentance is a kind of self-reproof for 
having neglected something useful; but that 
which is good must be something useful, and 
the perfect good man should look after it. But 
no such man would ever repent of having re- 
fused any sensual pleasure. Pleasure then is 
neither good nor useful. 

1 1. This thing, what is it in itself, in its own 
constitution? What is its substance and ma- 
terial? And what its causal nature (or form)? 
And what is it doing in the world? And how 
long docs it subsist? 

12. When thou risest from sleep with re- 
luctance, remember that it is according to thy 
constitution and according to human nature 


AURELIUS 6-/9 

to perform social acts, but sleeping is common 
also to irrational animals. But that which is ac- 
cording to each individual’s nature is also 
more peculiarly its own, and more suitable to 
its nature, and indeed also more agreeable. 

13. Constantly and, if it be possible, on the 
occasion of every impression on the soul, ap- 
ply to it the principles of Physic, of Ethic, and 
of Dialectic. 

14. Whatever man thou meelcst with, im- 
mediately say to thyself: What opinions has 
this man about good and bad? For if with re- 
spect to pleasure and pain and the causes of 
each, and with respect to fame and ignominy, 
death and life, he has such and such opinions, 
it will seem nothing wonderful or strange to 
me, if he does such and such things; and I 
shall bear in mind that he is compelled to do 
so. 

15. Remember that as it is a shame to be 
surprised if the fig-tree produces figs, so it is 
to be surprised if the world produces such and 
such things of which it is productive; and for 
the physician and the helmsman it is a shame 
to be surprised, if a man has a fever, or if the 
wind is unfavourable. 

16. Remeinl)er that to change thy opinion 
and to follow him w^ho corrects thy error is as 
consistent with frecclonv^s it is to persist in 
thy error. For it is thy own, the activity which 
is exerted according to thy own movement and 
judgement, and indeed according to thy own 
understanding too. 

17. If a thing is in thy own power, why 
dost thou do it? But if it is in the power of an- 
other, whom dost thou blame? The atoms 
(chance) or the gods? Both arc foolish. Thou 
must blame nobody. For if thou canst, correct 
that which is the cause; but if thou canst not 
do this, correct at least the thing itself; but if 
thou canst not do even this, of what use is it 
to thee to find fault? For nothing should be 
done without a purpose. 

18. That which has died falls not out of the 
universe. If it stays here, it also changes here, 
and is dissolved into its proper parts, which 
arc elements of the universe and of thyself. 
And these too change, and they murmur not. 

19. Everything exists for some end, a horse, 
a vine. Why dost thou wonder? Even the sun 
will say, I am for some purpose, and the rest 



19-32 MEDITATIONS, BOOK VIII 287 


of the gods will say the same. For what pur- 
pose then art thou? to enjoy pleasure? See if 
common sense allows this. 

20. Nature has had regard in everything no 
less to the end than to the beginning and the 
continuance, just like the man who throws up 
a ball. What good is it then for the ball to be 
thrown up, or harm for it to come down, or 
even to have fallen? And what good is it to 
the bubble while it holds together, or what 
harm when it is burst? The same may be said 
of a light also. 

21. Turn it (the body) inside out, and see 
what kind of thing it is; and when it has 
grown old, what kind of thing it becomes, and 
when it is diseased. 

Short-lived are both the praiser and the 
praised, and the rememberer and the remem- 
bered: and all this in a nook of this part of the 
world; and not even here do all agree, no, not 
any one with himself: and the whole earth too 
is a point. 

22. Attend to the matter which is before 
thee, whether it is an opinion or an act or a 
word. 

Thou suflercst this justly: for thou chooscst 
rather to become good to-morrow than to be 
good to-day. 

23. Am I doing anything? I do it with ref- 
erence to the good of mankind. Does anything 
happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the 
gods, and the source of all things, from which 
all that hapjxms is derived. 

24. Such as bathing apf^cars to thee — oil, 
sweat, dirt, filthy water, all things disgusting 
— so is every part of life and everything. 

25. Lucilla saw Verus die, and then Lucilla 
died. Secunda saw Maximus die, and then 
Secunda died. Epilynchanus saw Diotimus 
die, and Epilynchanus died. Antoninus saw 
Faustina die, and then Antoninus died. Such 
is everything. Celcr saw Hadrian die, and 
then Celcr died. And those shar[>witlcd men, 
either seers or men inflated with pride, where 
arc they? For instance the sharjvwitied men, 
Charax and Demetrius the Platonist and Eu- 
daemon, and any one else like them. All 
ephemeral, dead long ago. Some indeed have 
not been remembered even for a short time, 
and others have become the heroes of fables, 
and again others have disap{)eared even from 


fables. Remember this then, that this little 
compound, thyself, must cither be dissolved, 
or thy poor breath must be extinguished, or be 
removed and placed elsewhere. 

26. It is satisfaction to a man to do the proper 
works of a man. Now it is a proper work of a 
man to be benevolent to his own kind, to de- 
spise the movements of the senses, to form a 
just judgement of plausible appearances, and 
to take a survey of the nature of the universe 
and of the things which happen in it. 

27. There arc three relations between thee 
and other things: the one to the body which 
surrounds thee; the second to the divine cause 
from which all things come to all; and the 
third to those who live with thee. 

28. Pain is either an evil to the body — then 
let the body say what it thinks of it — or to the 
soul; but it is in the power of the soul to main- 
tain its own serenity and tranquillity, and not 
to think that pain is an evil. For every judge- 
ment and movement and desire and aversion 
is within, and no evil ascends so high. 

29. Wipe out thy imaginations by often say- 
ing to thyself: now it is in my power to let no 
badness be in this soul, nor desire nor any per- 
turbation at all; but looking at all things I see 
what is their nature, and I use each according 
to its value. — Remember this power which 
thou hast from nature. 

30. Speak both in the senate and to every 
man, whoever he may be, appropriately, not 
with any affectation: use plain discourse. 

31. Augustus' court, wife, daughter, de- 
scendants, ancestors, sister, Agrippa, kinsmen, 
intimates, friends, Areius, Maecenas, physi- 
cians and sacrificing priests — the whole court 
is dead. Then turn to the rest, not considering 
the death of a single man, but of a whole race, 
as of the Pompeii; and that which is inscribed 
on the tombs — The last of his race. Then con- 
sider what trouble those before them have had 
that they might leave a successor; and then, 
that of necessity some one must be the last. 
Again here consider the death of a whole race. 

32. It is thy duty to order thy life well in 
every single act; and if every act does its duly, 
as far as is possible, be content; and no one 
is able to hinder thee sojthat each act shall not 
do its duly. — But something external will 
stand in the way. — Nothing will stand in the 



288 MARCUS 

way of thy acting justly and soberly and con- 
siderately. — But perhaps some other active 
power will be hindered. — ^Well, but by ac- 
quiescing in the hindrance and by being con- 
tent to transfer thy efforts to that which is al- 
lowed, another opportunity of action is im- 
mediately put before thee in place of that 
which was hindered, and one which will adapt 
itself to this ordering of which we arc speak- 
ing. 

33. Receive wealth or prosperity without ar- 
rogance; and be ready to let it go. 

34. If thou didst ever see a hand cut off, or a 
foot, or a head, lying anywhere apart from the 
rest of the body, such does a man make him- 
self, as far as he can, who is not content with 
what happens, and separates himself from oth- 
ers, or docs anything unsocial. Suppose that 
thou hast detached thyself from the natural 
unity — for thou wast made by nature a part, 
but now thou hast cut thyself off — yet here 
there is this beautiful provision, that it is in 
thy power again to unite thyself. God has al- 
lowed this to no other part, after it has been 
separated and cut asunder, to come together 
again. But consider the kindness by which he 
has distinguished man, for he has put it in his 
power not to be separated at all from the uni- 
versal; and when he has been separated, he 
has allowed him to return and to be united 
and to resume his place as a part. 

35. As the nature of the universal has given 
to every rational being all the other powers 
that it has, so we have received from it this 
power also. For as the universal nature con- 
verts and fixes in its predestined place every- 
thing which stands in the way and opposes it, 
and makes such things a part of itself, so also 
the rational animal is able to make every hin- 
drance its own material, and to use it for such 
purposes as it may have designed. 

36. Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the 
%vholc of thy life. Let not thy thoughts at once 
embrace all the various troubles 'which thou 
mayest expect to befall thee: but on every oc- 
casion ask thyself. What is there in this which 
is intolerable and past bearing.^ For thou wilt 
be ashamed to confess. In the next place re- 
member that neither the future nor the past 
pains thee, but only the present. But this is re- 
duced to a very little, if thou only circumscrib- 


AUREUUS 32-41 

est it, and chidest thy mind, if it is unable to 
hold out against even this. 

37. Does Panthea or Pergamus now sit by 
the tomb of VerusP Does Chaurias or Dioti- 
mus sit by the tomb of Hadrian? That would 
be ridiculous. Well, suppose they did sit there, 
would the dead be conscious of it? And if the 
dead were conscious, would they be pleased? 
And if they were pleased, would that make 
them immortal? Was it not in the order of 
destiny that these persons too should first be- 
come old women and old men and then die? 
What then would those do after these were 
dead? All this is foul smell and blood in a 
bag. 

38. If theu canst see sharp, look and judge 
wisely, says the philosopher. 

39. In the constitution of the rational animal 
I see no virtue which is opposed to justice; but 
I see a virtue which is opposed to love of 
pleasure, and that is tem(x:rance. 

40. If thou takest away thy opinion about 
that which appears to give thee pain, thou thy- 
self standest in perfect security. — Who is this 
self? — The reason. — But I am not reason. — Be 
it so. Let then the rca.son itself not trouble it- 
self. But if any other part of thee suffers, let 
it have its own opinion about itself. 

41. Hindrance to the perceptions of sense is 
an evil to the animal nature. Hindrance to the 
movements (desires) is equally an evil to the 
animal nature. And something else also is 
equally an impediment and an evil to the con- 
stitution of plants. So then that which is a hin- 
drance to the intelligence is an evil to the in- 
telligent nature. Apply all these things then 
to thyself. Docs pain or sensuous pleasure af- 
fect thee? The senses will look to that. — Has 
any obstacle op|X)scd thee in thy efforts to- 
wards an object? if indeed thou wast making 
this effort absolutely (unconditionally, or with- 
out any reservation), certainly this obstacle is 
an evil to thee considered as a rational animal. 
But if thou takest into consideration the usual 
course of things, thou hast not yet been in- 
jured nor even impeded. T^e things however 
which arc proper lo the understanding no 
other man is used to impede, for neither fire, 
nor iron, nor tyrant, nor abuse, touches it in 
any way. When it has been made a sphere, it 
continues a sphere. 



4 ^ 5 ^ MEDITATIONS, BOOK VIII 289 


42. It is not fit that I should give myself 
pain, for I have never intentionally given pain 
even to another. 

43. Different things delight different people. 
But it is my delight to keep the ruling faculty 
sound without turning away either from any 
man or from any of the things which happen 
to men, but looking at and receiving all with 
welcome eyes and using everything according 
to its value. 

44. See that thou secure this present time to 
thyself: for those who rather pursue posthu- 
mous fame do not consider that the men of 
after time will be exactly such as these whom 
they cannot bear now; and both are mortal. 
And what is it in any way to thee if these men 
of after time utter this or that sound, or have 
this or that opinion about thee? 

45. Take me and cast me where thou wilt; 
for there I shall keep my divine part tranquil, 
that is, content, if it can feel and act conform- 
ably to its proper constitution. Is this change 
of place sufficient reason why my soul should 
be unhappy and worse than it was, depressed, 
expanded, shrinking, affrighted? And what 
wilt thou find which is sufficient reason for 
this? 

46. Nothing can happen to any man which 
is not a human accident, nor to an ox which is 
not according to the nature of an ox, nor to a 
vine which is not according to the nature of a 
vine, nor to a stone which is not proper to a 
stone. If then there happens to each thing both 
what is usual and natural, why shouldst thou 
complain? For the common nature brings 
nothing which may not be borne by thee. 

47. If thou art pained by any external thing, 
it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy 
own judgement about it. And it is in thy 
power to wipe out this judgement now. But if 
anything in thy own disposition gives thee 
pain, who hinders thee from correcting thy 
opinion? And even if thou art pained because 
thou art not doing some particular thing 
which seems to thee to be right, why dost thou 
not rather act than complain? — But some in- 
superable obstacle is in the way? — Do not be 
grieved then, for the cause of its not being 
done depends not on thee. — But it is not worth 
while to live, if this cannot be done. — ^Takc thy 
departure then from life contentedly, just as 


he dies who is in full activity, and well pleased 
too with the things which arc obstacles. 

48. Remember that the ruling faculty is in- 
vincible, when self-collected it is satisfied with 
itself, if it docs nothing which it docs not 
choose to do, even if it resist from mere ob- 
stinacy. What then will it be when it forms a 
judgement about anything aided by reason 
and deliberately? Therefore the mind which 
is free from passions is a citadel, for man has 
nothing more secure to which he can fly for 
refuge and for the future be inexpugnable. 
He then who has not seen this is an ignorant 
man; but he who has seen it and docs not fly 
to this refuge is unhappy. 

49. Say nothing more to thyself than what 
the first appearances report. Suppose that it 
has been reported to thee that a certain person 
speaks ill of thee. This has been reported; but 
that thou hast been injured, that has not been 
reported. I see that my child is sick. I do see; 
but that he is in danger, I do not see. Thus 
then always abide by the first appearances, and 
add nothing thyself from within, and then 
nothing happens to thee. Or rather add some- 
thing, like a man who knows everything that 
happens in the world. 

50. A cucumber is bitter. — Throw it away. 
— There are briars in the road. — ^Turn aside 
from them. — This is enough. Do not add, And 
why were such things made in the world? For 
thou wilt be ridiculed by a man who is ac- 
quainted with nature, as thou wouldst be ridi- 
culed by a carpenter and shoemaker if thou 
didst find fault because thou seest in their 
workshop shavings and cuttings from the 
things which they make. And yet they have 
places into which they can throw these shav- 
ings and cuttings, and the universal nature 
has no external space; but the wondrous part 
of her art is that though she has circumscribed 
herself, everything within her which appears 
to decay and to grow old and to be useless she 
changes into herself, and again makes other 
new things from these very same, so that she 
requires neither substance from without nor 
wants a place into which she may cast that 
which decays. She is content then with her 
own space, and her owp'^atter and her own 
art. 

51. Neither in thy actions be sluggish nor in 



290 

thy conversation without method, nor wander^ 
ing in thy thoughts, nor let there be in thy soul 
inward contention nor external effusion, nor 
in life be so busy as to have no leisure. 

Suppose that men kill thee, cut thee in 
pieces, curse thee. What then can these things 
do to prevent thy mind from remaining pure, 
wise, sober, just? For instance, if a man 
should stand by a limpid pure spring, and 
curse it, the spring never ceases sending up 
potable water; and if he should cast clay into 
it or filth, it will speedily disperse them and 
wash them out, and will not be at all polluted. 
How then shalt thou possess a perpetual foun- 
tain and not a mere well? By forming thyself 
hourly to freedom conjoined with content- 
ment, simplicity and modesty. 

52. He who does not know what the world 
is, does not know where he is. And he who 
does not know for what purpose the world 
exists, does not know who he is, nor what the 
world is. But he who has failed in any one of 
these things could not even say for what pur- 
pose he exists himself. What then dost thou 
think of him who avoids or seeks the praise of 
those who applaud, of men who know not 
either where they arc or who they are? 

53. Dost thou wish to be praised by a man 
who curses himself thrice every hour? Wouldst 
thou wish to please a man who docs not please 
himself? Does a man please himself who re- 
pents of nearly everything that he docs? 

54. No longer let thy breathing only act in 
concert with the air which surrounds thee, but 
let thy intelligence also now be in harmony 
with the intelligence which embraces all 
things. For the intelligent power is no less dif- 
fused in all parts and pervades all things for 
him who is willing to draw it to him than the 
aerial power for him who is able to respire it. 

55. Generally, wickedness does no harm at 
all to the universe; and particularly, the wick- 
edness of one man docs no harn%, to another. 
It is only harmful to him who has it in his 
power to be released from it, as soon as he 
shall choose. 


57-6/ 

56. To my own free will the free will of my 
neighbour is just as indifferent as his poor 
breath and flesh. For though we are made espe- 
cially for the sake of one another, still the rul- 
ing power of each of us has its own office, for 
otherwise my neighbour’s wickedness would 
be my harm, which God has not willed in 
order that my unhappiness may not depend 
on another. 

57. The sun apfx^ars to be poured down, and 
in all directions indeed it is diffused, yet it is 
not effused. For this diffusion is extension: Ac- 
cordingly its rays are called Extensions [aKrlves] 
because they are extended [exTro roD eKreLveaO ai]. 
But one may judge what kind of a thing a 
ray is, if he looks at the sun’s light passing 
through a narrow opening into a darkened 
room, for it is extended in a right line, and as 
it were is divided when it meets with any solid 
body which stands in the way and intercepts 
the air beyond; but there the light remains 
fixed and does not glide or fall off. Such then 
ought to be the out-pouring and diffusion of 
the understanding, and it should in no way be 
an effusion, but an extension, and it should 
make no violent or imjKtuous collision with 
the obstacles which are in its way; nor yet fall 
down, but be fixed and enlighten that which 
receives it. For a body wiU deprive itself of the 
illumination, if it does not admit it. 

58. He who fears death cither fears the loss 
of sensation or a different kind of sensation. 
But if thou shalt have no sensation, neither 
wilt thou feel any harm; and if thou shalt ac- 
quire another kind of sensation, thou wilt be 
a different kind of living being and thou wilt 
not cease to live. 

59. Men exist for the sake of one another. 
Teach them then or bear with them. 

60. In one way an arrow moves, in another 
way the mind. The mind indeed, both when it 
exercises caution and when it is employed 
about inquiry, moves straight onward not the 
less, and to its object. 

61. Enter into every man’s ruling faculty; 
and also let every other man enter into thine. 


MARCUS AURELIUS 



MEDITATIONS, BOOK IX 


291 


1-3 


•BOOK NINE 


He who acts unjustly acts impiously. For since 
the universal nature has made rational animals 
for the sake of one another to help one another 
according to their deserts, but in no way to in- 
jure one another, he who transgresses her will, 
is clearly guilty of impiety towards the high- 
est divinity. And he too who lies is guilty of 
impiety to the same divinity; for the universal 
nature is the nature of things that are; and 
things that are have a relation to all things 
that come into existence. And further, this uni- 
versal nature is named truth, and is the prime 
cause of all things that are true. He then who 
lies intentionally is guilty of impiety inasmuch 
as he acts unjustly by deceiving; and he also 
who lies unintentionally, inasmuch as he is at 
variance with universal nature, and inas- 
much as he disturbs the order by fighting 
against the nature of the world; for he fights 
against it, who is moved of himself to that 
which is contrary to truth, for he had received 
powers from nature through the neglect of 
which he is not able now to distinguish false- 
hood from truth. And indeed he who pursues 
pleasure as good, and avoids pain as evil, is 
guilty of impiety. For of necessity such a man 
must often find fault with the universal na- 
ture, alleging that it assigns things to the bad 
and the good contrary to their deserts, because 
frequently the bad are in the enjoyment of 
pleasure and possess the things which procure 
pleasure, hut the good have pain for their share 
and the things which cause pain. And further, 
he who is afraid of pain will sometimes also be 
afraid of some of the things which will happen 
in the world, and even this is impiety. And he 
who pursues pleasure will not abstain from in- 
justice, and this is plainly impiety. Now with 
respect to the things towards which the uni- 
versal nature is equally affected — for it would 
not have made both, unless it was equally af- 
fected towards both — towards these they who 
wish to follow nature should lx: of the same 
mind with it, and equally affected. With re- 
spect to pain, then, and pleasure, or death and 
life, or honour and dishonour, which the uni- 


versal nature employs equally, whoever is not 
equally affected is manifestly acting impiously. 
And I say that the universal nature employs 
them equally, instead of saying that they hap- 
pen alike to those who are produced in con- 
tinuous series and to those who come after 
them by virtue of a certain original movement 
of Providence, according to which it moved 
from a certain beginning to this ordering of 
things, having conceived certain principles of 
the things which were to be, and having de- 
termined powers productive of beings and of 
changes and of such like successions. 

2. It would be a man’s happiest lot to depart 
from mankind without having had any taste of 
lying and hypocrisy and luxury and pride. 
However to breathe out one’s life when a man 
has had enough of these things is the next best 
voyage, as the saying is. Hast thou determined 
to abide with vice, and has not experience yet 
induced thee to fly from this pestilence? For 
the destruction of the understanding is a pes- 
tilence, much more indeed than any such cor- 
ruption and change of this atmosphere which 
surrounds us. For this corruption is a pesti- 
lence of animals so far as they are animals; but 
the other is a pestilence of men so far as they 
are men. 

3. Do not despise death, but be well content 
with it, since this too is one of those things 
which nature wills. For such as it is to be 
young and to grow old, and to increase and to 
reach maturity, and to have teeth and beard 
and grey hairs, and to beget, and to be preg- 
nant and to bring forth, and all the other natu- 
ral operations which the seasons of thy life 
bring, such also is dissolution. This, then, is 
consistent with the character of a reflecting 
man, to be neither careless nor impatient nor 
contemptuous with respect to death, but to 
wait for it as one of the operations of nature. 
As thou now waitest for the time when the 
child shall come out of thy wife’s womb, so be 
ready for the time wheurfliy soul shall fall out 
of this envelope. But if thou requirest also a 
vulgar kind of comfort which shall reach thy 



292 

heart, thou wilt be made best reconciled to 
death by observing the objects from which 
thou art going to be removed, and the morals 
of those with whom thy soul will no longer be 
mingled. For it is no way right to be offended 
with men, but it is thy duty to care for them 
and to bear with them gently; and yet to re- 
member that thy departure will be not from 
men who have the same principles as thyself. 
For this is the only thing, if there be any, 
which could draw us the contrary way and 
attach us to life, to be permitted to live with 
those who have the same principles as our- 
selves. But now thou seest how great is the 
trouble arising from the discordance of those 
who live together, so that thou mayest say. 
Come quick, O death, lest perchance I, too, 
should forget myself. 

4. He who does wrong does wrong against 
himself. He who acts unjustly acts unjustly to 
himself, because he makes himself bad. 

5. He often acts unjustly who docs not do a 
certain thing; not only he who docs a certain 
thing. 

6. Thy present opinion founded on under- 
standing, and thy present conduct directed to 
social good, and thy present disposition of con- 
tentment with everything which happens — 
that is enough. 

7. Wipe out imagination: check desire: ex- 
tinguish appetite: keep the ruling faculty in its 
own power. 

8. Among the animals which have not rea- 
son one life is distributed; but among reason- 
able animals one intelligent soul is distributed: 
just as there is one earth of all things which 
are of an earthy nature, and we see by one 
light, and breathe one air, all of us that have 
the faculty of vision and all that have life. 

9. All things which participate in anything 
which is common to them all move towards 
that which is of the same kind with them- 
selves. Everything which is earthy turns to- 
wards the earth, everything which is liquid 
(lows together, and everything which is of an 
aerial kind does the same, so that they require 
something to keep them asunder, and the ap- 
plication of force. Fire indeed moves upwards 
on account of the elemental (ire, but it is so 
ready to be kindled together with all the (ire 
which is here, that even every substance which 


J-// 

is somewhat dry, is easily ignited, because 
there is less mingled with it of that which is a 
hindrance to ignition. Accordingly then every- 
thing also which participates in the common 
intelligent nature moves in like manner to- 
wards that which is of the same kind with it- 
self, or moves even more. For so much as it is 
superior in comparison with all other things, 
in the same degree also is it more ready to 
mingle with and to be fused with that which 
is akin to it. Accordingly among animals de- 
void of reason we (ind swarms of bees, and 
herds of cattle, and the nurture of young birds, 
and in a manner, loves; for even in animals 
there are souls, and that power which brings 
them together is seen to exert itself in the su- 
perior degree, and in such a way as never has 
been observed in plants nor in stones nor in 
trees. But in rational animals there are politi- 
cal communities and friendships, and families 
and meetings of people; and in wars, treaties 
and armistices. But in the things which are still 
superior, even though they are separated from 
one another, unity in a manner exists, as in the 
stars. Thus the ascent to the higher degree is 
able to produce a sympathy even in things 
which are separated. See, then, what now takes 
place. For only intelligent animals have now 
forgotten this mutual desire and inclination, 
and in them alone the property of (lowing to- 
gether is not seen. But still though men strive 
to avoid this union, they arc caught and held 
by it, for their nature is too strong for them; 
and thou wilt see what I say, if thou only ob- 
servest. Sooner, then, will one find anything 
earthy which comes in contact with no earthy 
thing than a man altogether separated from 
other men. 

10. Both man and God and the universe pro- 
duce fruit; at the proper seasons each produces 
it. But if usage has especially fixed these terms 
to the vine and like thin|]^, this is nothing. 
Reason produces fruit both- for all and for it- 
self, and there, are produced from it other 
things of the same kind as i^ason itself. 

1 1. Tf thou art able, corredt by teaching those 
who do wrong; but if thou canst not, remem- 
ber that indulgence is given to thee for this 
purpose. And the gods, too, are indulgent to 
such persons; and for some purposes they even 
help them to get health, wealth, reputation; so 


MARCUS AVREUUS 



11-28 

kind they are. And it is in thy power also; 
say, who hinders thee? 

12. Labour not as one who is wretched, nor 
yet as one who would be pitied or admired: 
but direct thy will to one thing only, to put 
thyself in motion and to check thyself, as the 
social reason requires. 

13. To day I have got out of all trouble, 
or rather I have cast out all trouble, for it 
was not outside, but within and in my opin- 
ions. 

14. All things arc the same, familiar in ex- 
perience, and ephemeral in time, and worth- 
less in the matter. Everything now is just as 
it was in the time of those whom we have 
buried. 

15. Things stand outside of us, themselves 
by themselves, neither knowing aught of 
themselves, nor expressing any judgement. 
What is it, then, which does judge about 
them? The ruling faculty. 

16. Not in passivity, but in activity lie the 
evil and the good of the rational social animal, 
just as his virtue and his vice lie not in passiv- 
ity, but in activity. 

17. For the stone which has been thrown up 
it is no evil to come down, nor indeed any 
good to have been carried up. 

18. Penetrate inwards into men’s leading 
principles, and thou wilt see what judges thou 
art afraid of, and what kind of judges they arc 
ot themselves. 

19. All things arc changing: and thou thy- 
self art in continuous mutation and in a man- 
ner in continuous destruction, and the whole 
universe too. 

20. It is thy duty to leave another man’s 
wrongful act there where it is. 

21. Termination of activity, cessation from 
movement and opinion, and in a sense their 
death, is no evil. Turn thy thoughts now to 
the consideration of thy life, thy life as a child, 
as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age, for in 
these also every change was a death. Is this 
anything to fear? Turn thy thoughts now to 
thy life under thy grandfather, then to thy life 
under thy mother, then to thy life under thy 
father; and as thou findest many other differ- 
ences and changes and terminations, ask thy- 
self, Is this anything to fear? In like manner, 
then, neither are the termination and cessa- 


293 

tion and change of thy whole life a thing to be 
afraid of. 

22. Hasten to examine thy own ruling facul- 
ty and that of the universe and that of thy 
neighbour: thy own that thou mayest make it 
just: and that of the universe, that thou may- 
est remember of what thou art a part; and that 
of thy neighbour, that thou mayest know 
whether he has acted ignorantly or with 
knowledge, and that thou mayest also con- 
sider that his ruling faculty is akin to thine. 

23. As thou thyself art a component part of 
a social system, so let every act of thine be a 
component part of social life. Whatever act of 
thine then has no reference either immediately 
or remotely to a social end, this tears asunder 
thy life, and does not allow it to be one, and it 
is of the nature of a mutiny, just as when in a 
popular assembly a man acting by himself 
stands apart from the general agreement. 

24. Quarrels of little children and their 
sports, and poor spirits carrying about dead 
bodies, such is everything; and so what is ex- 
hibited in the representation of the mansions 
of the dead strikes our eyes more clearly. 

25. Examine into the quality of the form of 
an object, and detach it altogether from its ma- 
terial part, and then contemplate it; then de- 
termine the time, the longest which a thing of 
this [x:culiar form is naturally made to endure. 

26. Thou hast endured infinite troubles 
through not being contented with thy rul- 
ing faculty, when it docs the things which it is 
constituted by nature to do. But enough of 
this. 

27. When another blames thee or hates thee, 
or when men say about thee anything injuri- 
ous, approach their poor souls, penetrate with- 
in, and sec what kind of men they arc. Thou 
wilt discover that there is no reason to take 
any trouble that these men may have this or 
that opinion about thee. However thou must 
be well disposed towards them, for by nature 
they arc friends. And the gods too aid them 
in all ways, by dreams, by signs, towards the 
attainment of those things on which they set a 
value. 

28. The periodic movements of the universe 
are the same, up and dcu^n from age to age. 
And cither the universal intelligence puts itself 
in motion for every separate effect, and if this 


MEDITATIONS. BOOK IX 
or 



294 

is so, be thou content with that which is the re- 
sult of its activity; or it puts itself in motion 
once, and everything else comes by way of se- 
quence in a manner; or indivisible elements 
arc the origin of all things. — In a word, if 
there is a god, all is well; and if chance rules, 
do not thou also be governed by it. 

Soon will the earth cover us all: then the 
earth, too, will change, and the things also 
which result from change will continue to 
change for ever, and these again for ever. For 
if a man reflects on the changes and transfor- 
mations which follow one another like wave 
after wave and their rapidity, he will despise 
everything which is perishable. 

29. The universal cause is like a winter tor- 
rent: it carries everything along with it. But 
how worthless arc all these poor people who 
are engaged in matters political, and, as they 
sup|)ose, are playing the philosopher! All driv- 
ellers. Well then, man: do what nature now 
requires. Set thyself in motion, if it is in thy 
power, and do not look about thee to see if any 
one will observe it; nor yet expect Plato’s 
public: but be content if the smallest thing 
goes on well, and consider such an event to be 
no small matter. For who can change men’s 
opinions? And without a change of opinions 
what else is there than the slavery of men who 
groan while they pretend to obey? Come now 
and tell me of Alexander and Philip and De- 
metrius of Phalerum. They themselves shall 
judge whether they discovered what the com- 
mon nature required, and trained themselves 
accordingly. But if they acted like tragedy 
heroes, no one has condemned me to imitate 
them. Simple and modest is the work of phi- 
losophy. Draw me not aside to indolence and 
pride. 

30. Look down from above on the countless 
herds of men and their countless solemnities, 
and the infinitely varied voyagings in storms 
and calms, and the differences a^nong those 
who arc born, who live together, and die. And 
consider, too, the life lived by others in olden 
lime, and the life of those who will live after 
thee, and the life now lived among barbarous 
nations, and how many know not even thy 
name, and how many will soon forget it, and 
how they who perhaps now are praising thee 
will very soon blame thee, and that neither a 


2S-36 

posthumous name is of any value, nor reputa- 
tion, nor anything else. 

31. Let there be freedom from perturbations 
with respect to the things which come from 
the external cause; and let there be justice in 
the things done by virtue of the internal cause, 
that is, let there be movement and action ter- 
minating in this, in social acts, for this is ac- 
cording to thy nature. 

32. Thou canst remove out of the way many 
useless things among tliose which disturb thee, 
for they lie entirely in thy opinion; and thou 
w'ilt then gain for tliyself ample space by com- 
prehending the whole universe in thy mind, 
and by contemplating the eternity of time, 
and observing the rapid change of every sev- 
eral thing, how short is the time from birth to 
dissolution, and the illimitable time before 
birth as well as the equally boundless lime 
after dissolution. 

33. All that thou seest will quickly perish, 
and those who have been s|X‘ctators of its dis- 
solution will very soon perish too. And he who 
dies at the extrernest old age will be brought 
into the same condition with him who died 
prematurely. 

34. What arc these men’s leading principles, 
and about what kind of things arc they busy, 
and for what kind of reasons do they love and 
honour? Im.igine that thou seest their poor 
souls laid bare. When they think that they do 
harm by their blame or good by their praise, 
what an idea! 

35. Loss is nothing else than change. But the 
universal nature delights in change, and in 
obedience to her all things are now done well, 
and from eternity have been done in like form, 
and will be such to time without end. What, 
then, dost thou say? I'hat all things have been 
and all things always will be bad, and that 
no power has ever been found in so many 
gods to rectify these things, but the world has 
been condemned to be found in never ceas- 
ing evil ? 

36. The rottenness of the matter which is the 
foundation of everything! Water, dust, bones, 
filth: or again, marble rocks, the callosities of 
the earth; and gold and silver, the sediments; 
and garments, only bits of hair; and purple 
dye, blood; and everything else is of the same 
kind. And that which is of the nature of breath 


MARCUS AURELIUS 



36-42 

is also another thing of the same kind, chang> 
ing from this to that. 

37. Enough of this wretched life and mur- 
muring and apish tricks. Why art thou dis- 
turbed? What is there new in this? What un- 
settles thee? Is it the form of the thing? Look 
at it. Or is it the matter? Look at it. But be- 
sides these there is nothing. Towards the gods, 
then, now become at last more simple and bet- 
ter. It is the same whether we examine these 
things for a hundred years or three. 

38. If any man has done wrong, the harm is 
his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong. 

39. Either all things proceed from one in- 
telligent source and come together as in one 
body, and the part ought not to find fault with 
what is done for the benefit of the whole; or 
there are only atoms, and nothing else than 
mixture and dispersion. Why, then, art thou 
disturbed? Say to the ruling faculty, Art thou 
dead, art thou corrupted, art thou playing the 
hypocrite, art I’^nu become a licast, dost thou 
herd and feed with the rest? 

40. Either the gods have no power or they 
have power. If, then, they have no power, why 
dost thou pray to them? But if they have pow- 
er, why dost thou not pray for them to give 
thee the faculty of not fearing any of the 
things which thou fearcst, or of not desiring 
any of the things which thou desirest, or not 
being pained at anything, rather than pray 
that any of these things should not hapjien or 
happen? for certainly if they can co-operate 
with men, they can co-operate for these pur- 
poses. But perhaps thou wilt say, the gods 
have placed them in thy power. Well, then, is 
it not better to use what is in thy power like a 
free man than to desire in a slavish and abject 
way what is not in thy power? And who has 
told thee that the gods do not aid us even in 
the things which are in our power? Begin, 
then, to pray for such things, and thou wilt 
see. One man prays thus: How shall I be able 
to lie with that woman? Do thou pray thus: 
How shall I not desire to lie with her? An- 
other prays thus: How shall I be released from 
this? Another prays: How shall I not desire to 
be released? Another thus; How shall I not 
lose my little son.^ Thou thus; How shall I 
not be afraid to lose him? In fine, turn thy 
prayers this way, and see what comes. 


295 

41. Epicurus says, In my sickness my con- 
versation was not about my bodily sufferings, 
nor, says he, did I talk on such subjects to those 
who visited me; but I continued to discourse 
on the nature of things as before, keeping to 
this main point, how the mind, while partic- 
ipating in such movements as go on in the 
poor flesh, shall be free from perturbations and 
maintain its proper good. Nor did I, he says, 
give the physicians an opportunity of putting 
on solemn looks, as if they were doing some- 
thing great, but my life went on well and hap- 
pily. Do, then, the same that he did both in 
sickness, if thou art sick, and in any other cir- 
cumstances; for never to desert philosophy in 
any events that may befall us, nor to hold 
trifling talk either with an ignorant man or 
with one unacquainted with nature, is a prin- 
ciple of all schools of philosophy; but to be in- 
tent only on that which thou art now doing 
and on the instrument by which thou doest it. 

42. When thou art offended with any man’s 
shameless conduct, immediately ask thyself, Is 
it possible, then, that shameless men should 
not be in the world ? It is not possible. Do not, 
then, require what is impossible. For this man 
also is one of those shameless men who must 
of necessity be in the world. Let the same con- 
siderations be present to thy mind in the case 
of the knave, and the faithless man, and of 
every man who does wrong in any way. For 
at the same time that thou dost remind thyself 
that it is impossible that such kind of men 
should not exist, thou wilt become more kindly 
disjx)scd towards every one individually. It is 
useful to perceive this, too, immediately when 
the occasion arises, what virtue nature has giv- 
en to man to oppose to every wrongful act. 
For she has given to man, as an antidote 
against the stupid man, mildness, and against 
another kind of man some other power. And 
in all cases it is possible for thee to correct by 
teaching the man who is gone astray; for every 
man who errs misses his object and is gone 
astray. Besides wherein hast thou been injured? 
For thou wilt find that no one among those 
against whom thou art irritated has done any- 
thing by which thy mind could be made 
worse; but that which is^il to thee and harm- 
ful has its foundation only in the mind. And 
what harm is done or what is there strange, if 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK IX 



296 MARCUS 

the man who has not been instructed does the 
acts of an uninstructed man? Consider wheth- 
er thou shouldst not rather blame thyself, be- 
cause thou didst not expect such a man to err 
in such a way. For thou hadst means given 
thee by thy reason to suppose that it was likely 
that he would commit this error, and yet thou 
hast forgotten and art amazed that he has 
erred. But most of all when thou blamest a 
man as faithless or ungrateful, turn to thyself. 
For the fault is manifestly thy own, whether 
thou didst trust that a man who had such a 
disposition would keep his promise, or when 
conferring thy kindness thou didst not confer 
it absolutely, nor yet in such way as to have rc- 


AUREUUS /-5 

ceived from thy very act all the profit. For 
what more dost thou want when thou hast done 
a man a service? Art thou not content that 
thou hast done something conformable to thy 
nature, and dost thou seek to be paid for it? 
Just as if the eye demanded a recompense for 
seeing, or the feet for walking. For as these 
members are formed for a particular purpose, 
and by working according to their several con- 
stitutions obtain what is their own; so also as 
man is formed by nature to acts of benevo- 
lence, when he has done anything benevolent 
or in any other way conducive to the common 
interest, he has acted conformably to his con- 
stitution, and he gets what is his own. 


•BOOK TEN 


Wilt thou, then, my soul, never be good and 
simple and one and naked, more manifest 
than the body which surrounds thee? Wilt 
thou never enjoy an affectionate and contented 
disposition? Wilt thou never be full and with- 
out a want of any kind, longing for nothing 
more, nor desiring anything, cither animate or 
inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasures? 
Nor yet desiring time wherein thou shalt have 
longer enjoyment, or place, or pleasant climate, 
or society of men with whom thou'mayest 
live in harmony? But wilt thou be satisfied 
with thy present condition, and pleased with 
all that is about thee, and wilt thou convince 
thyself that thou hast everything and that it 
comes from the gods, that everything is well 
for thee, and will be well whatever shall please 
them, and whatever they shall give for the 
conservation of the perfect living being, the 
good and just and beautiful, which generates 
and holds together all things, and contains 
and embraces all things which are dissolved 
for the production of other like things? Wilt 
thou never be such that thou shalt so dwell in 
community with gods and men as neither to 
find fault with them at all, nor to be con- 
demned by them? 

2. Observe what thy nature requires, so far 
as thou art governed by nature only: then do 
it and accept it, if thy nature, so far as thou art 
a living being, shall not be made worse by it* 


And next thou must observe what thy nature 
requires so far as thou art a living being. And 
all this thou mayest allow thyself, if thy na- 
ture, so far as thou art a rational animal, shall 
not be made worse by it. But the rational ani- 
mal is consequently also a political (social) 
animal. Use these rules, then, and trouble thy- 
self about nothing else. 

3. Everything which hjppcns cither happens 
in such wise as thou art formed by nature to 
bear it, or as thou art not formed by nature to 
bear it. If, then, it happens to thee in such 
way as thou art formed by nature to bear it, 
do not complain, but bear it as thou art formed 
by nature to bear it. But if it happens in such 
wise as thou art not formed by nature to bear 
it, do not complain, for it will perish after it 
has consumed thee. Remember, however, that 
thou art formed by nature to bear everything, 
with respect to which it depends on thy own 
opinion to make it endurable and tolerable, by 
thinking that it is cither diy interest or thy 
duty to do this. 

4. If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly 
and show him his error. But if thou art not 
able, blame thyself, or blame not even thyself. 

5. Whatever may happed to thee, it was pre- 
pared for thee from all eternity; and the im- 
plication of causes was from eternity spinning 
the thread of thy being, and of that which is 
incident to it. 



6-8 

6. Whether the universe is a concourse o£ 
atoms, or nature is a system, let this first be 
established, that 1 am a part of the whole 
which is governed by nature; next, I am in a 
manner intimately related to the parts which 
arc of the same kind with myself. For remem- 
bering this, inasmuch as I am a part, I shall be 
discontented with none of the things which 
are assigned to me out of the whole; for noth- 
ing is injurious to the part, if it is for the ad- 
vantage of the whole. For the whole contains 
nothing which is not for its advantage; and all 
natures indeed have this common principle, 
but the nature of the universe has this prin- 
ciple besides, that it cannot be comjjclled even 
by any external cause to generate anything 
harmful to itself. By remembering, then, that 
I am a part of such a whole, I shall be content 
with everything that happens. And inasmuch 
as I am in a manner intimately related to the 
parts which arc of the same kind with my- 
self, I shall d:> nothing unsocial, but I shall 
rather direct myself to the things which arc of 
the same kind with myself, and I shall turn all 
my efforts to the common interest, and divert 
them from the contrary. Now, if these things 
are done so, life must How on happily, just as 
thou mayest observe that the life of a citizen is 
happy, who continues a course of action which 
is advantageous to his fellow-citizens, and is 
content with whatever the state may assign to 
him. 

7. The parts of the whole, everything, I 
mean, which is naturally comprehended in the 
universe, must of necessity perish; but let this 
be understood in this sense, that they must un- 
dergo change. But if this is naturally both an 
evil and a necessity for the parts, the whole 
would not continue to exist in a good condi- 
tion, the parts being subject to change and con- 
stituted so as to perish in various ways. For 
whether did nature herself design to do evil 
to the things which are parts of herself, and to 
make them subject to evil and of necessity fall 
into evil, or have such results happened with- 
out her knowing it? Both these suppositions, 
indeed, are incredible. But if a man should 
even drop the term Nature (as an efficient 
power), and should speak of these things as 
natural, even then it would be ridiculous to 
affirm at the same time that the parts of the 


297 

whole are in their nature subject to change, 
and at the same time to be surprised or vexed 
as if something were happening contrary to 
nature, particularly as the dissolution of things 
is into those things of which each thing is com- 
posed. For there is either a dispersion of the 
elements out of which everything has been 
compounded, or a change from the solid to the 
earthy and from the airy to the aerial, so that 
these parts are taken back into the universal 
reason, whether this at certain periods is con- 
sumed by fire or renewed by eternal changes. 
And do not imagine that the solid and the airy 
part belong to thee from the time of genera- 
tion. For all this received its accretion only 
yesterday and the day before, as one may say, 
from the food and the air which is inspired. 
This, then, which has received the accretion, 
changes, not that which thy mother brought 
forth. But suppose that this which thy mother 
brought forth implicates thee very much with 
that other part, which has the peculiar quality 
of change, this is nothing in fact in the way of 
objection to what is said. 

8, When thou hast assumed these names, 
good, modest, true, rational, a man of equa- 
nimity, and magnanimous, take care that thou 
dost not change these names; and if thou 
shouldst lose them, quickly return to them. 
And remember that the term Rational was in- 
tended to signify a discriminating attention to 
every several thing and freedom from neg- 
ligence; and that Equanimity is the voluntary 
acceptance of the things which are assigned to 
thee by the common nature; and that Mag- 
nanimity is the elevation of the intelligent part 
above the pleasurable or painful sensations of 
the flesh, and above that poor thing called 
fame, and death, and all such things. If, then, 
thou maintaincst thyself in the possession of 
these names, without desiring to be called by 
these names by others, thou wilt be another 
person and wilt enter on another life. For to 
continue to be such as thou hast hitherto been, 
and to be torn in pieces and defiled in such a 
life, is the character of a very stupid man and 
one overfond of his life, and like those half- 
devoured fighters with ^wild beasts, who 
though covered with wounds and gore, still in- 
treat to be kept to the following day, though 
they will be exposed in the same state to the 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK X 



298 

same claws and bites. Therefore fix thyself in 
the possession of these few names: and if thou 
art able to abide in them, abide as if thou wast 
removed to certain islands of the Happy. But 
if thou shalt perceive that thou fallcst out of 
them and dost not maintain thy hold, go cou- 
rageously into some nook where thou shalt 
maintain them, or even depart at once from 
life, not in passion, but with simplicity and 
freedom and modesty, after doing this one 
laudable thing at least in thy life, to have gone 
out of it thus. In order, however, to the re- 
membrance of these names, it will greatly help 
thee, if thou rememberest the gods, and that 
they wish not to be flattered, but wish all rea- 
sonable beings to be made like themselves; and 
if thou rememberest that what does the work 
of a fig-tree is a fig-tree, and that what does 
the work of a dog is a dog, and that what does 
the work of a bee is a bee, and that what does 
the work of a man is a man. 

9. Mimi,^ war, astonishment, torpor, slavery, 
will daily wipe out those holy principles of 
thine. How many things without studying na- 
ture dost thou imagine, and how many dost 
thou neglect.^ But it is thy duty so to look on 
and so to do everything, that at the same time 
the power of dealing with circumstances is 
perfected, and the contemplative faculty is ex- 
ercised, and the confidence which comes from 
the knowledge of each several thing Is main- 
tained without showing it, but yet not con- 
cealed. For when wilt thou enjoy simplicity, 
when gravity, and w'hen the knowledge of 
every several thing, both what it is in sub- 
stance, and what place it has in the universe, 
and how long it is formed to exist and of what 
things it is compounded, and to whom it can 
belong, and who are able both to give it and 
take it away? 

10. A spider is proud when it has caught a 
fly, and another when he has caught a poor 
hare, and another when he has taken a little 
fish in a net, and anotiier when he has taken 
wild boars, and another when he has taken 
bears, and another when he has taken Sar- 
matians. Are not these robbers, if thou exam- 
incst their opinions? 

n. Acquire the contemplative way of seeing 
how all things change into one another, and 

^ A kind of Roman stage play. 


8-14 

constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself 
about this part of philosophy. For nothing is 
so much adapted to produce magnanimity. 
Such a man has put off the body, and as he secs 
that he must, no one knows how soon, go 
away from among men and leave everything 
here, he gives himself up entirely to just do- 
ing in all his actions, and in everything else 
that happens he resigns himself to the uni- 
versal nature. But as to what any man shall 
say or think about him or do against him, he 
never even thinks of it, being himself con- 
tented with these two things, with acting just- 
ly in what he now docs, and being satisfied 
with what is now assigned to him; and he 
lays aside all distracting and busy pursuits, 
and desires nothing else than to accomplish 
the straight course through the law, and by 
accomplishing the straight course to follow 
God. 

12. What need is there of suspicious fear, 
since it is in thy power to inquire what ought 
to be done? And if thou scest clear, go by this 
way content, without turning back: but if thou 
dost not see clear, stop anti take the best ad- 
visers. But if any other things oppose thee, go 
on according to thy jK)wers with due consider- 
ation, keeping to that which apjx’ars to be just. 
For it is best to reach tWs object, and if thou 
dost fail, let thy failure lx; in attempting this. 
He who follows reason in all things is both 
tranquil and active at the same time, and also 
cheerful and collected. 

13. Inquire of thyself as soon as thou wakest 
from sleep, whether it will make any differ- 
ence to thee, if another docs what is just and 
right. It will make no difference. 

Thou hast not forgotten, I suppose, that 
those who assume arrogant airs in bestowing 
their praise or blame on others, are such as 
they are at bed and at board, and thou hast not 
forgotten what they do, and what they avoid 
and what they pursue, and how they steal and 
how they rob, not with hands and feet, but 
with their most valuable pan, by means of 
which there is produced, when a man chooses, 
fidelity, modesty, truth, law, a good daemon 
(happiness)? 

14. To her who gives and takes back all, to 
nature, the man who is instructed and modest 
says. Give what thou wilt; take back what 


MARCUS AURELIUS 



j 4“28 

thou wilt. And he says this not proudly, but 
obediently and well pleased with her. 

15. Short is the little which remains to thee 
of life. Live as on a mountain. For it makes no 
difference whether a man lives there or here, 
if he lives everywhere in the world as in a 
state (political community). Let men see, let 
them know a real man who lives according to 
nature. If they cannot endure him, let them 
kill him. For that is better than to live thus 
as men do. 

16. No longer talk at all about the kind 
of man that a good man ought to be, but be 
such. 

17. Constantly contemplate the whole of 
lime and the whole of substance, and consider 
that all individual things as to substance are 
a grain of a fig, and as to time, the turning of 
a gimlet. 

18. Look at everything that exists, and ob- 
serve that it is already in dissolution and in 
change, and a . were putrefaction or disper- 
sion, or that everything is so constituted by 
nature as to die. 

19. Consider what men are when they are 
eating, sleeping, generating, easing themselves 
and so forth. Then what kind of men they 
are when they arc imperious and arrogant, or 
angry and scolding from their elevated place. 
But a short time ago to how many they were 
slaves and for what things; and after a little 
time consider in what a conilition they will be. 

20. That is for the good of each thing, which 
the universal nature brings to each. And it is 
for its good at the lime wdicn nature brings it. 

21. “The earth loves the shower”; and “the 
solemn aether loves”*: and the universe loves 
to make whatever is about to be. I say then to 
the universe, that I love as thou lovest. And is 
not this too said, that “this or that loves (is 
wont) to be produced”.? 

22. Either thou livest here and hast already 
accustomed thyself to it, or thou art going 
away, and this was thy own will; or thou art 
dying and hast discharged thy duty. But !*>€- 
sides these things there is nothing. Be of good 
cheer, then. 

23. Let this always be plain to thee, that this 
piece of land is like any other; and that all 
things here arc the same with things on the 

* Euripides, fragment. 


299 

top of a mountain, or on the sea-shore, or 
wherever thou choosest to be. For thou wilt 
find just what Plato says, Dwelling within the 
walls of a city as in a shepherd’s fold on a 
mountain.* 

24. What is my ruling faculty now to me? 
And of what nature am I now making it? And 
for what purpose am I now using it? Is it void 
of understanding? Is it loosed and rent asun- 
der from social life? Is it melted into and 
mixed with the poor flesh so as to move to- 
gether with it? 

25. He who flics from his master is a run- 
away; but the law is master, and he who 
breaks the law is a runaway. And he also who 
is grieved or angry or afraid, is dissatisfied be- 
cause something has been or is or shall be of 
the things which are appointed by him who 
rules all thmgs, and he is Law, and assigns to 
every man what is fit. He then who fears or is 
grieved or is angry is a runaway. 

26. A man deposits seed in a womb and 
goes away, and then another cause takes it, 
and labours on it and makes a child. What a 
thing from such a material! Again, the child 
passes food dowm through the throat, and 
then another cause takes it and makes percep- 
tion and motion, and in fine life and strength 
and other things; how many and how strange! 
Observe then the things w'hich arc produced 
in such a hidden way, and see the power Just 
as we sec tlic power which carries things 
downwards and upwards, not with the eyes, 
but still no less plainly. 

27. Cons*^anlly consider how all things such 
as they now arc, in time past also were; and 
consider that they will be the same again. And 
place before thy eyes entire dramas and stages 
of the same form, whatever thou hast learned 
from thy experience or from older history; for 
example, the whole court of Hadrian, and the 
whole court of Antoninus, and the whole 
court of Philip, Alexander, Croesus; for all 
those were such dramas as w'c see now, only 
with different actors. 

28. Imagine every man who is grieved at 
anything or discontented to be like a pig w'hich 
is sacrificed and kicks and screams. 

Like this pig also is he who on his bed in 
silence laments the bonds in which wc arc 

■ Cf. Thextetust 174. 


MEDITATIONS. BOOK X 



300 

held. And consider that only to the rational 
animal is it given to follow voluntarily what 
happens; but simply to follow is a necessity 
imposed on all. 

29. Severally on the occasion of everything 
that thou doest) pause and ask thyself^ if death 
is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of 
this. 

30. When thou art offended at any man’s 
faulty forthwith turn to thyself and reflect in 
what like manner thou dost err thyself; for 
example, in thinking that money is a good 
thing, or pleasure, or a bit of reputation, and 
the like. For by attending to this thou wilt 
quickly forget thy anger, if this consideration 
also is added, that the man is compelled: for 
what else could he do? or, if thou art able, 
take away from him the compulsion. 

31. When thou hast seen Satyron the So- 
cratic, think of either Eutyches or Hymen, 
and when thou hast seen Euphrates, think of 
Eutychion or Silvanus, and when thou hast 
seen Alciphron think of Tropaeophorus, and 
when thou hast seen Xenophon think of Crito 
or Severus, and when thou hast looked on thy- 
self, think of any other Cxsar, and in the case 
of every one do in like manner. Then let this 
thought be in thy mind, Where then are those 
men? Nowhere, or nobody knows where. For 
thus continuously thou wilt look at human 
things as smoke and nothing at all; e^ecially 
if thou reflectest at the. same time that what 
has once changed will never exist again in the 
infinite duration of time. But thou, in what a 
brief space of time is thy existence? And why 
art thou not content to pass through this short 
time in an orderly way? What matter and 
opportunity for thy activity art thou avoiding? 
For what else are all these things, except ex- 
ercises for the reason, when it has viewed care- 
fully and by examination into their nature the 
things which happen in life? Persevere then 
until thou shall have made these things thy 
own, as the stomach which is strengthened 
makes all things its own, as the blazing fire 
makes flame and brightness out of everything 
that is thrown into it. 

32. Let it not be in any man’s power to say 
truly of thee that thou art not simple or that 
thou are not good; but let him be a liar who- 
ever shall think anything of this kind about 


2&~33 

thee; and this is altogether in thy power. For 
who is he that shall hinder thee from being 
good and simple? Do thou only determine to 
live no longer, unless thou shall be such. For 
neither does reason allow thee to live, if thou 
art not such. 

33. What is that which as to this material 
(our life) can be done or said in the way most 
conformable to reason. For whatever this may 
be, it is in thy power to do it or to say it, and 
do not make excuses that thou art hindered. 
Thou wilt not cease to lament till thy mind is 
in such a condition that, what luxury is to 
those who enjoy pleasure, such shall be to 
thee, in the matter which is subjected and pre- 
sented to thee, the doing of the things which 
arc conformable to man’s constitution; for a 
man ought to consider as an enjoyment every- 
thing which it is in his power to do according 
to his own nature. And it is in his power 
everywhere. Now, it is not given to a cylinder 
to move everywhere by its own motion, nor 
yet to water nor to fire, nor to anything else 
which is governed by nature or an irrational 
soul, for the things which check them and 
stand in the way arc many. But intelligence 
and reason are able to go through everything 
that opposes them, and in such manner as they 
are formed by nature ’tmd as they choose. 
Place before thy eyes this facility with which 
the reason will be carried through all things, 
as hre upwards, as a stone downwards, as a 
cylinder down an inclined surface, and seek 
for nothing further. For all other obstacles 
cither affect the body only which is a dead 
thing; or, except through opinion and the 
yielding of the reason itself, they do not crush 
nor do any harm of any kind; for if they did, 
he who felt it would immediately become bad. 
Now, in the case of all things which have a 
certain constitution, whatever harm may hap- 
pen to any of them, that v^hich is so affected 
becomes consequently wonse; but in the like 
case, a man becomes both better, if one may 
say so, and more worthy of praise by making 
a right use of these accidents. And finally re- 
member that nothing harnis him who is really 
a citizen, which does not harm the state; nor 
yet does anything harm the state, which does 
not harm law (order); and of these things 
which are called misfortunes not one harms 


MARCUS AUREUUS 



33 - 3 ^ 

law. What then docs not harm law does not 
harm either state or citizen. 

34. To him who is penetrated by true prin- 
ciples even the briefest precept is sufficient, and 
any common precept, to remind him that he 
should be free from grief and fear. For ex- 
ample — 

leaves, some the wind scatters on the ground — 
So is the race of men,^ 

Leaves, also, are thy children; and leaves, too, 
arc they who cry out as if they were worthy of 
credit and bestow their praise, or on the con- 
trary curse, or secretly blame and sneer; and 
leaves, in like manner, are those who shall re- 
ceive and transmit a man’s fame to after- 
times. For all such things as these “are pro- 
duced in the season of spring,” as the poet 
says; then the wind casts them down; then the 
forest produces other leaves in their places. 
But a brief existence is common to all things, 
and yet thou avoidcst and pursucst all things 
as if they woiih! l>c eternal. A little time, and 
thou shalt close thy eyes; and him who has at- 
tended thee to thy grave another soon will 
lament. 

35. The healthy eye ought to sec all visible 
things and not to say, I wish for green things; 
for this is the condition of a diseased eye. And 
the healthy hearing and smelling ought to be 
ready to perceive all that can be heard and 
smelled. And the healthy stomach ought to be 
with respect to all food just as the mill with re- 
spect to all things which it is formed to grind. 
And accordingly the healthy understanding 
ought to be prepared for everything which 
happens; but that which says, I^t my dear 
children live, and let all men praise whatever 
I may do, is an eye which seeks for green 
things, or teeth which seek for soft things. 

36. There is no man so fortunate that there 
shall not be by him when he is dying some 
who are pleased with what is going to hap- 
pen. Suppose that he w^as a good and wise 
man, will there not be at last some one to say 

^ Homer, lUad^ vi. 147. 


301 

to himself, Let us at last breathe freely being 
relieved from this schoolmaster? It is true that 
he was harsh to none of us, but I perceived 
that he tacitly condemns us. — ^This is what is 
said of a good man. But in our own case how 
many other things arc there for which there 
arc many who wish to get rid of us. Thou wilt 
consider this then when thou art dying, and 
thou wilt depart more contentedly by reflecting 
thus: I am going away from such a life, in 
which even my associates in behalf of whom 
I have striven so much, prayed, and cared, 
themselves wish me to depart, hoping per- 
chance to get some little advantage by it. Why 
then should a man cling to a longer stay here? 
Do not however for this reason go away less 
kindly disposed to them, but preserving thy 
own character, and friendly and benevolent 
and mild, and on the other hand not as if 
thou wast torn away; but as when a man dies 
a quiet death, the poor soul is easily separated 
from the body, such also ought thy departure 
from men to be, for nature united thee to them 
and associated thee. But docs she now dis- 
solve the union? Well, I am separated as from 
kinsmen, not however dragged resisting, but 
without compulsion; for this too is one of the 
things according to nature. 

37. Accustom thyself as much as possible on 
the occasion of anything being done by any 
person to inquire with thyself. For what ob- 
ject is this man doing this? But begin with 
thyself, and examine thyself first. 

38. Remember that this which pulls the 
strings is the thing which is hidden within: 
this is the power of persuasion, this is life, this, 
if one may so say, is man. In contemplating 
thyself never include the vessel which sur- 
rounds thee and these instruments which arc 
attached about it. For they are like to an axe, 
differing only in this that they grow to the 
body. For indeed there is no more use in these 
parts without the cause which moves and 
checks them than in the weaver’s shuttle, and 
the writer’s pen and the driver’s whip. 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK X 



302 


MARCUS AURELIUS 


j-6 


BOOK ELEVEN 


These are the properties of the rational soul: 
it sees itself, analyses itself, and makes itself 
such as it chooses; the fruit which it bears it- 
self enjoys — for the fruits of plants and that in 
animals which corresponds to fruits others en- 
joy — it obtains its own end, wherever the limit 
of life may be fixed. Not as in a dance and in 
a play and in such like things, where the 
whole action is incomplete, if anything cuts it 
short; but in every part and wherever it may 
be stopped, it makes what has been set before 
it full and complete, so that it can say, I have 
what is my own. And further it traverses the 
whole universe, and the surrounding vacuum, 
and surveys its form, and it extends itself into 
the infinity of time, and embraces and com- 
prehends the periodical renovation of all 
things, and it comprehends that those who 
come after us will sec nothing new, nor have 
those before us seen anything more, but in a 
manner he who is forty years old, if he has any 
understanding at all, has seen by virtue of the 
uniformity that prevails all things which have 
been and all that will be. This too is a prop- 
erty of the rational soul, love of one’s^ neigh- 
bour, and truth and modesty, and to value 
nothing more than itsdf, w'hich is also the 
property of Law. Thus then right reason dif- 
fers not at all from the reason of justice. 

2. Thou wilt set little value on pleasing 
song and dancing and the pancratium, if thou 
wilt distribute the melody of the voice into its 
several sounds, and ask thyself as to each, if 
thou art mastered by this; for thou wilt be pre- 
vented by shame from confessing it: and in 
the matter of dancing, if at each movement 
and attitude thou wilt do the same; and the 
like also in the matter of the patlcratium. In 
all things, then, except virtue and the acts of 
virtue, remember to apply thyself to their sev- 
eral parts, and by this division to come to 
value them little: and apply this rule also to 
thy whole life. 

3. What a soul that is which is ready, if at 
any moment it must be separated from the 
body, and ready either to be extinguished or 


dispersed or continue to exist; but so that this 
readiness comes from a man’s own judgement, 
not from mere obstinacy, as with the Chris- 
tians,' but considerately and with dignity and 
in a way to persuade another, without tragic 
show. 

4. Have I done something for the general in- 
terest? Well then I have had my reward. Let 
this always be present to thy mind, and never 
stop doing such good. 

5. What is thy art? To be good. And how is 
this accomplished well except by general prin- 
ciples, some about the nature of the universe, 
and others about the proper constitution of 
man? 

6. At first tragedies were brought on the 
stage as means of reminding men of the things 
which happen to them, and that it is accord- 
ing to nature for things to happen so, and that, 
if you are delighted with what is shown on the 
stage, you should not be troubled with that 
which takes place on the larger stage. For you 
sec that these things must be accomplished 
thus, and that even thcy^K'ar them who cry 
out “O Cithacron.”^ And, indeed, some things 
are said well by the dramatic writers, of which 
kind is the following especially; — 

Me and my children if the gods neglect. 

This has its reason too? 

And again — 

We must not chafe and fret at that which happens. 
And — 

IJfe*s harvest reap lil^e the wheat's fruitful ear. 
And other things of the same kind. 

After tragedy the old comedy was intro- 
duced, which had a magisterial freedom of 
speech, and by its very plainness of speaking 
was useful in reminding men to beware of in- 
solence; and for this purpose too Diogenes 
used to take from these writers. 

But as to the middle comedy which came 
next, observe what it was, and again, for what 
object the new comedy was introduced, which 

^ Reference to Christians is possibly a later gloss. 

*Sophfx:lcs, Oedtpus ihe King, 1391. 

* Euripides, fragments. 



6-is 

gradually sunk down into a mere mimic arti- 
fice. That some good things arc said even by 
these writers, everybody knows: but the whole 
plan of such poetry and dramaturgy, to what 
end docs it look! 

7. How plain docs it appear that there is not 
another condition of life so well suited for 
philosophising as this in which thou now hap- 
penest to be. 

8. A branch cut off from the adjacent branch 
must of necessity be cut off from the whole 
tree also. So too a man when he is separated 
from another man has fallen off from the 
whole social community. Now as to a branch, 
another cuts it off, hut a man by his own act 
separates himself from his neighbour when he 
hates him and turns away from him, and he 
docs not know that he has at the same time 
cut himself off from the whole social system. 
Yet he has this privilege certainly from Zeus 
who framed society, for it is in our power to 
grow again .lut which is near to us, and 
again to become a part which helps to make 
up the whole. However, if it often happens, 
this kind of separation, it makes it difficult for 
that which detaches itself to lx: brought to uni- 
ty and to be restored to its former condition. 
Finally, the branch, which from the first grew 
together with the tree, and has continued to 
have one life with it, is not like that which 
after lx:ing cut off is then ingrafted, for this is 
something like what the gardeners mean when 
they say that it grows with the rest of the tree, 
but that it has not the same mind with it. 

9. As those who try to stand in thy way when 
thou art proceeding according to right reason, 
will not be able to turn thee aside from thy 
proper action, so neither let them drive thee 
from thy benevolent feelings towards them, 
but be on thy guard equally in both matters, 
not only in the matter of steady judgement 
and action, but also in the matter of gentleness 
towards those who try to hinder or otherwise 
trouble thee. For this also is a weakness, to be 
vexed at them, as well as to be diverted from 
thy course of action and to give way through 
fear; for both are equally deserters from their 
post, the man who does it through fear, and 
the man who is alienated from him who is by 
nature a kinsman and a friend. 

10. There is no nature which is inferior to 


303 

art, for the arts imitate the nature of things. 
But if this is so, that nature which is the most 
perfect and the most comprehensive of all na- 
tures, cannot fall short of the skill of art. Now 
all arts do the inferior things for the sake of 
the superior; therefore the universal nature 
docs so too. And, indeed, hence is the origin 
of justice, and in justice the other virtues have 
their foundation: for justice will not be ob- 
served, if we either care for middle things 
(things indifferent), or are easily deceived and 
careless and changeable. 

11. If the things do not come to thee, the 
pursuits and avoidances of which disturb thee, 
still in a manner thou goest to them. Let then 
thy judgement about them be at rest, and they 
will remain quiet, and thou wilt not be seen 
either pursuing or avoiding. 

12. The spherical form of the soul maintains 
its figure, when it is neither extended towards 
any object, nor contracted inwards, nor dis- 
persed nor sinks down, but is illuminated by 
light, by which it sees the truth, the truth of 
all things and the truth that is in itself. 

13. Suppose any man shall despise me. Let 
him look to that himself. But I will look to 
this, that I be not discovered doing or saying 
anything deserving of contempt. Shall any 
man hate me? Let him look to it. But I will 
be mild and benevolent towards every man, 
and ready to show even him his mistake, not 
reproachfull), nor yet as making a display of 
my endurance, but nobly and honestly, like 
the great Phocion, unless indeed he only as- 
sumed it. For the interior parts ought to be 
such, and a man ought to be seen by the gods 
neither dissatisfied with anything nor com- 
plaining. For what evil is it to thee, if thou art 
now doing what is agreeable to thy own na- 
ture, and art satisfied with that which at this 
moment is suitable to the nature of the uni- 
verse, since thou art a human being placed at 
thy post in order that w'hat is for the common 
advantage may be done in some way? 

14. Men despise one another and flatter one 

another; and men wish to raise themselves 
above one another, and crouch before one an- 
other. ^ 

15. How unsound and '^Insincere is he who 
says, I have determined to deal with thee in a 
fair way. — What art thou doing, man? There 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK XI 



304 MARCUS AURELIUS /w« 


is no occasion to give this notice. It will soon 
show itself by acts. The voice ought to be 
plainly written on the forehead. Such as a 
man’s character is, he immediately shows it in 
his eyes, just as he who is beloved forthwith 
reads everything in the eyes of lovers. The man 
who is honest and good ought to be exactly 
like a man who smells strong, so that the by- 
stander as soon as he comes near him must 
smell whether he choose or not. But the affec- 
tation of simplicity is like a crooked stick. 
Nothing is more disgraceful than a wolfish 
friendship (false friendship). Avoid this most 
of all. The good and simple and benevolent 
show all these things in the eyes, and there is 
no mistaking. 

16. As to living in the best way, this power 
is in the soul, if it be indifferent to things 
which arc indifferent. And it will be indiffer- 
ent, if it looks on each of these things sepa- 
rately and all together, and if it remembers 
that not one of them produces in us an opin- 
ion about itself, nor comes to us; but these 
things remain immovable, and it is we our- 
selves who produce the judgements about 
them, and, as we may say, write them in our- 
selves, it being in our power not to write them, 
and it being in our power, if perchance these 
judgements have imperceptibly got admission 
to our minds, to wipe them out; and if we re- 
member also that such attention will only be 
for a short time, and then life will be at an 
end. Besides, what trouble is there at all in do- 
ing this? For if these things arc according to 
nature, rejoice in them, and they will be easy 
to thee: but if contrary to nature, seek what is 
conformable to thy own nature, and strive to- 
wards this, even if it bring no reputation; for 
every man is allowed to seek his own good. 

17. Consider whence each thing is come, 
and of what it consists, and into what it 
changes, and what kind of a thing it will be 
when it has changed, and that ft will sustain 
no harm. 

18. If any have offended against thee, con- 
sider first: What is my relation to men, and 
that wc are made for one another; and in an- 
other respect, I was made to be set over them, 
as a ram over the flock or a bull over the herd. 
But examine the matter from first principles, 
from this: If all things are not mere atoms, it 


is nature which orders all things; if this is so, 
the inferior things exist for the sake of the 
superior, and these for the sake of one another. 

Second, consider what kind of men they are 
at table, in bed, and so forth: and particularly, 
under what compulsions in respect of opinions 
they are; and as to their acts, consider with 
what pride they do what they do. 

Third, that if men do rightly what they do, 
wc ought not to be displeased; but if they do 
not right, it is plain that they do so involun- 
tarily and in ignorance. For as every soul is un- 
willingly deprived of the truth, so also is it 
unwillingly deprived of the power of behaving 
to each man according to his deserts. Accord- 
ingly men are pained when they are called un- 
just, ungrateful, and greedy, and in a word 
wrong-doers to their neighbours. 

Fourth, consider that thou also doest many 
things wrong, and that thou art a man like 
others; and even if thou dost abstain from cer- 
tain faults, still thou hast the disposition to 
commit them, though either through coward- 
ice, or concern about reputation, or some such 
mean motive, thou dost abstain from such 
faults. 

Fifth, consider that thou dost not even un- 
derstand whether men are doing wrong or not, 
for many things are done with a certain ref- 
erence to circumstances. And in short, a man 
must learn a great deal to enable him to pass a 
correct judgement on another man’s acts. 

Sixth, consider when thou art much vexed 
or grieved, that man’s life is only a moment, 
and after a short time wc are all laid out dead. 

Seventh, that it is not men’s acts which dis- 
turb us, for those acts have their foundation in 
men’s ruling principles, but it is our own opin- 
ions which disturb us. Take away these opin- 
ions then, and resolve to dismiss thy judge- 
ment about an act as if it were something 
grievous, and thy anger is gone. How then 
shall I take away these opkiions? By reflecting 
that no wrongful act of another brings shame 
on thee: for unless that which is shameful is 
alone bad, thou also must of necessity do many 
things wrong, and become a robber and every- 
thing else. 

Eighth, consider how much more pain is 
brought on us by the anger and vexation 
caus^ by such acts than by the acts them- 



jS-2I 

selves, at which we arc angry and vexed. 

Ninth, consider that a good disposition is in- 
vincible, if it be genuine, and not an affected 
smile and acting a part. For what will the most 
violent man do to thee, if thou continuest to 
be of a kind disposition towards him, and if, 
as opportunity offers, thou gently admonish- 
est him and calmly correctest his errors at the 
very time when he is trying to do thee harm, 
saying, Not so, my child: we are constituted 
by nature for something else: I shall certainly 
not be injured, but thou art injuring thyself, 
my child. — And show him with gentle tact 
and by general principles that this is so, and 
that even bees do not do as he does, nor any 
animals which arc formed by nature to be gre- 
garious. And thou must do this neither with 
any double meaning nor in the way of re- 
proach, but affectionately and without any 
rancour in thy soul; and not as if thou wcrt 
lecturing him, nor yet that any bystander may 
admire, but -pitl when he is alone, and if 
others arc present . . . 

Rememlxjr these nine rules, as if thou hadst 
received them as a gift from the Muses, and 
begin at last to be a man while thou livest. Rut 
thou must equally avoid flattering men and be- 
ing vexed at them, for both are unsocial and 
lead to harm. And let this truth be present to 
thee in the excitement of anger, that to be 
moved by passion is not manly, but that mild- 
ness and gentleness, as they are more agree- 
able to human nature, so also arc they more 
manly; and he who possesses these qualities 
possesses strength, nerves and courage, and not 
the man who is subject to fits of passion and 
discontent. For in the same degree in which a 
man’s mind is nearer to freedom from all pas- 
sion, in the same degree also is it nearer to 
strength: and as the sense of pain is a char- 
acteristic of weakness, so also is anger. For he 
who yields to pain and he who yields to anger, 
both are wounded and both submit. 

But if thou wilt, receive also a tenth present 
from the leader of the Muses (Apollo), and it 
is this — that to ex{)ect bad men not to do 
wrong is madness, for he who expects this 
desires an impossibility. Rut to allow men 
to behave so to others, and to expect them 
not to do thee any wrong, is irrational and 
tyrannical. 


305 

19. There are four principal aberrations of 
the superior faculty against which thou 
shouldst be constantly on thy guard, and when 
thou hast detected them, thou shouldst wipe 
them out and say on each occasion thus: this 
thought is not necessary: this tends to destroy 
social union: this which thou art going to say 
comes not from the real thoughts; for thou 
shouldst consider it among the most absurd of 
things for a man not to speak from his real 
thoughts. But the fourth is when thou shalt 
reproach thyself for anything, for this is an 
evidence of the diviner part within thee being 
overpowered and yielding to the less honour- 
able and to the perishable part, the body, and 
to its gross pleasures. 

20. Thy aerial part and all the fiery parts 
which are mingled in thee, though by nature 
they have an upward tendency, still in obedi- 
ence to the disposition of the universe they are 
overpowered here in the compound mass (the 
body). And also the whole of the earthy part 
in thee and the watery, though their tendency 
is downward, still arc raised up and occupy a 
position which is not their natural one. In this 
manner then the elemental parts obey the uni- 
versal, for when they have been fixed in any 
place perforce they remain there until again 
the universal shall sound the signal for dis- 
solution. Is it not then strange that thy intel- 
ligent part only should be disobedient and dis- 
contented with its own place? And yet no 
force is imposed on it, but only those things 
which are conformable to its nature: still it 
does not submit, but is carried in the opposite 
direction. For the movement towards injustice 
and intemperance and to anger and grief and 
fear is nothing else than the act of one who 
deviates from nature. And also when the rul- 
ing faculty is discontented with anything that 
happens, then too it deserts its post: for it is 
constituted for piety and reverence towards 
the gods no less than for justice. For these 
qualities also are comprehended under the 
generic term of contentment with the constitu- 
tion of things, and indeed they are prior to acts 
of justice. 

21. He who has not one and always the same 
object in life, cannot be one and the same all 
through his life. But what I have said is not 
enough, unless this also is added, what this ob- 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK XI 



3 o6 MARCUS 

ject ought to be. For as there is not the same 
opinion about all the things which in some 
way or other are considered by the majority to 
be good, but only about some certain things, 
that is, things which concern the common in- 
terest; so also ought we to propose to ourselves 
an object which shall be of a common kind 
(social) and political. For he who directs all 
his own efforts to this object, will make all his 
acts alike, and thus will always be the same. 

22. Think of the country mouse and of the 
town mouse, and of the alarm and trepidation 
of the town mouse.^ 

23. Socrates used to call the opinions of the 
many by the name of Lamiae, bugbears to 
frighten children. 

24. The Lacedaemonians at their public 
spectacles used to set seats in the shade for 
strangers, but themselves sat down anywhere. 

25. Socrates excused himself to Perdiccas for 
not going to him, saying, It is because I would 
not perish by the worst of all ends, that is, I 
would not receive a favour and then be un- 
able to return it. 

26. In the writings of the Ephesians there 
was this precept, constantly to think of some 
one of the men of former times who practised 
virtue. 

27. The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning 
look to the heavens that we may be reminded 
of those bodies which continually do the same 
things and in the same. manner perform their 
work, and also be reminded of their purity and 
nudity. For there is no veil over a star. 

28. Consider what a man Socrates was when 
he dressed himself in a skin, after Xanthippe 
had taken his cloak and gone out, and what 
Socrates said to his friends who were ashamed 
of him and drew back from him when they 
saw him dressed thus. 

29. Neither in writing nor in reading wilt 
thou be able to lay down rules for others before 
thou shalt have first learned to obey rules thy- 
self. Much more is this so in life. 

^ Cf. Horace, Sermones ii. 6. 


AURELIUS 21-39 

30. A slave thou art: free speech is not for 
thee. 

31. And my heart laughed within.* 

32. And virtue they will curse, speaking 
harsh words.^ 

33. To look for the fig in winter is a mad- 
man’s act: such is he who looks for his child 
w^hen it is no longer allowed.* 

34. When a man kisses his child, said Epic- 
tetus, he should whisper to himself, “To-mor- 
row perchance thou wilt die.” — But those are 
words of bad omen. — “No word is a word of 
bad omen,” said Epictetus, “which expresses 
any work of nature; or if it is so, it is also a 
word of bad omen to sjKak of the ears of corn 
being reaped.”*’* 

35. The unripe grape, the ripe bunch, the 
dried grape, all arc changes, not into nothing, 
but into something which exists not yet.® 

36. No man can rob us of our free w'ill.^ 

37. Epictetus also said, A man must discover 
an art (or rules) with rcs|x.'ci to giving his 
assent; and in resi^ct to his movements he 
must be careful that they be made with regard 
to circumstances, that they be consistent with 
social interests, that they have regard to the 
value of the object; and as to sensual desire, he 
should altogether keep away from it; and as to 
avoidance (aversion) h^ should not show it 
with respect to any of the things which arc not 
in our power. 

38. The dispute then, he said, is not about 
any common matter, but about being mad or 
not. 

39. Socrates used to say, What do you want.? 
Souls of rational men or irrational.^ — Souls of 
rational men. — Of what rational men.? Sound 
or unsound.? — Sound. — Why then do you not 
seek for them? — Because we have them. — 
Why then do you fight and quarrel? 

* Homer. Odyssry, ix. 4 1 ?. 

* I Icsifxl, Works and DaySt 1 85, 

^Epictetus, iii. 24. 

® ffud. 

« I hid. 

'^Ibid. 



^-5 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK XII 

• BOOK TWELVE 


307 


All those things at which thou wishest to ar- 
rive by a circuitous road, thou canst have now, 
if thou dost not refuse them to thyself. And 
this means, if thou wilt take no notice of all 
the past, and trust the future to providence, 
and direct the present only conformably to 
piety and justice. Conformably to piety, that 
thou mayest be content with the lot which is 
assigned to thee, for nature designed it for 
thee and thee for it. Conformably to justice, 
that thou mayest always speak the truth freely 
and without disguise, and do the things which 
arc agreeable to law and according to the 
worth of each. And let neither another man’s 
wickedness hinder thee, nor opinion nor voice, 
nor yet the sensations of the poor flesh which 
has grown al>out ihcc; for the passive part will 
look to this. If then, whatever the time may be 
when thou shalt be near to thy departure, neg- 
lecting everything else thou shalt respect only 
thy ruling faculty and the divinity within 
thee, and if thou shalt be afraid not because 
thou must some time cease to live, but if thou 
shalt fear never to have begun to live accord- 
ing to nature — then thou wilt be a man worthy 
of the universe which has produced thee, and 
thou wilt cease to be a stranger in thy native 
land, and to wonder at things which happen 
daily as if they were something unexpected, 
and to be dependent on this or that. 

2. God sees the minds (ruling principles) of 
all men bared of the material vesture and rind 
and impurities. For with his intellectual part 
alone he touches the intelligence only which 
has flowed and been derived from himself into 
these bodies. And if thou also iiscst thyself to 
do this, thou wilt rid thyself of thy much 
trouble. For he who regards not the poor flesh 
which envelops him, surely will not trouble 
himself by looking after raiment and dwell- 
ing and fame and such like externals and 
show. 

3. The things are three of which thou art 
composed, a little body, a little breath (life), 
intelligence. Of these the first two arc thine, 
so far as it is thy duty to take care of them; 


but the third alone is properly thine. There- 
fore if thou shalt separate from thyself, that is, 
from thy understanding, whatever others do or 
say, and whatever thou hast done or said thy- 
self, and whatever future things trouble thee 
because they may happen, and whatever in the 
body which envelops thee or in the breath 
(life), which is by nature associated with the 
body, is attached to thee independent of thy 
will, and whatever the external circumfluent 
vortex whirls round, so that the intellectual 
power exempt from the things of fate can live 
pure and free by itself, doing what is just and 
accepting wlat happens and saying the truth: 
if thou wilt separate, I say, from this ruling 
faculty the things which are attached to it by 
the impressions of sense, and the things of 
time to come and of time that is past, and wilt 
make thyself like Empedocles’ sphere, 

All round, and in its joyous rest reposing; 

and if thou shalt strive to live only what is 
really thy life, that is, the present — then thou 
wilt be able to pass that portion of life which 
remains for thee up to the time of thy death, 
free from perturbations, nobly, and obedient 
to thy own daemon (to the god that is within 
thee). 

4. 1 have often wondered how it is that every 
man loves bimself more than all the rest of 
men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion 
of himself than on the opinion of others. If 
then a god or a wise teacher should present 
himself to a man and bid him to think of noth- 
ing and to design nothing which he would not 
express as soon as he conceived it, he could not 
endure it even for a single day. So much more 
respect have we to what our neighbours shall 
ihink of us than to what we shall think of our- 
selves. 

5. How can it be that the gods after having 
arranged all things well and benevolently for 
mankind, have overlooked this alone, that 
some men and very goodemen, and men who, 
as we may say, have had most communion 
with the divinity, and through pious acts and 



3o8 

religious observances have been most intimate 
with the divinity, when they have once died 
should never exist again, but should be com- 
pletely extinguished? 

But if this is so, be assured that if it ought 
to have been otherwise, the gods would have 
done it. For if it were just, it would also be 
]x>ssible; and if it were according to nature, 
nature would have had it so. But because it is 
not so, if in fact it is not so, be thou convinced 
that it ought not to have been so: — for thou 
seest even of thyself that in this inquiry thou 
art disputing with the deity; and we should 
not thus dispute with the gods, unless they 
were most excellent and most just; — ^but if 
this is so, they would not have allowed any- 
thing in the ordering of the universe to be 
neglected unjustly and irrationally. 

6. Practise thyself even in the things which 
thou despairest of accomplishing. For even the 
left hand, which is ineffectual for all other 
things for want of practice, holds the bridle 
more vigorously than the right hand; for it has 
been practised in this. 

7. Consider in what condition both in body 
and soul a man should be when he is over- 
taken by death; and consider the shortness of 
life, the boundless abyss of time past and fu- 
ture, the feebleness of all matter. 

8. Contemplate the formative principles 
(forms) of things bate of their coverings; the 
purposes of actions; consider what pain is, 
what pleasure is, and death, and fame; who is 
to himself the cause of his uneasiness; how no 
man is hindered by another; that everything 
is opinion. 

9. In the application of thy principles thou 
must be like the pancratiast, not like the gladi- 
ator; for the gladiator lets fall the sword which 
he uses and is killed; but the other always has 
his hand, and needs to do nothing else than 
use it. 

TO. See what things are in themselves, divid- 
ing them into matter, form and purpose. 

11. What a power man has to do nothing 
except what will approve, and to accept 
all that God may give him. 

12. With respect to that which happens con- 
formably to nature, we ought to blame neither 
gods, for they do nothing wrong either volun- 
urily or invduntarily, nor men, for they do 


5-20 

nothing wrong except involuntarily. Conse- 
quently we should blame nobody. 

13. How ridiculous and what a stranger he 
is who is surprised at anything which happens 
in life. 

14. Either there is a fatal necessity and in- 
vincible order, or a kind Providence, or a con- 
fusion without a purpose and without a direc- 
tor (iv. 27). If then there is an invincible neces- 
sity, why dost thou resist? But if there is a 
Providence which allows itself to be propi- 
tiated, make thyself worthy of the help of the 
divinity. But if there is a confusion without a 
governor, be content that in such a tempest 
thou hast in thyself a certain ruling intelli- 
gence. And even if the tempest carry thee 
away, let it carry away the poor flesh, the poor 
breath, everything else; for the intelligence at 
least it will not carry away. 

15. Does the light of the lamp shine without 
losing its splendour until it is extinguished; 
and shall the truth which is in thee and justice 
and temperance be extinguished before thy 
death? 

16. When a man has presented the appear- 
ance of having done wrong, say, How then do 
I know if this is a wrongful act? And even if 
he has done wrong, how do I know that he 
has not condemned himsTIf ? and so this is like 
tearing his own face. Consider that he, who 
would not have the bad man do wrong, is like 
the man who would not have the fig-tree to 
bear juice in the figs and infants to cry and 
the horse to neigh, and whatever else must of 
necessity be. For what must a man do who has 
such a character? If then thou art irritable, 
cure this man’s disposition. 

17. If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not 
true, do not say it. For let thy efforts be — 

18. In everything always observe what the 
thing is which produces for thee an appear- 
ance, and resolve it by dividing it into the for- 
mal, the material, the purpose, and the time 
within which it must end. : 

19. Perceive at last tha^thou hast in thee 
something better and mole divine than the 
things which cause the various affects, and as 
it were pull thee by the strings. What is there 
now in my mind? Is it fear, or suspicion, or 
desire, or anything of the kind? 

20. First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor 


MARCUS AUREUUS 



2iH2J 

without a purpose. Second, make thy acts refer 
to nothing else than to a social end. 

21. Consider that before long thou wilt be 
nobody and nowhere, nor will any of the 
things exist which thou now seest, nor any of 
those who are now living. For all things arc 
formed by nature to change and be turned and 
to perish in order that other things in con- 
tinuous succession may exist. 

22. Consider that everything is opinion, and 
opinion is in thy power. Take away then, 
when thou choosest, thy opinion, and like a 
mariner, who has doubled the promontory, 
thou wilt find calm, everything stable, and a 
waveless bay. 

23. Any one activity whatever it may be, 
when it has ceased at its proper time, suffers 
no evil because it has ceased; nor he who has 
done this act, does he suffer any evil for this 
reason that the act has ceased. In like manner 
then the whole which consists of all the acts, 
which is our Ilf , if it cease at its proper time, 
suffers no evil for this reason that it has ceased; 
nor he who has terminated this scries at the 
proper time, has he been ill dealt with. But the 
profier lime and the limit nature fixes, some- 
times as in old age the peculiar nature of man, 
but always the universal nature, by the change 
of whose parts the whole universe continues 
ever young and perfect. And everything which 
is useful to the universal is always good and in 
season. Therefore the termination of life for 
every man is no evil, because neither is it 
shameful, since it is both indcjxrndent of the 
will and not opposed to the general interest, 
but it is good, since it is seasonable and profit- 
able to and congruent with the universal. For 
thus too he is moved by the deity who is 
moved in the same manner with the deity 
and moved towards the same things in his 
mind. 

24. These three principles thou must have in 
readiness. In the things which thou doest do 
nothing either inconsiderately or otherwise 
than as justice herself would act; but with re- 
spect to what may hap|ien to thee from with- 
out, consider that it happens either by chance 
or according to Providence, and thou must 
neither blame chance nor accuse Providence. 
Second, consider what every being is from the 
seed to the time of its receiving a soul, and 


309 

from the reception of a soul to the giving back 
of the same, and of what things every being is 
compounded and into what things it is re- 
solved. Third, if thou shouldst suddenly be 
raised up above the earth, and shouldst look 
down on human things, and observe the va- 
riety of them how great it is, and at the same 
time also shouldst sec at a glance how great is 
the number of beings who dwell all around in 
the air and the aether, consider that as often as 
thou shouldst be raised up, thou wouldst see 
the same things, sameness of form and short- 
ness of duration. Are these things to be proud 
oi? 

25. Cast away opinion: thou art saved. Who 
then hinders thee from casting it away.^ 

26. When thou art troubled about anything, 
thou hast forgotten this, that all things happen 
according to the universal nature; and for- 
gotten this, that a man’s wrongful act is noth- 
ing to thee; and further thou hast forgotten 
this, that everything which happens, always 
happened so and will happen so, and now hap- 
pens so everywhere; forgotten this too, how 
close is the kinship between a man and the 
whole human race, for it is a community, not 
of a little blood or seed, but of intelligence. 
And thou hast forgotten this too, that every 
man’s intelligence is a god, and is an efflux of 
the deity; and forgotten this, that nothing is a 
man’s own, but that his child and his body and 
his very soul came from the deity; forgotten 
this, that everything is opinion; and lastly 
thou hast forgotten that every man lives the 
present time only, and loses only this. 

27. Constantly bring to thy recollection 
those who have complained greatly about any- 
thing, those who have been most conspicuous 
by the greatest fame or misfortunes or enmities 
or fortunes of any kind: then think where are 
they all now.^ Smoke and ash and a tale, or 
not even a tale. And let there be present to thy 
mind also everything of this sort, how Fabius 
Catullinus lived in the country, and Lucius 
Lupus in his gardens, and Stertinius at Baiae, 
and Tiberius at Capreae and Velius Rufus (or 
Rufus at Velia); and in fine think of the eager 
pursuit of anything conjoined with pride; and 
how worthless everything is after which men 
violently strain; and how much more philo- 
sophical it is for a man in the opportunities 


MEDITATIONS, BOOK XII 



310 

presented to him to show himself just, temper- 
ate, obedient to the gods, and to do this with 
all simplicity; for the pride which is proud 
of its want of pride is the most intolerable 
of all. 

28. To those who ask, Where hast thou seen 
the gods or how dost thou comprehend that 
they exist and so worshipest them, I answer, in 
the first place, they may be seen even with the 
eyes;* in the second place neither have I seen 
even my own soul and yet I honour it. Thus 
then with respect to the gods, from what I 
constandy experience of their power, from this 
I comprehend that they exist and I venerate 
them. 

29. The safety of life is this, to examine 
everything all through, what it is itself, what is 
its material, what the formal part; with all thy 
soul to do justice and to say the truth. What 
remains except to enjoy life by joining one 
good thing to another so as not to leave even 
the smallest intervals between? 

30. There is one light of the sun, though it is 
interrupted by walls, mountains, and other 
things infinite. There is one common sub- 
stance, though it is distributed among count- 
less bodies which have their several qualities. 
There is one soul, though it is distributed 
among infinite natures and individual circum- 
scriptions (or individuals). There is one in- 
telligent soul, though it seems to be divided. 
Now in the things which have been men- 
tioned all the other parts, such as those which 
arc air and matter, are without sensation and 
have no fellowship: and yet even these parts 
the intelligent principle holds together and the 
gravitation towards the same. But intellect in 
a peculiar manner tends to that which is of the 
same kin, and combines with it, and the feel- 
ing for communion is not interrupted. 

31. What dost thou wish? I'o continue to 
exist? Well, dost thou wish to have sensation? 
Movement? Growth? And then again to cease 
to grow? To use thy speech? To think? What 
is there of all these things which seems to thee 
worth desiring? But if it is easy to set little 

^ This probably refers to the Stoic belief that the celestial 
bcxlics were divine. 


27-56 

value on all these things, turn to that which 
remains, which is to follow reason and God. 
But it is inconsistent with honouring reason 
and Ciod to be troubled because by death a 
man will be deprived of the other things. 

32. How small a part of the boundless and 
unfathomable time is assigned to every man? 
For it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal. 
And how small a part of the whole substance? 
And how small a part of the universal soul? 
And on w'hat a small clod of the whole earth 
thou creej^st? Reflecting on all this consider 
nothing to be great, except to act as thy nature 
leads thee, and to endure that which the com- 
mon nature brings. 

33. How docs the ruling faculty make use 
of itself? For all lies in this. But everything 
else, whether it is in the power of thy will or 
not, is only lifeless ashes and smoke. 

34. This reflection is most adapted to move 
us to contempt of death, that even those who 
think pleasure to be a good and pain an evil 
still have despised it. 

3*5. The man to whom that only is good 
which comes in due season, and to whom it is 
the same thing whether he has done more or 
fewer acts conformable to right reason, and to 
whom it makes no difference whether he con- 
templates the world tor a longer or a shorter 
time — for this man neither is death a terrible 
thing. 

36. Man, thou hast been a citizen in this 
great state (the world): what dilTcrcnce docs 
it make to thee whether for five years (or 
three)? For that which is comformable to the 
laws is just lor all. Where is the hardship then, 
if no tyrant nor yet an unjust judge sends thee 
away from the state, but nature who brought 
thee into it? I’he same as if a praetor who has 
employed an actor dismisses him from the 
stage. — “But I have not finished the five acts, 
but only three of thcm.^—^Thou sayest well, 
but in life the three acts are the whole drama; 
for what shall be 1 complete drama is deter- 
mined by him who was once the cause of its 
com)X)sition, and now^ of its dissolution: but 
thou art the cause of neither. Dcjiart then sat- 
isfied, for he also who releases thee is satisfied. 


MARCUS AURELIUS