Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Chapter 12

XII.

1. Omnia illa, quae per ambages assequi cupis, jam nunc habere potes, nisi tibi ipse invides, hoc est, si, omisso eo, quod praeteriit, et eo, quod futurum est, commisso providentiae, id duntaxat, quod praesens est, ad sanctitatem et justitiam dirigis: ad sanctitatem, ut diligas ea, quae tibi destinantur; tibi enim hoc tulit natura et te huic ad justitiam, ut libere et sine ambagibus veritatem, loquaris atque secundum legem et pro cujusque dignitate agas. Ne vero te impediat neque alterius malitia, neque opinio, neque vox, nec vero sensus carunculae tibl circumdatae nam viderit id, quod patitur. Si igitur, quocunque tandem tempore in exitu futurus sis, ceteris omnibus missis; principalem tui partem et divinam particulam magni aestimaveris neque hoc metueris, ne vivere aliquando desinas, sed ne nunquam naturae convenienter vivere incipias, homo eris mundo, qui te protulit, dignus et desines in patria tua peregrinus esse eaque, quae quotidie fiunt, tanquam inopinata admirari et ab hoc vel illo pendere.

1. All those things at which thou wishest to arrive 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 mayst always speak the truth freely and without disguise, and do the things which are 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 about thee; for the passive part will look to this. If, then, whatever the time may be when thou shalt be near to thy departure, neglecting 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 according 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. Deus mentes omnes hisce corporeis vasis, corticibus, sordibus denudatas videt. Sola enim sua ipsius intelligentia ea tantum attingit, quae ab ipso in illas derivata ac delibata sunt. Quod ipsum si tu quoque facere adsueveris, multa temet molestia liberabis. Qui enim carnem sibi circumdatam non respicit, is multo minus in veste, domo, gloria et alio hujusmodi cultu et apparatu contemplandis occupabitur.

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 usest 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 dwelling and fame and such like externals and show.

3. Tria sunt, ex quibus constas: corpusculum, animula, mens. Horum reliqua, quatenus eorum cura tibi demandata est, tua sunt, tertium autem solum proprie tuum. Quamobrem si a te ipso, hoc est, a mente tua separaveris quaecumque alii dicunt et faciunt, et quaecumque ipse dixisti et fecisti et quocunque ut futura, conturbant et quaecumque vel circumdati corpusculi vel huic congenitae animulae non tui sunt arbitrii, et quocunque extrinsecus circumfluens vertigo volvit, ita ut vis intelligendi rebus a fato obvenientibus exempta, pura ac libera apud se ipsam vivat, justa agens; ea, quae accidunt, libenter accipiens et, quae vera sunt, loquens; si, inquam, a mente haec separaveris, quae e communi cum corpore affectione ei adhaerent et temporis id, quod futurum est, et id, quod praeteriit, teque ipse feceris talem, qualis est globus Empedocleus:

atque id tantum temporis, quod vivis, hoc est praesens, bene ut vivas studueris, poteris id, quod usque ad mortem relinquitur vitae, tranquillus, generosus et genio tuo propitius transigere.

3. The things are three of which thou art composed: a little body, a little breath [life], intelligence. Of these the first two are thine, so far as it is thy duty to take care of them; but the third alone is properly thine. Therefore if thou shalt separate from thyself, that is, from thy understanding, whatever others do or say, and whatever thou hast done or said thyself, 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 what 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;"[A]

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] (ii. 13, 17; iii. 5, 6; xi. 12).

4. Saepenumero mirari soles, quomodo fiat, ut, quum sese magis quam alios quisque diligat, suam tamen ipsius de se opinionem minoris faciat, quam aliorum. Igitur si cui deus aut prudens praeceptor adstans ei praeciperet; ne quidquam cogitaret aut animo conciperet, quod non, simulatque conceperit, proferre posset; ne unum quidem diem id sustineret. Adeo magis alios, quid de nobis sentiant, veremur, quam nos ipsos.

4. I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself 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 nothing 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.[B] So much more respect have we to what our neighbors shall think of us than to what we shall think of ourselves.

[A] The verse of Empedocles is corrupt in Antoninus. It has been restored by Peyron from a Turin manuscript, thus:--

[Greek: Sphairos kykloteres monie perigethei gaion.]

[B] iii. 4.

5. Quomodo fit, ut dii, qui pulcre et cum singulari erga genus humanum amore omnia disposuerunt, hoc neglexerint, quod inter homines etiam ii, qui admodum probi sunt, qui quasi plurima cum diis commercia habent iisque per opera pia et sacra ministeria maxime familiares exstiterunt, postquam semel defuncti sunt, non amplius reducuntur, prorsus exstinguuntur? Hoc si quidem sic se habet, certo scito, si aliter se habere deberet, deos sic res instituturos fuisse. Nam si justum esset, fieri quoque posset, et si naturae consentaneum esset, natura id ferret. Ex eo igitur, quod non ita se habet, si quidem non ita habet, persuasum habe, non oportuisse id fieri. Ipse quoque intelligis, te in hac rei indagatione cum deo de jure disceptare, cum diis vero non ita ageremus, nisi optimi et justissimi essent. Quod si ita est, nihil contra justitiae ac rationis legem in mundi dispositione neglectum praetermiserint.

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 good men, and men who, as we may say, have had most communion with the divinity, and through pious acts and religious observances have been most intimate with the divinity, when they have once died should never exist again, but should be completely 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 possible; 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 anything in the ordering of the universe to be neglected unjustly and irrationally.

6. Adsuesce etiam iis, quae fieri posse desperas: nam etiam sinistra manus, quum ad alia opera ob desuetudinem., iners sit, frenum tamen validius, quam dextra, tenet; ei enim rei adsueta est.

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. Qualem oporteat deprehendi a morte tum corpore tum animo; brevitatem vitae, immensitatem aevi praeteriti ac futuri et omnis materiae imbecillitatem considera.

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

8. Nudatas corticibus contemplari formas; et quo referantur actiones; quid dolor; quid voluptas; quid mors; quid gloria; quis sibi ipse molestiarum auctor; quomodo nemo ab alio quoquam impediatur; omnia in opinione sita.

8. Contemplate the formative principles [forms] of things bare 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. Similem esse oportet in decretorum usu pancratiastae, non gladiatori; hic enim gladium, quo utitur, deponit et interficitur; ille vero manum semper praesto habet, neque alia re opus habet, quam ut manum contorqueat.

9. In the application of thy principles thou must be like the pancratiast, not like the gladiator; 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.

10. Quales sint res ipsae intueri, divisione facta in materiam, formam et rationem, in qua sunt ad alias res.

10. See what things are in themselves, dividing them into matter, form, and purpose.

11. Quanta homini est potentia, ut nihil aliud faciat, nisi quod Deus probaturus sit, et libenter accipiat, quidquid Deus illi assignarit.

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

12. Quidquid naturae consequens est, de eo nec dii sunt accusandi, quippe qui nihil nec sponte neque inviti peccent, neque homines; hi enim nihil non inviti peccant. Ergo nihil accusandum.

12. With respect to that which happens conformably to nature, we ought to blame neither gods, for they do nothing wrong either voluntarily or involuntarily, nor men, for they do nothing wrong except involuntarily. Consequently we should blame nobody (ii. 11, 12, 13; vii. 62; 18 viii. 17).

13. Quam ridiculus ac peregrinus, qui quidquid est eorum, quae in mundo fiunt, admiratur!

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

14. Aut necessitas fatalis et ordo inviolabilis, aut providentia placabilis, aut confusio temeraria sine summo aliquo rectore. Si igitur necessitas inviolabilis, cur reluctaris? si vero providentia, quae placari possit, auxilio divino dignum te praesta; si mera confusio, quae rectore caret, eo contentus esto, quod in tanto rerum fluctu in te ipso mentem aliquam rectricem habes. Quodsi aestus ille te corripuerit, carunculam, animulam et reliqua abripiat! mentem enim non abripiet.

14. Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a kind providence, or a confusion without a purpose and without a director (iv. 27). If then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist? But if there is a providence which allows itself to be propitiated, 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 intelligence. 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. An vero erit, ut lucernae lumen, donec exstinguatur, luceat, et splendorem non amittat; in te autem veritas et justitia et temperantia prius exstinguantur?

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

16. Si quis opinionem tibi excitet, quasi peccavit, tu tecum: Num certo mihi constat, an hoc sit peccatum? aut si peccaverit, an se ipse peccati reum non damnaverit? Hoc enim perinde est ac si suum ipsius vultum dilaceret. Eum, qui nolit, improbum peccare, similem esse ei, qui nolit ficum in fructibus succum ferre, et infantes vagire et equum hinnire et quae alia sunt necessaria. Quid enim aliud facere potuit, quum talem habitum habeat? Si igitur strenuus es, hunc habitum sana.

16. When a man has presented the appearance 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 himself? 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.[A]

17. Si non convenit, noli id facere; si non est verum, noli id dicere. Tuus enim esto impetus.

17. If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it. [For let thy efforts be--][B]

[A] The interpreters translate [Greek: gorgos] by the words "acer, validusque," and "skilful." But in Epictetus (ii. 16, 20; iii. 12, 10) [Greek: gorgos] means "vehement," "prone to anger," "irritable."

[B] There is something wrong here, or incomplete.

18. Universum semper intueri, quid sit ipsum illud, quod opinionem in te excitat, idque diligenter explicare dividendo in causam et materiam et consilium, quo exstiterit, et tempus, intra quod finem sit habiturum.

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

19. Sentias fac tandem aliquando, esse aliquid in te praestantius et divinius, quam ea, quae affectus movent atque omnino tanquam fidiculis te trahunt. Quid mihi nunc est mens? num metus? num suspicio? num libido? num aliud quid ejusmodi?

19. Perceive at last that thou hast in thee something better and more 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 (v. 11)?

20. Primum, ne quid temere aut sine certo consilio. Deinde, ut non alio, nisi ad societatis salutem referatur.

20. First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose. Second, make thy acts refer to nothing else than to a social end.

21. Brevi neque ipse ullus usquam eris, nec quidquam eorum, quae vides, neque eorum, qui nunc vivunt, quisquam. Omnia enim ita nata sunt, ut mutentur, vertantur, intereant, ut inde alia sua quaeque serie oriantur.

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 are formed by nature to change and be turned and to perish, in order that other things in continuous succession may exist (ix. 28).

22. Omnia, opinio; et haec in te sita est. Tolle igitur, quando libet, opinionem, atque, ut promontorium praetervecto maris tranquillitas, sic tibi omnia serena et portus aestu vacans.

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. Una aliqua quaecumque demum est actio, quae suo tempore desiit, nihil mali patitur eo, quod desiit; neque is, qui illius actionis auctor est, eo, quod illa desiit, mali quid patitur. Eodem igitur modo omnium actionum complexus, qui vita dicitur, si tempore suo desinet, nihil inde mali patitur, quod desiit, nec qui suo tempore huic seriei finem fecit, male affectus est. Tempus autem ac terminum natura constituit, interdum propria, ut in senectute, omnino autem universi natura, cujus partibus sese mutantibus, novus semper ac vegetus totus mundus permanet. Pulcrum autem semper et tempestivum, quod universo prodest. Cessatio igitur vitae singulis quidem non est malum, quia neque inhonesta est, siquidem neque a potestate nostra pendet nec societati repugnat; bonum autem, si quidem universo tempestiva et commoda est et cum eo fertur. Ita enim etiam numine divino fertur, qui eadem, qua deus, via fertur et mente sua ad eadem fertur.

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 life, if it cease at its proper time, suffers no evil for this reason, that it has ceased; nor he who has terminated this series at the proper time, has he been ill dealt with. But the proper time and the limit nature fixes, sometimes 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.[A] 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 independent of the will and not opposed to the general interest, but it is good, since it is seasonable, and profitable 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 thing in his mind.

[A] vii. 25.

24. Haec tria in promptu haberi oportet: in iis, quae agis ne quid temere agas aut secus, quam ipsa justitia egisset; in iis vero, quae extrinsecus accidunt, ea vel casu fortuito vel providentia evenire, et neque fortunam culpandam, neque de providentia querendum. Secundum, quale unumquodque sit a semente usque ad animationem, ab animatione usque dum animam reddit, ex qualibus conflatum sit, et in qualia dissolvatur. Tertium, si repente in sublime elatus res humanas cerneres, earumque , quanta esset, varietatem considerares, eodem conspectu comprehendens quantum undique aeriorum et aetheriorum sedes suas habet, te, quotiescunque evectus esses, eadem semper visurum esse ejusdemque generis res, easque ad breve tempus duraturas. De his fastus!

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 respect to what may happen to thee from without, 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 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 resolved. Third, if thou shouldst suddenly be raised up above the earth, and shouldst look down on human things, and observe the variety of them how great it is, and at the same time also shouldst see at a glance how great is the number of beings who dwell all around in the air and the ether, consider that as often as thou shouldst be raised up, thou wouldst see the same things, sameness of form and shortness of duration. Are these things to be proud of?

25. Ejice foras opinionem, salvus eris. Quis igitur prohibet, quominus eam ejicias?

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

26. Quando aliquid moleste fers, oblitus es, omnia secundum naturam universitatis fieri; tum vero, alterius peccatum a te alienum esse; praeterea, omnia, quae nunc fiant, semper ita facta esse et futura esse et nunc ubique fieri; porro, quam sancta sit hominis cum universo hominum genere cognatio, non enim sanguinis et seminis, sed mentis communio est. Oblitus vero etiam es hujus, quod animus uniuscujusque ratione praeditus deus est et inde fluxit; tum porro, nihil cuiquam esse proprium, sed et filiolum et corpusculum et ipsam animulam inde fluxisse; porro, omnia in opinione sita esse, denique, unumquemque id tantum temporis, quod praesens est, et vivere et amittere.

26. When thou art troubled about anything, thou hast forgotten this, that all things happen according to the universal nature; and forgotten this, that a man's wrongful act is nothing to thee; and further thou hast forgotten this, that everything which happens, always happened so and will happen so, and now happens 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;[A] 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.

[A] See Epictetus, ii. 8, 9, etc.

27. Continuo recolere memoriam eorum, qui aliqua de re vehementer indignati sunt, qui summis honoribus aut calamitatibus aut inimicitiis aliave quacunque fortuna nobilitati sunt, deinde reputare, ubi nunc illa omnia? Fumus et cinis et fabula aut ne fabula quidem. Succurrant tibi porro quae hujus generis sunt omnia, ut Fabius Catullinus rure, Lucius Lupus in hortis, Stertinius Baiis, Tiberius Capreis, Velius (?) Rufus, et quidquid est hujusmodi vehementis studii, quod opinione nititur; et quam vile omne, quod intenditur, quanto magis philosophum deceat, in quavis data materia justum, temperantem et diis simpliciter obedientem se praestare. Fastus enim sub modestia gliscens omnium maxime intolerabilis.

27. Constantly bring to thy recollection those who have complained greatly about anything, 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 Catellinus lived in the country, and Lucius Lupus in his gardens, and Stertinius at Briae, and Tiberius at Capreae, and Velius Rufus [or Rufus at Velia]; and in fine think of the eager pursuit of anything conjoined with pride;[A] and how worthless everything is after which men violently strain; and how much more philosophical it is for a man in the opportunities presented to him to show himself just, temperate, 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.

[A] [Greek: met' oieseos. Oiesis kai typhos], Epict. i. 8, 6.

28. Interrogantibus, "Ubi deos conspicatus aut, unde compertum habens, eos esse, eos ita veneraris?" primum etiam visu percipi possunt; deinde vero , neque animum meum vidi et tamen eum in honore habeo. Sic igitur etiam deos ex iis, quibus quoquo tempore eorum vim experior, et esse intelligo et eos veneror.

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

[A] "Seen even with the eyes." It is supposed that this may be explained by the Stoic doctrine, that the universe is a god or living being (iv. 40), and that the celestial bodies are gods (viii. 19). But the emperor may mean that we know that the gods exist, as he afterwards states it, because we see what they do; as we know that man has intellectual powers, because we see what he does, and in no other way do we know it. This passage then will agree with the passage in the Epistle to the Romans (i. _v_. 20), and with the Epistle to the Colossians (i. _v_. 15), in which Jesus Christ is named "the image of the invisible god;" and with the passage in the Gospel of St. John (xiv. _v_. 9).

Gataker, whose notes are a wonderful collection of learning, and all of it sound and good, quotes a passage of Calvin which is founded on St. Paul's language (Rom. i. _v_. 20): "God by creating the universe [or world, mundum], being himself invisible, has presented himself to our eyes conspicuously in a certain visible form." He also quotes Seneca (De Benef. iv. c. 8): "Quocunque te flexeris, ibi illum videbis occurrentem tibi: nihil ab illo vacat, opus suum ipse implet." Compare also Cicero, De Senectute (c. 22), Xenophon's Cyropaedia (viii. 7), and Mem. iv. 3; also Epictetus, i. 6, de Providentia. I think that my interpretation of Antoninus is right.

29. Vitae salus, res singulas ex omni parte, quid sint, intueri, quae earum sit materia, quae forma: toto ex animo, quae justa sunt, facere; quae vera sunt, dicere. Quid reliquum est? quam ut vita fruaris, bonum alii bono ita adnectens, ut ne minimum quidem spatium relinquatur.

29. The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it is itself, that 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. Unum lumen solis, etiamsi muris, montibus, aliisque innumerabilibus dividatur. Una communis materia, etiamsi innumeris corporibus certo modo constitutis dividatur. Una anima, etiamsi naturis innumerabilibus et propriis limitibus dividatur. Unus animus ratione praeditus, etiamsi diremptus esse videatur. Ceterae vero rerum, quas dixi, partes, ut spiritus et materiae substratae, sensus expertes et a communionis studio alienae : quamquam etiam has mens continet, et gravitas, quae eas in eundem locum cogit. Mens autem singulari quodam modo ad naturas ejusdem generis fertur, neque divellitur ab ea societatis studium.

30. There is one light of the sun, though it is interrupted by walls, mountains, and other things infinite. There is one common substance,[A] though it is distributed among countless bodies which have their several qualities. There is one soul, though it is distributed among infinite natures and individual circumscriptions [or individuals]. There is one intelligent soul, though it seems to be divided. Now in the things which have been mentioned, all the other parts, such as those which are 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 feeling for communion is not interrupted.

[A] iv. 40.

31. Quid praeterea expetis? diutius in vita esse? an vero sentire? animo moveri? crescere? rursus denasci? voce uti? cogitare? Ecquid horum tibi videtur desiderio dignum Quodsi haec singula satis vilia sunt, progredere ad ultimum, Deum et rationem sequi. Horum autem cultui repugnat, inique ferre, si quis per mortem his cariturus sit.

31. What dost thou wish--to 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 value on all these things, turn to that which remains, which is to follow reason and God. But it is inconsistent with honoring reason and God to be troubled because by death a man will be deprived of the other things.

32. Quantula pars infiniti et immensi aevi unicuique assignata est? celerrime enim in aeternitate evanescit. Quantula totius materiae? quantula totius animm? in quantula totius terrae glebula repis? Haec omnia tecum reputans nihil magni facias, nisi hoc, ut agas, quemadmodum natura tua jubet, et feras, ut communis natura fert.

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 what a small clod of the whole earth thou creepest! Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to endure that which the common nature brings.

33. Quomodo mens se ipsa utitur? In hoc enim sita sunt; omnia. Reliqua * non tui sunt arbitrii; si non tui arbitrii, cadavera et fumus.

33. How does 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. Maximam vim ad mortis contemptum excitandum habet hoc, quod etiam ii, qui dolorem pro malo et voluptatem pro bono habebant, eam contempserunt.

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.

35. Cui id tantum, quod tempestivum, bonum est, et cui perinde est, plures an pauciores secundum rectam rationem actiones exegerit, et cujus nihil refert utrum longiore an breviore temporis spatio mundum contemplatus sit, huic mors quoque non est formidini.

35. 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 contemplates the world for a longer or a shorter time--for this man neither is death a terrible thing (iii. 7; vi. 23; x. 20; xii. 23).

36. Homo, civis fuisti in magna hac civitate. Quid tua interest, utrum quinque annis, an tribus? Quod enim fit secundum legem, id aequum est unicuique. Quid igitur adeo grave est, si hac civitate te emittit, non tyrannus, non injustus judex, sed natura, qum te in eam induxit? perinde ac si histrionem idem praetor, qui eum conduxit, e scena dimittit. — Verum quinque actus fabulae non peregi, sed tres tantum. Recte dicis; in vita tamen etiam tres actus totam fabulam constituunt. Finem enim determinat is, qui olim concretionis auctor fuit, et nunc dissolutionis auctor est; tu vero neutrius auctor es. Abi igitur propitius; nam is quoque, qui te exsolvit, propitius est.

36. Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great state [the world];[A] what difference does it make to thee whether for five years [or three]? for that which is conformable to the laws is just for 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? the same as if a praetor who has employed an actor dismisses him from the stage.[B]--"But I have not finished the five acts, but only three of them."--Thou sayest well, but in life the three acts are the whole drama; for what shall be a complete drama is determined by him who was once the cause of its composition, and now of its dissolution: but thou art the cause of neither. Depart then satisfied, for he also who releases thee is satisfied.

[A] ii. 16; iii. 11; iv. 29.

[B] iii. 8; xi. 1.