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but if it is only useful to thee as an animal, say so, and maintain

thy judgement without arrogance: only take care that thou makest the

inquiry by a sure method.

Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee

to break thy promise, 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 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 immediately, 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.

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 too closely bound

to other things, nor yet detached from other things, nothing worthy

of blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place.

Reverence the faculty which produces opinion. On this faculty it entirely

depends whether there shall exist in thy ruling part any opinion inconsistent

with nature and the constitution of the rational animal. And this

faculty promises freedom from hasty judgement, and friendship towards

men, and obedience to the gods.

Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and

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 uncertain. 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

succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and who know

not even themselves, much less him who died long ago.

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 see distinctly what kind of a thing it

is in its substance, in its nudity, 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 productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine 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

are 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, manliness, 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 spinning

of the thread of destiny, and such-like coincidence and chance; and

this is from one of the same stock, and a kinsman and partner, one

who knows not however what is according to his nature. But I know;

for this reason I behave towards him according to the natural law

of fellowship with benevolence and justice. At the same time however

in things indifferent I attempt to ascertain the value of each.

If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason

seriously, vigorously, 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 holdest to this, expecting 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.

As physicians have always their instruments and knives ready for cases

which suddenly require their skill, so do thou have principles ready

for the understanding of things divine and human, and for doing everything,

even the smallest, with a recollection of the bond which 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.

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 throwing away idle hopes,

come to thy own aid, if thou carest at all for thyself, while it is

in thy power.

They know not how many things are signified by the words stealing,

sowing, buying, keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; for this

is not effected by the eyes, but by another kind of vision.

Body, soul, intelligence: to the body belong sensations, to the soul

appetites, to the intelligence principles. To receive the impressions

of forms by means of appearances belongs 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