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.IX.Be not discontented, be not disheartened, be not out of hope, if often it succeednot so well with thee punctually and precisely to do all things according to the rightdogmata, but being once cast off, return unto them again: and as for those many andmore frequent occurrences, either of worldly distractions, or human infirmities,which as a man thou canst not but in some measure be subject unto, be not thoudiscontented with them; but however, love and affect that only which thou dust re-turn unto: a philosopher s life, and proper occupation after the most exact manner.And when thou dust return to thy philosophy, return not unto it as the manner ofsome is, after play and liberty as it were, to their schoolmasters and pedagogues; butas they that have sore eyes to their sponge and egg: or as another to his cataplasm;or as others to their fomentations: so shalt not thou make it a matter of ostentationMarcus Aurelius' Meditations - tr.Casaubon v.8.16, uploaded to www.philaletheians.co.uk, 14 July 2013Page 40 of 128 MEDITATIONS OF MARCUS AURELIUSFIFTH BOOKat all to obey reason but of ease and comfort.And remember that philosophy re-quireth nothing of thee, but what thy nature requireth, and wouldest thou thyselfdesire anything that is not according to nature? for which of these sayest thou; thatwhich is according to nature or against it, is of itself more kind and pleasing? Is itnot for that respect especially, that pleasure itself is to so many men s hurt and over-throw, most prevalent, because esteemed commonly most kind, and natural? Butconsider well whether magnanimity rather, and true liberty, and true simplicity, andequanimity, and holiness; whether these be not most kind and natural? And pruden-cy itself, what more kind and amiable than it, when thou shalt truly consider withthyself, what it is through all the proper objects of thy rational intellectual facultycurrently to go on without any fall or stumble? As for the things of the world, theirtrue nature is in a manner so involved with obscurity, that unto many philosophers,and those no mean ones, they seemed altogether incomprehensible.and the Stoicsthemselves, though they judge them not altogether incomprehensible, yet scarce andnot without much difficulty, comprehensible, so that all assent of ours is fallible, forwho is he that is infallible in his conclusions? From the nature of things, pass nowunto their subjects and matter: how temporary, how vile are they I such as may be inthe power and possession of some abominable loose liver, of some common strumpet,of some notorious oppressor and extortioner.Pass from thence to the dispositions ofthem that thou doest ordinarily converse with, how hardly do we bear, even with themost loving and amiable! that I may not say, how hard it is for us to bear even withour own selves, in such obscurity, and impurity of things: in such and so continual aflux both of the substances and time; both of the motions themselves, and thingsmoved; what it is that we can fasten upon; either to honour, and respect especially;or seriously, and studiously to seek after; I cannot so much as conceive For indeedthey are things contrary.X.Thou must comfort thyself in the expectation of thy natural dissolution, and in themeantime not grieve at the delay; but rest contented in those two things.First, thatnothing shall happen unto thee, which is not according to the nature of the universe.Secondly, that it is in thy power, to do nothing against thine own proper God, andinward spirit.For it is not in any man s power to constrain thee to transgress againsthim.XI.What is the use that now at this present I make of my soul? Thus from time totime and upon all occasions thou must put this question to thyself; what is now thatpart of mine which they call the rational mistress part, employed about? Whose souldo I now properly possess? a child s? or a youth s? a woman s? or a tyrant s? somebrute, or some wild beast s soul?XII.What those things are in themselves, which by the greatest part are esteemedgood, thou mayest gather even from this.For if a man shall hear things mentioned asgood, which are really good indeed, such as are prudence, temperance, justice, forti-tude, after so much heard and conceived, he cannot endure to hear of any more, forthe word good is properly spoken of them.But as for those which by the vulgar areesteemed good, if he shall hear them mentioned as good, he doth hearken for more.He is well contented to hear, that what is spoken by the comedian, is but familiarlyand popularly spoken, so that even the vulgar apprehend the difference.For why is itMarcus Aurelius' Meditations - tr.Casaubon v.8.16, uploaded to www.philaletheians.co.uk, 14 July 2013Page 41 of 128 MEDITATIONS OF MARCUS AURELIUSFIFTH BOOKelse, that this offends not and needs not to be excused, when virtues are styled good:but that which is spoken in commendation of wealth, pleasure, or honour, we enter-tain it only as merrily and pleasantly spoken? Proceed therefore, and inquire further,whether it may not be that those things also which being mentioned upon the stagewere merrily, and with great applause of the multitude, scoffed at with this jest, thatthey that possessed them had not in all the world of their own, (such was their afflu-ence and plenty) so much as a place where to avoid their excrements.Whether, I say,those ought not also in very deed to be much respected, and esteemed of, as the onlythings that are truly good.XIII
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