1. Wilt thou, ever, O my soul! be good, and simple, and one, and naked, more apparent than the body that surrounds thee? Wilt thou ever taste of the loving and affectionate temper? wilt thou ever be full, and without wants; without longings after any thing, without desires after any thing, either animate or inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasure? Or time, for lengthening the enjoyment? Or of place, or country, or fine climate? Or of the * social concord of men? But † satisfied with thy present state, and well-pleased with every present circumstance? persuade ‡ thyself thou hast all things: all is § right and well with thee: and comes to thee from the Gods. And all shall be right and well for thee which they please to give, and which they are about to give for the safety of * the perfect animal; the good; the just; the fair; the parent of all things; the supporter, the container, the surrounder of all things; which are [all] dissolving for the birth of such others as themselves. Wilt thou ever be able, so to live a fellow-citizen of * Gods and men, as, neither, in any respect, † to complain of them, nor be disapproved by them.

2.‡ Observe what your nature demands as far as you are under the government of mere vegetative nature. Then do that, and approve it, if your nature, as an animal, won’t be thence rendered the worse. Next you must observe what your nature, as an animal, demands. And take to yourself every thing of this kind, if your nature, as a rational-animal, won’t be thence rendered the worse. Now ’tis plain the rational nature is also social. So, use these rules, and trouble yourself for none further.

3. Whatever happens, happens such as you are either formed by nature able to bear it, or not able to bear it. If such as you are by nature form’d able to bear, bear it and fret not: But if such as you are not naturally able to bear, don’t fret; for when it has consum’d you, itself will perish. Remember, however, you are by nature form’d able to bear whatever it is in the power of your own opinion to make supportable or tolerable, according as you conceive it advantageous, or your duty, to do so.

4. If he is going wrong, teach him humanely, and show him his mistake. If this be impossible for you, blame yourself; or not even yourself.

5. Whatever happens to you, it was before preparing for you from eternity; and the concatenation of causes had, from eternity, interwoven your subsistence with this contingency.

6. Whether all be atoms, or there be [presiding] natures, let this be laid down as indisputable; that I am a part of the whole; and the whole must be conducted by its own nature, be that what it will: and that I am in some manner socially connected with the parts which are of the same kind with myself. For while I remember this, I shall, as I am a part, be dissatisfied with nothing appointed me by the whole. For nothing advantageous to the whole is hurtful to the part. For the whole has nothing in it but what is advantageous to itself; that being common to all natures; and the nature of the whole has this further, that it can’t be forc’d by any external cause, to produce any thing hurtful to itself. By remembering, then, I am a part of such a whole, I shall be well-pleased with every thing which comes from it. And as far as I am in some manner one of the same family with the parts of the same kind with me, I will be guilty of nothing unsocial; nay, I will rather aim at the good of my kind; turn the whole bent of my will to the public advantage, and withdraw it from the contrary.4 When I accomplish these things in this manner, my life must needs run smooth and clear: Just so, as you would judge a citizen in a happy flow of life, who was going on in a course of action profitable for his fellow citizens, and gladly embracing whatever is appointed him by the city.

7. The parts of the whole, all the parts, I mean, which the universe contains, must needs be in a state of corruption. Let this expression be used for denoting a state of change. If then, I say, this be both evil and necessary to them, the whole cannot possibly be in a right state; since the parts are prone to change, and remarkably form’d for corrupting.—For, whether did nature herself take in hand to do evil to the parts of herself, and to make them both subject to fall into evil, and such as of necessity have fallen into evil? Or has this happened without her knowledge?—Both these are equally incredible.—And if one, quitting the notion of a [presiding] nature, mean only that things are so constituted; how ridiculous! to say, the parts of the whole, by their very constitution, tend to change; and yet be surpris’d, or fretted, at any thing, as happening contrary to the nature of things: especially, too, as the dissolution of every thing is into those very elements of which it is compos’d. For it is either a dissipation of those elements of which it was a mixture; or a conversion of them: of the solid to the earthy, and the spirituous to the aerial. So that these too are taken into the plan of the whole, which is either to undergo * periodical conflagrations, or be renewed by perpetual changes. And don’t think you had all the earthy and the aerial parts from your birth. They were late accessions of yesterday or the day before, by your food, and the air you breathed. These accessions, therefore, are changed, and not what your mother bore. Grant that this their change † into the peculiar nature of your body makes you cling earnestly to them, it alters nothing of what I was just now saying.

8. If you take to yourself these names, a good man, one of a high sense of honour, modesty, veracity; one of attention of mind, conformity of mind, elevation of mind; take care you never change them for others. And if you happen to lose them at any time, run quickly back to them. And remember, by attention of mind you meant to denote, that your knowlege, in every thing, be always founded on a thorough unbyassed inquiry into the true nature of the objects; and that nothing enter your mind without being carefully examined: By conformity of mind; a willing acceptance of every thing appointed by the common nature. By elevation of mind; the raising the thinking part superior to any pleasant or painful commotion of the flesh, to the little views of fame, to death, and all such things. If, then, you stedfastly keep to these names, without affecting or desiring these appellations from others, you will be quite another man; and enter into quite another life. For, to continue such a one as you have been till now, and subject to the distraction and pollution of such a life, is the part of * one extremely insensible, and fond of life; and who is like one of those half devoured combatants with the wild beasts [in the public shows] who, when covered with wounds and gore, yet beg to be preserved till to morrow; even to be exposed again to the same jaw and fangs. Resolutely force yourself into these few cha-racters; and, if you are able to abide in them, abide, as one who has removed and settled in the † fortunate Islands. But if you perceive you fall from them, and succeed not thoroughly [in your intention to abide in them,] retire boldly into some corner, where you may prevail, [by meeting with less opposition] or, even, depart out of life altogether; yet not angry [that you could not prevail;] but with simplicity, liberty, and modesty; having at least perform’d this one thing well, in life, that you have in this manner departed out of it. Now, it will greatly assist you to keep in mind these names, if you keep in mind the Gods, and that they don’t want ‡ adulation and flatte-ry from their worshippers, but that all beings indued with reason shou’d become * like unto themselves: Keep in mind too that that is a fig-tree, which performs the business of a fig-tree; a dog, which performs that of a dog; a bee, that of a bee; and a man who performs the business of a man.

9. The public diversions [which you must attend in Rome;] the Wars [abroad,] the consternation, stupidity, and slavery of those about you, will wipe out daily, [if you take not heed,] those sacred maxims; unless † you have settled them upon a thorough consideration of nature, and laid them up in your mind. You ought so to think, and act, on every occasion, that, while you are discharging any external office, your contemplative powers may, at the same time, be exerting themselves, and ‡ your confidence in yourself, from your right knowledge of things, be preserv’d; unobserved perhaps, but not designedly concealed. For, then, you will enjoy simplicity; then, a dignity of deportment; then, an accurate inquiry into every thing which occurs; what it is in its real nature; what place and rank it has in the universe; how long it is naturally fitted to last; what it is compos’d of; who may possess it; and who may give it, and take it away.

10. The spider exults if it has caught a fly: another, if he has caught a little hare; another, if a little fish in a purse-net; another, if he has hunted down wild-boars; another, if, bears; another, if he has conquered the Sarmatians.11 Are not all these robbers alike, if you examine their sentiments? *

11. Acquire a method of contemplating how all things change into one another. Apply constantly to this part [of philosophy,] and exercise yourself thoroughly in it. For there is nothing so proper as this for raising you to an elevation and greatness of mind. He who does this, has already put off the body, and being sensible how instantly he must depart from among men, and leave all these things behind him, resigns himself entirely to † justice, in whatever he does him-self; and to the nature of the whole, in every thing else which happens. What any one may say or think of him, or do against him, on this he spends not a thought. He satisfies himself with these two things: With acting justly in what he is at present doing; and with loving what is at present appointed for him. He has thrown off all hurry and bustle; and has no other will but this, to ‡ go on in the straight way § according to the law; and to follow God in the straight way. 12. What need of suspicions [about the event?] Since you can consider what ought to be done: and if you understand that surely, go on in the road to it, calmly, and inflexibly. * But if you are not sure, suspend, and consult the best advisers. If you meet with any obstacles in the way, proceed with a prudent caution, accord-ing to the means you have; keeping close to what appears just. For that is the best mark to aim at. Since the failing in that is the only proper miscarriage. He who, in every thing, follows reason [or the law of his nature] is always at leisure, and yet ready for any business; always chearful, and yet composed. 13. As soon as you awake, immediately ask yourself. Will it be of consequence to you, if what is just and good be done by some other person? It will not. Have you forgot, those who assume such airs of importance in their praises and censures of others, what kind of men they are in bed, and at table? What their actions are; what they shun, and what pursue? What they steal, and what they rob? Not with feet and hands, but with their most precious part; by which one may, if he has the will, procure to himself faith, honour and modesty, truth, † law, and a good divinity within, [which is the supreme felicity or good-fortune.] 14. To [the presiding] nature, which gives and resumes again all things, the well-instructed mind, possessed of a sense of honour and decency, says; “Give what thou willest: take back what thou willest.” And this he says not with an arrogant ostentation, but with obedience alone, and good-will to her. 15. This remainder you have of life is small. Live, as if on a [lonely] mountain. For ’tis no matter whether there or here, if one, where ever he lives, considers the universe as a city. Let men see and know you to be a man indeed, living according to nature. If they cannot bear with you, let them put you to death. For better so than live as they do. 16. Spend your time no longer, in discoursing on what are the qualities of the good-man; but in actually being such. 17. Frequently represent to your imagination a view of the whole of time, and the whole of substance: And that every individual thing is, in substance, as a grain of millet; and, in duration, as a * turn of a wimble. 18. Consider, with attention, each of the things around you as already dissolving, and in a state of change, and, as it were, corruption, or dissipation; or, as each formed by nature such as to die. 19. What sort of men are they when eating, sleeping, procreating, easing nature, and the like! And, then, what sort of men when † distributing their largesses, and elate with pride; or angry, and sharply rebuking with a stately insolence! To how many were they, but lately, slaves, and on what accounts! and in what condition will they shortly be? 20. That is for the advantage of each which the nature of the whole brings to each. And for his advantage at that time, at which she brings it. 21.‡ “Earth loves the rain”;—“And the majestic Ether loves [the earth.”]14 The universe, also, loves to do that which is going to happen. I say, then to the universe; § “What thou lovest I love.” Is not our common phrase according to fact, when we say “such a thing loves to be so,” [to denote that it is usual or natural.]

22. Either you are living here, and now habituated to it: Or going hence, and that was your will: Or you are dying, and have finished your public offices in life. Now besides these there is nothing else. So, take courage.

23. Let this be always manifest to you: That a country retirement is just like any other place; and that * all things are the same there as on the mountain-top, or at the wild sea-coast, or any where. For you may always meet with that of Plato, who says, “[The wise man ever enjoys retirement;] he makes the city-wall serve him for a shepherd’s fold on a hill-top.”17

24. What is my governing-part to me? and to what purposes am I now using it? Is it void of understanding? Is it loosened and rent off from society? Is it glewed to, and incorporated with the flesh, so as to turn which way that pleases?

25. He who flies from his master is a fugitive-slave. Now, the law is our master; and so the transgressor of the law is the fugitive: and he, also, who is grieved, or angry, or afraid, because any thing has happened, or is happening, or formerly happened, of these things which are ordered by him who governs all: Who is † the law, appointing to every one what is proper for him. He, then, who is afraid, or grieved, or angry, is the fugitive-slave.

26. When one has cast the seed into the womb, he departs: another cause receives it, operates, and finishes the infant. Wonderful production from such a beginning! Again, the infant lets the food down its throat; and then another cause receives it, and transforms it into [organs of] sensation, motion, and, in a word, life, and strength, and other things how many and surprising! Contemplate therefore, these things, tho’ done so very covertly, and view the power [which produces them] in the same way as you view the power which makes bodies tend downwards or upwards: not with your eyes, indeed; yet no less manifestly.

27. Frequently reflect, how all things which happened formerly were just such as happen now. Reflect, also, that such too will those be which are to ensue. And place before your eyes the whole, which you have ever known, either from your own experience, or ancient history; dramas, and scenes, all of the same kind. Such as the whole court of Hadrian; the whole court of Antoninus; the whole court of Philip; of Alexander; of Croesus.21 For all these were of the same kind [with your own] only composed of other persons.

28. Conceive every one, who is grieved, or storms, at any thing whatever, to be like the pig in a sacrifice, which kicks and screams, while under the knife. Such too is he, who, on his couch, deplores in silence, by himself, that we are all tied to our fate. Consider, too, that, only to the rational animal it is given to follow * willingly what happens. But the bare following is a necessity upon all.

29. Look attentively on each particular thing you are doing; and ask yourself, if death be a terror because it deprives you of this.

30.† When you are offended at a fault of any one, immediately turn to yourself; and consider, what fault of a like kind you yourself commit. Such as judging money to be good; or pleasure; or glory; and so of the rest. For, by fixing your attention on this, you will quickly forget your anger; taking this along, too, that he is ‡ forced. For, what else cou’d he do? or, if you can, remove what forces him.

31. When you consider § Satyrio the Socratic, think on Eutyches, or Hymen: and, when you consider Euphrates, think on Eutychio or Silvanus. And when Alciphron, think on Tropaiophorus; and when you consider Xenophon, think on Crito or Severus.22 And when you look into yourself, think on any one of the Cesars. And so analogously, when you see any body else. Then let this at the same time enter your mind. Where, now, are those? No where? Or who can tell? For thus you will constantly behold all human things as smoke and nothing. Especially if you recollect, that, what has once changed, will never exist again through all the infinity of time. How soon, then, will your change come? And why is it not sufficient to you to pass this short space gracefully [in this universe.] How fine a * subject of employment to yourself are you shunning? For, what are all things but exercises for that rational power which hath viewed all things that occur in life, with accuracy, and according to their true natures? Stay, then, till you make all these things familiar to yourself: As the healthy stomach adapts all things to itself: As * the shining fire turns whatever you throw on it, into flame and splendor.

32. Let no-body have it in his power to say with truth of you, that you are not a man of simplicity, candour and goodness. But let him be mistaken, whoever has such an opinion of you. Now, all this is in your own power. For, what is he who hinders you to be good, and single-hearted? Only do you determine to live no longer if you are not to be such a man. For neither does ‡ reason, in that case, require you should.

33. In this present matter you are employ’d about, what can be done or said in the soundest, [and most upright] manner? For, whatever that be, you are at liberty to do or say it. And don’t make pretences, as if hindered. You will never cease from groaning [and repining,] till once you be so affected, that such as luxury is to the men of pleasure, such be to you the doing, in every subject of action that is thrown in your way, or falls into it, those things which are properly suitable to the frame and constitution of man. For, every thing, which you are at liberty to perform according to your own proper nature, you must conceive to be a delightfull enjoyment; and you have this liberty every where. Now, to the cylinder, it is not given to move every where in its proper motion: Nor to the water: Nor to the fire: Nor to any of those other things which are governed by a nature or a soul irrational: For there are many things which restrain, and stop them. But intelligence and reason can pursue the course it is naturally fitted for, and wills, thro’ every obstacle. Place before your eyes this easiness with which reason goes on through all obstacles, as the fire upward, as the stone downward, as the cylinder on the declivity; and seek for nothing further. For the other stops are, either those of the insensible carcase, or such as don’t hurt the man, or do him any evil, unless by opinion, and by Reason’s own yielding itself to them, otherways he who suffered by them, wou’d himself presently have become evil. In all other fabrics, indeed, whatever evil happens to them, the sufferer itself thereby becomes the worse. But, here, if I may say so, the man becomes even the better, and the more praise-worthy, by making a right use of what falls across to him. Upon the whole, remember, nothing hurts him who is by nature a citizen, which hurts not the city. Nor hurts the city, which hurts not the law. Now none of these things called misfortunes hurt the law. So, what hurts not the law, neither hurts the city nor the citizen.25

34. To him, whose heart the true maxims have pierced, the shortest, the most common hint is a sufficient memorial to keep himself free of sorrow and fear. Such as,

  Some leaves the winds blow down: the fruitful wood
  Breeds more mean-while; which in spring-time appear.
  Of men, thus, ends one race, while one is born. *

Your children, too, are little leaves; and these are leaves too, who declaim with such important airs of assurance, and sound forth the praises of others, or, on the contrary, curse them; or, who privately censure and sneer at them. In the same manner, these are leaves, also, who are to preserve your surviving fame. For all these, “in spring-tide appear.” Then the wind shall presently throw them down. And the forest breed others in their stead. The short-lived existence is common to them all. Yet are you dreading or courting them, as if they were to be eternal. Nay, in a little, you will close your eyes. And him, who carries you out to your funeral, shall another bewail.

35. The sound eye ought to behold [with ease] all the objects of sight; and not say, “I want the green”: for that is like one who has sore eyes. The sound ear, and sense of smelling, ought to be ready for all the objects of hearing and smelling; and the sound stomach be equally disposed for all sorts of food, as a mill for all it is framed to grind. So also the sound mind ought to be ready for all things which happen. That mind which says, “Let my children be preserved; and let all men applaud whatever I do”; is an eye which seeks the green objects; or teeth, which seek the tender food.

36. There is no man of so happy a lot, but that, when he dies, some of the by-standers will rejoice at the * evil which befalls him. Was he good and wise? Will there not be some-body, who, at his death, will say within himself? “I shall at last get breathing from this strict tutor. He was not indeed severe to any of us. Yet I was sensible he tacitly condemned us.” Thus will they say of the good man. But, in my case, how many other reasons are there, for which, multitudes wou’d gladly get rid of me? This you may reflect on, when a-dying; † and depart with the less regret, when you consider, “I am going out of such a life, that, in it, my very partners, for whose sakes I underwent and struggled with so many labours, put up so many prayers, had so many cares, those very men are wishing me to be gone; hoping from thence, ’tis likely, for some other satisfaction.” Who, then, would strive for a longer stay here? Don’t, however, on this account, go off less benign toward them. But preserve your own manners, and continue to them friendly, benevolent, and propitious: and, on the other hand, don’t go off, as torn away; but as, when one dies a gentle death, the soul comes easily out of the body; such also ought your departure from these men to be. For nature had knit and cemented you to them: But now she parts you. I part, then, as from relations; not reluctant however, but peaceable. For death, too, is one of the things according to nature.27

37. Accustom yourself, as much as possible, in every thing any one is doing, to consider with yourself; What end does he refer this to? But, begin, at home; and examine yourself first.

38. Remember, ’tis * that which lies hid within, which draws and turns you † as the wires do the puppet. ’Tis that, is eloquence: That, life: That, if I may say so, is the man. Never blend with it, in your imagination, this surrounding earthen vessel, and these little organs. They are but like the ax, [any tool of any artizan,] with this only difference, that they are naturally united with us: since, none of these parts are of any more service, without the cause which moves and stops them, than the shuttle is to the weaver; the pen, to the writer; or the whip, to the charioteer.

[* ] His leisure was perpetually broke by wars.

[† ] Philippians, IV. 11. “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.”1

Epictetus, in the Enchirid. 15.2 “Remember, you ought to behave yourself in life, as if at an entertainment. Does any thing come, in course, to you? stretch out your hand, and take it gracefully. Does it go by you? Don’t stop it. Is it not come yet? Don’t long after it; but wait till it come to you. Do thus in the case of your children, of your wife, of power, of riches; and you shall be at length a worthy companion of the Gods. And if, even when set before you, you don’t take, but overlook them; you shall then be not only a companion of the Gods, but a fellow-governor with them.

[‡ ] II. Corinth. VI. 10. “Having nothing, yet possessing all things.” But the whole passage from verse 3 to 11, is of the same kind, and extremely beautiful.3

[§ ] Rom. VIII. 28. “All things work together for good to them who love God.”

[* ] The universe: See, IV. 23.

[* ] Philip. III. 20. “Our conversation, (or as it may be rather translated, the city we belong to), is in heaven.”

[† ] Rom. XIV. 18. “Acceptable to God and approved of men.” See XII. 12. and 24.

[‡ ] See the note at V. 36.

[* ] See V. 13. and the note.

[† ] This passage is extremely obscure, critics only guess at some sort of meaning to it.

[* ] Propter vitam vivendi perdere causas.5

[† ] The poetical representations of the tranquillity and happiness of these islands of the blessed are well known.

[‡ ] This sentiment, occurs often in the scriptures, particularly in the 50th psalm, and 1st chap. of Isaiah; and seems not to have been uncommon among the heathens themselves; selves; as appears by the following fragment of a dramatic poet, which is no way aggravated in the translation. Is there, on earth, a man, so much a fool;So silly in credulity; who thinksThat fleshless bones and the fry’d bile of beasts,Which were not food even for a hungry dog,Are offerings that the Gods delight to take;And these the honours, they expect from men:Or, on account of these, will favour shew,Tho’ robbers, pyrates, nay tho’ tyrants beThe offerers.See Clem. Alex. Strom. 7.6Compositum jus fasque animo, sanctosque recessusMentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto;Haec cedo ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo.Persius sat. 2.7

[* ] This is the same with the grand Christian doctrine of the divine life. “(a) To be transformed into the same image with God. (b) To be conformed to the image of his Son. © Ye shall be holy as I the Lord your God am holy. (d) Pure as God your father is pure. Righteous even as he is righteous. (e) Merciful as your father also is merciful. (f ) Be ye therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.” Clemens Alex. testifies too, more than once, that he found the same doctrine in Plato: See Gataker on this place.8

Read numbers for these references by the small letters. (1) II. Cor. 3. 18. (2) Rom. 8. 29. (3) Levit. 19. 2. and I. Peter 1. 16. (4) I. John 3. 3, 7. (5) Luke 6. 36. (6) Matth. 5. 48.9

[† ] The text is corrupt here. The translation is according to a conjecture of Gataker’s.10

[‡ ] This is the farthest that can be from what we commonly call self-sufficiency, or a stiff and self-willed temper. It is a virtue highly necessary in some of the sweetest characters; who, often, from too modest a diffidence of themselves, submit their own finer sentiments, and allow themselves to be guided and led wrong, by men of far less genius and worth than themselves, whose low views their own candour makes them not suspect.

[* ] This has probably been occasioned by the behavior of some of his officers, upon seizing parties of the Sarmatians, with whom the Romans were then at war; and designed to repress the vanity of conquerors.

[† ] Justice is taken here in the extensive platonic sense, regarding not only what are called the rights of mankind, but comprehending resignation to God, and all the kindest social virtues. See, XI. 20. at the end; and, XII. 1.12

[‡ ] See, V. 3.

[§ ] See, II. 16. at the end.

[ ] According to Gataker, Antoninus has here before his eye the following passage of Plato in the 4th book of the laws. “God, in whose hand is the beginning, end, and middle of all things, pursues the straight way; going about every where, according to nature. He is always attended by justice, who punishes those who come short in their observance of the divine law; The man who is about to live happy, keeps close by her, and follows God along with her.”13 [* ] The reading in the original here is uncertain. [† ] The grand law of promoting the perfection of the whole, obedience to which is the supreme happiness. B. VIII. 2. and X. 25. [* ] This a proverbial simile for things that pass in a moment. [† ] This word is uncertain in the original. [‡ ] From Euripides. [§ ] φιλει in Greek as amat in Latin for solet.15 [ ] Thus Epictetus, Arrian II. 16. “Have the courage to lift up your eyes to God, and say: Use me, after this, for what purposes thou willest; my sentiments concur with thee. I plead against nothing which seems proper to thee.” And IV. 7. “I adhere to him as a servant and atten1. Wilt thou, ever, O my soul! be good, and simple, and one, and naked, more apparent than the body that surrounds thee? Wilt thou ever taste of the loving and affectionate temper? wilt thou ever be full, and without wants; without longings after any thing, without desires after any thing, either animate or inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasure? Or time, for lengthening the enjoyment? Or of place, or country, or fine climate? Or of the * social concord of men? But † satisfied with thy present state, and well-pleased with every present circumstance? persuade ‡ thyself thou hast all things: all is § right and well with thee: and comes to thee from the Gods. And all shall be right and well for thee which they please to give, and which they are about to give for the safety of the perfect animal; the good; the just; the fair; the parent of all things; the supporter, the container, the surrounder of all things; which are [all] dissolving for the birth of such others as themselves. Wilt thou ever be able, so to live a fellow-citizen of * Gods and men, as, neither, in any respect, † to complain of them, nor be disapproved by them. 2.‡ Observe what your nature demands as far as you are under the government of mere vegetative nature. Then do that, and approve it, if your nature, as an animal, won’t be thence rendered the worse. Next you must observe what your nature, as an animal, demands. And take to yourself every thing of this kind, if your nature, as a rational-animal, won’t be thence rendered the worse. Now ’tis plain the rational nature is also social. So, use these rules, and trouble yourself for none further. 3. Whatever happens, happens such as you are either formed by nature able to bear it, or not able to bear it. If such as you are by nature form’d able to bear, bear it and fret not: But if such as you are not naturally able to bear, don’t fret; for when it has consum’d you, itself will perish. Remember, however, you are by nature form’d able to bear whatever it is in the power of your own opinion to make supportable or tolerable, according as you conceive it advantageous, or your duty, to do so. 4. If he is going wrong, teach him humanely, and show him his mistake. If this be impossible for you, blame yourself; or not even yourself. 5. Whatever happens to you, it was before preparing for you from eternity; and the concatenation of causes had, from eternity, interwoven your subsistence with this contingency. 6. Whether all be atoms, or there be [presiding] natures, let this be laid down as indisputable; that I am a part of the whole; and the whole must be conducted by its own nature, be that what it will: and that I am in some manner socially connected with the parts which are of the same kind with myself. For while I remember this, I shall, as I am a part, be dissatisfied with nothing appointed me by the whole. For nothing advantageous to the whole is hurtful to the part. For the whole has nothing in it but what is advantageous to itself; that being common to all natures; and the nature of the whole has this further, that it can’t be forc’d by any external cause, to produce any thing hurtful to itself. By remembering, then, I am a part of such a whole, I shall be well-pleased with every thing which comes from it. And as far as I am in some manner one of the same family with the parts of the same kind with me, I will be guilty of nothing unsocial; nay, I will rather aim at the good of my kind; turn the whole bent of my will to the public advantage, and withdraw it from the contrary.4 When I accomplish these things in this manner, my life must needs run smooth and clear: Just so, as you would judge a citizen in a happy flow of life, who was going on in a course of action profitable for his fellow citizens, and gladly embracing whatever is appointed him by the city. 7. The parts of the whole, all the parts, I mean, which the universe contains, must needs be in a state of corruption. Let this expression be used for denoting a state of change. If then, I say, this be both evil and necessary to them, the whole cannot possibly be in a right state; since the parts are prone to change, and remarkably form’d for corrupting.—For, whether did nature herself take in hand to do evil to the parts of herself, and to make them both subject to fall into evil, and such as of necessity have fallen into evil? Or has this happened without her knowledge?—Both these are equally incredible.—And if one, quitting the notion of a [presiding] nature, mean only that things are so constituted; how ridiculous! to say, the parts of the whole, by their very constitution, tend to change; and yet be surpris’d, or fretted, at any thing, as happening contrary to the nature of things: especially, too, as the dissolution of every thing is into those very elements of which it is compos’d. For it is either a dissipation of those elements of which it was a mixture; or a conversion of them: of the solid to the earthy, and the spirituous to the aerial. So that these too are taken into the plan of the whole, which is either to undergo * periodical conflagrations, or be renewed by perpetual changes. And don’t think you had all the earthy and the aerial parts from your birth. They were late accessions of yesterday or the day before, by your food, and the air you breathed. These accessions, therefore, are changed, and not what your mother bore. Grant that this their change † into the peculiar nature of your body makes you cling earnestly to them, it alters nothing of what I was just now saying. 8. If you take to yourself these names, a good man, one of a high sense of honour, modesty, veracity; one of attention of mind, conformity of mind, elevation of mind; take care you never change them for others. And if you happen to lose them at any time, run quickly back to them. And remember, by attention of mind you meant to denote, that your knowlege, in every thing, be always founded on a thorough unbyassed inquiry into the true nature of the objects; and that nothing enter your mind without being carefully examined: By conformity of mind; a willing acceptance of every thing appointed by the common nature. By elevation of mind; the raising the thinking part superior to any pleasant or painful commotion of the flesh, to the little views of fame, to death, and all such things. If, then, you stedfastly keep to these names, without affecting or desiring these appellations from others, you will be quite another man; and enter into quite another life. For, to continue such a one as you have been till now, and subject to the distraction and pollution of such a life, is the part of * one extremely insensible, and fond of life; and who is like one of those half devoured combatants with the wild beasts [in the public shows] who, when covered with wounds and gore, yet beg to be preserved till to morrow; even to be exposed again to the same jaw and fangs. Resolutely force yourself into these few cha-racters; and, if you are able to abide in them, abide, as one who has removed and settled in the † fortunate Islands. But if you perceive you fall from them, and succeed not thoroughly [in your intention to abide in them,] retire boldly into some corner, where you may prevail, [by meeting with less opposition] or, even, depart out of life altogether; yet not angry [that you could not prevail;] but with simplicity, liberty, and modesty; having at least perform’d this one thing well, in life, that you have in this manner departed out of it. Now, it will greatly assist you to keep in mind these names, if you keep in mind the Gods, and that they don’t want ‡ adulation and flatte-ry from their worshippers, but that all beings indued with reason shou’d become * like unto themselves: Keep in mind too that that is a fig-tree, which performs the business of a fig-tree; a dog, which performs that of a dog; a bee, that of a bee; and a man who performs the business of a man. 9. The public diversions [which you must attend in Rome;] the Wars [abroad,] the consternation, stupidity, and slavery of those about you, will wipe out daily, [if you take not heed,] those sacred maxims; unless † you have settled them upon a thorough consideration of nature, and laid them up in your mind. You ought so to think, and act, on every occasion, that, while you are discharging any external office, your contemplative powers may, at the same time, be exerting themselves, and ‡ your confidence in yourself, from your right knowledge of things, be preserv’d; unobserved perhaps, but not designedly concealed. For, then, you will enjoy simplicity; then, a dignity of deportment; then, an accurate inquiry into every thing which occurs; what it is in its real nature; what place and rank it has in the universe; how long it is naturally fitted to last; what it is compos’d of; who may possess it; and who may give it, and take it away. 10. The spider exults if it has caught a fly: another, if he has caught a little hare; another, if a little fish in a purse-net; another, if he has hunted down wild-boars; another, if, bears; another, if he has conquered the Sarmatians.11 Are not all these robbers alike, if you examine their sentiments? * 11. Acquire a method of contemplating how all things change into one another. Apply constantly to this part [of philosophy,] and exercise yourself thoroughly in it. For there is nothing so proper as this for raising you to an elevation and greatness of mind. He who does this, has already put off the body, and being sensible how instantly he must depart from among men, and leave all these things behind him, resigns himself entirely to † justice, in whatever he does him-self; and to the nature of the whole, in every thing else which happens. What any one may say or think of him, or do against him, on this he spends not a thought. He satisfies himself with these two things: With acting justly in what he is at present doing; and with loving what is at present appointed for him. He has thrown off all hurry and bustle; and has no other will but this, to ‡ go on in the straight way § according to the law; and to follow God in the straight way.

12. What need of suspicions [about the event?] Since you can consider what ought to be done: and if you understand that surely, go on in the road to it, calmly, and inflexibly. * But if you are not sure, suspend, and consult the best advisers. If you meet with any obstacles in the way, proceed with a prudent caution, accord-ing to the means you have; keeping close to what appears just. For that is the best mark to aim at. Since the failing in that is the only proper miscarriage. He who, in every thing, follows reason [or the law of his nature] is always at leisure, and yet ready for any business; always chearful, and yet composed.

13. As soon as you awake, immediately ask yourself. Will it be of consequence to you, if what is just and good be done by some other person? It will not. Have you forgot, those who assume such airs of importance in their praises and censures of others, what kind of men they are in bed, and at table? What their actions are; what they shun, and what pursue? What they steal, and what they rob? Not with feet and hands, but with their most precious part; by which one may, if he has the will, procure to himself faith, honour and modesty, truth, † law, and a good divinity within, [which is the supreme felicity or good-fortune.]

14. To [the presiding] nature, which gives and resumes again all things, the well-instructed mind, possessed of a sense of honour and decency, says; “Give what thou willest: take back what thou willest.” And this he says not with an arrogant ostentation, but with obedience alone, and good-will to her.

15. This remainder you have of life is small. Live, as if on a [lonely] mountain. For ’tis no matter whether there or here, if one, where ever he lives, considers the universe as a city. Let men see and know you to be a man indeed, living according to nature. If they cannot bear with you, let them put you to death. For better so than live as they do.

16. Spend your time no longer, in discoursing on what are the qualities of the good-man; but in actually being such.

17. Frequently represent to your imagination a view of the whole of time, and the whole of substance: And that every individual thing is, in substance, as a grain of millet; and, in duration, as a * turn of a wimble.

18. Consider, with attention, each of the things around you as already dissolving, and in a state of change, and, as it were, corruption, or dissipation; or, as each formed by nature such as to die.

19. What sort of men are they when eating, sleeping, procreating, easing nature, and the like! And, then, what sort of men when † distributing their largesses, and elate with pride; or angry, and sharply rebuking with a stately insolence! To how many were they, but lately, slaves, and on what accounts! and in what condition will they shortly be?

20. That is for the advantage of each which the nature of the whole brings to each. And for his advantage at that time, at which she brings it.

21.‡ “Earth loves the rain”;—“And the majestic Ether loves [the earth.”]14 The universe, also, loves to do that which is going to happen. I say, then to the universe; § “What thou lovest I love.” Is not our common phrase according to fact, when we say “such a thing loves to be so,” [to denote that it is usual or natural.] 22. Either you are living here, and now habituated to it: Or going hence, and that was your will: Or you are dying, and have finished your public offices in life. Now besides these there is nothing else. So, take courage. 23. Let this be always manifest to you: That a country retirement is just like any other place; and that * all things are the same there as on the mountain-top, or at the wild sea-coast, or any where. For you may always meet with that of Plato, who says, “[The wise man ever enjoys retirement;] he makes the city-wall serve him for a shepherd’s fold on a hill-top.”17 24. What is my governing-part to me? and to what purposes am I now using it? Is it void of understanding? Is it loosened and rent off from society? Is it glewed to, and incorporated with the flesh, so as to turn which way that pleases? 25. He who flies from his master is a fugitive-slave. Now, the law is our master; and so the transgressor of the law is the fugitive: and he, also, who is grieved, or angry, or afraid, because any thing has happened, or is happening, or formerly happened, of these things which are ordered by him who governs all: Who is † the law, appointing to every one what is proper for him. He, then, who is afraid, or grieved, or angry, is the fugitive-slave. 26. When one has cast the seed into the womb, he departs: another cause receives it, operates, and finishes the infant. Wonderful production from such a beginning! Again, the infant lets the food down its throat; and then another cause receives it, and transforms it into [organs of] sensation, motion, and, in a word, life, and strength, and other things how many and surprising! Contemplate therefore, these things, tho’ done so very covertly, and view the power [which produces them] in the same way as you view the power which makes bodies tend downwards or upwards: not with your eyes, indeed; yet no less manifestly. 27. Frequently reflect, how all things which happened formerly were just such as happen now. Reflect, also, that such too will those be which are to ensue. And place before your eyes the whole, which you have ever known, either from your own experience, or ancient history; dramas, and scenes, all of the same kind. Such as the whole court of Hadrian; the whole court of Antoninus; the whole court of Philip; of Alexander; of Croesus.21 For all these were of the same kind [with your own] only composed of other persons. 28. Conceive every one, who is grieved, or storms, at any thing whatever, to be like the pig in a sacrifice, which kicks and screams, while under the knife. Such too is he, who, on his couch, deplores in silence, by himself, that we are all tied to our fate. Consider, too, that, only to the rational animal it is given to follow * willingly what happens. But the bare following is a necessity upon all. 29. Look attentively on each particular thing you are doing; and ask yourself, if death be a terror because it deprives you of this. 30.† When you are offended at a fault of any one, immediately turn to yourself; and consider, what fault of a like kind you yourself commit. Such as judging money to be good; or pleasure; or glory; and so of the rest. For, by fixing your attention on this, you will quickly forget your anger; taking this along, too, that he is ‡ forced. For, what else cou’d he do? or, if you can, remove what forces him. 31. When you consider § Satyrio the Socratic, think on Eutyches, or Hymen: and, when you consider Euphrates, think on Eutychio or Silvanus. And when Alciphron, think on Tropaiophorus; and when you consider Xenophon, think on Crito or Severus.22 And when you look into yourself, think on any one of the Cesars. And so analogously, when you see any body else. Then let this at the same time enter your mind. Where, now, are those? No where? Or who can tell? For thus you will constantly behold all human things as smoke and nothing. Especially if you recollect, that, what has once changed, will never exist again through all the infinity of time. How soon, then, will your change come? And why is it not sufficient to you to pass this short space gracefully [in this universe.] How fine a * subject of employment to yourself are you shunning? For, what are all things but exercises for that rational power which hath viewed all things that occur in life, with accuracy, and according to their true natures? Stay, then, till you make all these things familiar to yourself: As the healthy stomach adapts all things to itself: As * the shining fire turns whatever you throw on it, into flame and splendor. 32. Let no-body have it in his power to say with truth of you, that you are not a man of simplicity, candour and goodness. But let him be mistaken, whoever has such an opinion of you. Now, all this is in your own power. For, what is he who hinders you to be good, and single-hearted? Only do you determine to live no longer if you are not to be such a man. For neither does ‡ reason, in that case, require you should. 33. In this present matter you are employ’d about, what can be done or said in the soundest, [and most upright] manner? For, whatever that be, you are at liberty to do or say it. And don’t make pretences, as if hindered. You will never cease from groaning [and repining,] till once you be so affected, that such as luxury is to the men of pleasure, such be to you the doing, in every subject of action that is thrown in your way, or falls into it, those things which are properly suitable to the frame and constitution of man. For, every thing, which you are at liberty to perform according to your own proper nature, you must conceive to be a delightfull enjoyment; and you have this liberty every where. Now, to the cylinder, it is not given to move every where in its proper motion: Nor to the water: Nor to the fire: Nor to any of those other things which are governed by a nature or a soul irrational: For there are many things which restrain, and stop them. But intelligence and reason can pursue the course it is naturally fitted for, and wills, thro’ every obstacle. Place before your eyes this easiness with which reason goes on through all obstacles, as the fire upward, as the stone downward, as the cylinder on the declivity; and seek for nothing further. For the other stops are, either those of the insensible carcase, or such as don’t hurt the man, or do him any evil, unless by opinion, and by Reason’s own yielding itself to them, otherways he who suffered by them, wou’d himself presently have become evil. In all other fabrics, indeed, whatever evil happens to them, the sufferer itself thereby becomes the worse. But, here, if I may say so, the man becomes even the better, and the more praise-worthy, by making a right use of what falls across to him. Upon the whole, remember, nothing hurts him who is by nature a citizen, which hurts not the city. Nor hurts the city, which hurts not the law. Now none of these things called misfortunes hurt the law. So, what hurts not the law, neither hurts the city nor the citizen.25 34. To him, whose heart the true maxims have pierced, the shortest, the most common hint is a sufficient memorial to keep himself free of sorrow and fear. Such as, Some leaves the winds blow down: the fruitful wood Breeds more mean-while; which in spring-time appear. Of men, thus, ends one race, while one is born. * Your children, too, are little leaves; and these are leaves too, who declaim with such important airs of assurance, and sound forth the praises of others, or, on the contrary, curse them; or, who privately censure and sneer at them. In the same manner, these are leaves, also, who are to preserve your surviving fame. For all these, “in spring-tide appear.” Then the wind shall presently throw them down. And the forest breed others in their stead. The short-lived existence is common to them all. Yet are you dreading or courting them, as if they were to be eternal. Nay, in a little, you will close your eyes. And him, who carries you out to your funeral, shall another bewail. 35. The sound eye ought to behold [with ease] all the objects of sight; and not say, “I want the green”: for that is like one who has sore eyes. The sound ear, and sense of smelling, ought to be ready for all the objects of hearing and smelling; and the sound stomach be equally disposed for all sorts of food, as a mill for all it is framed to grind. So also the sound mind ought to be ready for all things which happen. That mind which says, “Let my children be preserved; and let all men applaud whatever I do”; is an eye which seeks the green objects; or teeth, which seek the tender food. 36. There is no man of so happy a lot, but that, when he dies, some of the by-standers will rejoice at the * evil which befalls him. Was he good and wise? Will there not be some-body, who, at his death, will say within himself? “I shall at last get breathing from this strict tutor. He was not indeed severe to any of us. Yet I was sensible he tacitly condemned us.” Thus will they say of the good man. But, in my case, how many other reasons are there, for which, multitudes wou’d gladly get rid of me? This you may reflect on, when a-dying; † and depart with the less regret, when you consider, “I am going out of such a life, that, in it, my very partners, for whose sakes I underwent and struggled with so many labours, put up so many prayers, had so many cares, those very men are wishing me to be gone; hoping from thence, ’tis likely, for some other satisfaction.” Who, then, would strive for a longer stay here? Don’t, however, on this account, go off less benign toward them. But preserve your own manners, and continue to them friendly, benevolent, and propitious: and, on the other hand, don’t go off, as torn away; but as, when one dies a gentle death, the soul comes easily out of the body; such also ought your departure from these men to be. For nature had knit and cemented you to them: But now she parts you. I part, then, as from relations; not reluctant however, but peaceable. For death, too, is one of the things according to nature.27 37. Accustom yourself, as much as possible, in every thing any one is doing, to consider with yourself; What end does he refer this to? But, begin, at home; and examine yourself first. 38. Remember, ’tis * that which lies hid within, which draws and turns you † as the wires do the puppet. ’Tis that, is eloquence: That, life: That, if I may say so, is the man. Never blend with it, in your imagination, this surrounding earthen vessel, and these little organs. They are but like the ax, [any tool of any artizan,] with this only difference, that they are naturally united with us: since, none of these parts are of any more service, without the cause which moves and stops them, than the shuttle is to the weaver; the pen, to the writer; or the whip, to the charioteer. —- [* ] His leisure was perpetually broke by wars. [† ] Philippians, IV. 11. “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.”1 Epictetus, in the Enchirid. 15.2 “Remember, you ought to behave yourself in life, as if at an entertainment. Does any thing come, in course, to you? stretch out your hand, and take it gracefully. Does it go by you? Don’t stop it. Is it not come yet? Don’t long after it; but wait till it come to you. Do thus in the case of your children, of your wife, of power, of riches; and you shall be at length a worthy companion of the Gods. And if, even when set before you, you don’t take, but overlook them; you shall then be not only a companion of the Gods, but a fellow-governor with them. [‡ ] II. Corinth. VI. 10. “Having nothing, yet possessing all things.” But the whole passage from verse 3 to 11, is of the same kind, and extremely beautiful.3 [§ ] Rom. VIII. 28. “All things work together for good to them who love God.” [ ] The universe: See, IV. 23.

[* ] Philip. III. 20. “Our conversation, (or as it may be rather translated, the city we belong to), is in heaven.”

[† ] Rom. XIV. 18. “Acceptable to God and approved of men.” See XII. 12. and 24.

[‡ ] See the note at V. 36.

[* ] See V. 13. and the note.

[† ] This passage is extremely obscure, critics only guess at some sort of meaning to it.

[* ] Propter vitam vivendi perdere causas.5

[† ] The poetical representations of the tranquillity and happiness of these islands of the blessed are well known.

[‡ ] This sentiment, occurs often in the scriptures, particularly in the 50th psalm, and 1st chap. of Isaiah; and seems not to have been uncommon among the heathens themselves; selves; as appears by the following fragment of a dramatic poet, which is no way aggravated in the translation. Is there, on earth, a man, so much a fool;So silly in credulity; who thinksThat fleshless bones and the fry’d bile of beasts,Which were not food even for a hungry dog,Are offerings that the Gods delight to take;And these the honours, they expect from men:Or, on account of these, will favour shew,Tho’ robbers, pyrates, nay tho’ tyrants beThe offerers.See Clem. Alex. Strom. 7.6Compositum jus fasque animo, sanctosque recessusMentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto;Haec cedo ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo.Persius sat. 2.7

[* ] This is the same with the grand Christian doctrine of the divine life. “(a) To be transformed into the same image with God. (b) To be conformed to the image of his Son. © Ye shall be holy as I the Lord your God am holy. (d) Pure as God your father is pure. Righteous even as he is righteous. (e) Merciful as your father also is merciful. (f ) Be ye therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.” Clemens Alex. testifies too, more than once, that he found the same doctrine in Plato: See Gataker on this place.8

Read numbers for these references by the small letters. (1) II. Cor. 3. 18. (2) Rom. 8. 29. (3) Levit. 19. 2. and I. Peter 1. 16. (4) I. John 3. 3, 7. (5) Luke 6. 36. (6) Matth. 5. 48.9

[† ] The text is corrupt here. The translation is according to a conjecture of Gataker’s.10

[‡ ] This is the farthest that can be from what we commonly call self-sufficiency, or a stiff and self-willed temper. It is a virtue highly necessary in some of the sweetest characters; who, often, from too modest a diffidence of themselves, submit their own finer sentiments, and allow themselves to be guided and led wrong, by men of far less genius and worth than themselves, whose low views their own candour makes them not suspect.

[* ] This has probably been occasioned by the behavior of some of his officers, upon seizing parties of the Sarmatians, with whom the Romans were then at war; and designed to repress the vanity of conquerors.

[† ] Justice is taken here in the extensive platonic sense, regarding not only what are called the rights of mankind, but comprehending resignation to God, and all the kindest social virtues. See, XI. 20. at the end; and, XII. 1.12

[‡ ] See, V. 3.

[§ ] See, II. 16. at the end.

[ ] According to Gataker, Antoninus has here before his eye the following passage of Plato in the 4th book of the laws. “God, in whose hand is the beginning, end, and middle of all things, pursues the straight way; going about every where, according to nature. He is always attended by justice, who punishes those who come short in their observance of the divine law; The man who is about to live happy, keeps close by her, and follows God along with her.”13 [* ] The reading in the original here is uncertain. [† ] The grand law of promoting the perfection of the whole, obedience to which is the supreme happiness. B. VIII. 2. and X. 25. [* ] This a proverbial simile for things that pass in a moment. [† ] This word is uncertain in the original. [‡ ] From Euripides. [§ ] φιλει in Greek as amat in Latin for solet.15 [ ] Thus Epictetus, Arrian II. 16. “Have the courage to lift up your eyes to God, and say: Use me, after this, for what purposes thou willest; my sentiments concur with thee. I plead against nothing which seems proper to thee.” And IV. 7. “I adhere to him as a servant and attendant. His purpose, his desire, and in a word, his will, is mine also.” Thus also Seneca in his antithetical way. Epist. 96, “I don’t [barely] obey God, but [cordially] assent to him. I follow him from inclination, and not necessity.” So that resignation to the will of God, in the highest sense, appears to have been a maxim universal among the Stoics.16

[* ] “To what place soever I go, there I can enjoy the sun, &c.—and there the society of the Gods.” Epictet. II. 23.18

[† ] This passage clears up many others where the same word occurs obscurely. See, VII. 31.19

Thus also, the author of the book de Mundo, which goes under Aristotle’s name; chap. 6. “For our law, exactly impartial to all, is God; incapable of amendment or change; more excellent, I think, and stable, than those written on the tables of Solon.”20

[* ] Epictetus. II. 16. “All these, sorrow, fear, envy, desire, effeminacy, intemperance, it is impossible for you to throw off, otherways than by looking up to God, giving yourself up to him, piously embracing all he orders. Nay tho’ your will be otherways, yet with all your wailing and groaning, you must still follow him, as the stronger.”23

[† ] It is recorded of Plato, that he practiced habitually this maxim. In Epictetus too the following divine passage is of the same kind, IV. 4. “I attend to what men say, and how they act, not with any bad intention, or that I may have matter of blaming, or laughing at them; but I turn into myself to see if I, too, commit the same faults. [My next inquiry is] how shall I get free of them? If I also was subject formerly to the same weakness, and am not now; ’tis to God I give the praise.”24

[‡ ] See VI. 27. and IX. 42.

[§ ] Of these names which follow, few are known; but it is plain, in general, his design here is, that, the sight of remarkable men should make one call to mind others like them in former ages, who are now gone. And that no man is of such importance, that he will be much missed in the universe; others as great are arising.

[* ] See VII. 68.

[* ] See the same simile beautifully apply’d, IV. 1.

[‡ ] See IX. 29.

[* ] Iliad VI. 148. Brevity is chiefly studied in the translation of these three lines of the Iliad; as designed for a short hint.26

[* ] Death being in their opinion an evil.

[† ] This is one of those he calls popular supports, which yet strike the heart: See IX. 3.

[* ] Passions and opinions in the mind.

[† ] See this term explained, at II. 2. in the note.

[239] [this edition: p. 123, 6 lines from bottom of page]. read numbers for these references by the small letters.

[1.] Epistle of Paul to the Philippians 4:11.

[2.] Epictetus, Manual (Encheiridion), 15, in Epictetus, Discourses (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 495).

[3.] The quotations on this and the next page are all from the Epistles of Paul: Second Corinthians; Romans; Philippians; Romans again.

[4.] See the endnotes, bk. IX, p. 184n9.

[5.] “For the sake of life, to lose the reasons for living.”

[6.] Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, bk. VII, chap. 34, sec. 3, pp. 26–27.

[7.] Persius, Satires II.73–75 (Loeb ed., pp. 70–71): “[Let us offer to the gods] justice and right blended in the spirit, the mind pure in its inner depths and a breast imbued with noble honour. Let me bring these to the temples, and with a handful of grits I shall make acceptable sacrifice.”

[8.] Gataker, 1697, pp. 359–60.

[9.] The biblical books in this note are, respectively, the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Romans, Leviticus, the First Epistle of Peter, the First Epistle of John, and the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.

[10.] Moor is translating the conjecture ἀΦυσιολογἠτως, which Gataker proposes in his annotation on p. 361 (1697). This conjecture is generally accepted by modern editors.

[11.] During the final years of his life, Marcus was engaged in warfare against the Sarmatians, a nomadic people who had advanced to the river Danube.

[12.] See also bk. XI, art. 10, pp. 136–37n. It will be evident that the two principles of justice defined in these two notes correspond with the two parts of Thomas Gataker’s “Maxims of the Stoics,” appended here, pp. 155–58.

[13.] Gataker, 1697, p. 363; Plato, Laws, bk. IV, 715e–716a (Loeb ed., vol. I, pp. 292–95).

[14.] Euripides, fragment 898, lines 7–9 (Tragicorum Graecorum fragmenta, vol. 5, pt. 2, p. 908).

[15.] There is a play on words in the text. Both Φιλ∈ι (philei) and amat normally mean “loves” but are also used to mean the same as solet (i.e., “is accustomed to”).

[16.] Epictetus, Discourses, bk. II, chap. 16, sec. 42 (Loeb ed., vol. I, p. 335) and bk. IV, chap. 7, sec. 20 (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 367); Seneca, Epistulae morales, 96.2 (Loeb ed., vol. II, pp. 104–7).

[17.] Plato, Theaetetus 174e (Loeb ed., 122–23).

[18.] Epictetus, Discourses III.22 (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 137).

[19.] See also bk. XI, art. 1, pp. 133–34, the daggered note, and bk. XII, art. 1, p. 144.

[20.] [Aristotle], On the Universe 6 (400b27–30), in The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. Barnes, vol. I, p. 639.

[21.] Hadrian, emperor ad 117–38; Antoninus, emperor ad 138–61; Philip II, king of Macedon 359–336 bc; Alexander, his son, king 336–323 bc; Croesus, legendarily wealthy king of Lydia ca. 560–546 bc

[22.] The known persons here are Xenophon, the Athenian general and author (born about 430 bc); Crito, who attempted to persuade Socrates to escape from prison (see Plato’s Crito); and Euphrates, a sophist for whom Pliny the Younger wrote a letter of recommendation (Letters bk. 1, letter 10, in Pliny, Letters and Panegyricus, Loeb ed., vol. I, pp. 30–35).

[23.] Epictetus, Discourses, bk. II, chap. 16, secs. 46–47, in Epictetus, Discourses (Loeb ed., vol. I, p. 337).

[24.] Epictetus, Discourses, bk. IV, chap. 4, sec. 7 (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 315).

[25.] The Stoic theory of liberty of acting in accordance with reason and the law that governs all things was reviewed by Hutcheson in “A Synopsis of Metaphysics,” in Logic, Metaphysics, and Natural Sociability (Liberty Fund ed., pp. 97–98, 129–30, and 171 and in the editors’ introduction, p. xxv).

[26.] Homer, Iliad VI, 147–49 (Lattimore trans., p. 157).

[27.] See also bk. IX, art. 3, pp. 108–9.dant. His purpose, his desire, and in a word, his will, is mine also.” Thus also Seneca in his antithetical way. Epist. 96, “I don’t [barely] obey God, but [cordially] assent to him. I follow him from inclination, and not necessity.” So that resignation to the will of God, in the highest sense, appears to have been a maxim universal among the Stoics.16

[* ] “To what place soever I go, there I can enjoy the sun, &c.—and there the society of the Gods.” Epictet. II. 23.18

[† ] This passage clears up many others where the same word occurs obscurely. See, VII. 31.19

Thus also, the author of the book de Mundo, which goes under Aristotle’s name; chap. 6. “For our law, exactly impartial to all, is God; incapable of amendment or change; more excellent, I think, and stable, than those written on the tables of Solon.”20

[* ] Epictetus. II. 16. “All these, sorrow, fear, envy, desire, effeminacy, intemperance, it is impossible for you to throw off, otherways than by looking up to God, giving yourself up to him, piously embracing all he orders. Nay tho’ your will be otherways, yet with all your wailing and groaning, you must still follow him, as the stronger.”23

[† ] It is recorded of Plato, that he practiced habitually this maxim. In Epictetus too the following divine passage is of the same kind, IV. 4. “I attend to what men say, and how they act, not with any bad intention, or that I may have matter of blaming, or laughing at them; but I turn into myself to see if I, too, commit the same faults. [My next inquiry is] how shall I get free of them? If I also was subject formerly to the same weakness, and am not now; ’tis to God I give the praise.”24

[‡ ] See VI. 27. and IX. 42.

[§ ] Of these names which follow, few are known; but it is plain, in general, his design here is, that, the sight of remarkable men should make one call to mind others like them in former ages, who are now gone. And that no man is of such importance, that he will be much missed in the universe; others as great are arising.

[* ] See VII. 68.

[* ] See the same simile beautifully apply’d, IV. 1.

[‡ ] See IX. 29.

[* ] Iliad VI. 148. Brevity is chiefly studied in the translation of these three lines of the Iliad; as designed for a short hint.26

[* ] Death being in their opinion an evil.

[† ] This is one of those he calls popular supports, which yet strike the heart: See IX. 3.

[* ] Passions and opinions in the mind.

[† ] See this term explained, at II. 2. in the note.

[239] [this edition: p. 123, 6 lines from bottom of page]. read numbers for these references by the small letters.

[1.] Epistle of Paul to the Philippians 4:11.

[2.] Epictetus, Manual (Encheiridion), 15, in Epictetus, Discourses (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 495).

[3.] The quotations on this and the next page are all from the Epistles of Paul: Second Corinthians; Romans; Philippians; Romans again.

[4.] See the endnotes, bk. IX, p. 184n9.

[5.] “For the sake of life, to lose the reasons for living.”

[6.] Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, bk. VII, chap. 34, sec. 3, pp. 26–27.

[7.] Persius, Satires II.73–75 (Loeb ed., pp. 70–71): “[Let us offer to the gods] justice and right blended in the spirit, the mind pure in its inner depths and a breast imbued with noble honour. Let me bring these to the temples, and with a handful of grits I shall make acceptable sacrifice.”

[8.] Gataker, 1697, pp. 359–60.

[9.] The biblical books in this note are, respectively, the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Romans, Leviticus, the First Epistle of Peter, the First Epistle of John, and the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.

[10.] Moor is translating the conjecture ἀΦυσιολογἠτως, which Gataker proposes in his annotation on p. 361 (1697). This conjecture is generally accepted by modern editors.

[11.] During the final years of his life, Marcus was engaged in warfare against the Sarmatians, a nomadic people who had advanced to the river Danube.

[12.] See also bk. XI, art. 10, pp. 136–37n. It will be evident that the two principles of justice defined in these two notes correspond with the two parts of Thomas Gataker’s “Maxims of the Stoics,” appended here, pp. 155–58.

[13.] Gataker, 1697, p. 363; Plato, Laws, bk. IV, 715e–716a (Loeb ed., vol. I, pp. 292–95).

[14.] Euripides, fragment 898, lines 7–9 (Tragicorum Graecorum fragmenta, vol. 5, pt. 2, p. 908).

[15.] There is a play on words in the text. Both Φιλ∈ι (philei) and amat normally mean “loves” but are also used to mean the same as solet (i.e., “is accustomed to”).

[16.] Epictetus, Discourses, bk. II, chap. 16, sec. 42 (Loeb ed., vol. I, p. 335) and bk. IV, chap. 7, sec. 20 (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 367); Seneca, Epistulae morales, 96.2 (Loeb ed., vol. II, pp. 104–7).

[17.] Plato, Theaetetus 174e (Loeb ed., 122–23).

[18.] Epictetus, Discourses III.22 (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 137).

[19.] See also bk. XI, art. 1, pp. 133–34, the daggered note, and bk. XII, art. 1, p. 144.

[20.] [Aristotle], On the Universe 6 (400b27–30), in The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. Barnes, vol. I, p. 639.

[21.] Hadrian, emperor ad 117–38; Antoninus, emperor ad 138–61; Philip II, king of Macedon 359–336 bc; Alexander, his son, king 336–323 bc; Croesus, legendarily wealthy king of Lydia ca. 560–546 bc

[22.] The known persons here are Xenophon, the Athenian general and author (born about 430 bc); Crito, who attempted to persuade Socrates to escape from prison (see Plato’s Crito); and Euphrates, a sophist for whom Pliny the Younger wrote a letter of recommendation (Letters bk. 1, letter 10, in Pliny, Letters and Panegyricus, Loeb ed., vol. I, pp. 30–35).

[23.] Epictetus, Discourses, bk. II, chap. 16, secs. 46–47, in Epictetus, Discourses (Loeb ed., vol. I, p. 337).

[24.] Epictetus, Discourses, bk. IV, chap. 4, sec. 7 (Loeb ed., vol. II, p. 315).

[25.] The Stoic theory of liberty of acting in accordance with reason and the law that governs all things was reviewed by Hutcheson in “A Synopsis of Metaphysics,” in Logic, Metaphysics, and Natural Sociability (Liberty Fund ed., pp. 97–98, 129–30, and 171 and in the editors’ introduction, p. xxv).

[26.] Homer, Iliad VI, 147–49 (Lattimore trans., p. 157).

[27.] See also bk. IX, art. 3, pp. 108–9.