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Page 32
2. Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to
the perfect principles of art.
3. Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores,
and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much.
But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is
in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For
nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man
retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such
thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect
tranquillity; and I affirm that tranquillity is nothing else than the
good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat,
and renew thyself; and let thy principles be brief and fundamental,
which, as soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to
cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee back free from all
discontent with the things to which thou returnest. For with what art
thou discontented? With the badness of men? Recall to thy mind this
conclusion, that rational animals exist for one another, and that to
endure is a part of justice, and that men do wrong involuntarily; and
consider how many already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, hatred, and
fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced to ashes; and be quiet at
last.--But perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that which is assigned to
thee out of the universe.--Recall to thy recollection this alternative;
either there is providence or atoms [fortuitous concurrence of things];
or remember the arguments by which it has been proved that the world is
a kind of political community [and be quiet at last].--But perhaps
corporeal things will still fasten upon thee.--Consider then further
that the mind mingles not with the breath, whether moving gently or
violently, when it has once drawn itself apart and discovered its own
power, and think also of all that thou hast heard and assented to about
pain and pleasure [and be quiet at last].--But perhaps the desire of the
thing called fame will torment thee.--See how soon everything is
forgotten, and look at the chaos of infinite time on each side of [the
present], and the emptiness of applause, and the changeableness and want
of judgment in those who pretend to give praise, and the narrowness of
the space within which it is circumscribed [and be quiet at last]. For
the whole earth is a point, and how small a nook in it is this thy
dwelling, and how few are there in it, and what kind of people are they
who will praise thee.
This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy
own,[A] and above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free,
and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a
mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt
turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch
the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our
perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other is
that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will no
longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou
hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion.
[A] Tecum habita, noris quam sit tibi curta
supellex.--_Perseus_, iv. 52.
4. If our intellectual part is common, the reason also, in respect of
which we are rational beings, is common: if this is so, common also is
the reason which commands us what to do, and what not to do; if this is
so, there is a common law also; if this is so, we are fellow-citizens;
if this is so, we are members of some political community; if this is
so, the world is in a manner a state.[A] For of what other common
political community will any one say that the whole human race are
members? And from thence, from this common political community, comes
also our very intellectual faculty and reasoning faculty and our
capacity for law; or whence do they come? For as my earthly part is a
portion given to me from certain earth, and that which is watery from
another element, and that which is hot and fiery from some peculiar
source (for nothing comes out of that which is nothing, as nothing also
returns to non-existence), so also the intellectual part comes from some
source.
[A] Compare Cicero De Legibus, i. 7.
5. Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature; composition out
of the same elements, and a decomposition into the same; and altogether
not a thing of which any man should be ashamed, for it is not contrary
to [the nature of] a reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason
of our constitution.
6. It is natural that these things should be done by such persons, it is
a matter of necessity; and if a man will not have it so, he will not
allow the fig-tree to have juice. But by all means bear this in mind,
that within a very short time both thou and he will be dead; and soon
not even your names will be left behind.
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