Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus · Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius
15. Does the light of the lamp shine without losing its splendor until
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it is extinguished? and shall the truth which is in thee and justice and temperance be extinguished [before thy death]?
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. 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. 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. 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. First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose. Second, make thy acts refer to nothing else than to a social end.
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. 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.
