in fault if either of one that were of such a disposition thou didst expect that he should be true unto thee or when unto any thou didst a good turne thou didst not there bound thy thoughts as one that had obtained his end nor didst not thinke that from the action it selfe thou hadst received a full reward of the good that thou hadst done For what wouldst thou have more Unto him that is a man thou hast done a good turne doth not that suffice thee What thy nature required that hast thou done Must thou be rewarded for it As if either the eye for that it seeeth or the feet for that they goe should require satisfaction For as these being by nature appointed for such an use can challenge no more then that they may worke according to their naturall constitution so man being borne to do good unto others whensoever he doth a reall good unto any by helping them out of errour or though but in middle things as in matter of wealth life preferment and the like doth helpe to further their desires he doth that for which he was made and therefore can require no more THE TENTH BOOKE O My soule the time I trust will be when thou shalt be good simple single more open and visible then that body by which it is inclosed Thou wilt one day be sensible of their happinesse whose end is love and their affections dead to al worldly things Thou shalt one day be full and in want of no externall thing not seeking pleasure from any thing either living or unsensible that this World can afford neither wanting time for the continuation of thy pleasure nor place and oportunitie nor the favour either of the weather or of men When thou shalt have content in thy present estate and all things present shall adde to thy content when thou shalt perswade thy selfe that thou hast all things all for thy good and all by the providence of the gods and of things future also shalt bee as confident See B. v. N. 8. last lines that all will doe well as tending to the maintenance and preservation in some sort of his perfect welfare and happinesse who is perfection of life of goodnesse and beautie Who begets all things and containeth all things in himselfe and in himselfe doth recollect all things from all places that are dissolved that of them he may beget others againe like unto them Such one day shall be thy disposition that thou shalt be able both in regard of the gods and in regard of men so to fit and order thy conversation as neither to complaine of them at any time for any thing that they doe nor to doe any thing thy selfe for which thou mayest justly be condemned II. As one who is altogether governed by nature let it be thy care to observe what it is that thy nature in generall doth require That done if thou finde not that thy nature as thou art a living sensible creature will be the worse for it thou mayest proceed Next then thou must examine what thy nature as thou art a living sensible creature doth require And that whatsoever it be thou mayest admit of and doe it if thy nature as thou art a reasonable liuing creature will not bee the worse for it Now whatsoever is reasonable is also sociable Keep thy selfe to these rules and trouble not thy selfe about idle things III. Whatsoever doth happen unto thee thou art naturally by thy naturall constitution either able or not able to beare If thou beest able be not offended but beare it according to thy naturall constitution or as nature hath inabled thee If thou beest not able be not offended For it will soone make an end of thee and it selfe whatsoever it be at the same time end with thee But remember that whatsoever by the strength of opinion grounded upon a certaine apprehension of both true profit and duty thou canst conceive tolerable that thou art able to beare that by thy naturall constitution IV. Him that offends to teach with love and meeknesse and to shew him his error But if thou canst not then to blame thy selfe or rather not thy selfe neither if thy will and endeavours have not been wanting V. Whatsoever it be that happens unto thee it is that which from all time was appointed unto thee For by the same cohaerence of causes by which thy substance from all eternitie was appointed to bee was also whatsoever should happen unto it destinated and appointed VI. Either with Epicurus we must fondly imagine the atomes to be the cause of all things or wee must needs grant a Nature Let this then bee thy first ground that thou art part of that Universe which is governed by nature Then secondly that to those parts that are of the same kinde and Nature as thou art thou hast relation of kindred For of these if I shall alwayes be mindfull first as I am a part I shall never be displeased with any thing that falls to my particular share of the common chances of the world For nothing that is behoovefull unto the whole can be truly hurtfull to that which is part of it For this being the common priviledge of all natures that they containe nothing in themselves that is hurtfull unto them it cannot be that the nature of the Universe whose priviledge beyond other particular natures is that shee cannot against her will by any higher externall cause be constrained should beget any thing and cherish it in her bosome that should tend to her owne hurt and prejudice As then I beare in minde that I am a part of such an Universe I shall not be displeased with any thing that happens And as I have relation of kindred to those parts that are of the same kinde and nature that I am so I shall bee carefull to doe nothing that is prejudiciall to the communitie but in all my deliberations shall my Kinde ever be and the common good that which all my intentions and resolutions shall drive unto as that which is contrary unto it I shall by all meanes endeavour to prevent and avoid These things once so fixed and concluded as thou wouldest thinke him an happy citizen whose constant studie and practise were for the good and benefit of his fellow Citizens and the cariage of the Citie such towards him that hee were well pleased with it so must it needs be with thee that thou shalt live a happy life VII All parts of the world all things I meane that are contained within the whole world must of necessitie at some time or other come to corruption Alteration I should say to speake truly and properly but that I may be the better understood I am content at this time to use that more commō word Now say I if so bee that this bee both hurtfull unto them and yet unavoidable would not thinkest thou the whole it selfe bee in a sweet case all the parts of it being subject to alteration yea
either kindnesse and modestie Which of all those either becomes good or faire because commended or dispraised suffers any dammage Doth the Emrald become worse in it selfe or more vile if it bee not commended Doth gold or yvory or purple Is there any thing that doth though never so common as a knife a flower or a tree XVII If so be that the soules remaine after death say they that will not beleeve it how is the aire from all eternitie able to containe them How is the earth say I ever from that time able to containe the bodies of them that are buried For as here the change and resolution of dead bodyes into another kinde of subsistence whatsoever it be makes place for other dead bodies so the soules after death transferred into the aire after they have conversed there a while are either by way of transmutation or transfusion or conflagration received againe into that originall rationall substance from which all others doe proceed and so give way to those soules who before coupled and associated unto bodyes now beginne to subsist single This upon a supposition that the soules after death doe for a while subsist single may be answered And here besides the number of bodies so buried and contained by the earth wee may further consider the number of severall beasts eaten by us men and by other creatures For notwithstanding that such a multitude of them is daily consumed and as it were buried in the bodyes of the eaters yet is the same place and body able to containe them by reason of their conversion partly into blood partly into aire and fire What in these things is the speculation of truth to divide things into that which is passive and materiall and that which is active and formall XVIII Not to wander out of the way but upon every motion and desire to perform that which is just and ever to be carefull to attaine to the true naturall apprehension of every fancie that presents it selfe XIX Whatsoever is expedient unto the O World is expedient unto me nothing can either he unseasonable unto me or out of date which unto thee is seasonable Whatsoever thy seasons beare shall ever by me bee esteemed as happy fruit and increase O Nature from thee are all things in thee all things subsist and to thee all tend Could he say of Athens Thou lovely Citie of Cecrops and shalt not thou say of the World Thou lovely Citie of God XX. They will say commonly Meddle not with many things if thou wilt live chearefully Certainely there is nothing better then for a man to confine himselfe to necessary actions to such and so many only as reason in a creature that knowes it selfe borne for society will command and enjoyne This will not onely procure that chearfulnesse which from the goodnesse but that also which from the paucitie of actions doth usually proceed For since it is so that most of those things which wee either speake or doe are unnecessary if a man shall cut them off it must needs follow that he shall thereby gaine much leisure and save much trouble and therefore at every action a man must privately by way of admonition suggest unto himselfe What may not this that now I goe about be of the number of unnecessary actions Neither must he use himselfe to cut off actions only but thoughts and imaginations also that are unnecessary for so will unnecessary consequent actions the better be prevented and cut off XXI Trie also how a good mans life of one who is well pleased with those things whatsoever which among the common changes and chances of this world fall to his owne lot and snare and can live well contented and fully satisfied in the justice of his owne proper present action and in the goodnesse of his disposition for the future will agree with thee Thou hast had experience of that other kinde of life make now tryall of this also Trouble not thy selfe any more henceforth reduce thy selfe unto perfect simplicitie Doth any man offend It is against himselfe that he doth offend why should it trouble thee Hath any thing happened unto thee It is well whatsoever it be it is that which of all the common chances of the world from the very beginning in the series of all other things that have or shall happen was destinated and appointed unto thee To comprehend all in few words Our life is short wee must endeavour to gaine the present time with best discretion and justice Use recreation with sobriety XXII Either this world is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a comely peece because all disposed and governed by certaine order or if it be a mixture though confused yet still it is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a comely peece For is it possible that in thee there should be any beauty at all and that in the whole world there should be nothing but disorder and confusion and all things in it too by natural different properties one from another differenced and distinguished See B. VI. N. 38. and yet all through diffused and by naturall Sympathie one to another united as they are XXIII See before N. XV. Ablack or maligne disposition an effeminate disposition an hard inexorable disposition a wilde inbumane disposition a sheepish disposition a childish disposition a blockish a false a scurril a fraudulent a tyrannicall what then If he be a stranger in the world that knowes not the things that are in it why not he astranger as well that wonders at the things that are done in it XXIV He is a true fugitive that flyes from reason by which men are sociable Hee blinde who cannot see with the eyes of his understanding He poore that stands in need of another and hath not in himselfe all things needfull for this life Hee an Aposteme of the world who by being discontented with those things that happen unto him in the world doth as it were Apostatize and separate himselfe from Common Natures rationall Administration For the same nature it is that brings this unto thee whatsoever it be that first brought thee into the world He raises sedition in the Citie who by irrationall actions withdrawes his owne soule from that One and common soule of all rationall Creatures XXV There is who without so much as a Coat and there is who without so much as a booke doth put philosophie in practise I am halfe naked neither have I bread to eate and yet I depart not from Reason saith one But I say I want the food of good teaching and instructions and yet I depart not from Reason XXVI What art and profession soever thou hast learned endeavour to affect it and comfort thy selfe in it and passe the remainder of thy life as one who from his whole heart commits himselfe and whatsoever belongs unto him unto the gods and as for men carry not thy selfe either tyrannically or servilely towards any XXVII Consider in thy minde for examples sake
or for an infinite space of time a man see those things which are still the same it can be no matter of great moment And secondly that that life which any the longest liver or the shortest liver parts with is for length and duration the very same for that only which is present is that which either of them can lose as being that only which they have for that which he hath not no man can truly be said to lose XIII Remember that all is but opinion and conceit for those things are plaine and apparant which were spoken unto Monimus the Cynick and as plaine and apparant is the use that may be made of those things if that which is true and serious in them be received as well as that which is sweet and pleasing XIV A mans soule doth wrong and disrespect it selfe first and especially when as much as in it selfe lyes it becomes an Aposteme and as it were an excrescencie of the world for to be grieved and displeased with any thing that happens in the world is direct apostasie from the Nature of the Universe part of which all particular Natures of the world are Secondly when shee either is averse from any man or lead by contrary desires and affections tending to his hurt and prejudice such as are the soules of them that are angry Thirdly when shee is overcome by any pleasure or paine Fourthly when shee doth dissemble and covertly and falsely either doth or saith any thing Fiftly when shee doth either affect or endeavour any thing to no certain end but rashly and without due ratiocination and consideration how consequent or inconsequent it is to the common end For even the least things ought not to be done without relation unto the end and the end of the reasonable creatures is to follow and obey him who is the reason as it were and the law of this great City and ancient Common-wealth XV. The time of a mans life is as a point the substance of it ever flowing the sense obscure and the whole composition of the body tending to corruption His soule is restlesse fortune uncertaine and same doubtfull to be briefe as a streame so are all things belonging to the body as a dreame or as a smoake so are all that belong unto the soule Our life is a warfare and a meere pilgrimage Fame after life is no better then oblivion What is it then that will adhere and follow One only thing Philosophy And philosophie doth consist in this for a man to preserve that Spirit which is within him from all manner of contumelies and injuries and above all paines or pleasures never to doe anything either rashly or fainedly or hypocritically Wholly to depend from himselfe and his owne proper actions all things that happen unto him to embrace contentedly as comming from Him from whom He Himselfe also came and above all things with all meeknesse and a calme chearefulnesse to expect death as being nothing else but the resolution of those Elements of which every creature is composed And if the Elements themselves suffer nothing by this their perpetuall conversion of one into another that dissolution and alteration which is so common unto all why should it be feared by any Is not this according to Nature But nothing that is according to nature can be evill Whilest I was at Carnuntus THE THIRD BOOKE A Man must not only consider how daily his life wasteth and decreaseth but this also that if he live long hee cannot be certaine whether his understanding shall continue so able and sufficient for either discreet consideration in matter of businesses or for contemplation it being the thing whereon true knowledge of things both divine and humane doth depend For if once he shall beginne to dote his respiration nutrition his imaginative and appetitive and other naturall faculties may still continue the same he shall finde no want of them But how to make that right use of himselfe that he should how to observe exactly in all things that which is right and just how to redresse and rectifie all wrong or suddaine apprehensions and imaginations and even of this particular whether he should live any longer or no to consider duly for all such things wherein the best strength and vigour of the minde is most requisite his power and abilitie will be passed and gone Thou must hasten therefore not only because thou art every day neerer unto death then other but also because that intellective facultie in thee whereby thou art inabled to know the true nature of things and to order all thy actions by that knowledge doth daily wast and decay or may faile thee before thou die II. This also thou must observe that whatsoever it is that naturally doth happen to things naturall hath somewhat in it selfe that is pleasing and delightfull as a great loafe when it is baked some parts of it cleave as it were and part asunder and make the crust of it rugged and unequall and yet those parts of it though in some sort it be against the art and intention of baking it selfe that they are thus cleft and parted which should have beene and were first made all even and uniforme they become it well neverthelesse and have a certaine peculiar property to stirre the appetite So figs are accounted fairest and ripest then when they beginne to shrinke and wither as it were So ripe olives when they are next to putrefaction then are they in their proper beautie The hanging downe of grapes the brow of a Lyon the froath of a foaming wilde boare and many other like things though by themselves considered they are farre from any beautie yet because they happen naturally they both are comely and delightfull so that if a man shall with a profound minde and apprehension consider all things in the world even among all those things which are but meere accessories and naturall appendices as it were there will scarce appeare any thing unto him wherin he will not finde matter of pleasure and delight So will he behold with as much pleasure the true rictus of wilde beasts as those which by skilfull painters and other artificers are imitated So will he bee able to perceive the proper ripenesse and beauty of old age whether in man or woman and whatsoever else it is that is beautifull and alluring in whatsoever is with chast and continent eyes he will soone finde out and discerne Those and many other things will he discerne not credible unto every one but unto them only who are truly and familiarly acquainted both with nature it selfe and all naturall things or and all the workes of nature III. Hippocrates having cured many sicknesses fell sick himselfe and dyed The Chaldeans and Astrologiās having foretold the deaths of divers were afterwards themselves surprised by the fates Alexander and Pompeius and Caius Caesar having destroyed so many townes and cut off in the field so many thousands both of horse and foot yet they themselves
XI N. XVI steale to b See B. IV. N. XXIX sow to buy to be c See B. IV. N. III. at rest to d See B. IV. N. XXIV B. VIII N. XXXVI see what is to be done which is not seeneby the eyes but by another kinde of sight what these words meane and how many wayes to bee understood they doe not understand The Body the Soule the Vnderstanding As the senses naturally belong to the body and the desires and affections to the soule so doe the dogmata to the understanding XVII To be capable of fancies and imaginations is common to man and beast To be violently drawne and moved by the lusts and desires of the soule is proper to wilde beasts and monsters such as Phalaris and Nero were To follow reason for ordinary duties and actions See Pref. fol. 12. and Notes upon Booke VIII 1. is common to them also who beleeve not that there be any gods and for their advantage would make no conscience to betray their owne Countrey and who when once the doores be shut upon them dare doe any thing If therefore all things else be common to these likewise it followes that for a man to like and embrace all things that happen and are destinated unto him and not to trouble and molest that Spirit which is seated in the temple of his owne breast with a multitude of vaine fancies and imaginations but to keepe him propitious and to obey him as a god never either speaking any thing contrary to truth or doing any thing contrary to Justice is the only true property of a good man And such a one though no man should beleeve that he liveth as he doth either sincerely and conscionably or cheerefull and contentedly yet is he neither with any man at all angry for it nor diverted by it from the way that leadeth to the end of his life through whih a man must passe pure ever ready to depart and willing of himselfe without any compulsion to fit and accommodate himselfe to his proper lot and calling THE FOURTH BOOKE THat inward mistris part of man if it be in its owne true naturall temper is towards all worldly chances and events ever so disposed and affected that it will easily turne and apply it selfe to that which may bee and is within its owne power to compasse when that cannot bee which at first it intended For it never doth absolutely addict and apply it selfe to any one object but whatsoever it is that it doth now intend and prosecute it doth prosecute it with exception and reservation so that whatsoever it is that falls out contrary to its first intentions even that afterwards it makes its proper object Even as the fire when it prevailes upon those things that are in his way by which things indeed a little fire would have beene quenched but a great fire doth soone turne to its owne nature and so consume whatsoever comes in his way yea by those very things it is made greater and greater II. Let nothing be done rashly and at randome but all things according to the most exact and perfect rules of art III. They seeke for themselves private retiring places See B. X. 24. as countrey villages the sea shoare mountaines yea thou thy selfe art wont to long much after such places But all this thou must know proceeds from simplicitie in the highest degree At what time soever thou wilt it is in thy power to retire into thy selfe and to bee at rest and free from all businesses A man cannot any whither retire better then to his owne soule He especially who is before hand provided of such things within which whensoever hee doth withdraw himselfe to looke in may presently afford unto him perfect ease and tranquillitie By tranquillitie I understand a decent orderly disposition and carriage free from all confusion and tumultuousnesse Afford then thy selfe this retiring continually and thereby refresh and renew thy selfe Let these precepts be briefe and fundamentall which as soone as thou doest call them to minde may suffice thee to purge thy soule throughly and to send thee away well pleased with those things whatsoever they bee which now againe after this short withdrawing of thy soule into her selfe thou doest returne unto For what is it that thou art offended at Can it be at the wickednesse of men when thou doest call to minde this conclusion that all reasonable creatures are made one for another and that it is part of justice to beare with them and that it is against their wills that they offend and how many already who once likewise prosecuted their enmities suspected hated and fiercely contended are now long agoe strecht out and reduced unto Ashes It is time for thee to make an end As for those things which among the common chances of the world happen unto thee as thy particular lot and portion canst thou be displeased with any of them when thou doest call that our ordinary Dilemma to minde Either a Providence or Democritus his Atomes and with it whatsoever we brought to prove that the whole world is as it were one Citie And as for thy body what canst thou feare if thou doest consider that thy Minde and Understanding when once it hath recollected it selfe and knowes its owne power hath in this life and Breath whether * See B. V. N. XX. B. VII XX XVII B. IX XLI it runne smoothly and gently or whether harshly and rudely no interest at all but is altogether indifferent and whatsoever else thou hast heard and assented unto concerning either paine or pleasure But the care of thine honour and reputation will perchance distract thee How can that be if thou doest look back and consider both how quickly all things that are are forgotten and what an immense chaos of eternitie was before and will follow after all things and the vanity of praise and the inconstancie and variablenesse of humane Judgements and opinions and the narrownesse of the place wherein it is limited and circumscribed For the whole earth is but as one point and of it this inhabited part of it is but a very little part and of this part how many in number and what manner of men are they that will commend thee What remaines then but that thou often put in practise this kinde of retyring of thy selfe to this little part of thy selfe and above all things keepe thy selfe from distraction and intend not any thing vehemently but be free and consider all things * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a man whose proper object is vertue as a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Note 14. and 18 upon B. I. And B. V. N VI. man whose true nature is to be kinde and sociable as a Citizen as a mortall creature Among other things which to consider and looke into thou must use to withdraw thy selfe let those two be among the most obvious and at hand One that the things or objects themselves reach not
the times of Vespasian Thou shalt see but the same things some marying some bringing up children some sick some dying some fighting some feasting some merchandizing some tilling some flattering some boasting some suspecting some undermining some wishing to die some fretting and murmuring at their present estate some wooing some hoarding some seeking after Magistracies and some after Kingdomes And is not that their age quite over and ended Againe consider now the times of Trajan There likewise thou seest the very selfe-same things and that age also is now over and ended In the like manner consider other periods both of times and of whole nations and see how many men after they had with all their might and main intended and prosecuted some one worldly thing or other did soone after drop away and were resolved into the Elements But especially thou must call to minde them whom thou thy selfe in thy life time hast knowne much distracted about vaine things and in the meane time neglecting to doe that and closely and unseparably as fully satisfied with it to adhere unto it which their owne proper constitution did require And here thou must remember that thy carriage in every businesse must be according to the worth and due proportion of it for so shalt thou not easily be tyred out and vexed if thou shalt not dwel upon small matters longer then is fitting XXVIII Those words which once were common and ordinarie are now become obscure and obsolet and so the names of men once commonly knowne and famous are now become in a manner obscure and obsolet names Camillus Caeso Volesius Leonnatus not long after Scipio Cato then Augustus then Adrianus then Antoninus Pius All these in a short time will be out of date and as things of another world as it were become fabulous And this I say of them who once shined as the wonders of their ages for as for the rest no sooner are they expired then with them all their fame and memorie And what is it then that shall alwayes be remembred all is vanity What is it that wee must bestow our care and diligence upon even upon this only That our minds wils be just that our actions be charitable that our speech be never deceitfull or that our understanding bee not subject to error that our inclination be alwayes set to embrace whatsoever shall happen unto us as necessary as usuall as ordinary as flowing from such a beginning and such a fountaine from which both thou thy selfe and all things are Willingly therefore See the Pref. towards the end and wholly surrender up thy selfe unto that fatall concatenation yeelding up thy selfe unto the fates to be disposed of at their pleasure XXIX Whatsoever is now present and from day to day hath its existence all objects of memories and the mindes and memories themselves incessantly consider all things that are have their being by change and alteration Use thy selfe therefore often to meditate upon this that the Nature of the Universe delights in nothing more then in altering those things that are and in making others like unto them So that wee may say that whatsoever is is but as it were the seed of that which shall be For if thou thinke that that only is seed which either the Earth or the wombe receiveth thou art very simple XXX Thou art now ready to dye and yet hast thou not attained to that perfect simplicitie thou art yet subject to many troubles and perturbations not yet free from all feare and suspition of externall accidents nor yet either so meekly disposed towards all men as thou shouldest or so affected as one whose only study and only wisedome is to be just in all his actions XXXI Behold and observe what is the state of their rationall part and those that the world doth account wise see what things they flie and are afraid of and what things they hunt after XXXII In another mans minde and understanding thy evill cannot subsist nor in any proper temper or distemper of the naturall constitution of thy body which is but as it were the coate or cottage of thy soule Wherein then but in that part of thee wherein the conceit and apprehension of any misery can subsist Let not that part therefore admit any such conceit and then all is well Though thy body which is so neere it should either be cut or burnt or suffer any corruption or putrefaction yet let that part to which it belongs to judge of these be still at rest that is Let her judge this that whatsoever it is that equally may happen to a wicked man and to a good man is neither good nor evill For that which happens equally to him that lives according to Nature and to him that doth not is neither according to nature nor against it and by consequent neither good nor bad XXXIII Ever consider and thinke upon the world as being but one living substance See B. VI N. XXIII and having but one soule and how all things in the world are terminated into one sensitive power or terminate into one generall sense and are done by one generall motion as it were deliberation of that one soule and how all things that are concurre in the cause of one anothers being and by what manner of connexion and concatenation all things happen XXXIV What art thou that better and divine part excepted but as Epictetus said well a wretched soule appointed to carry a carcasse up and downe XXXV To suffer change can be no hurt as no benefit it is by change to attaine to being The age and time of the world is as it were a flood and swift current consisting of the things that are brought to passe in the world For as soone as any thing hath appeared and is passed away another succeeds and that also will presently out of sight XXXVI Whatsoever doth happen in the world is in the course of nature as usuall and ordinarie as a rose in the spring and fruit in summer Of the same nature is sicknesse and death slaunder and lying in waite and whatsoever else ordinarily doth unto sooles use to be occasion either of joy or sorrow That whatsoever it is that comes after doth very naturally and as it were familiarly follow upon that which was before For thou must consider the things of the world not as a loose independent number consisting meerely of necessary events but as a discreet connexion of things orderly and harmoniously disposed There is then to be seen in the things of the world not a bare succession but an admirable correspondence and affinitie XXXVII Let that of Heraclitus never be out of thy minde that the death of earth is water and the death of water is aire and the death of aire is fire and so on the contrary Remember him also who was ignorant whither the way did lead and how that Reason being the thing by which all things in the world are administred and which men are
thy wretched body or life to remember that they are neither thine nor in thy power XXVIII Thou maiest alwayes speed if thou wilt but make choise of the right way if in the course both of thine opinions and actions thou wilt observe a true method These two things be common to the soules as of God so of men and of every reasonable creature first that in their owne proper worke they cannot be hindered by any thing and secondly that their happinesse doth consist in a disposition to and in the practise of righteousnesse and that in these their desire is terminated XXIX If this neither be my wicked act nor an act any wayes depending from any wickednesse of mine and that by it the publike is not hurt what doth it concerne me And wherein can the publike be hurt For thou must not altogether be carryed by conceit and common opinion but though thou must after thy best abilitie as occasion shall require though but in middle or worldly things they sustaine any dammage ever be ready to helpe them yet doe not thou conceive that they are truly hurt thereby for that is not right But as that old foster Father in the Comaedie being now to take his leave doth with a great deale of Ceremonie require his Foster Childs rhombus remēbring neverthelesse that it is but a rhombus so here also do thou likewise XXX What is all this pleading and publick bawling for at the Courts O man hast thou forgotten what those things are yea but they are things that others much care for and highly esteeme of Wilt thou therefore be a foole too Once I was let that suffice XXXI Let death surprise me when it will and where it will I may bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a happy man neverthelesse For he is a happy man who in his life time dealeth unto himselfe a happy lot and portion A happy lot and portion is good inclinations of the soule good desires good actions THE SIXTH BOOKE THe matter it selfe of which the Universe doth consist is of it selfe very tractable and pliable That rationall essence that doth governe it hath in it selfe no cause to doe evill It hath no evill in it selfe neither can it doe any thing that is evill neither can any thing be hurt by it And all things are done and determined according to its will and prescript II. Bee it all one unto thee whether halfe frozen or well warme whether only slumbering or after a full sleepe whether discommended or commended thou doe thy duty or whether dying or doing somewhat else for that also to die must among the rest be reckoned as one of the duties and actions of our lives III. Looke in let not either the proper qualitie or the true worth of any thing passe thee before thou hast fully apprehended it IV. All substances come soone to their change and either they shall be resolved by way of exhalation if so be that all things shall bee reunited into one substance or as others maintaine they shall be scattered and dispersed As for that Rationall Essence by which all things are governed as it best understandeth it selfe both its owne disposition and what it doth and what matter it hath to doe with and accordingly doth all things so we that do not no wonder if wee wonder at many things the reasons whereof wee cannot comprehend V. The best kinde of revenge is not to become like unto them VI. Let this be thy only joy and thy only comfort from one sociable kinde action without intermission to passe unto another God being ever in thy minde VII The rationall commanding part as it alone can stirre up and turne it selfe so it maketh both it selfe to be and every thing that happeneth to appeare unto it selfe as it will it selfe VIII According to the nature of the Universe all things particular are determined not according to any other nature either about compassing and containing or within dispersed and contained or without depending Either this Universe is a meere confused masse and an intricate context of things which shall in time be scattered and dispersed againe or it is an Union consisting of Order and administred by providence If the first why should I desire to continue any longer in this fortuit confusion and commixtion or why should I take care for any thing else but that as soon as may be I may be Earth againe And why should I trouble my selfe any more whilest I seeke to please the gods Whatsoever I doe Dispersion is my end and will come upon me whether I will or noe But if the latter be then am not I religious in vaine then will I be quiet and patient and put my trust in Him who is the Governor of all IX Whensoever by some present hard occurrences thou art constrained to be in some sort troubled and vexed returne unto thy selfe as soone as may be and be not out of tune longer then thou must needs For so shalt thou be the better able to keepe thy part another time and to maintaine the harmonie if thou doest use thy selfe to this continually once out presently to have recourse unto it and to beginne againe X. If it were that thou hadst at one time both a stepmother and a naturall mother living thou wouldest honour and respect her also neverthelesse to thine owne naturall mother would thy refuge and recourse bee continually So let the Court and thy Philosophie be unto thee Have recourse unto it often and comfort thy selfe in her by whom it is that those other things are made tolerable unto thee and thou also in those things not intolerable unto others XI How marvellous usefull it is for a man to represent unto himselfe meates and all such things that are for the mouth under a right apprehension and imagination as for example This is the carkase of a fish this of a bird and this of a hogge And againe more generally This Phalernum this excellent highly commended wine is but the bare juyce of an ordinary grape This purple robe but sheepes haires dyed with the blood of a shell-fish So for coitus it is but the attrition of an ordinarie base entrall and the excretion of a little * Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See B. IV 39. vile snivell with a certaine kinde of convulsion according to Hippocrates his opinion How excellent usefull are these lively phancies and representation of things thus penetrating and passing through the objects to make their true nature knowne and apparant This must thou use all thy life long and upon all occasions and then especially when matters are apprehended as of great worth and respect thy art and care must be to uncover them and to behold their vilenesse and to take away from them all those serious circumstances and expressions under which they made so grave a shew For outward pompe and appearance is a great jugler and then especially art thou most in danger to be beguiled by it
ignorance whatsoever XXI I for my part will doe what belongs unto mee as for other things whether things unsensible or things irrationall or if rationall yet deceived and ignorant of the true way they shall not trouble or distract mee For as for those creatures which are not indued with reason and all other things and matters of the world whatsoever I freely and generously as one endued with reason of things that have none make use of them And as for men towards them as naturally partakers of the same reason my care is to carry my selfe sociably But whatsoever it is that thou art about remember to call upon the Gods And as for the time how long thou shalt live to do these things let it be altogether indifferent unto thee for even three such howers are sufficient XXII Alexander of Macedon and he that dressed his mules when once dead both came to one For either they were both resumed into those originall rationall essences from whence all things in the world are propagated or both after one fashion were scattered into Atomes XXIII Consider how many different things See B. IV Num. XXXIII whether they concerne our bodies or our soules in a moment of time come to passe in every one of us and so thou wilt not wonder if many more things or rather all things that are done can at one time subsist and coexist in that both One and Generall which wee call the World XXIV If any should put this question unto thee how this word Antoninus is written wouldest thou not presently fixe thine intention upon it and utter out in order every letter of it And if any shall beginne to gaine say thee and quarrell with thee about it wilt thou quarrell with him againe or rather goe on meekly as thou hast begun untill thou hast numbred out every letter Here then likewise remember that every duty that belongs unto a man doth consist of some certaine letters or numbers as it were to which without any noise or tumult keeping thy selfe thou must orderly proceed to thy proposed end forbearing to quarrell with him that would quarrell and fall out with thee XXV Is it not a cruell thing to forbid men to affect those things which they conceive to agree best with their owne natures and to tend most to their owne proper good and behoofe But thou after a sort deniest them this libertie as often as thou art angry with them for their sinnes For surely it is with an opinion of their owne proper good and commoditie that they are lead unto such things But it is not so thou therefore teach them better and make it appeare unto them but be not thou angry with them XXVI Death is a cessation from the impressions of the senses the tyranny of the passions the errors of the minde and the servitude of the body XXVII If in this kinde of life thy body be able to hold out it is a shame that thy soule should faint first and give over Take heed lest of a Philosopher thou become a meere Caesar in time and receive a new tincture from the Court For it may happen if thou dost not take heed Keepe thy selfe therefore truly simple good sincere grave free from all ostentation a lover of that which is just religious kinde tender hearted strong and vigorous to undergoe any thing that becomes thee Endeavour to continue such as philosophie hadst thou wholly and constantly applyed thy selfe unto it would have made and secured thee Worship the gods procure the welfare of men this life is short Charitable actions and a holy disposition is the onely fruit of this earthly life XXVIII Doe all things as becommeth the Disciple of Antoninus Pius Remember his resolute constancie in things that were done by him according to reason his equabilitie in all things his sanctitie the cheerefulnesse of his countenance his sweetnesse and how free hee was from all vaine glory how carefull to come to the true and exact knowledge of matters in hand and how hee would by no meanes give over till he did fully and plainely understand the whole state of the businesse how patiently and without any contestation he would beare with them that did unjustly condemne him how he would never be overhasty in any thing nor give eare to slanders and false accusations but examine and observe with best diligence the severall actions and dispositions of men Againe how hee was no backbiter nor easily frighted nor suspicious and in his language free from all affectation and curiosity and how easily hee would content himselfe with few things as lodging bedding cloathing and ordinarie nourishment and attendance How able to endure labour how patient able through his spare dyet to continue from morning to evening without any necessity of withdrawing before his accustomed howers to the necessities of nature his uniformity and constancie in matter of friendship How he would beare with them that with all boldnesse and libertie opposed his opinions and even rejoyce if any man could better advise him and lastly how religious hee was without superstition All these things of him remember that whensoever thy last houre shal come upon thee it may find thee as it did him ready for it in the possession of a good conscience XXIX Stirre up thy minde and recall thy wits againe from thy naturall dreames and visions and when thou art perfectly awaken and canst perceive that they were but dreames that troubled thee as one newly awakened out of another kinde of sleepe looke upon these worldly things with the same minde as thou didst upon those that thou sawest in thy sleepe XXX I consist of body and soule unto my body all things are indifferent for of it selfe it cannot affect one thing more then another with apprehension of any differēce as for my mind all things which are not within the verge of her owne operation are indifferent unto her and for her owne operations those altogether depend of her neither doth shee busie her selfe about any but those that are present for as for future and passed operation those also are now at this present indifferent unto her XXXI As long as the foot doth that which belongeth unto it to doe and the hand that which belongs unto it their labour whatsoever it bee is not unnaturall So a man as long as he doth that which is proper unto a man his labour cannot be against nature and if it be not against nature then neither is it hurtfull unto him But if it were so that happinesse did consist in pleasure how came notorious robbers impure abominable livers parricides and tyrants in so large a measure to have their part of pleasures XXXII Doest thou not see how even those that professe mechanique arts though in some respect they be no better then meere Idiots yet they stick close to the course of their trade neither can they finde in their heart to decline from it and is it not a grievous thing
vexation upon it selfe This I say it will not put it selfe in any feare it will not lead it selfe into any concupiscence If it bee in the power of any other to compell it to feare or to grieve it is free for him to use his power But sure if it selfe doe not of it selfe through some false opinion or supposition incline it selfe to any such disposition there is no feare For as for the body why should I make the griefe of my body to be the grief of my minde If that it selfe can either feare or complaine let it But as for the soule which indeed can only be truly sensible of either feare or griefe to which only it belongs according to its different imaginations and opinions to admit of either of these or of their contraries thou mayest look to that thy selfe that it suffer nothing Induce her not to any such opinion or perswasion The understanding is of it selfe sufficient unto it selfe and needs not if it selfe doth not bring it selfe to need any other thing besides it selfe and by consequent as it needs nothing so neither can it be troubled or hindered by any thing if it selfe doth not trouble and hinder it selfe XIV What is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or happinesse but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a good Daemon or Spirit What then doest thou doe here O opinion By the gods I adjure thee that thou get thee gone as thou camest for I need thee not Thou camest indeed unto me according to thy ancient wonted manner It is that that all men have ever beene subject unto That thou camest therefore I am not angry with thee only be gone now that I have found thee what thou art XV. Is any man so foolish as to feare change to which all things that once were not owe their being And what is it that is more pleasing and more familiar to the nature of the Universe How couldst thou thy selfe use thy ordinary hot bathes should not the wood that heateth them first bee changed How couldest thou receive any nourishment from those things that thou hast eaten if they should not be changed Can any thing else almost that is usefull and profitable bee brought to passe without change How then doest not thou perceive that for thee also by death to come to change is a thing of the very same nature and as necessary for the nature of the Universe XVI Through the Substance of the Universe as through a torrent passe all particular bodies being all of the same nature and all joynt workers with the Universe it selfe as in one of our bodies so many members among themselves How many such as Chrysippus how many such as Socrates how many such as Epictetus hath the Age of the world long since swallowed up and devoured Let this bee it either men or businesses that thou hast occasion to thinke of to the end that thy thoughts be not distracted and thy minde too earnestly set upon any thing upon every such occasion presently come to thy minde Of all my thoughts cares one only thing shall be the object that I my selfe doe nothing which to the proper constitution of man either in regard of the thing it selfe or in regard of the manner or of the time of doing is contrarie The time whē thou shalt have forgottē all things is at hand And that time also is at hand when thou thy selfe shalt be forgotten by all Whilest thou art apply thy selfe to that especially which unto man as he is a man is most proper and agreeable and that is for a man even to love them that transgresse against him This shall be if at the same time that any such thing doth happen thou call to minde that they are thy Kinsmen that it is through ignorance and against their wills that they sinne and that within a very short while after both thou and he shall be no more But above all things that he hath not done thee any hurt for that by him thy minde and understanding is not made worse or more vile then it was before XVII The nature of the Universe of the common substance of all things as it were of so much waxe hath now perchance formed a horse and then destroying that figure hath new tempered and fashioned the matter of it into the form and substance of a tree then that againe into the forme and substance of a man and then that againe into some other Now every one of these doth subsist but for a very little while As for dissolution if it be no grievous thing to the chest or trunck to be joyned together why should it be more grievous to be put asunder XVIII An angry countenance is much against nature and it is oftentimes the proper countenance of them that are at the point of death But were it so that all anger and passion were so throughly quenched in thee that it were altogether impossible to kindle it any more yet herein must not thou rest satisfied but further endeavour by good consequence of true ratiocination perfectly to conceive and understand that all anger and passion is against reason For if thou shalt not be sensible of thine innocencie if that also shall be gone from thee the comfort of a good conscience that thou doest all things according to reason what shouldest thou live any longer for All things that now thou seest are but for a moment That nature by which all things in the world are administred will soone bring change and alteration upon them and then of their substances make other things like unto them and then soone after others againe of the matter and substance of these that so by these meanes the world may still appeare fresh and new XIX Whensoever any man doth trespasse against thee presently consider with thy selfe what it was that he did suppose to be good what to be evill when he did trespasse For this when thou knowest thou wilt pitty him thou wilt have no occasion either to wonder or to be angry For either thou thy selfe doest yet live in that error and ignorance as that thou doest suppose either that very thing that he doth or some other like wordly thing to bee good and so thou art bound to pardon him if hee have done that which thou in the like case wouldest have done thy selfe Or if so be that thou doest not any more suppose the same things to be good or evill that he doth how canst thou but be gentle unto him that is in an error XX. Phancie not to thy selfe things future as though they were present but of those that are present take some aside that thou takest most benefit of and consider of them particularly how wonderfully thou wouldest want them if they were not present But take heed withall least that whilest thou doest settle thy contentment in things present thou grow in time so to overprize them as that the want of them whensoever it shall so fall out should be a trouble
he doth Remember that as it is a shame for any man to wonder that a figge tree should beare figs so also to wonder that the World should beare any thing whatsoever it is which in the ordinary course of nature it may beare To a physitian also to a pilot it is a shame either for the one to wonder that such and such a one should have an ague or for the other that the winds should prove contrarie XIV Remember that to change thy minde upon occasion and to follow him that is able to rectifâ—… thee is equally ingenuous as to finde out at the first what is right and just without helpe For of thee nothing is required that is beyond the extent of thine owne deliberation and judgement and of thine owne understanding XV. If it were thine act and in thine owne power why wouldest thou doe it If it were not whom doest thou accuse the atomes or the gods For to doe either is the part of a mad man Thou must therefore blame no body but if it be in thy power redresse what is amisse if it be not to what end is it to complaine For nothing should be done but to some certaine end XVI Whatsoever dyeth and falleth however and wheresoever it die and fall it cannot fall out of the world If here it have its abode and change here also shall it have its dissolution into its proper elements The same are the worlds Elements and the elements of which thou doest consist And they when they are changed they murmur not why shouldest thou XVII Whatsoever is was made for something as a horse a vine Why wondrest thou The Sun it selfe will say of it selfe I was made for something and so hath every god its proper function What then wert thou made for to disport and delight thy selfe See how even common sense and reason cannot brooke it XVIII Nature hath its end as well in the end and finall consummation of any thing that is as in the beginning and continuation of it XIX As one that tosseth up a ball And what is a hall the better if the motion of it be upwards or the worse if it be downewards or if it chance to fall upon the ground So for the bubble if it continue what is it the better and if it dissolve what is it the worse And so is it of a candle too And so must thou reason with thy selfe both in matter of fame and in matter of death For as for the body it selfe the subject of death wouldest thou know the vilenesse of it Turne it about that thou maiest behold it the worst sides upwards as well as in its more ordinarie pleasant shape how doth it looke when it is old and withered when sick and pained when in the act of lust and fornication And as for fame This life is short Both he that praiseth and he that is praised he that remembers and he that is remembred will soone be dust and ashes Besides it is but in one corner of this part of the world that thou art praised and yet in this corner thou hast not the joynt praises of all men no nor scarce of any one constantly And yet the whole earth it selfe what is it but as one point in regard of the whole world XX. That which must be the subject of thy consideratioÌ„ is either the matter it selfe or the Dogma or the operation or the true sense and signification XXI Most justly have these things happened unto thee why dost not thou amend O but thou hadst rather become good to morrow then to be so to day XXII Shall I doe it I will so the end of my action be to doe good unto men Doth any thing by way of crosse or adversity happen unto me I accept it with reference unto the Gods and their providence the fountaine of all things from which whatsoever comes to passe doth hang and depend XXIII By one action judge of the rest This bathing which usually takes up so much of our time what is it Oyle sweat filth or the sordes of the body and excrementitious viscositie the excrements of oyle other oyntments used about the body and mixed with the sordes of the body all base and loathsome And such almost is euery part of our life and every worldly object XXIV Lucilla buried Verus then was Lucilla herselfe buried by others So Secunda Maximus then Secunda her selfe So Epitunchanus Diotimus then Epitunchanus himselfe So Antoninus Pius Faustina his wife then Antoninus himselfe This is the course of the world First Celer Adrianus then Adrianus himselfe And those austere ones those that foretold other mens deathes those that were so proud and stately where are they now Those austere ones I meane such as were Charux and Demetrius the Platonick and Eudaemon and others like unto those They were all but for one day all dead and gone long since Some of them no sooner dead then forgotten Others soone turned into fables Of others even that which was fabulous is now long since forgotten This therefore thou must remember that whatsoever thou art compounded of shall soone be dispersed and that thy life and breath or thy soule shall either bee no more or shall be translated and appointed to some certaine place and station XXV The true joy of a man is to doe that which properly belongs unto a man That which is most proper unto a man is First to bee kindly affected towards them that are of the same kinde and nature as he is himselfe to contemne all sensuall motions and appetites to discerne rightly all plausible phancies and imaginations to contemplate the nature of the Universe both it and all things that are done in it In which kinde of contemplation three severall relations are to be observed The first to the appearant secundarie cause The second to the first originall cause God from whom originally proceeds whatsoever doth happen in the world The third and last to them that we live and converse with what use may bee made of it to their use and benefit XXVI If paine be an evill either it is in regard of the body and that cannot be * Gr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See B. VII N. 13. because the body of it selfe is altogether insensible or in regard of the soule But it is in the power of the soule to preserve her owne peace and tranquillitie and not to suppose that paine is evill For all judgement and deliberation all prosecutioÌ„ or aversation is from within whither the sense of evill except it bee let in by opinion cannot penetrate XXVII Wipe off all idle phancies and say unto thy selfe incessantly Now if I will it is in my power to keep out of this my soule all wickednesse all lust and concupiscences all trouble and confusion But on the contrarie to behold and consider all things according to their true nature and to carry my selfe towards every thing according to its true worth Remember then
that were yet of a more excellent nature as the starres and planets though by their nature farre distant one from another yet even among them beganne some mutuall correspondencie and unitie So proper is it to excellencie in a high degree to affect unitie as that even in things so farre distant it could operate unto a mutuall Sympathie But now behold what is now come to passe Those creatures that are reasonable are now the only creatures that have forgotten their naturall affection inclination of one towards another Among them alone of all other things that are of one kinde there is not to be found a generall disposition to flow together But though they fly from Nature yet are they stopt in their course and apprehended Doe they what they can Nature doth prevaile And so shalt thou confesse if thou doest observe it For sooner mayest thou finde a thing earthly where no earthly thing is then finde a man that naturally can live by himselfe alone VIII Man God the World every one in their kinde beare some fruits All things have their proper time to beare Though by custome the word it selfe is in a manner become proper unto the vine and the like yet is it so neverthelesse as wee have said As for reason that beareth both common fruit for the use of others and peculiar which it selfe doth enjoy Reason is of a diffusive nature what it selfe is in it selfe it begets in others and so doth multiply IX Either teach them better if it be in thy power or if it be not remember that for this use to beare with them patiently was mildnesse and goodnesse granted unto thee The gods themselves are good unto such yea and in some things as in matter of health of wealth of honour are content often to further their endeavours so good and gracious are thy And mightest thou not be so too or tell me what doth hinder thee X. Labour not as one to whom it is appointed to be wretched nor as one that either would be pittied or admired but let this be thine only care desire so alwayes and in all things to prosecute or to forbeare as the law of Charity or mutuall society doth require XI This day I did come out of all my trouble Nay I have cast out all my trouble it should rather be For that which troubled thee whatsoever it was was not without any where that thou shouldest come out of it but within in thine owne opinions from whence it must be cast out before thou canst truly and constantly be at ease XII All those things for matter of experience are usuall and ordinarie for their continuance but for a day and for their matter most base and filthy As they were in the dayes of those whom we have buried so are they now also and no otherwise XIII The things themselves that affect us they stand without doores neither knowing any thing themselves nor able to utter any thing unto others concerning themselves What then is it that passeth verdict on them The understanding XIV As vertue and wickednesse consist not in passion but in action so neither doth the true good or evill of a reasonable charitable man consist in passion but in operation and action XV. To the stone that is cast up when it comes downe it is no hurt unto it as neither benefit when it doth ascend XVI Sift their mindes and understandings and behold what men they be whom thou doest stand in feare of what they shall judge of thee what they themselves judge of themselves XVII All things that are in the world are alwayes in the estate of alteration Thou also art in a perpetuall change yea and under corruption too in some part and so is the whole world XVIII It is not thine but another mans sinne Why should it trouble thee Let him looke to it whose sinne it is XIX Of an operation and of a purpose there is an ending or of an action and of a purpose wee say commonly that it is at an end from opinion also there is an absolute cessation which is as it were the death of it In all this there is no hurt Apply this now to a mans age as first a child then a youth then a young man then an old man every change from one age to another is a kinde of death And all this while here is no matter of griefe yet Passe now unto that life first that which thou livedst under thy Grandfather then under thy Mother then under thy Father And thus when through the whole course of thy life hitherto thou hast found and observed many alterations many changes many kindes of endings and cessations put this question to thy selfe what matter of griefe or sorrow dost thou finde in any of these or what doest thou suffer through any of these If in none of these then neither in the ending and consummation of thy whole life which also is but a cessation and change XX. As occasion shall require either to thine owne Understanding or to that of the Universe or to his whom thou hast now to doe with let thy refuge be with all speed To thine owne that it resolve upon nothing against justice To that of the Universe that thou maist remember part of whom thou art Of his that thou mayest consider whether in the estate of ignorance or of knowledge And then also must thou call to minde that he is thy Kinsman XXI As thou thy selfe who ever thou art wert made for the perfection and consummation being a member of it of a common society so must every action of thine tend to the perfection and consummation of a life that is truly sociable What action soever of thine therefore that either immediately or afarre off hath not reference to the common good that is an exorbitant and disoderly action yea it is seditious as one among the people who from such and such a consent and unity should factiously divide and separate himselfe XXII Childrens anger meere bables wretched soules bearing up dead bodies that they may not have their fall so soone Even as it is in that common dirge song or bearing up dead bodies that the number of the dead may not be full so soone XXIII Goe to the qualitie of the cause from which the effect doth proceed Behold it by it selfe bare and naked separated from all that is materiall Then consider the utmost bounds of time that that cause thus and thus qualified can subsist and abide XXIV Infinite are the troubles and miseries that thou hast already beene put to by reason of this only because that for all happinesse it did not suffice thee or that thou didst not account it sufficient happinesse that thy understanding did operate according to its naturall constitution XXV When any shall either impeach thee with false accusations or hatefully reproach thee or shall use any such carriage towards thee get thee presently to their mindes and understandings and looke in them and
see the same as the same things so the same shortnesse of continuance of all those things And behold These be the things that we are so proud and puffed up for XIX Cast away from thee opinion and thou art safe And what is it that hinders thee from casting of it away When thou art grieved at any thing hast thou forgotten that all things happen according to the Nature of the Universe and that him onely it concernes who is in fault and moreover that what is now done is that which from ever hath beene done in the world and will ever be done and is now done every where how neerely all men are allied one to another by a kindred not of blood nor of seed but of the same minde Thou hast also forgotten that every mans minde partakes of the Deitie and issueth from thence and that no man can properly call any thing his owne no not his sonne nor his body not his life for that they all proceed from that One who is the giver of all things That all things are but opinion that no man lives properly but that very instant of time which is now present or that all life properly doth consist in this present instant of time See B. II. n. XII separated from the which is either past or future And therefore that no man whensoever hee dieth can properly be said to lose any more then an instant of time XX. Let thy thoughts ever runne upon them who once for some one thing or other were moved with extraordinary indignation who were once in the highest pitch of either honour or calamity or mutuall hatred and enmity or of any other fortune or condition whatsoever Then consider what 's now become of all those things All is turned to smoake all to ashes and a meere fable and perchance not so much as a fable As also whatsoever is of this Nature as Fabius Catulinus in the field Lucius Lupus and Stertinius at Baiae Tiberius at Capreae and Velius Rufus and all such examples of vehement prosecution in worldly matters let these also runne in thy minde at the same time and how vile every object of such earnest and vehement prosecution is and how much more agreeable to true Philosophie it is for a man to carry himselfe in every matter that offers it selfe justly and moderatly as one that followeth the Gods with all simplicity For for a man to be proud and high conceited that he is not proud and high conceited is of all kinde of pride and presumption the most intolerable XXI To them that aske thee Where hast thou seene the Gods or how knowest thou certainly that there be Gods that thou art so devout in their worship I answer first of all that even to the very eye they are in some manner visible and apparent Secondly neither have I ever seene mine owne soule and yet I respect and honour it So then for the Gods by the dayly experience that I have of their power and providence towards my selfe and others I know certainly that they are and therefore worship them XXII Herein doth consist happinesse of life for a man to know theroughly the true nature of every thing What is the matter and what is the forme of it with all his heart and soule ever to doe that which is just and to speake the truth What then remaineth but to enjoy thy life in a course and cohaerence of good actions one upon another immediatly succeeding and never interrupted though for never so little a while XXIII There is but one light of the sunne though it be intercepted by walls mountaines and other thousand objects There is but one common substance of the whole World though it be concluded and restrained into severall different bodies in number infinite There is but one common soule though divided into innumerable particular essences and natures So is there but one common intellectuall soule though it seeme to be divided And as for all other parts of those Generalls which we have mentioned as either sensitive soules or subjects these of themselves as naturally irrationall have no common mutual reference one unto another though many of them containe a Mind or Reasonable Faculty in them whereby they are ruled and governed or that hath power and authority over them But of every reasonable minde this is the particular nature that it hath reference to whatsoever is of her owne kinde and desireth to be united neither can this common affection or mutuall unity and correspondencie be here intercepted or divided or confined to particulars as those other common things are XXIV What doest thou desire To live long What To enjoy the operations of a sensitive soule or of the appetitive Facultie or wouldst thou grow and then decrease againe Wouldst thou long bee able to talke to thinck and reason with thyselfe Which of all these seemes unto thee a worthy object of thy desire Now if of all these thou doest finde that they be but little worth in themselves proceed on unto the last which is In all things to follow God and Reason But for a man to greeve that by death he shall be deprived of any of these things is both against God and Reason XXV What a small portion of vaste and infinite eternitie it is that is allowed unto euery one of us and how soone it vanisheth into the generall age of the world of the common substance and of the common soule also what a small portion is allotted unto us and in what a little clod of the whole Earth as it were it is that thou doest crawle After thou shalt rightly have considered these things with thy selfe phancie not any thing else in the world any more to bee of any weight and moment but this to do that only which thyne owne nature doth require and to conforme thyselfe to that which the common Nature doth affoord XXVI What is the present estate of my understanding For herein lyeth all indeede As for all other things they are without the compasse of myne owne will and if without the compasse of my will then are they as dead things unto me and as it were mere smoake XXVII To stirre up a man to the contempt of death this among other things is of good power and efficacie that even they who esteemed pleasure to bee happines and payne miserie did neverthelesse many of them contemne death as much as any And can death be terrible to him to whome that only seemes good which in the ordinarie course of nature is seasonable to him to whome whether his actions bee many or few so they be all good is all one and who whether hee behold the things of the world being allwayes the same either for many years or for few yeares only is altogether indifferent O man as a Citizen thou hast lived and conversed in this great Citty the World Whether just for so many yeares or no what is it unto thee Thou hast lived thou maiest bee