1.The Universal Substance is docile and ductile;and the Reason that controls it has no motive in itself to do wrong.For it hath no wrongnes s and doeth no wrong,nor is anything harmed by it.But all things come into being and fulfil their purpose as it directs.

2.Make no difference in doing thy duty whether thou art shivering or warm,drowsy or sleep-satisfied,defamed or extolled,dying or anything else.For the act of dying too is one of the acts of life.So it is enou gh in this also to get the work in hand done well.

3.Look within.Let not the special quality or worth of anything esca pe thee.

4.All objective things will anon be changed and either etherialized into the Universal Substance,if that indeed be one,or dispersed abroad.

5.The controlling Reason knows its own bent and its work and the med ium it works in.

6.The best way of avenging thyself is not to do likewise.

7.Delight in this one thing and take thy rest therein-from social a ct to go on to social act,keeping all thy thoughts on God.

8.The ruling Reason it is that can arouse and deflect itself,make i tself whatever it will,and invest everything that befalls with such a s emblance as it wills.

9.In accordance with the Nature of the Universe is accomplished each several thing.For surely this cannot be in accordance with any other na ture,that either envelops it from without,or is enveloped by it within,or exists in external detachment outside it.

10.Either a medley and a tangled web and a dispersion abroad,or a u nity and a plan and a Providence.If the former,why should I even wish to abide in such a random welter and chaos?Why care for anything else t han to turn again to the dust at last.Why be disquieted?For,do what I will,the dispersion must overtake me.But if the latter,I bow in rever ence,my feet are on the rock,and I put my trust in the Power that rule s.

11.When forced,as it seems,by thine environment to be utterly disq uieted,return with all speed into thy self,staying in discord no longe r than thou must.By constant recurrence to the harmony,thou wilt gain more command over it.

12.Hadst thou at once a stepmother and a mother thou wouldst pay due service to the former,and yet thy constant recourse would be to thy mot her.So hast thou now the court and philosophy for stepmother and mother.Cease not then to come to the latter and take thy rest in her,whereby shall both thy court life seem more tolerable to thee,and thou to thy c ourt life.

13.As in the case of meat and similar eatables the thought strikes u s,this is the dead body of a fish,this of a fowl or pig;and again tha t this Falernian is merely the juice of a grape-cluster,and this purple-edged robe is nought but sheep's wool steeped in the blood of a shellfish;or,of sexual intercourse,that it is merely internal attrition an d the spasmodic excretion of mucus-such,I say,as are these impression s that get to grips with the actual things and enter into the heart of t hem,so as to see them as they really are,thus should it be thy life th rough,and where things look to be above measure convincing,laying them quite bare,behold their paltriness and strip off their conventional pre stige.For conceit is a past master in fallacies and,when thou flattere st thyself most that thou art engaged in worthy tasks,then art thou mos t of all deluded by it.At any rate,see what Crates has to say about no ne other than Xenocrates.

14.Objects admired by the common sort come chiefly under things of t he most general kind,which are held together by physical coherence,suc h as stones and wood,or by a natural unity,such as figs,vines,olives;and those which are admired by persons of a somewhat higher capacity m ay be classed as things which are held together by a conscious life,suc h as flocks and herds;and those which are admired by persons still more refined,as things held together by a rational soul;I do not mean ratio nal as part of the Universal Reason,but in the sense of master of an ar t or expert in some other way,or merely in so far as to own a host of s laves.But he that prizes a soul which is rational,universal,and civic,no longer turns after anything else,but rather than everything beside s keeps his own soul,in itself and in its activity,rational and social,and to this end works conjointly with all that is akin to him.

15.Some things are hastening to be,others to be no more,while of t hose that haste into being some part is already extinct.Fluxes and chan ges perpetually renew the world,just as the unbroken march of time make s ever new the infinity of ages.In this river of change,which of the t hings which swirl past him,whereon no firm foothold is possible,should a man prize so highly?As well fall in love with a sparrow that flits pa st and in a moment is gone from our eyes.In fact a man's life itself i s but as an exhalation from blood and an inhalation from the air.For ju st as it is to draw in the air once into our lungs and give it back agai n,as we do every moment,so is it to give back thither,whence thou did st draw it first,thy faculty of breathing which thou didst receive at t hy birth yesterday or the day before.

16.Neither is it an inner respiration,such as that of plants,that we should prize,nor the breathing which we have in common with cattle a nd wild animals,nor the impressions we receive through our senses,nor that we are pulled by our impulses like marionettes,nor our gregarious instincts,nor our need of nutriment;for that is on a par with the reje ction of the waste products of our food.

What then is to be prized?The clapping of hands?No.Then not the c lapping of tongues either.For the acclamations of the multitude are but a clapping of tongues.So overboard goes that poor thing Fame also.What is left to be prized?This methinks:to limit our action or inaction to the needs of our own constitution,an end that all occupations and arts set before themselves.For the aim of every art is that the thing consti tuted should be adapted to the work for which it has been constituted.I t is so with the vine-dresser who looks after the vines,the colt-traine r,and the keeper of the kennels.And this is the end which the care of children and the methods of teaching have in view.There then is the thi ng to be prized!

This once fairly made thine own,thou wilt not seek to gain for thys elf any of the other things as well.Wilt thou not cease prizing many ot her things also?Then thou wilt neither be free nor sufficient unto thys elf nor unmoved by passion.For thou must need be full of envy and jealo usy,be suspicious of those that can rob thee of such things,and scheme against those who possess what thou prizest.In fine,a man who needs an y of those things cannot but be in complete turmoil,and in many cases f ind fault even with the Gods.But by reverencing and prizing thine own m ind,thou shalt make thyself pleasing in thine own sight,in accord with mankind,and in harmony with the Gods,that is,grateful to them for all that they dispense and have ordained.

17.Up,down,round-wise sweep the elements along.But the motion of virtue is in none of these ways.It is something more divine,and going forward on a mysterious path fares well upon its way.

18.What a way to act!Men are chary of commending their contemporar ies and associates,while they themselves set great store by the commend ation of posterity,whom they have never seen or shall see.But this is next door to taking it amiss that thy predecessors also did not commend thee.

19.Because thou findest a thing difficult for thyself to accomplish do not conceive it to be impracticable for others;but whatever is possi ble for a man and in keeping with his nature consider also attainable by thyself.

20.Suppose that a competitor in the ring has gashed us with his nail s and butted us violently with his head,we do not protest or take it am iss or suspect our opponent in future of foul play.Still we do keep an eye on him,not indeed as an enemy,or from suspicion of him,but with g ood-humoured avoidance.Act much in the same way in all the other parts of life.Let us make many allowances for our fellow-athletes as it were.Avoidance is always possible,as I have said,without suspicion or hatre d.

21.If any one can prove and bring home to me that a conception or ac t of mine is wrong,I will amend it,and be thankful.For I seek the tru th,whereby no one was ever harmed.But he is harmed who persists in his own self-deception and ignorance.

22.I do my own duty;other things do not distract me.For they are e ither inanimate or irrational,or such as have gone astray and know not the road.

23.Conduct thyself with magnanimity and freedom towards irrational c reatures and,generally,towards circumstances and objective things,for thou hast reason and they have none.But men have reason,therefore trea t them as fellow creatures.And in all cases call upon the Gods,and do not concern thyself with the question,How long shall I do this?Three h ours are enough so spent.

24.Death reduced to the same condition Alexander the Macedonian and his muleteer,for either they were taken back into the same Seminal Reas on of the Universe or scattered alike into the atoms.

25.Bear in mind how many things happen to each one of us with respec t to our bodies as well as our souls in the same momentary space of time,so wilt thou cease to wonder that many more things-not to say all the things that come into existence in that One and Whole which in fact we c all the Universe-subsist in it at one time.

26.If one enquire of thee,How is the name Antoninus written?wilt t hou with vehemence enunciate each constituent letter?What then?If thy listeners lose their temper,wilt thou lose thine?Wouldst thou not go o n gently to enumerate each letter?So recollect that in life too every d uty is the sum of separate items.Of these thou must take heed,and carr y through methodically what is set before thee,in no wise troubled or s hewing counter-irritation against those who are irritated with thee.

27.How intolerant it is not to permit men to cherish an impulse towa rds what is in their eyes congenial and advantageous!Yet in a sense thou withholdest from them the right to do this,whenthou resentest their wro ng-doing.For they are undoubtedly drawn to what they deem congenial and advantageous.But they are mistaken.Well,then,teach and enlighten the m without any resentment.

28.Death is a release from the impressions of sense,and from impuls es that make us their puppets,from the vagaries of the mind,and the ha rd service of the flesh.

29.It is a disgrace for the soul to be the first to succumb in that life in which the body does not succumb.

30.See thou be not Caesarified,nor take that dye,for there is the possibility.So keep thyself a simple and good man,uncorrupt,dignified,plain,a friend of justice,god-fearing,gracious,affectionate,manfu l in doing thy duty.Strive to be always such as Philosophy minded to ma ke thee.Revere the Gods,save mankind.Life is short.This only is the harvest of earthly existence,a righteous disposition and social acts.

Do all things as a disciple of Antoninus.Think of his constancy in every act rationally undertaken,his invariable equability,his piety,h is serenity of countenance,his sweetness of disposition,his contempt f or the bubble of fame,and his zeal for getting a true grip of affairs.How he would never on any account dismiss a thing until he had first tho roughly scrutinized and clearly conceived it;how he put up with those w ho found fault with him unfairly,finding no fault with them in return;how he was never in a hurry;how he gave no ear to slander,and with wha t nicety he tested dispositions and acts;was no imputer of blame,and n o craven,not a suspicious man,nor a sophist;what little sufficed him whether for lodging or bed,dress,food or attendance;how fond he was o f work,and how long-suffering;how he would remain the whole day at the same occupation,owing to his spare diet not even requiring to relieve n ature except at the customary time;and how loyal he was to his friends and always the same;and his forbearance towards those who openly oppose d his views,and his pleasure when anyone pointed out something better;and how god-fearing he was and yet not given to superstition.Take heed to all this,that thy last hour come upon thee as much at peace with thy conscience as he was.

31.Be sober once more and call back thy senses,and being roused aga in from sleep and,realizing that they were but dreams that beset thee,now awake again,look at these realities as thou didst at those thy drea ms.

32.I consist of body and soul.To the body indeed all things are ind ifferent,for it cannot concern itself with them.But to the mind only t hose things are indifferent which are not its own activities;and all th ose things that are its own activities are in its own power.Howbeit,of these it is only concerned with the present;for as to its activities in the past and the future,these two rank at once among things indifferent.

33.For hand or foot to feel pain is no violation of nature,so long as the foot does its own appointed work,and the hand its own.Similarly pain for a man,as man,is no unnatural thing so long as he does a man's appointed work.But,if not unnatural,then is it not an evil either.

34.The pleasures of the brigand,the pathic,the parricide,the tyra nt-just think what they are!

35.Dost thou not see how the mechanic craftsman,though to some exte nt willing to humour the non-expert,yet holds fast none the less to the principles of his handicraft,and cannot endure to depart from them.Is it not strange that the architect and the physician should hold the rati onale of their respective arts in higher reverence than a man his own re ason,which he has in common with the Gods?

36.Asia,Europe,corners of the Universe:the whole Ocean a drop in the Universe:Athos but a little clod therein:all the present a point i n Eternity:-everything on a tiny scale,so easily changed,so quickly vanished.

All things come from that one source,from that ruling Reason of the Universe,either under a primary impulse from it or by way of consequenc e.And therefore the gape of the lion's jaws and poison and all noxious things,such as thorns and mire,are but after-results of the grand and the beautiful.Look not then on these as alien to that which thou dost r everence,but turn thy thoughts to the one source of all things.

37.He,who sees what now is,hath seen all that ever hath been from times everlasting,and that shall be to eternity;for all things are of one lineage and one likeness.

38.Meditate often on the intimate union and mutual interdependence o f all things in the Universe.For in a manner all things are mutually in tertwined,and thus all things have a liking for one another.For these things are consequent one on another by reason of their contracting and expanding motion,the sympathy that breathes through them,and the unity of all substance.

39.Fit thyself to the environment that is thy portion,and love the men among whom thy lot is thrown,but whole-heartedly.

40.Every implement,tool,or vessel is well if it does the work for which it is made,and yet in their case the maker is not at hand.But in the things which owe their organic unity to Nature,the Power that made is within them and abides there.Wherefore also must thou reverence it t he more,and realize that if thou keep and conduct thyself ever accordin g to its will,all is to thy mind.So also to its mind are the things of the Universe.

41.If thou regardest anything not in thine own choice as good or evi l for thyself,it is inevitable that,on the incidence of such an evil o r the miscarriage of such a good,thou shouldst upbraid the Gods,aye,a nd hate men as the actual or supposed cause of the one or the other;and in fact many are the wrong doings we commit by setting a value on such t hings.But if we discriminate as good and evil only the things in our po wer,there is no occasion left for accusing the Gods or taking the stand of an enemy towards men.

42.We are all fellow-workers towards the fulfilment of one object,s ome of us knowingly and intelligently,others blindly;just as Heraclitu s,I think,says that even when they sleep men are workers and fellow-ag ents in all that goes on in the world.One is a co-agent in this,anothe r in that,and in abundant measure also he that murmurs and seeks to hin der or disannul what occurs.For the Universe had need of such men also.It remains then for thee to decide with whom thou art ranging thyself.F or He that controls the Universe will in any case put thee to a good use and admit thee to a place among his fellow-workers and coadjutors.But s ee that thou fill no such place as the paltry and ridiculous line in the play which Chrysippus mentions.

43.Does the sun take upon himself to discharge the functions of the rain?or Asclepius of the Fruit-bearer?And what of each particular star?Do they not differ in glory yet co-operate to one end?

44.If the Gods have taken counsel about me and the things to befall me,doubtless they have taken good counsel.For it is not easy even to i magine a God without wisdom.And what motive could they have impelling t hem to do me evil?For what advantage could thereby accrue to them or to the Universe which is their special care?But if the Gods have taken no counsel for me individually,yet they have in any case done so for the i nterests of the Universe,and I am bound to welcome and make the best of those things also that befall as a necessary corollary to those interest s.But if so be they take counsel about nothing at all-an impious belie f-in good sooth let us have no more of sacrifices and prayers and oaths,nor do any other of these things every one of which is a recognition o f the Gods as if they were at our side and dwelling amongst us-but if s o be,I say,they do not take counsel about any of our concerns,it is s till in my power to take counsel about myself,and it is for me to consi der my own interest.And that is to every man's interest which is agree able to his own constitution and nature.But my nature is rational and c ivic;my city and country,as Antoninus,is Rome;as a man,the world.T he things then that are of advantage to these communities,these,and no other,are good for me.

45.All that befalls the Individual is to the interest of the Whole a lso.So far,so good.But further careful observation will shew thee tha t,as a general rule,what is to the interest of one man is also to the interest of other men.But in this case the word interest must be taken i n a more general sense as it applies to intermediate things.

46.As the shows in the amphitheatre and such places grate upon thee as being an everlasting repetition of the same sight,and the similarity makes the spectacle pall,such must be the effect of the whole of life.For everything above and below is ever the same and the result of the sa me things.How long then?

47.Never lose sight of the fact that men of all kinds,of all sorts of vocations and of every race under heaven,are dead;and so carry thy thought down even to Philistion and Phoebus and Origanion.Now turn to t he other tribes of men.We must pass at last to the same bourne whither so many wonderful orators have gone,so many grave philosophers,Heracli tus,Pythagoras,Socrates:so many heroes of old time,and so many warri ors,so many tyrants of later days:and besides them,Eudoxus,Hipparchu s,Archimedes,and other acute natures,men of large minds,lovers of to il,men of versatile powers,men of strong will,mockers,like Menippus and many another such,of man's perishable and transitory life itself.About all these reflect that they have long since been in their graves.What terrible thing then is this for them?What pray for those whose ver y names are unknown?One thing on earth is worth much-to live out our l ives in truth and justice,and in charity with liars and unjust men.

48.When thou wouldst cheer thine heart,think upon the good qualitie s of thy associates;as for instance,this one's energy,that one's mo desty,the generosity of a third,and some other trait of a fourth.For nothing is so cheering as the images of the virtues mirrored in the char acters of those who live with us,and presenting themselves in as great a throng as possible.Have these images then ever before thine eyes.

49.Thou art not aggrieved,art thou,at being so many pounds in weig ht and not three hundred?Then why be aggrieved if thou hast only so man y years to live and no more?For as thou art contented with the amount o f matter allotted thee,so be content also with the time.

50.Try persuasion first,but even though men would say thee nay,act when the principles of justice so direct.Should any one however withsta nd thee by force,take refuge in being well-content and unhurt,and util ize the obstacle for the display of some other virtue.Recollect that th e impulse thou hadst was conditioned by circumstances,and thine aim was not to do impossibilities.What then was it?To feel some such impulse a s thou didst.In that thou art successful.That which alone was in the s phere of our choice is realized.

51.The lover of glory conceives his own good to consist in another's action,the lover of pleasure in his own feelings,but the possessor o f understanding in his own actions.

52.We need not form any opinion about the thing in question or be ha rassed in soul,for Nature gives the thing itself no power to compel our judgments.

53.Train thyself to pay careful attention to what is being said by a nother and as far as possible enter into his soul.

54.That which is not in the interests of the hive cannot be in the i nterests of the bee.

55.If the sailors spoke ill of a steersman or the sick of a physici an,what else would they have in mind but how the man should best effect the safety of the crew or the health of his patients?

56.How many have already left the world who came into it with me!

57.To the jaundiced honey tastes bitter;and the victim of hydrophob ia has a horror of water;and to little children their ball is a treasur e.Why then angry?Or dost thou think that error is a less potent factor than bile in the jaundiced and virus in the victim of rabies?

58.From living according to the reason of thy nature no one can prev ent thee:contrary to the reason of the Universal Nature nothing shall b efall thee.

59.The persons men wish to please,the objects they wish to gain,th e means they employ-think of the character of all these!How soon will Time hide all things!How many a thing has it already hidden!