"-
nay, rather thou shouldst say, "Fortunate I, that having met with
such a misfortune, I am able to endure it without complaining; in
the present not dismayed, in the future dreading no evil.
nay, rather thou shouldst say, "Fortunate I, that having met with
such a misfortune, I am able to endure it without complaining; in
the present not dismayed, in the future dreading no evil.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v02 - Aqu to Bag
If this be really true, then be satisfied that
it is best that it should be so, else it would have been otherwise
ordained. For whatever is right and just is possible; and there-
fore, if it were in accord with the will of the Divine Being that
we should live after death-so it would have been. But because
it is otherwise, if indeed it be otherwise,- rest thou satisfied
that this also is just and right.
Moreover, is it not manifest to thee that in inquiring so curi-
ously concerning these things, thou art questioning God himself
as to what is right, and that this thou wouldst not do didst thou
not believe in his supreme goodness and wisdom? Therefore,
since in these we believe, we may also believe that in the gov-
ernment of the Universe nothing that is right and just has been
overlooked or forgotten. (Book xii. , $5. )
-
## p. 1032 (#458) ###########################################
1032
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
THE UNIVERSAL BEAUTY OF THE WORLD
T
O HIM who hath a true insight into the real nature of the Uni-
verse, every change in everything therein that is a part
thereof seems appropriate and delightful. The bread that
is over-baked so that it cracks and bursts asunder hath not the
form desired by the baker; yet none the less it hath a beauty of
its own, and is most tempting to the palate. Figs bursting in
their ripeness, olives near even unto decay, have yet in their broken
ripeness a distinctive beauty. Shocks of corn bending down in
their fullness, the lion's mane, the wild boar's mouth all flecked
with foam, and many other things of the same kind, though per-
haps not pleasing in and of themselves, yet as necessary parts of
the Universe created by the Divine Being they add to the beauty
of the Universe, and inspire a feeling of pleasure. So that if a
man hath appreciation of and an insight into the purpose of the
Universe, there is scarcely a portion thereof that will not to him.
in a sense seem adapted to give delight. In this sense the open
jaws of wild beasts will appear no less pleasing than their proto-
types in the realm of art. Even in old men and women he will
be able to perceive a distinctive maturity and seemliness, while
the winsome bloom of youth he can contemplate with eyes free
from lascivious desire. And in like manner it will be with very
many things which to every one may not seem pleasing, but
which will certainly rejoice the man who is a true student of
Nature and her works. (Book iii. , § 2. )
THE GOOD MAN
IN
IN THE mind of him who is pure and good will be found neither
corruption nor defilement nor any malignant taint. Unlike
the actor who leaves the stage before his part is played, the
life of such a man is complete whenever death may come. He
is neither cowardly nor presuming; not enslaved to life nor in-
different to its duties; and in him is found nothing worthy of
condemnation nor that which putteth to shame. (Book iii. , § 8. )
Test by a trial how excellent is the life of the good man;—the
man who rejoices at the portion given him in the universal lot
and abides therein, content; just in all his ways and kindly
minded toward all men. (Book iv. , $25. )
## p. 1033 (#459) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1033
This is moral perfection: to live each day as though it were
the last; to be tranquil, sincere, yet not indifferent to one's fate.
(Book vii. , § 69. )
THE BREVITY OF LIFE
CAST
AST from thee all other things and hold fast to a few pre-
cepts such as these: forget not that every man's real life is
but the present moment,—an indivisible point of time,-—
and that all the rest of his life hath either passed away or is
uncertain. Short, then, the time that any man may live; and
small the earthly niche wherein he hath his home; and short is
longest fame,- a whisper passed from race to race of dying men,
ignorant concerning themselves, and much less really knowing
thee, who died so long ago. (Book iii. , § 10. )
VANITY OF LIFE
ANY are the doctors who have knit their brows over their
M patients and now are dead themselves; many are the astrol-
ogers who in their day esteemed themselves renowned
in foretelling the death of others, yet now they too are dead.
Many are the philosophers who have held countless discussions
upon death and immortality, and yet themselves have shared.
the common lot; many the valiant warriors who have slain their
thousands and yet have themselves been slain by Death; many
are the rulers and the kings of the earth, who, in their arrogance,
have exercised over others the power of life or death as though
they were themselves beyond the hazard of Fate, and yet them-
selves have, in their turn, felt Death's remorseless power. Nay,
even great cities- Helice, Pompeii, Herculaneum-have, so to
speak, died utterly. Recall, one by one, the names of thy friends
who have died; how many of these, having closed the eyes of
their kinsmen, have in a brief time been buried also.
To con-
clude: keep ever before thee the brevity and vanity of human life.
and all that is therein; for man is conceived to-day, and to-morrow
will be a mummy or ashes. Pass, therefore, this moment of life
in accord with the will of Nature, and depart in peace: even as
does the olive, which in its season, fully ripe, drops to the ground.
## p. 1034 (#460) ###########################################
1034
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
blessing its mother, the earth, which bore it, and giving thanks
to the tree which put it forth. (Book iv. , § 48. )
A simple yet potent help to enable one to despise Death
is to recall those who, in their greed for life, tarried the longest
here. Wherein had they really more than those who were cut
off untimely in their bloom? Together, at last, somewhere, they
all repose in death. Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, or
any like them, who bore forth so many to the tomb, were, in
their turn, borne thither also. Their longer span was but trivial!
Think too, of the cares thereof, of the people with whom it was
passed, of the infirmities of the flesh! All vanity! Think of the
infinite deeps of Time in the past, of the infinite depths to be!
And in that vast profound of Time, what difference is there
between a life of three centuries and the three days' life of a
little child! (Book iv. , § 50. )
Think of the Universe of matter! . -an atom thou! Think of
the eternity of Time-thy predestined time but a moment! Re-
flect upon the great plan of Fate-how trivial this destiny of
thine! (Book v. , § 24. )
All things are enveloped in such darkness that they have
seemed utterly incomprehensible to those who have led the phil-
osophic life-and those too not a few in number, nor of ill-
repute. Nay, even to the Stoics the course of affairs seems
an enigma. Indeed, every conclusion reached seems tentative;
for where is the man to be found who does not change his con-
clusions? Think too of the things men most desire,- riches,
reputation, and the like,- and consider how ephemeral they are,
how vain! A vile wretch, a common strumpet, or a thief, may
possess them.
Then think of the habits and manners of those
about thee-how difficult it is to endure the least offensive of
such people-nay how difficult, most of all, it is to endure one's
self!
Amidst such darkness, then, and such unworthiness, amidst
this eternal change, with all temporal things and even Time itself
passing away, with all things moving in eternal motion, I can-
not imagine what, in all this, is worthy of a man's esteem or
serious effort. (Book v. , 10. )
§
## p. 1035 (#461) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1035
DEATH
TO CEASE from bodily activity, to end all efforts of will and
of thought, to stop all these forever, is no evil. For do but
contemplate thine own life as a child, a growing lad, a youth,
an old man: the change to each of these periods was the death
of the period which preceded it. Why then fear the death of all
these the death of thyself? Think too of thy life under the
care of thy grandfather, then of thy life under the care of thy
mother, then under the care of thy father, and so on with every
change that hath occurred in thy life, and then ask thyself con-
cerning any change that hath yet to be, Is there anything to
fear? And then shall all fear, even of the great change,— the
change of death itself,- vanish and flee away. (Book ix. , § 21. )
FAME
CO
ONTEMPLATE men as from some lofty height. How innumera-
ble seem the swarms of men! How infinite their pomps
and ceremonies! How they wander to and fro upon the
deep in fair weather and in storm! How varied their fate in
their births, in their lives, in their deaths! Think of the lives
of those who lived long ago, of those who shall follow thee, of
those who now live in uncivilized lands who have not even heard
of thy name, and, of those who have heard it, how many will
soon forget it; of how many there are who now praise thee who
will soon malign thee,- and thence conclude the vanity of
fame, glory, reputation. (Book ix. , § 30. )
PRAYER
THE
HE gods are all-powerful or they are not. If they are not,
why pray to them at all? If they are, why dost thou not
pray to them to remove from thee all desire and all fear,
rather than to ask from them the things thou longest for, or
the removal of those things of which thou art in fear? For if
the gods can aid men at all, surely they will grant this request.
Wilt thou say that the removal of all fear and of all desire is
within thine own power? If so, is it not better, then, to use the
strength the gods have given, rather than in a servile and fawn-
ing way to long for those things which our will cannot obtain ?
## p. 1036 (#462) ###########################################
1036
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
And who hath said to thee that the gods will not strengthen thy
will? I say unto thee, begin to pray that this may come to pass,
and thou shalt see what shall befall thee. One man prays that
he may enjoy a certain woman: let thy prayer be to not have
even the desire so to do. Another man prays that he may not
be forced to do his duty: let thy prayer be that thou mayest
not even desire to be relieved of its performance. Another man
prays that he may not lose his beloved son: let thy prayer be
that even the fear of losing him may be taken away. Let these
be thy prayers, and thou shalt see what good will befall thee.
(Book ix. , § 41. )
FAITH
THE
HE Universe is either a chaos or a fortuitous aggregation and
dispersion of atoms; or else it is builded in order and har-
mony and ruled by Wisdom. If then it is the former, why
should one wish to tarry in a hap-hazard disordered mass? Why
should I be concerned except to know how soon I may cease to
be? Why should I be disquieted concerning what I do, since
whatever I may do, the elements of which I am composed will
at last, at last be scattered? But if the latter thought be true,
then I reverence the Divine One; I trust; I possess my soul in
peace. (Book vi. , § 10. )
PAIN
IT
F PAIN cannot be borne, we die. If it continue a long time it
becomes endurable; and the mind, retiring into itself, can
keep its own tranquillity and the true self be still unharmed.
If the body feel the pain, let the body make its moan. (Book
vii. , § 30. )
LOVE AND FORGIVENESS FOR THE EVIL-DOER
I'
F IT be in thy power, teach men to do better. If not, remem-
ber it is always in thy power to forgive. The gods are so
merciful to those who err, that for some purposes they grant
their aid to such men by conferring upon them health, riches, and
honor. What prevents thee from doing likewise? (Book ix. ,
§ 11
## p. 1037 (#463) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1037
-
ETERNAL CHANGE THE LAW OF THE UNIVERSE
TH
HINK, often, of how swiftly all things pass away and are no
more -the works of Nature and the works of man. The
substance of the Universe— matter-is like unto a river
that flows on forever. All things are not only in a constant
state of change, but they are the cause of constant and infinite
change in other things. Upon a narrow ledge thou standest!
Behind thee, the bottomless abyss of the Past! In front of thee,
the Future that will swallow up all things that now are! Over
what things, then, in this present life, wilt thou, O foolish man,
be disquieted or exalted-making thyself wretched; seeing that
they can vex thee only for a time-a brief, brief time! (Book
V. , § 23. )
THE PERFECT LIBERTY OF THE GOOD MAN
PER
ERADVENTURE men may curse thee, torture thee, kill thee; yet
can all these things not prevent thee from keeping at all
times thy thoughts pure, considerate, sober, and just. If
one should stand beside a limpid stream and cease not to revile
it, would the spring stop pouring forth its refreshing waters?
Nay, if such an one should even cast into the stream mud and
mire, would not the stream quickly scatter it, and so bear it away
that not even a trace would remain? How then wilt thou be
able to have within thee not a mere well that may fail thee, but
a fountain that shall never cease to flow? By wonting thyself
every moment to independence in judgment, joined together with
serenity of thought and simplicity in act and bearing. (Book
viii. , § 51. )
THE HARMONY AND UNITY OF THE UNIVERSE
O
DIVINE Spirit of the Universe, Thy will, Thy wish is mine!
Calmly I wait Thy appointed times, which cannot come too
early or too late! Thy providences are all fruitful to me!
Thou art the source, Thou art the stay, Thou art the end of all
things. The poet says of his native city, "Dear city of Cecrops ";
and shall I not say of the Universe, "Beloved City of God"?
(Book iv. , § 23. )
EITHER there is a predestined order in the Universe, or else it
is mere aggregation, fortuitous yet not without a certain kind of
order. For how within thyself can a certain system exist and
yet the entire Universe be chaos? And especially when in the
## p. 1038 (#464) ###########################################
1038
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
Universe all things, though separate and divided, yet work
together in unity? (Book iv. , § 27. )
THINK always of the Universe as one living organism, com-
posed of one material substance and one soul. Observe how all
things are the product of a single conception-the conception of
a living organism. Observe how one force is the cause of the
motion of all things: that all existing things are the concurrent
causes of all that is to be - the eternal warp and woof of the
ever-weaving web of existence. (Book iv. , § 40. )
THE CONDUCT of Life
C
OUNTRY houses, retreats in the mountains or by the sea-
these things men seek out for themselves; and often thou,
too, dost most eagerly desire such things. But this does.
but betoken the greatest ignorance; for thou art able, when thou
desirest, to retreat into thyself. No other where can a man find
a retreat more quiet and free from care than in his own soul;
and most of all, when he hath such rules of conduct that if
faithfully remembered, they will give to him perfect equanimity,
- for equanimity is naught else than a mind harmoniously disci-
plined. Cease not then to betake thyself to this retreat, there
to refresh thyself. Let thy rules of conduct be few and well
settled; so that when thou hast thought thereon, straightway they
will suffice to thoroughly purify the soul that possesses them, and
to send thee back, restless no more, to the things to the which
thou must return. With what indeed art thou disquieted? With
the wickedness of men? Meditate on the thought that men do
not do evil of set purpose. Remember also how many in the
past, who, after living in enmity, suspicion, hatred, and strife one
with another, now lie prone in death and are but ashes. Fret
then no more. But perhaps thou art troubled concerning the por-
tion decreed to thee in the Universe? Remember this alternative:
either there is a Providence or simply matter! Recall all the
proofs that the world is, as it were, a city or a commonwealth!
But perhaps the desires of the body still torment thee? Forget
not, then, that the mind, when conscious of its real self, when
self-reliant, shares not the agitations of the body, be they great
or small. Recall too all thou hast learned (and now holdest as
true) concerning pleasure and pain. But perhaps what men call
Fame allures thee? Behold how quickly all things are forgotten!
-
## p. 1039 (#465) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1039
Before us, after us, the formless Void of endless ages! How
vain is human praise! How fickle and undiscriminating those
who seem to praise! How limited the sphere of the greatest
fame! For the whole earth is but a point in space, thy dwelling-
place a tiny nook therein. How few are those who dwell there-
in, and what manner of men are those who will praise thee!
Therefore, forget not to retire into thine own little country
place,- thyself. Above all, be not diverted from thy course. Be
serene, be free, contemplate all things as a man, as a lover of
his kind, and of his country—yet withal as a being born to die.
Have readiest to thy hand, above all others, these two thoughts:
one, that things cannot touch the soul; the other, that things are
perpetually changing and ceasing to be. Remember how many of
these changes thou thyself hast seen! The Universe is change.
But as thy thoughts are, so thy life shall be. (Book iv. , §3. )
All things that befall thee should seem to thee as natural as
roses in spring or fruits in autumn: such things, I mean, as
disease, death, slander, dissimulation, and all other things which
give pleasure or pain to foolish men. (Book iv. , 44. )
Be thou like a lofty headland. Endlessly against it dash the
waves; yet it stands unshaken, and lulls to rest the fury of the
sea. (Book iv. , $49. )
((
Unhappy me upon whom this misfortune hath fallen!
"-
nay, rather thou shouldst say, "Fortunate I, that having met with
such a misfortune, I am able to endure it without complaining; in
the present not dismayed, in the future dreading no evil. Such
a misadventure might have befallen a man who could not, per-
chance, have endured it without grievous suffering. " Why then
shouldst thou call anything that befalls thee a misfortune, and
not the rather a blessing? Is that a "misfortune," in all cases,
which does not defeat the purpose of man's nature? and does
that defeat man's nature which his Will can accept? And what
that Will can accept, thou knowest. Can this misadventure, then,
prevent thy Will from being just, magnanimous, temperate, cir-
cumspect, free from rashness or error, considerate, independent?
## p. 1040 (#466) ###########################################
1040
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
Can it prevent thy Will from being, in short, all that becomes at
man? Remember, then, should anything befall thee which might
cause thee to complain, to fortify thyself with this truth: this
is not a misfortune, while to endure it nobly is a blessing. (Book
iv. , § 49. )
Be not annoyed or dismayed or despondent if thou art not
able to do all things in accord with the rules of right conduct.
When thou hast not succeeded, renew thy efforts, and be serene
if, in most things, thy conduct is such as becomes a man. Love
and pursue the philosophic life. Seek Philosophy, not as thy
taskmaster but to find a medicine for all thy ills, as thou wouldst
seek balm for thine eyes, a bandage for a sprain, a lotion for a
fever. So it shall come to pass that the voice of Reason shall
guide thee and bring to thee rest and peace. Remember, too,
that Philosophy enjoins only such things as are in accord with
thy better nature. The trouble is, that in thy heart thou prefer-
rest those things which are not in accord with thy better nature.
For thou sayest, "What can be more delightful than these things? "
But is not the word "delightful" in this sense misleading?
Are not magnanimity, broad-mindedness, sincerity, equanimity,
and a reverent spirit more "delightful"? Indeed, what is more
"delightful" than Wisdom, if so be thou wilt but reflect upon the
strength and contentment of mind and the happiness of life that
spring from the exercise of the powers of thy reason and thine
intelligence? (Book v. , §9. )
As are thy wonted thoughts, so is thy mind; and the soul is
tinged by the coloring of the mind. Let then thy mind be con-
stantly suffused with such thoughts as these: Where it is pos-
sible for a man to live, there he can live nobly. But suppose
he must live in a palace? Be it so; even there he can live
nobly. (Book v. , § 16. )
Live with the gods! And he so lives who at all times makes
it manifest that he is content with his predestined lot, fulfilling
the entire will of the indwelling spirit given to man by the
Divine Ruler, and which is in truth nothing else than the Under-
standing the Reason of man. (Book v. , § 27. )
## p. 1041 (#467) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1041
Seek the solitude of thy spirit. This is the law of the
indwelling Reason-to be self-content and to abide in peace when
what is right and just hath been done. (Book vii. , § 28. )
Let thine eyes follow the stars in their courses as though
their movements were thine own. Meditate on the eternal trans-
formation of Matter. Such thoughts purge the mind of earthly
passion and desire. (Book vii. , § 45. )
Search thou thy heart! Therein is the fountain of good! Do
thou but dig, and abundantly the stream shall gush forth. (Book
vii. , § 59. )
Be not unmindful of the graces of life. Let thy body be
stalwart, yet not ungainly either in motion or in repose. Let not
thy face alone, but thy whole body, make manifest the alert-
ness of thy mind. Yet let all this be without affectation. (Book
vii. , § 60. )
Thy breath is part of the all-encircling air, and is one with
it. Let thy mind be part, no less, of that Supreme Mind com-
prehending all things. For verily, to him who is willing to be
inspired thereby, the Supreme Mind flows through all things and
permeates all things as truly as the air exists for him who will
but breathe. (Book viii. , § 54-)
Men are created that they may live for each other. Teach
them to be better or bear with them as they are. (Book viii. ,
$ 59. )
Write no more, Antoninus, about what a good man is or what
he ought to do. Be a good man. (Book x. , § 16. )
Look steadfastly at any created thing. See! it is changing,
melting into corruption, and ready to be dissolved. In its essen-
tial nature, it was born but to die. (Book x. , § 18. )
11-66
## p. 1042 (#468) ###########################################
1042
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
Co-workers are we all, toward one result. Some, consciously
and of set purpose; others, unwittingly even as men who sleep,
- of whom Heraclitus (I think it is he) says they also are co-
workers in the events of the Universe. In diverse fashion also
men work; and abundantly, too, work the fault-finders and the
hinderers, for even of such as these the Universe hath need.
It rests then with thee to determine with what workers thou wilt
place thyself; for He who governs all things will without failure
place thee at thy proper task, and will welcome thee to some
station among those who work and act together. (Book vi. , § 42. )
-
Unconstrained and in supreme joyousness of soul thou mayest
live though all men revile thee as they list, and though wild
beasts rend in pieces the unworthy garment-thy body. For
what prevents thee, in the midst of all this, from keeping thyself
in profound calm, with a true judgment of thy surroundings and
a helpful knowledge of the things that are seen? So that the
Judgment may say to whatever presents itself, "In truth this is
what thou really art, howsoever thou appearest to men;" and thy
Knowledge may say to whatsoever may come beneath its vision,
"Thee I sought; for whatever presents itself to me is fit material
for nobility in personal thought and public conduct; in short,
for skill in work for man or for God. " For all things which
befall us are related to God or to man, and are not new to us
or hard to work upon, but familiar and serviceable. (Book vii. ,
§ 68. )
When thou art annoyed at some one's impudence, straight-
way ask thyself, "Is it possible that there should be no impudent
men in the world? " It is impossible. Ask not then the impos-
sible. For such an one is but one of these impudent persons
who needs must be in the world. Keep before thee like con-
clusions also concerning the rascal, the untrustworthy one, and
all evil-doers. Then, when it is quite clear to thy mind that
such men must needs exist, thou shalt be the more forgiving
toward each one of their number. This also will aid thee to
observe, whensoever occasion comes, what power for good, Nature
hath given to man to frustrate such viciousness. She hath be-
stowed upon man Patience as an antidote to the stupid man
and against another man some other power for good. Besides,
## p. 1043 (#469) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1043
it is wholly in thine own power to teach new things to the one
who hath erred, for every one who errs hath but missed the
appointed path and wandered away. Reflect, and thou wilt dis-
cover that no one of these with whom thou art annoyed hath
done aught to debase thy mind, and that is the only real evil that
can befall thee.
Moreover, wherein is it wicked or surprising that the ignor-
ant man should act ignorantly? Is not the error really thine
own in not foreseeing that such an one would do as he did?
If thou hadst but taken thought thou wouldst have known he
would be prone to err, and it is only because thou hast forgot-
ten to use thy Reason that thou art surprised at his deed. Above
all, when thou condemnest another as untruthful, examine thyself
closely; for upon thee rests the blame, in that thou dost trust
to such an one to keep his promise. If thou didst bestow upon
him thy bounty, thine is the blame not to have given it freely,
and without expectation of good to thee, save the doing of the
act itself. What more dost thou wish than to do good to man?
Doth not this suffice,- that thou hast done what conforms to thy
true nature? Must thou then have a reward, as though the
eyes demanded pay for seeing or the feet for walking? For
even as these are formed for such work, and by co-operating
in their distinctive duty come into their own, even so man (by
his real nature disposed to do good), when he hath done some
good deed, or in any other way furthered the Commonweal, acts
according to his own nature, and in so doing hath all that is
truly his own. (Book ix. , §42. )
O Man, thou hast been a citizen of this great State, the Uni-
verse! What matters what thy prescribed time hath been, five
years or three? What the law prescribes is just to every one.
Why complain, then, if thou art sent away from the State,
not by a tyrant or an unjust judge, but by Nature who led thee.
thither,― even as the manager excuses from the stage an actor
whom he hath employed?
"But I have played three acts only? "
True. But in the drama of thy life three acts conclude the
play. For what its conclusion shall be, He determines who
created it and now ends it; and with either of these thou hast
naught to do. Depart thou, then, well pleased; for He who dis-
misses thee is well pleased also. (Book xii. , § 36. )
## p. 1044 (#470) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1044
BE NOT disquieted lest, in the days to come, some misadvent-
ure befall thee. The Reason which now sufficeth thee will then
be with thee, should there be the need. (Book vii. , § 8. )
TO THE wise man the dictates of Reason seem the instincts
of Nature. (Book vii. , § 11. )
MY TRUE self- the philosophic mind- hath but one dread:
the dread lest I do something unworthy of a man, or that I may
act in an unseemly way or at an improper time. (Book vii. , § 20. )
ACCEPT with joy the Fate that befalls thee. Thine it is and
not another's. What then could be better for thee? (Book vii. ,
$ 57. )
SEE to it that thou art humane to those who are not humane.
(Book vii. , $65. )
HE WHO does not act, often commits as great a wrong as he
who acts. (Book ix. , §5. )
THE wrong that another has done - let alone! Add not to it
thine own. (Book ix. , § 20. )
How powerful is man! He is able to do all that God wishes
him to do. He is able to accept all that God sends upon him.
(Book xii. , 11. )
A LAMP sends forth its light until it is completely extinguished.
Shall Truth and Justice and Equanimity suffer abatement in thee
until all are extinguished in death? (Book xii. , § 15. )
## p. 1045 (#471) ###########################################
1045
JANE AUSTEN
(1775-1817)
HE biography of one of the greatest English novelists might
Sbe written in a dozen lines, so simple, so tranquil, so for-
Gtunate was her life. Jane Austen, the second daughter of
an English clergyman, was born at Steventon, in Hampshire, in 1775.
Her father had been known at Oxford as "the handsome proctor,"
and all his children inherited good looks. He was accomplished
enough to fit his boys for the University, and the atmosphere of the
household was that of culture, good breeding, and healthy fun. Mrs.
Austen was a clever woman, full of epi-
gram and humor in conversation, and rather
famous in her own coterie for improvised
verses and satirical hits at her friends.
The elder daughter, Cassandra, adored by
Jane, who was three years her junior, seems
to have had a rare balance and common-
sense which exercised great influence over
the more brilliant younger sister. Their
mother declared that of the two girls. Cas-
sandra had the merit of having her temper
always under her control; and Jane the
happiness of a temper that never required
to be commanded.
JANE AUSTEN
From her cradle, Jane Austen was used to hearing agreeable
household talk, and the freest personal criticism on the men and
women who made up her small, secluded world. The family circum-
stances were easy, and the family friendliness unlimited,- conditions
determining, perhaps, the cheerful tone, the unexciting course, the
sly fun and good-fellowship of her stories.
It was in this Steventon rectory, in the family room where the
boys might be building their toy boats, or the parish poor folk com-
plaining to "passon's madam," or the county ladies paying visits of
ceremony, in monstrous muffs, heelless slippers laced over open-
worked silk stockings, short flounced skirts, and lutestring pelisses
trimmed with "Irish," or where tradesmen might be explaining their
delinquencies, or farmers' wives growing voluble over foxes and
young chickens-it was in the midst of this busy and noisy publicity,
where nobody respected her employment, and where she was inter-
rupted twenty times in an hour, that the shrewd and smiling social
## p. 1046 (#472) ###########################################
1046
JANE AUSTEN
critic managed, before she was twenty-one, to write her famous
'Pride and Prejudice. ' Here too 'Sense and Sensibility' was finished
in 1797, and 'Northanger Abbey' in 1798. The first of these, submitted
to a London publisher, was declined as unavailable, by return of
post. The second, the gay and mocking 'Northanger Abbey,' was
sold to a Bath bookseller for £10, and several years later bought
back again, still unpublished, by one of Miss Austen's brothers. For
the third story she seems not even to have sought a publisher.
These three books, all written before she was twenty-five, were evi-
dently the employment and delight of her leisure. The serious busi-
ness of life was that which occupied other pretty girls of her time
and her social position,-dressing, dancing, flirting, learning a new
stitch at the embroidery frame, or a new air on "the instrument";
while all the time she was observing, with those soft hazel eyes of
hers, what honest Nym calls the "humors" of the world about her.
In 1801, the family removed to Bath, then the most fashionable
watering-place in England. The gay life of the brilliant little city,
the etiquette of the Pump Room and the Assemblies, regulated by
the autocratic Beau Nash, the drives, the routs, the card parties, the
toilets, the shops, the Parade, the general frivolity, pretension, and
display of the eighteenth century Vanity Fair, had already been
studied by the good-natured satirist on occasional visits, and already
immortalized in the swiftly changing comedy scenes of Northanger
Abbey. ' But they tickled her fancy none the less, now that she
lived among them, and she made use of them again in her later
novel, Persuasion. '
For a period of eight years, spent in Bath and in Southampton,
Miss Austen wrote nothing save some fragments of 'Lady Susan'
and The Watsons,' neither of them of great importance. In 1809
the lessened household, composed of the mother and her two daugh-
ters only, removed to the village of Chawton, on the estate of Mrs.
Austen's third son; and here, in a rustic cottage, now become a place
of pilgrimage, Jane Austen again took up her pen. She rewrote
'Pride and Prejudice,' she revised 'Sense and Sensibility,' and be-
tween February 1811 and August 1816 she completed Mansfield
Park,' 'Emma,' and 'Persuasion. ' At Chawton, as at Steventon, she
had no study, and her stories were written on a little mahogany desk
near a window in the family sitting-room, where she must often have
been interrupted by the prototypes of her Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Bennet,
Miss Bates, Mr. Collins, or Mrs. Norris. When at last she began to
publish, her stories appeared in rapid succession: 'Sense and Sensi-
bility' in 1811; 'Pride and Prejudice' early in 1813; 'Mansfield Park'
in 1814; Emma' in 1816; Northanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion' in
1818, the year following her death. In January 1813 she wrote to her
## p. 1047 (#473) ###########################################
JANE AUSTEN
1047
beloved Cassandra: "I want to tell you that I have got my own
darling child ('Pride and Prejudice') from London. We fairly set at
it and read half the first volume to Miss B. She was amused, poor
soul! . . but she really does seem to admire Elizabeth. I must
confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in
print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her
at least, I do not know. " A month later she wrote:-"Upon the
whole, however, I am quite vain enough, and well satisfied enough.
The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling: it wants
shade; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chap-
ter of sense, if it could be had; if not, of solemn, specious nonsense,
about something unconnected with the story; an essay on writing, a
critique on Walter Scott, or the history of Bonaparte, or something
that would form a contrast, and bring the reader with increased
delight to the playfulness and epigrammatism of the general style! "
Thus she who laughed at everybody else laughed at herself, and
set her critical instinct to estimate her own capacity. To Mr.
it is best that it should be so, else it would have been otherwise
ordained. For whatever is right and just is possible; and there-
fore, if it were in accord with the will of the Divine Being that
we should live after death-so it would have been. But because
it is otherwise, if indeed it be otherwise,- rest thou satisfied
that this also is just and right.
Moreover, is it not manifest to thee that in inquiring so curi-
ously concerning these things, thou art questioning God himself
as to what is right, and that this thou wouldst not do didst thou
not believe in his supreme goodness and wisdom? Therefore,
since in these we believe, we may also believe that in the gov-
ernment of the Universe nothing that is right and just has been
overlooked or forgotten. (Book xii. , $5. )
-
## p. 1032 (#458) ###########################################
1032
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
THE UNIVERSAL BEAUTY OF THE WORLD
T
O HIM who hath a true insight into the real nature of the Uni-
verse, every change in everything therein that is a part
thereof seems appropriate and delightful. The bread that
is over-baked so that it cracks and bursts asunder hath not the
form desired by the baker; yet none the less it hath a beauty of
its own, and is most tempting to the palate. Figs bursting in
their ripeness, olives near even unto decay, have yet in their broken
ripeness a distinctive beauty. Shocks of corn bending down in
their fullness, the lion's mane, the wild boar's mouth all flecked
with foam, and many other things of the same kind, though per-
haps not pleasing in and of themselves, yet as necessary parts of
the Universe created by the Divine Being they add to the beauty
of the Universe, and inspire a feeling of pleasure. So that if a
man hath appreciation of and an insight into the purpose of the
Universe, there is scarcely a portion thereof that will not to him.
in a sense seem adapted to give delight. In this sense the open
jaws of wild beasts will appear no less pleasing than their proto-
types in the realm of art. Even in old men and women he will
be able to perceive a distinctive maturity and seemliness, while
the winsome bloom of youth he can contemplate with eyes free
from lascivious desire. And in like manner it will be with very
many things which to every one may not seem pleasing, but
which will certainly rejoice the man who is a true student of
Nature and her works. (Book iii. , § 2. )
THE GOOD MAN
IN
IN THE mind of him who is pure and good will be found neither
corruption nor defilement nor any malignant taint. Unlike
the actor who leaves the stage before his part is played, the
life of such a man is complete whenever death may come. He
is neither cowardly nor presuming; not enslaved to life nor in-
different to its duties; and in him is found nothing worthy of
condemnation nor that which putteth to shame. (Book iii. , § 8. )
Test by a trial how excellent is the life of the good man;—the
man who rejoices at the portion given him in the universal lot
and abides therein, content; just in all his ways and kindly
minded toward all men. (Book iv. , $25. )
## p. 1033 (#459) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1033
This is moral perfection: to live each day as though it were
the last; to be tranquil, sincere, yet not indifferent to one's fate.
(Book vii. , § 69. )
THE BREVITY OF LIFE
CAST
AST from thee all other things and hold fast to a few pre-
cepts such as these: forget not that every man's real life is
but the present moment,—an indivisible point of time,-—
and that all the rest of his life hath either passed away or is
uncertain. Short, then, the time that any man may live; and
small the earthly niche wherein he hath his home; and short is
longest fame,- a whisper passed from race to race of dying men,
ignorant concerning themselves, and much less really knowing
thee, who died so long ago. (Book iii. , § 10. )
VANITY OF LIFE
ANY are the doctors who have knit their brows over their
M patients and now are dead themselves; many are the astrol-
ogers who in their day esteemed themselves renowned
in foretelling the death of others, yet now they too are dead.
Many are the philosophers who have held countless discussions
upon death and immortality, and yet themselves have shared.
the common lot; many the valiant warriors who have slain their
thousands and yet have themselves been slain by Death; many
are the rulers and the kings of the earth, who, in their arrogance,
have exercised over others the power of life or death as though
they were themselves beyond the hazard of Fate, and yet them-
selves have, in their turn, felt Death's remorseless power. Nay,
even great cities- Helice, Pompeii, Herculaneum-have, so to
speak, died utterly. Recall, one by one, the names of thy friends
who have died; how many of these, having closed the eyes of
their kinsmen, have in a brief time been buried also.
To con-
clude: keep ever before thee the brevity and vanity of human life.
and all that is therein; for man is conceived to-day, and to-morrow
will be a mummy or ashes. Pass, therefore, this moment of life
in accord with the will of Nature, and depart in peace: even as
does the olive, which in its season, fully ripe, drops to the ground.
## p. 1034 (#460) ###########################################
1034
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
blessing its mother, the earth, which bore it, and giving thanks
to the tree which put it forth. (Book iv. , § 48. )
A simple yet potent help to enable one to despise Death
is to recall those who, in their greed for life, tarried the longest
here. Wherein had they really more than those who were cut
off untimely in their bloom? Together, at last, somewhere, they
all repose in death. Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, or
any like them, who bore forth so many to the tomb, were, in
their turn, borne thither also. Their longer span was but trivial!
Think too, of the cares thereof, of the people with whom it was
passed, of the infirmities of the flesh! All vanity! Think of the
infinite deeps of Time in the past, of the infinite depths to be!
And in that vast profound of Time, what difference is there
between a life of three centuries and the three days' life of a
little child! (Book iv. , § 50. )
Think of the Universe of matter! . -an atom thou! Think of
the eternity of Time-thy predestined time but a moment! Re-
flect upon the great plan of Fate-how trivial this destiny of
thine! (Book v. , § 24. )
All things are enveloped in such darkness that they have
seemed utterly incomprehensible to those who have led the phil-
osophic life-and those too not a few in number, nor of ill-
repute. Nay, even to the Stoics the course of affairs seems
an enigma. Indeed, every conclusion reached seems tentative;
for where is the man to be found who does not change his con-
clusions? Think too of the things men most desire,- riches,
reputation, and the like,- and consider how ephemeral they are,
how vain! A vile wretch, a common strumpet, or a thief, may
possess them.
Then think of the habits and manners of those
about thee-how difficult it is to endure the least offensive of
such people-nay how difficult, most of all, it is to endure one's
self!
Amidst such darkness, then, and such unworthiness, amidst
this eternal change, with all temporal things and even Time itself
passing away, with all things moving in eternal motion, I can-
not imagine what, in all this, is worthy of a man's esteem or
serious effort. (Book v. , 10. )
§
## p. 1035 (#461) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1035
DEATH
TO CEASE from bodily activity, to end all efforts of will and
of thought, to stop all these forever, is no evil. For do but
contemplate thine own life as a child, a growing lad, a youth,
an old man: the change to each of these periods was the death
of the period which preceded it. Why then fear the death of all
these the death of thyself? Think too of thy life under the
care of thy grandfather, then of thy life under the care of thy
mother, then under the care of thy father, and so on with every
change that hath occurred in thy life, and then ask thyself con-
cerning any change that hath yet to be, Is there anything to
fear? And then shall all fear, even of the great change,— the
change of death itself,- vanish and flee away. (Book ix. , § 21. )
FAME
CO
ONTEMPLATE men as from some lofty height. How innumera-
ble seem the swarms of men! How infinite their pomps
and ceremonies! How they wander to and fro upon the
deep in fair weather and in storm! How varied their fate in
their births, in their lives, in their deaths! Think of the lives
of those who lived long ago, of those who shall follow thee, of
those who now live in uncivilized lands who have not even heard
of thy name, and, of those who have heard it, how many will
soon forget it; of how many there are who now praise thee who
will soon malign thee,- and thence conclude the vanity of
fame, glory, reputation. (Book ix. , § 30. )
PRAYER
THE
HE gods are all-powerful or they are not. If they are not,
why pray to them at all? If they are, why dost thou not
pray to them to remove from thee all desire and all fear,
rather than to ask from them the things thou longest for, or
the removal of those things of which thou art in fear? For if
the gods can aid men at all, surely they will grant this request.
Wilt thou say that the removal of all fear and of all desire is
within thine own power? If so, is it not better, then, to use the
strength the gods have given, rather than in a servile and fawn-
ing way to long for those things which our will cannot obtain ?
## p. 1036 (#462) ###########################################
1036
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
And who hath said to thee that the gods will not strengthen thy
will? I say unto thee, begin to pray that this may come to pass,
and thou shalt see what shall befall thee. One man prays that
he may enjoy a certain woman: let thy prayer be to not have
even the desire so to do. Another man prays that he may not
be forced to do his duty: let thy prayer be that thou mayest
not even desire to be relieved of its performance. Another man
prays that he may not lose his beloved son: let thy prayer be
that even the fear of losing him may be taken away. Let these
be thy prayers, and thou shalt see what good will befall thee.
(Book ix. , § 41. )
FAITH
THE
HE Universe is either a chaos or a fortuitous aggregation and
dispersion of atoms; or else it is builded in order and har-
mony and ruled by Wisdom. If then it is the former, why
should one wish to tarry in a hap-hazard disordered mass? Why
should I be concerned except to know how soon I may cease to
be? Why should I be disquieted concerning what I do, since
whatever I may do, the elements of which I am composed will
at last, at last be scattered? But if the latter thought be true,
then I reverence the Divine One; I trust; I possess my soul in
peace. (Book vi. , § 10. )
PAIN
IT
F PAIN cannot be borne, we die. If it continue a long time it
becomes endurable; and the mind, retiring into itself, can
keep its own tranquillity and the true self be still unharmed.
If the body feel the pain, let the body make its moan. (Book
vii. , § 30. )
LOVE AND FORGIVENESS FOR THE EVIL-DOER
I'
F IT be in thy power, teach men to do better. If not, remem-
ber it is always in thy power to forgive. The gods are so
merciful to those who err, that for some purposes they grant
their aid to such men by conferring upon them health, riches, and
honor. What prevents thee from doing likewise? (Book ix. ,
§ 11
## p. 1037 (#463) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1037
-
ETERNAL CHANGE THE LAW OF THE UNIVERSE
TH
HINK, often, of how swiftly all things pass away and are no
more -the works of Nature and the works of man. The
substance of the Universe— matter-is like unto a river
that flows on forever. All things are not only in a constant
state of change, but they are the cause of constant and infinite
change in other things. Upon a narrow ledge thou standest!
Behind thee, the bottomless abyss of the Past! In front of thee,
the Future that will swallow up all things that now are! Over
what things, then, in this present life, wilt thou, O foolish man,
be disquieted or exalted-making thyself wretched; seeing that
they can vex thee only for a time-a brief, brief time! (Book
V. , § 23. )
THE PERFECT LIBERTY OF THE GOOD MAN
PER
ERADVENTURE men may curse thee, torture thee, kill thee; yet
can all these things not prevent thee from keeping at all
times thy thoughts pure, considerate, sober, and just. If
one should stand beside a limpid stream and cease not to revile
it, would the spring stop pouring forth its refreshing waters?
Nay, if such an one should even cast into the stream mud and
mire, would not the stream quickly scatter it, and so bear it away
that not even a trace would remain? How then wilt thou be
able to have within thee not a mere well that may fail thee, but
a fountain that shall never cease to flow? By wonting thyself
every moment to independence in judgment, joined together with
serenity of thought and simplicity in act and bearing. (Book
viii. , § 51. )
THE HARMONY AND UNITY OF THE UNIVERSE
O
DIVINE Spirit of the Universe, Thy will, Thy wish is mine!
Calmly I wait Thy appointed times, which cannot come too
early or too late! Thy providences are all fruitful to me!
Thou art the source, Thou art the stay, Thou art the end of all
things. The poet says of his native city, "Dear city of Cecrops ";
and shall I not say of the Universe, "Beloved City of God"?
(Book iv. , § 23. )
EITHER there is a predestined order in the Universe, or else it
is mere aggregation, fortuitous yet not without a certain kind of
order. For how within thyself can a certain system exist and
yet the entire Universe be chaos? And especially when in the
## p. 1038 (#464) ###########################################
1038
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
Universe all things, though separate and divided, yet work
together in unity? (Book iv. , § 27. )
THINK always of the Universe as one living organism, com-
posed of one material substance and one soul. Observe how all
things are the product of a single conception-the conception of
a living organism. Observe how one force is the cause of the
motion of all things: that all existing things are the concurrent
causes of all that is to be - the eternal warp and woof of the
ever-weaving web of existence. (Book iv. , § 40. )
THE CONDUCT of Life
C
OUNTRY houses, retreats in the mountains or by the sea-
these things men seek out for themselves; and often thou,
too, dost most eagerly desire such things. But this does.
but betoken the greatest ignorance; for thou art able, when thou
desirest, to retreat into thyself. No other where can a man find
a retreat more quiet and free from care than in his own soul;
and most of all, when he hath such rules of conduct that if
faithfully remembered, they will give to him perfect equanimity,
- for equanimity is naught else than a mind harmoniously disci-
plined. Cease not then to betake thyself to this retreat, there
to refresh thyself. Let thy rules of conduct be few and well
settled; so that when thou hast thought thereon, straightway they
will suffice to thoroughly purify the soul that possesses them, and
to send thee back, restless no more, to the things to the which
thou must return. With what indeed art thou disquieted? With
the wickedness of men? Meditate on the thought that men do
not do evil of set purpose. Remember also how many in the
past, who, after living in enmity, suspicion, hatred, and strife one
with another, now lie prone in death and are but ashes. Fret
then no more. But perhaps thou art troubled concerning the por-
tion decreed to thee in the Universe? Remember this alternative:
either there is a Providence or simply matter! Recall all the
proofs that the world is, as it were, a city or a commonwealth!
But perhaps the desires of the body still torment thee? Forget
not, then, that the mind, when conscious of its real self, when
self-reliant, shares not the agitations of the body, be they great
or small. Recall too all thou hast learned (and now holdest as
true) concerning pleasure and pain. But perhaps what men call
Fame allures thee? Behold how quickly all things are forgotten!
-
## p. 1039 (#465) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1039
Before us, after us, the formless Void of endless ages! How
vain is human praise! How fickle and undiscriminating those
who seem to praise! How limited the sphere of the greatest
fame! For the whole earth is but a point in space, thy dwelling-
place a tiny nook therein. How few are those who dwell there-
in, and what manner of men are those who will praise thee!
Therefore, forget not to retire into thine own little country
place,- thyself. Above all, be not diverted from thy course. Be
serene, be free, contemplate all things as a man, as a lover of
his kind, and of his country—yet withal as a being born to die.
Have readiest to thy hand, above all others, these two thoughts:
one, that things cannot touch the soul; the other, that things are
perpetually changing and ceasing to be. Remember how many of
these changes thou thyself hast seen! The Universe is change.
But as thy thoughts are, so thy life shall be. (Book iv. , §3. )
All things that befall thee should seem to thee as natural as
roses in spring or fruits in autumn: such things, I mean, as
disease, death, slander, dissimulation, and all other things which
give pleasure or pain to foolish men. (Book iv. , 44. )
Be thou like a lofty headland. Endlessly against it dash the
waves; yet it stands unshaken, and lulls to rest the fury of the
sea. (Book iv. , $49. )
((
Unhappy me upon whom this misfortune hath fallen!
"-
nay, rather thou shouldst say, "Fortunate I, that having met with
such a misfortune, I am able to endure it without complaining; in
the present not dismayed, in the future dreading no evil. Such
a misadventure might have befallen a man who could not, per-
chance, have endured it without grievous suffering. " Why then
shouldst thou call anything that befalls thee a misfortune, and
not the rather a blessing? Is that a "misfortune," in all cases,
which does not defeat the purpose of man's nature? and does
that defeat man's nature which his Will can accept? And what
that Will can accept, thou knowest. Can this misadventure, then,
prevent thy Will from being just, magnanimous, temperate, cir-
cumspect, free from rashness or error, considerate, independent?
## p. 1040 (#466) ###########################################
1040
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
Can it prevent thy Will from being, in short, all that becomes at
man? Remember, then, should anything befall thee which might
cause thee to complain, to fortify thyself with this truth: this
is not a misfortune, while to endure it nobly is a blessing. (Book
iv. , § 49. )
Be not annoyed or dismayed or despondent if thou art not
able to do all things in accord with the rules of right conduct.
When thou hast not succeeded, renew thy efforts, and be serene
if, in most things, thy conduct is such as becomes a man. Love
and pursue the philosophic life. Seek Philosophy, not as thy
taskmaster but to find a medicine for all thy ills, as thou wouldst
seek balm for thine eyes, a bandage for a sprain, a lotion for a
fever. So it shall come to pass that the voice of Reason shall
guide thee and bring to thee rest and peace. Remember, too,
that Philosophy enjoins only such things as are in accord with
thy better nature. The trouble is, that in thy heart thou prefer-
rest those things which are not in accord with thy better nature.
For thou sayest, "What can be more delightful than these things? "
But is not the word "delightful" in this sense misleading?
Are not magnanimity, broad-mindedness, sincerity, equanimity,
and a reverent spirit more "delightful"? Indeed, what is more
"delightful" than Wisdom, if so be thou wilt but reflect upon the
strength and contentment of mind and the happiness of life that
spring from the exercise of the powers of thy reason and thine
intelligence? (Book v. , §9. )
As are thy wonted thoughts, so is thy mind; and the soul is
tinged by the coloring of the mind. Let then thy mind be con-
stantly suffused with such thoughts as these: Where it is pos-
sible for a man to live, there he can live nobly. But suppose
he must live in a palace? Be it so; even there he can live
nobly. (Book v. , § 16. )
Live with the gods! And he so lives who at all times makes
it manifest that he is content with his predestined lot, fulfilling
the entire will of the indwelling spirit given to man by the
Divine Ruler, and which is in truth nothing else than the Under-
standing the Reason of man. (Book v. , § 27. )
## p. 1041 (#467) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1041
Seek the solitude of thy spirit. This is the law of the
indwelling Reason-to be self-content and to abide in peace when
what is right and just hath been done. (Book vii. , § 28. )
Let thine eyes follow the stars in their courses as though
their movements were thine own. Meditate on the eternal trans-
formation of Matter. Such thoughts purge the mind of earthly
passion and desire. (Book vii. , § 45. )
Search thou thy heart! Therein is the fountain of good! Do
thou but dig, and abundantly the stream shall gush forth. (Book
vii. , § 59. )
Be not unmindful of the graces of life. Let thy body be
stalwart, yet not ungainly either in motion or in repose. Let not
thy face alone, but thy whole body, make manifest the alert-
ness of thy mind. Yet let all this be without affectation. (Book
vii. , § 60. )
Thy breath is part of the all-encircling air, and is one with
it. Let thy mind be part, no less, of that Supreme Mind com-
prehending all things. For verily, to him who is willing to be
inspired thereby, the Supreme Mind flows through all things and
permeates all things as truly as the air exists for him who will
but breathe. (Book viii. , § 54-)
Men are created that they may live for each other. Teach
them to be better or bear with them as they are. (Book viii. ,
$ 59. )
Write no more, Antoninus, about what a good man is or what
he ought to do. Be a good man. (Book x. , § 16. )
Look steadfastly at any created thing. See! it is changing,
melting into corruption, and ready to be dissolved. In its essen-
tial nature, it was born but to die. (Book x. , § 18. )
11-66
## p. 1042 (#468) ###########################################
1042
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
Co-workers are we all, toward one result. Some, consciously
and of set purpose; others, unwittingly even as men who sleep,
- of whom Heraclitus (I think it is he) says they also are co-
workers in the events of the Universe. In diverse fashion also
men work; and abundantly, too, work the fault-finders and the
hinderers, for even of such as these the Universe hath need.
It rests then with thee to determine with what workers thou wilt
place thyself; for He who governs all things will without failure
place thee at thy proper task, and will welcome thee to some
station among those who work and act together. (Book vi. , § 42. )
-
Unconstrained and in supreme joyousness of soul thou mayest
live though all men revile thee as they list, and though wild
beasts rend in pieces the unworthy garment-thy body. For
what prevents thee, in the midst of all this, from keeping thyself
in profound calm, with a true judgment of thy surroundings and
a helpful knowledge of the things that are seen? So that the
Judgment may say to whatever presents itself, "In truth this is
what thou really art, howsoever thou appearest to men;" and thy
Knowledge may say to whatsoever may come beneath its vision,
"Thee I sought; for whatever presents itself to me is fit material
for nobility in personal thought and public conduct; in short,
for skill in work for man or for God. " For all things which
befall us are related to God or to man, and are not new to us
or hard to work upon, but familiar and serviceable. (Book vii. ,
§ 68. )
When thou art annoyed at some one's impudence, straight-
way ask thyself, "Is it possible that there should be no impudent
men in the world? " It is impossible. Ask not then the impos-
sible. For such an one is but one of these impudent persons
who needs must be in the world. Keep before thee like con-
clusions also concerning the rascal, the untrustworthy one, and
all evil-doers. Then, when it is quite clear to thy mind that
such men must needs exist, thou shalt be the more forgiving
toward each one of their number. This also will aid thee to
observe, whensoever occasion comes, what power for good, Nature
hath given to man to frustrate such viciousness. She hath be-
stowed upon man Patience as an antidote to the stupid man
and against another man some other power for good. Besides,
## p. 1043 (#469) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1043
it is wholly in thine own power to teach new things to the one
who hath erred, for every one who errs hath but missed the
appointed path and wandered away. Reflect, and thou wilt dis-
cover that no one of these with whom thou art annoyed hath
done aught to debase thy mind, and that is the only real evil that
can befall thee.
Moreover, wherein is it wicked or surprising that the ignor-
ant man should act ignorantly? Is not the error really thine
own in not foreseeing that such an one would do as he did?
If thou hadst but taken thought thou wouldst have known he
would be prone to err, and it is only because thou hast forgot-
ten to use thy Reason that thou art surprised at his deed. Above
all, when thou condemnest another as untruthful, examine thyself
closely; for upon thee rests the blame, in that thou dost trust
to such an one to keep his promise. If thou didst bestow upon
him thy bounty, thine is the blame not to have given it freely,
and without expectation of good to thee, save the doing of the
act itself. What more dost thou wish than to do good to man?
Doth not this suffice,- that thou hast done what conforms to thy
true nature? Must thou then have a reward, as though the
eyes demanded pay for seeing or the feet for walking? For
even as these are formed for such work, and by co-operating
in their distinctive duty come into their own, even so man (by
his real nature disposed to do good), when he hath done some
good deed, or in any other way furthered the Commonweal, acts
according to his own nature, and in so doing hath all that is
truly his own. (Book ix. , §42. )
O Man, thou hast been a citizen of this great State, the Uni-
verse! What matters what thy prescribed time hath been, five
years or three? What the law prescribes is just to every one.
Why complain, then, if thou art sent away from the State,
not by a tyrant or an unjust judge, but by Nature who led thee.
thither,― even as the manager excuses from the stage an actor
whom he hath employed?
"But I have played three acts only? "
True. But in the drama of thy life three acts conclude the
play. For what its conclusion shall be, He determines who
created it and now ends it; and with either of these thou hast
naught to do. Depart thou, then, well pleased; for He who dis-
misses thee is well pleased also. (Book xii. , § 36. )
## p. 1044 (#470) ###########################################
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
1044
BE NOT disquieted lest, in the days to come, some misadvent-
ure befall thee. The Reason which now sufficeth thee will then
be with thee, should there be the need. (Book vii. , § 8. )
TO THE wise man the dictates of Reason seem the instincts
of Nature. (Book vii. , § 11. )
MY TRUE self- the philosophic mind- hath but one dread:
the dread lest I do something unworthy of a man, or that I may
act in an unseemly way or at an improper time. (Book vii. , § 20. )
ACCEPT with joy the Fate that befalls thee. Thine it is and
not another's. What then could be better for thee? (Book vii. ,
$ 57. )
SEE to it that thou art humane to those who are not humane.
(Book vii. , $65. )
HE WHO does not act, often commits as great a wrong as he
who acts. (Book ix. , §5. )
THE wrong that another has done - let alone! Add not to it
thine own. (Book ix. , § 20. )
How powerful is man! He is able to do all that God wishes
him to do. He is able to accept all that God sends upon him.
(Book xii. , 11. )
A LAMP sends forth its light until it is completely extinguished.
Shall Truth and Justice and Equanimity suffer abatement in thee
until all are extinguished in death? (Book xii. , § 15. )
## p. 1045 (#471) ###########################################
1045
JANE AUSTEN
(1775-1817)
HE biography of one of the greatest English novelists might
Sbe written in a dozen lines, so simple, so tranquil, so for-
Gtunate was her life. Jane Austen, the second daughter of
an English clergyman, was born at Steventon, in Hampshire, in 1775.
Her father had been known at Oxford as "the handsome proctor,"
and all his children inherited good looks. He was accomplished
enough to fit his boys for the University, and the atmosphere of the
household was that of culture, good breeding, and healthy fun. Mrs.
Austen was a clever woman, full of epi-
gram and humor in conversation, and rather
famous in her own coterie for improvised
verses and satirical hits at her friends.
The elder daughter, Cassandra, adored by
Jane, who was three years her junior, seems
to have had a rare balance and common-
sense which exercised great influence over
the more brilliant younger sister. Their
mother declared that of the two girls. Cas-
sandra had the merit of having her temper
always under her control; and Jane the
happiness of a temper that never required
to be commanded.
JANE AUSTEN
From her cradle, Jane Austen was used to hearing agreeable
household talk, and the freest personal criticism on the men and
women who made up her small, secluded world. The family circum-
stances were easy, and the family friendliness unlimited,- conditions
determining, perhaps, the cheerful tone, the unexciting course, the
sly fun and good-fellowship of her stories.
It was in this Steventon rectory, in the family room where the
boys might be building their toy boats, or the parish poor folk com-
plaining to "passon's madam," or the county ladies paying visits of
ceremony, in monstrous muffs, heelless slippers laced over open-
worked silk stockings, short flounced skirts, and lutestring pelisses
trimmed with "Irish," or where tradesmen might be explaining their
delinquencies, or farmers' wives growing voluble over foxes and
young chickens-it was in the midst of this busy and noisy publicity,
where nobody respected her employment, and where she was inter-
rupted twenty times in an hour, that the shrewd and smiling social
## p. 1046 (#472) ###########################################
1046
JANE AUSTEN
critic managed, before she was twenty-one, to write her famous
'Pride and Prejudice. ' Here too 'Sense and Sensibility' was finished
in 1797, and 'Northanger Abbey' in 1798. The first of these, submitted
to a London publisher, was declined as unavailable, by return of
post. The second, the gay and mocking 'Northanger Abbey,' was
sold to a Bath bookseller for £10, and several years later bought
back again, still unpublished, by one of Miss Austen's brothers. For
the third story she seems not even to have sought a publisher.
These three books, all written before she was twenty-five, were evi-
dently the employment and delight of her leisure. The serious busi-
ness of life was that which occupied other pretty girls of her time
and her social position,-dressing, dancing, flirting, learning a new
stitch at the embroidery frame, or a new air on "the instrument";
while all the time she was observing, with those soft hazel eyes of
hers, what honest Nym calls the "humors" of the world about her.
In 1801, the family removed to Bath, then the most fashionable
watering-place in England. The gay life of the brilliant little city,
the etiquette of the Pump Room and the Assemblies, regulated by
the autocratic Beau Nash, the drives, the routs, the card parties, the
toilets, the shops, the Parade, the general frivolity, pretension, and
display of the eighteenth century Vanity Fair, had already been
studied by the good-natured satirist on occasional visits, and already
immortalized in the swiftly changing comedy scenes of Northanger
Abbey. ' But they tickled her fancy none the less, now that she
lived among them, and she made use of them again in her later
novel, Persuasion. '
For a period of eight years, spent in Bath and in Southampton,
Miss Austen wrote nothing save some fragments of 'Lady Susan'
and The Watsons,' neither of them of great importance. In 1809
the lessened household, composed of the mother and her two daugh-
ters only, removed to the village of Chawton, on the estate of Mrs.
Austen's third son; and here, in a rustic cottage, now become a place
of pilgrimage, Jane Austen again took up her pen. She rewrote
'Pride and Prejudice,' she revised 'Sense and Sensibility,' and be-
tween February 1811 and August 1816 she completed Mansfield
Park,' 'Emma,' and 'Persuasion. ' At Chawton, as at Steventon, she
had no study, and her stories were written on a little mahogany desk
near a window in the family sitting-room, where she must often have
been interrupted by the prototypes of her Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Bennet,
Miss Bates, Mr. Collins, or Mrs. Norris. When at last she began to
publish, her stories appeared in rapid succession: 'Sense and Sensi-
bility' in 1811; 'Pride and Prejudice' early in 1813; 'Mansfield Park'
in 1814; Emma' in 1816; Northanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion' in
1818, the year following her death. In January 1813 she wrote to her
## p. 1047 (#473) ###########################################
JANE AUSTEN
1047
beloved Cassandra: "I want to tell you that I have got my own
darling child ('Pride and Prejudice') from London. We fairly set at
it and read half the first volume to Miss B. She was amused, poor
soul! . . but she really does seem to admire Elizabeth. I must
confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in
print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her
at least, I do not know. " A month later she wrote:-"Upon the
whole, however, I am quite vain enough, and well satisfied enough.
The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling: it wants
shade; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chap-
ter of sense, if it could be had; if not, of solemn, specious nonsense,
about something unconnected with the story; an essay on writing, a
critique on Walter Scott, or the history of Bonaparte, or something
that would form a contrast, and bring the reader with increased
delight to the playfulness and epigrammatism of the general style! "
Thus she who laughed at everybody else laughed at herself, and
set her critical instinct to estimate her own capacity. To Mr.
