Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
82 ruiLosoriiY. The Stoics, and Antoninus among them, call some things beautiful (xaXa) and some ugly (cuo-xpa), and as they are beautiful so they are good, and as they are ugly so they are evil, or bad (ii. 1).
All these things, good and evil, are in our power, absolutely some of the stricter Stoics would say; in a manner only, as those who would not depart altogether from common sense would say; practically they are to a great degree in the power ot some persons and in some circumstances, but in a small degree only in other persons and in other circumstances.
The Stoics maintain man's free will as to the things which are in his power ; for as to the things which are out of his power, free will terminating in action is of course excluded by the very terms of the expression. I hardly know if we can discover exactly Antoninus' notion of the free will of man, nor is the question worth the inquiry. What he does mean and does say is intelligible.
All the things which are not in our power (aTT/aoatpcTa) are indifferent : they are neither good nor bad, morally. Such are life, health, wealth, power, disease, poverty, and death. Life and death are all men's portion.
Health, wealth, power, disease, and poverty happen to men, indifferently to the good and to the bad ; to those who live according to nature and to those who do not.1 1 ** All events come alike to all : there Is one event to the righteous and to the wicked : to the good and to the clean
p. 83" Life," says the emperor, " is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after fame is oblivion " (ii. 17). After speaking of those men who have disturbed the world and then died, and of the death of philosophers such as Heraclitus and Democritus, who was destroyed by lice, and of Socrates whom other lice (his enemies) destroyed, he says, " What means all this ?
Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore ; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel which is as much inferior as that which serves it is superior : for the one is intelligence and Deity ; the other is earth and corruption " (iii. 3).
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live according to nature (xii. 1). Every man should live in such a way as to discharge his duty, and to trouble himself about nothing else. He should live such a life that he shall always be ready for death, and and to the unclean," &c. (Ecclesiastes, ix. v. 2) ; and (v.
3), " This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all. In what sense " evil" is meant here seems rather doubtful. There is no doubt about the emperor's meaning. Compare Epictetus, Enchiridion, c. i., &c. ; and the doctrine of the Brachmans (Strabo. p. 713, ed. Cas.) : dyaddv 5& y Kanbv firjdiv emu rdv <rvfxfiaiy6rrup dvdpiinrois.
p. 84shall depart content when the summons comes. For what is death? "A cessation of the impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of the strings which move the appetites, and of the discursive movements of the thoughts, and of the service to the flesh " (vi. 28). Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature (iv. 5). In another passage, the exact meaning of which is perhaps doubtful (ix.
3), he speaks of the child which leaves the womb, and so he says the soul at death leaves its envelope. As the child is born or comes into life by leaving the womb, so the soul may on leaving the body pass into another existence which is perfect. I am not sure if this is the emperor's meaning.
Butler compares it with a passage in Strabo (p. 713) about the Brachmans' notion of death being the birth into real life and a happy life, to those who have philosophized ; and he thinks Antoninus may allude to this opinion.1 Antoninus' opinion of a future life is nowhere clearly expressed. His doctrine of the nature of 1 Seneca (Ep.
102) has the same, whether an expression of his own opinion, or merely a fine saying of others employed to embellish his writings, I know not. After speaking of the child being prepared in the womb to live this life, he adds, " Sic per hoc spatium, quod ab infantia patet in senectutcm, in alium naturae sumimur partum. Alia origo nos expectat, alius rerum status.*' See Ecclesiastes, xii. 7; and Luean, i. 457 : — •• Longae, canltls si cognita, vitae Mors media est."
82 ruiLosoriiY. The Stoics, and Antoninus among them, call some things beautiful (xaXa) and some ugly (cuo-xpa), and as they are beautiful so they are good, and as they are ugly so they are evil, or bad (ii. 1).
All these things, good and evil, are in our power, absolutely some of the stricter Stoics would say; in a manner only, as those who would not depart altogether from common sense would say; practically they are to a great degree in the power ot some persons and in some circumstances, but in a small degree only in other persons and in other circumstances.
The Stoics maintain man's free will as to the things which are in his power ; for as to the things which are out of his power, free will terminating in action is of course excluded by the very terms of the expression. I hardly know if we can discover exactly Antoninus' notion of the free will of man, nor is the question worth the inquiry. What he does mean and does say is intelligible.
All the things which are not in our power (aTT/aoatpcTa) are indifferent : they are neither good nor bad, morally. Such are life, health, wealth, power, disease, poverty, and death. Life and death are all men's portion.
Health, wealth, power, disease, and poverty happen to men, indifferently to the good and to the bad ; to those who live according to nature and to those who do not.1 1 ** All events come alike to all : there Is one event to the righteous and to the wicked : to the good and to the clean
MARCUS AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 83 " Life," says the emperor, " is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after fame is oblivion " (ii. 17). After speaking of those men who have disturbed the world and then died, and of the death of philosophers such as Heraclitus and Democritus, who was destroyed by lice, and of Socrates whom other lice (his enemies) destroyed, he says, " What means all this ? You have embarked, you have made the voyage, you are come to shore ; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even there. But if to a state without sensation, you will cease to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel which is as much inferior as that which serves it is superior : for the one is intelligence and Deity ; the other is earth and corruption " (iii. 3). It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live according to nature (xii. 1). Every man should live in such a way as to discharge his duty, and to trouble himself about nothing else. He should live such a life that he shall always be ready for death, and and to the unclean," &c. (Ecclesiastes, ix. v. 2) ; and (v. 3), " This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all." In what sense " evil" is meant here seems rather doubtful. There is no doubt about the emperor's meaning. Compare Epictetus, Enchiridion, c. i., &c. ; and the doctrine of the Brachmans (Strabo. p. 713, ed. Cas.) : dyaddv 5& y Kanbv firjdiv emu rdv <rvfxfiaiy6rrup dvdpiinrois.
84 PHILOSOPHY. shall depart content when the summons comes. For what is death? "A cessation of the impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of the strings which move the appetites, and of the discursive movements of the thoughts, and of the service to the flesh " (vi. 28). Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature (iv. 5). In another passage, the exact meaning of which is perhaps doubtful (ix.
3), he speaks of the child which leaves the womb, and so he says the soul at death leaves its envelope. As the child is born or comes into life by leaving the womb, so the soul may on leaving the body pass into another existence which is perfect. I am not sure if this is the emperor's meaning.
Butler compares it with a passage in Strabo (p. 713) about the Brachmans' notion of death being the birth into real life and a happy life, to those who have philosophized ; and he thinks Antoninus may allude to this opinion.1 Antoninus' opinion of a future life is nowhere clearly expressed. His doctrine of the nature of 1 Seneca (Ep.
102) has the same, whether an expression of his own opinion, or merely a fine saying of others employed to embellish his writings, I know not. After speaking of the child being prepared in the womb to live this life, he adds, " Sic per hoc spatium, quod ab infantia patet in senectutcm, in alium naturae sumimur partum. Alia origo nos expectat, alius rerum status.*' See Ecclesiastes, xii. 7; and Luean, i. 457 : — •• Longae, canltls si cognita, vitae Mors media est."
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