Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
p. 147daily draw it in, and falling upon that earth out of which my father collected the seed, and my mother the blood, and my nurse the milk ; out of which during so many years I have been supplied with food and drink ; which bears me when I tread on it and abuse it for so many purposes. 5.
Thou sayest, Men cannot admire the sharpness of thy wits. — Be it so: but there are many other things of which thou canst not say, I am not formed for them by nature. Show those qualities then which are altogether in thy power, sincerity, gravity, endurance of labor, aversion to pleasure, contentment with thy portion and with few things, benevolence, frankness, no love of superfluity, freedom from trifling, magnanimity.
Dost thou not see how many qualities thou art immediately able to exhibit, in which there is no excuse of natural incapacity and unfitness, and yet thou still remainest voluntarily below the mark ? or art thou compelled through being defectively furnished by nature to murmur, and to be stingy, and to flatter, and to find fault with thy poor body, and to try to please men, and to make great display, and to be so restless in thy mind?
No, by the gods; but thou mightest have been delivered from these things long ago. Only if in truth thou canst be charged with being rather slow and dull of comprehension, thou must exert thyself about this also, not neglecting it nor yet taking pleasure in thy dulness.
p. 1486. One man, when he has done a service to another, is ready to set it down to his account as a favor conferred. Another is not ready to do this, but still in his own mind he thinks of the man as his debtor, and he knows what he has done. A third in a manner does not even know what he has done, but he is like a vine which has produced grapes, and seeks for nothing more after it has once produced its proper fruit.
As a horse when he has run, a dog when he has tracked the game, a bee when it has made the honey, so a man when he has done a good act, does not call out for others to come and see, but he goes on to another act, as a vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season. — Must a man then be one of these, who in a manner act thus without observing it ? — Yes. — But this very thing is necessary, the observation of what a man is doing : for, it may be said, it is characteristic of the social animal to perceive that he is working in a social manner, and indeed to wish that his social partner also should perceive it. — It is true what thou sayest, but thou dost not rightly understand what is now said : and for this reason thou wilt become one of those of whom I spoke before, for even they are misled by a certain show of reason.
But if thou wilt choose to understand the meaning of what is said, do not fear that for this reason thou wilt omit any social act.
MAE C US AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 149 7. A prayer of the Athenians: Rain, rain, 0 dear Zeus, down on the ploughed fields of the Athenians and on the plains. — In truth we ought not to pray at all, or we ought to pray in this simple and noble fashion. 8.
Just as we must understand when it is said, That Aesculapius prescribed to this man horse-exercise, or bathing in cold water, or going without shoes, so we must understand it when it is said, That the nature of the universe prescribed to this man disease, or mutilation, or loss, or anything else of the kind.
For in the first case Prescribed means something like this : he prescribed this for this man as a thing adapted to procure health ; and in the second case it means, That which happens1 to [or suits] every man is fixed in a manner for him suitably to his destiny.
For this is what we mean when we say that things are suitable to us, as the workmen say of squared stones in walls or the pyramids, that they are suitable, when they fit them to one another in some kind of connection. For there is altogether one fitness [harmony]. And as the universe is made up out of all bodies to be such a body as it is, so out of all existing causes necessitjr [destiny] is made up to be such a cause as it is.
And even those who are completely ignorant understand what I mean ; 1 In this section there is a play on the meaning of rvfifialveiv.
MARCUS AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 147 daily draw it in, and falling upon that earth out of which my father collected the seed, and my mother the blood, and my nurse the milk ; out of which during so many years I have been supplied with food and drink ; which bears me when I tread on it and abuse it for so many purposes. 5. You say, Men cannot admire the sharpness of your wits. — Be it so: but there are many other things of which you can not say, I am not formed for them by nature. Show those qualities then which are altogether in your power, sincerity, gravity, endurance of labor, aversion to pleasure, contentment with your portion and with few things, benevolence, frankness, no love of superfluity, freedom from trifling, magnanimity. Dost you not see how many qualities you are immediately able to exhibit, in which there is no excuse of natural incapacity and unfitness, and yet you still remainest voluntarily below the mark ? or art you compelled through being defectively furnished by nature to murmur, and to be stingy, and to flatter, and to find fault with your poor body, and to try to please men, and to make great display, and to be so restless in your mind? No, by the gods; but you might have been delivered from these things long ago. Only if in truth you can be charged with being rather slow and dull of comprehension, you must exert yourself about this also, not neglecting it nor yet taking pleasure in your dulness.
148 MEDITATIONS. 6. One man, when he has done a service to another, is ready to set it down to his account as a favor conferred. Another is not ready to do this, but still in his own mind he thinks of the man as his debtor, and he knows what he has done. A third in a manner does not even know what he has done, but he is like a vine which has produced grapes, and seeks for nothing more after it has once produced its proper fruit. As a horse when he has run, a dog when he has tracked the game, a bee when it has made the honey, so a man when he has done a good act, does not call out for others to come and see, but he goes on to another act, as a vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season. — Must a man then be one of these, who in a manner act thus without observing it ? — Yes. — But this very thing is necessary, the observation of what a man is doing : for, it may be said, it is characteristic of the social animal to perceive that he is working in a social manner, and indeed to wish that his social partner also should perceive it. — It is true what you say, but you do not rightly understand what is now said : and for this reason you will become one of those of whom I spoke before, for even they are misled by a certain show of reason. But if you will choose to understand the meaning of what is said, do not fear that for this reason you will omit any social act.
MAE C US AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 149 7. A prayer of the Athenians: Rain, rain, 0 dear Zeus, down on the ploughed fields of the Athenians and on the plains. — In truth we ought not to pray at all, or we ought to pray in this simple and noble fashion. 8.
Just as we must understand when it is said, That Aesculapius prescribed to this man horse-exercise, or bathing in cold water, or going without shoes, so we must understand it when it is said, That the nature of the universe prescribed to this man disease, or mutilation, or loss, or anything else of the kind.
For in the first case Prescribed means something like this : he prescribed this for this man as a thing adapted to procure health ; and in the second case it means, That which happens1 to [or suits] every man is fixed in a manner for him suitably to his destiny.
For this is what we mean when we say that things are suitable to us, as the workmen say of squared stones in walls or the pyramids, that they are suitable, when they fit them to one another in some kind of connection. For there is altogether one fitness [harmony]. And as the universe is made up out of all bodies to be such a body as it is, so out of all existing causes necessitjr [destiny] is made up to be such a cause as it is.
And even those who are completely ignorant understand what I mean ; 1 In this section there is a play on the meaning of rvfifialveiv.
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