Page 936

Marcus Aurelius. (121–180) (continued)

9002

As for life, it is a battle and a sojourning in a strange land; but the fame that comes after is oblivion.

Meditations. ii. 17.

9003

Waste not the remnant of thy life in those imaginations touching other folk, whereby thou contributest not to the common weal.

Meditations. iii. 4.

9004

The lot assigned to every man is suited to him, and suits him to itself. 1

Meditations. iii. 4.

9005

Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody.

Meditations. iii. 5.

9006

A man should be upright, not be kept upright.

Meditations. iii. 5.

9007

Never esteem anything as of advantage to thee that shall make thee break thy word or lose thy self-respect.

Meditations. iii. 7.

9008

Respect the faculty that forms thy judgments.

Meditations. iii. 9.

9009

Remember that man’s life lies all within this present, as ’t were but a hair’s-breadth of time; as for the rest, the past is gone, the future yet unseen. Short, therefore, is man’s life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells.

Meditations. iii. 10.

9010

Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.

Meditations. iii. 11.

9011

As surgeons keep their instruments and knives always at hand for cases requiring immediate treatment, so shouldst thou have thy thoughts ready to understand things divine and human, remembering in thy every act, even the smallest, how close is the bond that unites the two.

Meditations. iii. 13.

9012

The ruling power within, when it is in its natural state, is so related to outer circumstances that it easily

Note 1.
The translator is in doubt about this passage. Commentators differ in regard to it, and the text may be corrupt. [back]

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