Chapter 4 volume three

1. We should not only take into account that our life is spent every day and every hour, leaving less and less. The power of understanding continues to be sufficient to enable him to perceive things, and to retain the faculty of striving to acquire knowledge and thinking about God and man.For he will begin to sink into senile stupor before the faculties of excretion, nourishment, imagination and appetite, or any other similar faculties fail, and that ability to use our own faculties, to meet the standards of our obligations, to clearly distinguish phenomena The ability to consider whether one should die now or not absolutely requires a disciplined reason, which has declined altogether.So we must hurry up, not only because we are getting closer to death day by day, but also because the ability to see and understand things will disappear first.

2. We should also notice that even the things that come after the things that come naturally are pleasing and attractive.For example, when bread is baked and certain cracks appear on the surface, these parts that are so cracked have a form that is not intended by the baker, but is still beautiful in a sense, stimulating in a special way. appetite.The figs, too, split open when they are ripe; the ripe olives add a special beauty to the fruit just when they are close to rotting.The drooping ears of corn, the eyelashes of a lion, the foam that flows from the mouth of a wild boar, and many other things, though considered unbeautiful to one in isolation, are the result of naturally formed things. , so they still help to adorn them and please the soul.So, if a man has a feeling and a deeper insight into the things that are produced in the universe, those things that arise as a result of this will almost always appear to him arranged in some way to cause pleasure.He therefore has no less pleasure in beholding the open jaws of real beasts than in those imitated by painters and sculptors; Youthful charm and cuteness.There are many such things to come, and they do not please everyone, but those who are really acquainted with nature and its works.

3. Hippocrates himself died of illness after curing many patients.Astrologers foretell the death of many, and then fate snatches them away too.Alexander, Pompey, and Caesar finally died after crushing hundreds of thousands of cavalry and infantry, frequently leveling entire cities.Heraclitus, after contemplating a great deal on the fire of the universe, finally died of dropsy, soiled with mud.Insects destroyed Democritus, others killed Socrates.What does all this mean?You get on board, sail, get inshore, and get off.If it were indeed sailing to another life, there would be no need for God, not even there.But if sailing to a land of ignorance, you will no longer be at the mercy of pain and pleasure, no longer the slave of a body which, as base as it is, is so superior in its service, because the latter It is reason and divinity, and the former is earth and decay.

4. Do not waste the rest of your life thinking of others, when you do not direct your thoughts to some object of the common good.Because, when you have this thought, you lose the opportunity to do other things.What the person is doing, why, what he said, what he thought, what he argued, paying attention to all these things will make us lose sight of our own dominance.We should therefore repress in our thought-progress all aimless and worthless thoughts, and a great deal of curiosity and malice; and a man should be made to think only of such things as when someone suddenly asks: "What are you thinking now? "He can answer directly, with total candor: Think this or that, and make it clear from your words that everything in your heart is earthy and loving, which is good for a social animal, and you are a man who is not at all concerned with pleasure or A sensual person, and without hostility, jealousy, suspicion, or anything else that would make you blush when you say it.For a man who answers thus without delay is among the best, and like a messenger of the gods, he also exercises the divinity implanted in him, which keeps him untainted by pleasure, untainted by Wounded by pain, not touched by any consequence, nor feeling any evil, is a warrior in the noblest battle; he is not overwhelmed by any passion, deeply yearns for justice, and accepts with joy what happens to him and what is done to him. what is allotted to him; he does not often, but not without need, consider the words, deeds, and thoughts of others for the general good.Since the only thing that belongs to him is that he decides for his own conduct, he is constantly thinking about what is allotted to him out of the totality of things, and how to act justly, convincing himself that his allotted share is good. of.For the fate that is assigned to each man is in the hands of each, and fate holds him.He also remembers that every rational animal is his fellow man, that it is in man's nature to care for all men, and that one should listen not to all men, but only to those who clearly live according to nature.But for those who do not live like this, he always remembers what they are at home and what they are away from; what they are during the day and what they are at night; what work they do , they live an impure life with someone.Correspondingly, he does not value admiration from such people at all, because such people are dissatisfied even with themselves.

5. Labor not unwillingly, without respect for the common good, without due consideration, without distraction, without a semblance of learning to lose your mind, or be a chatterer or a bustle.And let the god in you be a protector, a protector of a living being, a mature man involved in politics, a Roman, a protector of a ruler.The ruler accepted his office like a man waiting for a signal from life to call him, without oath or testimony.Be merry at the same time, without seeking external help or the peace of others.In this way, a person must stand upright instead of being supported by others.

6. If you find anything in human life better than justice, truth, temperance, and fortitude, in a word, than the self-sufficiency of your own Acting with sound reason, given your conditions, I say, if you see something better than this, turn to it with all your body and mind, and enjoy the pleasure of that which you think is the best.And yet, if there is nothing better than that, better than the divinity that has been planted in you—that examines all your inclinations, scrutinizes all your impressions, and frees itself, as Socrates said, from the temptations of the senses. , surrender yourself to the gods and care for human beings; - if you find that all other things are inferior to it, less valuable than it, do not give status to other things, because if you go astray and tend to other things you will no longer be able to concentrate on favoring that which is really good and which is yours, for to let anything else—such as public admiration, power, or the enjoyment of pleasure—come with that which, on the rational side, It's not right to compete with the good in politics or in practice.All those things, even if they seem to fit within constraints into something better, immediately take over and carry us away.So I say, you go straight for the better, and hold on to it—but you say, what works is better—well, if it works for you as a rational being, hold on to it; but if It is only useful to you as an animal, so reject it, do not proudly insist on your judgment, but only care to investigate in a proper way.

7. Do not rate any of these things as favorable to you: those that make you break your promises, lose your self-respect, hate, be suspicious, criticize, hypocrisy, and desire everything that needs walls and curtains, because that is more like His own reason, god, and god-worshipper, who plays no tragic role, does not groan, needs no solitude or many companions, and above all, will live neither tempted nor evaded death, He doesn't care at all about how long his soul resides in his body.For, even if he had to go at once, he would go away as willingly as if he were going to do something else that could be done with decency and decency; Thought does not depart from that which belongs to a sane man, a man of a civic body.

8. In a man's mind that is chastened and purified, you will find no decay, no lawlessness, no wound healed, when fate takes him, as it is said, that makes an actor leave the stage before the end of the play. , His life is not therefore incomplete.Besides, there is nothing slavish in him, no pretense, he is not too bound to other things and at the same time is not detached from them, he blames nothing and escapes nothing. 9. Respect the ability to generate opinions.Whether there are opinions in your dominant part that are incompatible with the nature and temperament of a rational animal depends entirely on this faculty.This ability will keep you from hasty judgment, and will make you kind to others and obedient to God.

10. Then throw everything away, and cling to only these few things; and also remember: everyone exists in this time, the now is an indivisible point, and the rest of his life Either it has passed or it has not yet been determined.Therefore the time of each man's existence is short, the corner of the earth he dwells in is small, and the longest posthumous fame is short, and even this fame is only sustained by poor generations, who also Will die so soon that they don't even know themselves, let alone those who are long dead. 11. To reinforce what has been said above, let us add this: You define or describe for yourself what is presented to you, so that you can see it clearly in its substance, in its exposure, in its completeness. What kind of thing it is, tell yourself its proper name, and the names of the things of which it is composed, into which it will then be resolved.For there is nothing more creative than the ascension of the mind to examine systematically and truly all the objects that come before you in life, always gazing at things in order to see at the same time what kind of universe it is; What part does each play in it; what is the value of each in relation to the whole, and what is the value of each in relation to man (man is a citizen of the supreme city, and all the other cities are like subordinates of the supreme city); What is it, what is it made of, how long can the thing that impresses me now last, and what kind of virtue do I need to treat it, for example, elegance, decisiveness, sincerity, loyalty, simplicity, contentment, etc.Therefore, one should say in any circumstance that it is from God, according to the configuration and spinning of the threads of fate, or according to such things as coincidence and chance; From a man who is my countryman and companion, and yet knows nothing of what is in his nature.But I, as one who knows what is natural, treat my fellowmen with kindness and justice according to the natural law of fellowship.And at the same time I try to determine the value of each of these things to which I am indifferent.

12. When you do the work before you, follow sound reason conscientiously, vigorously, peacefully, and not distracted by anything else, but keep your holy part pure, as if you must directly Give it back as if; if you hold on to this, wanting nothing and fearing nothing, content with what is natural to you now, content with courageous sincerity in every word and syllable you utter, you will live be happy.Nobody can stop this. 13. Just as physicians always have their instruments and operations ready for a patient who suddenly needs their skill, so you also have principles by which to understand and People things, know how to do everything even the smallest things.Because you can't do everything right with people if you don't also refer to the things of God, and vice versa.

14. Stop wandering at will, for you will face the decline of your memory, and you will no longer be able to recall the actions of the ancient Romans and Greeks, and you will not be able to read the books you have saved for your old age.Then seize the last days ahead of you, cast aside useless hopes, and come to your own aid, if you care for yourself at all, and it is within your power. 15. They do not know how much is done by the stealing, sowing, and buying of words, be still, and examine what should be done, for it is not affected by the eye but by another power of seeing. 16. Body, soul, reason; feelings belong to the body; hobbies belong to the soul; principles belong to the reason.Impressions of form through appearances - this faculty is possessed even by animals; moved by a chain of desires - this belongs both to the beast and to the man who transforms himself into a woman, equal to a Phaleris and a Nero; To have reason to direct that which seems fit - this also belongs to those who do not believe in God, who rebel against their country and do evil behind closed doors.So, if all else is common to those I have just mentioned, what is left that is unique to good people?It is to be satisfied and delighted with all that has happened, with the thread of fate spun for him; Obey God faithfully, never say anything contrary to the truth, and never do anything contrary to justice.Even if none of the others believed that he lived a life of simplicity, modesty, and contentment, he would never be angry with any of them, nor would he stray from the path that led to the end of life, by which Man should be pure, serene, willing to go, completely at ease with his destiny without any compulsion.