The emperor Marcus Aelius
Aurelius Antoninus who reigned from 161-180 was the only Roman emperor besides
Julius Caesar whose writings were to become part of the canon of Western
classics. His Meditations
are a loosely-organized set of thoughts relating to the stoic philosophy
which had been popular among the better-educated citizens of Rome for some
centuries. It stressed self-discipline, virtue, and inner tranquility. Aurelius
was also a social reformer who worked for the improvement of the lot of the
poor, slaves, and convicted criminals. Non-Christians in the Western World have
often looked to him as a role model. He was also a fierce persecutor of
Christianity, doubtless because he felt that the religion threatened the values
that had made Rome great. Aurelius was not an original or brilliant thinker,
but his Meditations reflect well the stoic strain in Greco-Roman
civilization. The emphasis on morality combined with emotional detachment is
strongly reminiscent of Buddhist thought, with which Stoicism has often been
compared.
What arguments does Aurelius offer to help people accept death? How
persuasive do you find them? How does this philosophy emphasize the
independence of the individual? Does this emphasis on the individual result in
selfishness? What theme does Aurelius share with the poem by Horace in this
volume?
From
Book Two
Begin the morning by saying to
thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful,
envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance
of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is
beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does
wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it
participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I
can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly,
nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him. For we are made for
co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper
and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature; and it
is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away.
Whatever this is that I am, it
is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part. Throw away thy books; no
longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if thou wast now dying,
despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, a contexture of nerves,
veins, and arteries. See the breath also, what kind of a thing it is, air, and
not always the same, but every moment sent out and again sucked in. The third
then is the ruling part: consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this
be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial
movements, no longer either be dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink
from the future.
All that is from the gods is
full of Providence. That which is from fortune is not separated from nature or
without an interweaving and involution with the things which are ordered by
Providence. From thence all things flow; and there is besides necessity, and
that which is for the advantage of the whole universe, of which thou art a
part. But that is good for every part of nature which the nature of the whole
brings, and what serves to maintain this nature. Now the universe is preserved,
as by the changes of the elements so by the changes of things compounded of the
elements. Let these principles be enough for thee, let them always be fixed
opinions. But cast away the thirst after books, that thou mayest not die
murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and from thy heart thankful to the gods. . .
.
. . . Every moment think
steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and
simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice; and to give
thyself relief from all other thoughts. And thou wilt give thyself relief, if
thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last, laying aside all
carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all
hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has been given
to thee. Thou seest how few the things are, the which if a man lays hold of, he
is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the existence of the
gods; for the gods on their part will require nothing more from him who
observes these things.
Do wrong to thyself, do wrong to
thyself, my soul; but thou wilt no longer have the opportunity of honouring
thyself. Every man's life is sufficient. But thine is nearly finished, though
thy soul reverences not itself but places thy felicity in the souls of others.
Do the things external which
fall upon thee distract thee? Give thyself time to learn something new and
good, and cease to be whirled around. But then thou must also avoid being
carried about the other way. For those too are triflers who have wearied
themselves in life by their activity, and yet have no object to which to direct
every movement, and, in a word, all their thoughts. . . .
. . . How quickly all things
disappear, in the universe the bodies themselves, but in time the remembrance
of them; what is the nature of all sensible things, and particularly those
which attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by pain, or are noised
abroad by vapoury fame; how worthless, and contemptible, and sordid, and
perishable, and dead they are- all this it is the part of the intellectual
faculty to observe. To observe too who these are whose opinions and voices give
reputation; what death is, and the fact that, if a man looks at it in itself,
and by the abstractive power of reflection resolves into their parts all the
things which present themselves to the imagination in it, he will then consider
it to be nothing else than an operation of nature; and if any one is afraid of
an operation of nature, he is a child. This, however, is not only an operation
of nature, but it is also a thing which conduces to the purposes of nature. To
observe too how man comes near to the deity, and by what part of him, and when
this part of man is so disposed.
Nothing is more wretched than a
man who traverses everything in a round, and pries into the things beneath the
earth, as the poet says, and seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his
neighbours, without perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon
within him, and to reverence it sincerely. And reverence of the daemon consists
in keeping it pure from passion and thoughtlessness, and dissatisfaction with
what comes from gods and men. For the things from the gods merit veneration for
their excellence; and the things from men should be dear to us by reason of
kinship; and sometimes even, in a manner, they move our pity by reason of men's
ignorance of good and bad; this defect being not less than that which deprives
us of the power of distinguishing things that are white and black. . . .
. . . Of human life the time is
a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the perception dull, and the
composition of the whole body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl,
and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of judgement. And, to say
all in a word, everything which belongs to the body is a stream, and what
belongs to the soul is a dream and vapour, and life is a warfare and a stranger's
sojourn, and after-fame is oblivion. What then is that which is able to conduct
a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. But this consists in keeping the
daemon within a man free from violence and unharmed, superior to pains and
pleasures, doing nothing without purpose, nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy,
not feeling the need of another man's doing or not doing anything; and besides,
accepting all that happens, and all that is allotted, as coming from thence,
wherever it is, from whence he himself came; and, finally, waiting for death
with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements
of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm to the
elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why should a man
have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements? For
it is according to nature, and nothing is evil which is according to nature.
From
Book Four
. . . Men seek retreats for
themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and thou too art
wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most
common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire
into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble
does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him
such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect
tranquility; and I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good
ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew
thyself; and let thy principles be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as
thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to cleanse the soul completely,
and to send thee back free from all discontent with the things to which thou
returnest. For with what art thou discontented? With the badness of men? Recall
to thy mind this conclusion, that rational animals exist for one another, and
that to endure is a part of justice, and that men do wrong involuntarily; and
consider how many already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, hatred, and
fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced to ashes; and be quiet at last.-
But perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that which is assigned to thee out of
the universe.- Recall to thy recollection this alternative; either there is
providence or atoms, fortuitous concurrence of things; or remember the
arguments by which it has been proved that the world is a kind of political
community, and be quiet at last.- But perhaps corporeal things will still
fasten upon thee.- Consider then further that the mind mingles not with the
breath, whether moving gently or violently, when it has once drawn itself apart
and discovered its own power, and think also of all that thou hast heard and
assented to about pain and pleasure, and be quiet at last.- But perhaps the
desire of the thing called fame will torment thee.- See and the emptiness of
applause, and the changeableness and want of judgement in those who pretend to
give praise, and the narrowness of the space within which it is circumscribed,
and be quiet at last. For the whole earth is a point, and how small a nook in
it is this thy dwelling, and how few are there in it, and what kind of people
are they who will praise thee.
This then remains: Remember to
retire into this little territory of thy own, and above all do not distract or
strain thyself, but be free, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as
a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou
shalt turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch
the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations
come only from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things,
which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear
in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is
transformation: life is opinion. . . .
. . . Death is such as
generation is, a mystery of nature; a composition out of the same elements, and
a decomposition into the same; and altogether not a thing of which any man
should be ashamed, for it is not contrary to the nature of a reasonable animal,
and not contrary to the reason of our constitution.
It is natural that these things
should be done by such persons, it is a matter of necessity; and if a man will
not have it so, he will not allow the fig-tree to have juice. But by all means
bear this in mind, that within a very short time both thou and he will be dead;
and soon not even your names will be left behind. . . .
. . . Consider that everything
which happens, happens justly, and if thou observest carefully, thou wilt find
it to be so. I do not say only with respect to the continuity of the series of
things, but with respect to what is just, and as if it were done by one who
assigns to each thing its value. Observe then as thou hast begun; and whatever
thou doest, do it in conjunction with this, the being good, and in the sense in
which a man is properly understood to be good. Keep to this in every action.
Do not have such an opinion of
things as he has who does thee wrong, or such as he wishes thee to have, but
look at them as they are in truth.
A man should always have these
two rules in readiness; the one, to do only whatever the reason of the ruling
and legislating faculty may suggest for the use of men; the other, to change
thy opinion, if there is any one at hand who sets thee right and moves thee
from any opinion. But this change of opinion must proceed only from a certain
persuasion, as of what is just or of common advantage, and the like, not
because it appears pleasant or brings reputation. . . .
. . . He who has a vehement
desire for posthumous fame does not consider that every one of those who
remember him will himself also die very soon; then again also they who have
succeeded them, until the whole remembrance shall have been extinguished as it
is transmitted through men who foolishly admire and perish. But suppose that
those who will remember are even immortal, and that the remembrance will be
immortal, what then is this to thee? And I say not what is it to the dead, but
what is it to the living? What is praise except indeed so far as it has a
certain utility? For thou now rejectest unseasonably the gift of nature,
clinging to something else. . . .
. . . Consider, for example, the
times of Vespasian. Thou wilt see all these things, people marrying, bringing
up children, sick, dying, warring, feasting, trafficking, cultivating the
ground, flattering, obstinately arrogant, suspecting, plotting, wishing for
some to die, grumbling about the present, loving, heaping up treasure, desiring
counsulship, kingly power. Well then, that life of these people no longer
exists at all. Again, remove to the times of Trajan. Again, all is the same.
Their life too is gone. In like manner view also the other epochs of time and
of whole nations, and see how many after great efforts soon fell and were
resolved into the elements. But chiefly thou shouldst think of those whom thou
hast thyself known distracting themselves about idle things, neglecting to do
what was in accordance with their proper constitution, and to hold firmly to
this and to be content with it. And herein it is necessary to remember that the
attention given to everything has its proper value and proportion. For thus
thou wilt not be dissatisfied, if thou appliest thyself to smaller matters no
further than is fit. . . .
. . . Time is like a river made
up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has
been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be
carried away too. . . .
From Book
Five:
Live with the gods. And he does
live with the gods who constantly shows them that his own soul is satisfied
with that which is assigned to him, and that it does all that the daemon
wishes, which Zeus has given to every person as his guardian and guide, as a
portion of himself. And this daemon is everyone's knowledge and reason.
The best way of avenging
yourself is not to become like the wrongdoer.
When we have meat before us and
such food we receive the impression that this is the dead body of a fish, and
this is the dead body of a bird or of a pig; and again, that this Falernian
wine is only a little grape juice, and this purple robe some sheep's wool dyed
with the blood of a shell-fish: such then are these impressions, and they reach
the things themselves and penetrate them, and so we see what kind of things
they are. Just in the same way ought we to act all through life, and where
there are things which appear most worthy of our approval, we ought to lay them
bare and look at their worthlessness and strip them of all the words by which
they are exalted. For outward show is a wonderful perverter of the reason, and
when you are most sure that you are engaged in matters worth your while, it is
then that it cheats you most. . . .
Most of the things which
ordinary people admire have to do with objects of the most general kind, those
which are held together by cohesion or natural organization, such as stones,
wood, fig trees, vines, olives. But those which are admired by men who are a
little more reasonable have to do with the things which are held together by a
living principle, such as flocks and herds. Those which are admired by men who
are still more enlightened are the things which are held together by a rational
soul, not however a universal soul, but rational so far as it is a soul skilled
in some art, or expert in some other way, or simply rational so far as it
possesses a number of slaves. But he who values a rational soul, a universal
soul which is fitted for political life, values nothing else except this; and
above all things he keeps his soul in a condition and in activities suitable to
reason and social life, and he cooperates in this with those who are of the
same kind as himself.
So keep yourself simple, good,
pure, serious, free from pretense, a friend of justice, a worshipper of the
gods, kind, affectionate, strenuous in performing all proper acts. Strive to be
the sort of person which philosophy wishes to make of you. Revere the gods and
help others. Life is short. There is only one fruit of this earthly life: a
pious disposition and social acts. Asia, Europe are corners of the universe;
all the sea a drop in the universe; Athos a little clod of the universe: all
the present time is a point in eternity. All things are little, changeable,
perishable. All things come from thence, from that universal ruling power
either directly proceeding or by way of sequence. And accordingly the lion's
gaping jaws, and that which is poisonous, and every harmful thing, like thorns,
like mud, are after-products of the grand and beautiful. Do not then imagine
that they are of another kind from that which you venerate, but form a just opinion
of the source of all.
He who has seen present things
has seen all, both everything which has taken place from all eternity and
everything which will be for time without end; for all things are of one kin
and of one form.