ARKCODEX
Meditations
1The unique qualities of the rational soul: It sees itself. It shapes itself. It makes itself whatever it wishes to be. The fruit it bears, it enjoys itself. For the fruits of plants and the offspring of animals are enjoyed by others. It reaches its own completion wherever the end of life arrives. Unlike a dance or a play or similar performances, which become incomplete if something interrupts them. At any point, wherever it is caught, it makes its purpose full and self-sufficient. So it can say: I have what is mine. Further, it travels through the whole cosmos. It surveys the void surrounding it and its shape. It stretches into the infinity of time. It grasps the cyclical rebirth of all things. It contemplates and sees that those who come after us will witness nothing new. Nor did those before us see anything more. In a way, anyone of forty years, if they have any understanding at all, has seen everything that has been and will be. Because all things are alike. What also belongs to the rational soul is love for one's neighbors. And truth. And reverence. And placing nothing above itself. This also belongs to law. So right reason and the reason of justice are one and the same.
2You will lose your fascination with delightful song and dance and wrestling if you break them into their parts. Take a melody and divide it into each separate note. Ask yourself whether any single note overpowers you. You will be embarrassed to admit it does. Do the same with dance. Examine each movement and position on its own. Do the same with wrestling. In general, remember this rule. Except for virtue and what flows from virtue, always rush to examine the parts. Through this division, arrive at contempt. Apply this same method to life as a whole.
3Consider the soul that stands ready, should the moment come to be released from the body. Ready to be extinguished. Or scattered. Or to continue on. But this readiness must spring from one's own judgment. Not from mere stubborn defiance like the Christians. It must be reasoned. Dignified. Convincing to others. Free of drama.
4I have done something for the common good. Therefore I have benefited. Let this thought always be ready at hand. And never stop.
5What is your craft? To be good. And how is this done well except through principles? Some concerning the nature of the whole. Others concerning the unique constitution of a human being.
6Tragedies were first created to remind us of what happens in life. They show us that such things occur by nature. What captivates you on the stage should not distress you on the larger stage of life. You see that these events must unfold as they do. Even those who cry out "O Cithaeron!" endure them. The playwrights also speak useful truths. Consider this line especially: "If the gods have neglected me and my children, this too has its reason." And again: "Do not rage against circumstances." And: "Reap life like a stalk of grain." There are many such passages. After tragedy came Old Comedy. It possessed an educational frankness. Through its blunt speech it usefully reminded us to stay humble. Diogenes adopted this same approach. After Old Comedy came Middle Comedy. Then finally New Comedy. Consider what purpose it serves. It gradually declined into mere technical cleverness in imitation. Useful things are said by these poets too. This is not disputed. But ask yourself: what was the true aim of this whole enterprise of poetry and drama?
7How vividly it strikes you that no other situation in life is so suited to philosophy as this one you find yourself in now.
8A branch cut from its neighboring branch cannot help but be cut from the whole tree. So too a person divided from one other person has fallen away from the entire community. A branch is cut off by another. But a person separates himself from his neighbor through hatred and rejection. He does not realize that he has also severed himself from the whole human commonwealth. Yet there is this gift from Zeus who established our community. We can grow back together with our neighbor. We can become part of the whole once more. But the more often such division happens, the harder it becomes to reunite and restore what has broken away. A branch that grew with the tree from the beginning and shared its life is not the same as one grafted back after being cut off. The gardeners will tell you so. Share the same root. Do not share the same doctrine.
9Those who oppose you as you advance according to right reason cannot turn you from sound action. In the same way, do not let them knock you from your goodwill toward them. Guard yourself equally on both fronts. Hold steady not only in judgment and action, but also in gentleness toward those who try to obstruct you or find fault. To grow harsh with them is weakness. So is abandoning your course and giving way in fear. Both are equally deserters. One flinches and runs. The other becomes estranged from one who is by nature his kinsman and friend.
10"No natural process is inferior to any craft." For crafts imitate nature. If this is true, then the most complete and comprehensive nature of all could never fall short of skillful design. Every craft makes lesser things for the sake of greater things. So does universal nature. From this comes the origin of justice. From justice all other virtues arise. For justice cannot be maintained if we care too much about things that do not matter. Or if we are easily deceived. Or quick to stumble. Or quick to change.
11Events do not come to you. The desires and aversions that disturb you are not in the things themselves. In a sense, you go out to meet them. Let your judgment about them remain still. Then they will remain still. And you will be seen neither chasing nor fleeing.
12The soul becomes a perfect sphere, true to its own form, when it does not reach outward toward anything. When it does not collapse inward. When it does not scatter. When it does not shrink into itself. Instead it shines with the light by which it sees the truth of all things. And the truth within.
13Someone will look down on me? That's their concern. My concern is this: that I am never caught doing or saying anything worthy of contempt. Someone will hate me? That's their concern. But I will remain kind and good-willed toward everyone. Even toward this very person. Ready to show them what they've overlooked. Not with reproach. Not making a display of my patience. But with genuine goodness. Like the famous Phocion. If he wasn't just pretending. The inner life must be like this. The gods must see a person who faces nothing with resentment. Who feels no outrage at what happens. What harm can touch you if you are doing what your own nature requires right now? If you are accepting what universal nature finds timely right now? You are a person stretched toward one thing: that the common good be served by whatever means.
14They despise each other yet flatter each other. They want to surpass each other yet bow down to each other.
15How rotten and false is the one who says, "I have decided to deal with you honestly." What are you doing, friend? This should not need announcing. It will show itself. It should be written on your forehead. Your voice should ring with it immediately. It should shine from your eyes at once. Just as a lover recognizes everything instantly in the glance of the beloved. This is exactly what the simple and good person must be. Like someone who smells of garlic. The moment anyone comes near, whether they want to or not, they know. But affected simplicity is a dagger. Nothing is more shameful than the friendship of a wolf. Avoid this above all else. The good, the simple, the kind carry these qualities in their eyes. They cannot be hidden.
16The power to live beautifully lies in the soul. It comes when we stay indifferent to things that do not matter. We will achieve this indifference by examining each thing separately and as a whole. We must remember that nothing out there forces a judgment upon us. Nothing comes at us. These things remain still. We are the ones who create judgments about them. We inscribe them within ourselves. Yet we could choose not to inscribe them. And if something slips in unnoticed, we can erase it at once. This kind of attention will only be needed a short while. Then life will end. Why should it be hard for things to be otherwise? If they accord with nature, welcome them. Let them be easy for you. If they go against nature, seek what accords with your own nature. Pursue that, even if it brings no glory. Anyone who seeks their own true good deserves forgiveness.
17Where did each thing come from. What is it made of. What is it changing into. What will it become after the change. And how it will suffer no harm.
18First, consider your relationship to other people. We were born for one another's sake. And in another sense, I was born to lead them, as a ram leads a flock or a bull leads a herd. But go deeper, starting from this: If not random atoms, then nature governs all things. If that is so, then lower things exist for the sake of higher things. And these higher things exist for one another. Second, consider what people are like at the table, in bed, and elsewhere. Above all, consider what beliefs compel them. And notice the arrogance with which they act on those beliefs. Third, if they act rightly, you have no cause for complaint. If they act wrongly, they clearly do so against their will, in ignorance. Every soul is unwillingly deprived of truth. And equally deprived of the ability to treat each person as they deserve. People resent being called unjust, inconsiderate, greedy, or wrong in any way toward others. Fourth, you yourself commit many wrongs. You are no different from them. Even if you avoid certain wrongs, you still have the disposition for them. Perhaps cowardice holds you back. Perhaps concern for reputation. Perhaps some other flaw keeps you from similar wrongs. Fifth, you cannot even be certain they have done wrong. Many things are done for hidden reasons. One must learn a great deal before passing judgment on another's actions. Sixth, when you are overwhelmed with anger or distress, remember that human life lasts but a moment. Soon we will all be laid out for burial. Seventh, their actions do not disturb us. Those actions belong to their own ruling minds. What disturbs us is our own judgment. Remove your judgment that something terrible has happened. Then your anger disappears. How do you remove it? By reasoning that this is not shameful. For if shameful things were not the only evil, you too would be forced into many wrongs. You would become a thief and capable of anything. Eighth, consider how much more suffering our anger and grief inflict on us than the things themselves that make us angry and grieved. Ninth, kindness is invincible, if it is genuine. Not a smirk. Not a performance. What can the most insolent person do to you if you remain kind toward them? If, when the moment allows, you gently instruct them, calmly teaching them at the very instant they try to harm you? "No, my child. We were made for something else. I will not be harmed. But you are harming yourself, my child." Show them delicately and broadly that this is true. Even bees do not act this way. No creature born for community acts this way. But do not do this with sarcasm or reproach. Do it with affection. Without bitterness in your soul. Not as if lecturing. Not so that bystanders will admire you. Speak to them alone, even if others happen to be standing nearby. Remember these nine points as gifts from the Muses. Begin at last to be a human being while you still live. Guard equally against anger toward people and flattery of them. Both are antisocial. Both lead to harm. Keep this ready in moments of anger: losing your temper is not manly. Gentleness and calm are more human. And therefore more masculine. Strength, vigor, and courage belong to the gentle and calm. Not to the resentful and discontented. The closer this state is to freedom from passion, the closer it is to power. Grief is weakness. And so is anger. Both have been wounded. Both have surrendered. If you wish, receive also a tenth gift from the Leader of the Muses: to expect bad people not to do wrong is madness. It is to desire the impossible. To allow them to wrong others while expecting them not to wrong you is senseless and tyrannical.
19Watch constantly for four corruptions of your ruling mind. When you catch them, wipe them away. Say this over each one. "This impression is unnecessary." "This breaks the bonds between people." "You are about to say something that is not from your true self." Consider it among the worst failures to speak words that are not your own. The fourth is this. You will reproach yourself because it means the divine part within you has been defeated. It has submitted to the lower, mortal part. To the body. To its coarse pleasures and smooth seductions.
20Your breath and all the fire mixed within you naturally rise upward. Yet they obey the order of the universe and remain here in this compound body. The earth and water within you naturally sink downward. Yet they are raised up and held in a position not their own. So even the elements obey the whole when assigned their place. They stay by force until the signal comes for their release. Is it not shameful then that your rational mind alone should rebel? That it should resent its place? Nothing forced is demanded of it. Only what accords with its nature. Yet it will not submit. It moves the opposite way. Every impulse toward wrongdoing and excess and anger and grief and fear is a departure from nature. When the ruling mind resents what happens, it abandons its post. It was made for reverence and piety no less than for justice. These too belong to our fellowship with others. They are even more fundamental than acts of justice.
21"If someone lacks a single, unchanging purpose in life, they cannot remain one and the same person throughout their life." But this statement is not enough unless you also add what kind of purpose it must be. For just as people do not value all the things the majority considers good in the same way, but only certain kinds of things—namely, those that benefit everyone—so too must you establish a purpose that serves the community and the common good. The person who directs all their impulses toward this end will make all their actions consistent. And in this way, they will always remain the same.
22Consider the mountain mouse and the house mouse. Consider the fear and scurrying of the house mouse.
23Socrates called the opinions of the masses "Lamias." Bogeymen to frighten children.
24At public festivals, the Spartans placed seats in the shade for their foreign guests. They themselves sat wherever they happened to find a spot.
25Socrates explained why he would not visit Perdiccas. "I refuse to die the worst of deaths," he said. He meant this: to receive kindness and lack the power to return it.
26In the writings of the Epicureans there was this instruction: keep before your mind one of the great ones from the past who lived by virtue.
27The Pythagoreans taught this: look up at the sky each morning. Let it remind you of those heavenly bodies that forever complete their work in the same way and the same order. Remember their discipline. Remember their purity. Remember their nakedness. For nothing veils a star.
28Think of Socrates, wrapped only in a sheepskin, after Xanthippe had seized his cloak and stormed out. His companions saw him dressed like that and drew back in embarrassment. But consider what he said to them.
29When it comes to writing and reading, you cannot teach until you have first been taught. How much more true this is in life.
30You were born a slave. You have no right to speak.
31My heart laughed within me.
32They will blame excellence, attacking it with harsh words.
33Seeking a fig in winter is madness. So too is the man who longs for his child when that gift is no longer given.
34When you kiss your child, Epictetus said, whisper within yourself: tomorrow you may die. "But those are words of ill omen." Nothing is ill-omened that points to a natural process. Or else the harvesting of grain is ill-omened too.
35An unripe grape becomes a ripe grape. A ripe grape becomes a raisin. All things change. Not into nothingness. But into what does not yet exist.
36No thief can steal your will. That is from Epictetus.
37We must develop a discipline around what we agree to. And in the realm of our impulses, we must stay vigilant. Let them be conditional. Let them serve the common good. Let them be proportionate. As for desire, avoid it entirely. As for aversion, direct it toward nothing outside your control.
38The stakes could not be higher. This is a contest over sanity itself.
39Socrates used to ask: What do you want? To have rational souls or irrational ones? Rational ones. What kind of rational souls? Sound ones or corrupt ones? Sound ones. Then why don't you seek them? Because we already have them. Then why do you fight and quarrel?