Historical voices

It is satisfaction to a man to do the proper works of a man.

Remember this then, that this little compound, thyself, must either be dissolved, or thy poor breath must be extinguished, or be removed and placed elsewhere.

Some indeed have not been remembered even for a short time, and others have become the heroes of fables, and again others have disappeared even from fables.

Such as bathing appears to thee,--oil, sweat, dirt, filthy water, all things disgusting,--so is every part of life and everything.

I receive it and refer it to the gods, and the source of all things, from which all that happens is derived.

I do it with reference to the good of mankind.

Thou sufferest this justly: for thou choosest rather to become good to-morrow than to be good to-day.

Attend to the matter which is before thee, whether it is an opinion or an act or a word.

Short lived are both the praiser and the praised, and the rememberer and the remembered: and all this in a nook of this part of the world; and not even here do all agree, no, not any one with himself: and the whole earth too is a point.

What good is it then for the ball to be thrown up, or harm for it to come down, or even to have fallen? and what good is it to the bubble while it holds together, or what harm when it is burst?

Nature has had regard in everything no less to the end than to the beginning and the continuance, just like the man who throws up a ball.

For what purpose then art thou,--to enjoy pleasure?

Everything exists for some end,--a horse, a vine.

That which has died falls not out of the universe.

Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.

Remember that as it is a shame to be surprised if the fig-tree produces figs, so it is to be surprised if the world produces such and such things of which it is productive; and for the physician and the helmsman it is a shame to be…

Whatever man thou meetest with, immediately say to thyself: What opinions has this man about good and bad?

Constantly, and, if it be possible, on the occasion of every impression on the soul, apply to it the principles of Physic, of Ethic, and of Dialectic.

When thou risest from sleep with reluctance, remember that it is according to thy constitution and according to human nature to perform social acts, but sleeping is common also to irrational animals.

This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution?

All things are change, yet we need not fear anything new.

The nature of the universal has this work to do,--to remove to that place the things which are in this, to change them, to take, them away hence, and to carry them there.

This is the chief thing: Be not perturbed, for all things are according to the nature of the universal; and in a little time thou wilt be nobody and nowhere, like Hadrianus and Augustus.

But as to the others, how many things had they to care for, and to how many things were they slaves!