Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.
Marcus Aurelius advises living in harmony with nature and accepting death with gratitude, likening it to a ripe olive falling from its tree.
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Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to endure that which the common nature brings.
What remains, except to enjoy life by joining one good thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest intervals between?
But everything else, whether it is in the power of thy will or not, is only lifeless ashes and smoke.
But if it is easy to set little value on all these things, turn to that which remains, which is to follow reason and God.
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