Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

14 MARCUS ANTONINUS BOOK
those of the compounded
wholes. Be content
with what you have, find there your principles
of life. No more of thirsting after books, that
you may die not murmuring but in serenity,
truly and heartily grateful to the gods.
Think how long you have gone on postponing,
how often the gods have granted days of grace,
which you have failed to use. It is high time to
give heed to the order of which you are a part, and
to the great disposer, of whom your being is an efflu-
ence ;
and to perceive that the limit of your time is
circumscribed ; use it to gain the unclouded calm,
or 'twill be gone, and nevermore within your power.
Every hour staunchly, as a Roman and a man,
resolve to do the work in hand, with scrupulous
and unaffected dignity, affectionately, freely, justly ;
from all other in-
securing respite for yourself
truding regards. And this you will secure, if you
perform each task as though it were your last, free
from all waywardness, from passions averse to the
dictates of reason, from insincerity, self-love,
and discontent with destiny.
See how few things
a man need hold fast, to secure the smooth flow
of a godly life for the gods will require nothing
more of him who keeps true to these.