Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

ix TO HIMSELF 131
Convert men, if you can : if you cannot, n
charity, remember, has been given you for this
end. See ! the gods too have charity for such,
helping them to divers things, health, wealth and
reputation ; so good are they. You too can do
the same ;
who hinders you ?
Work hard, not making a martyr of yourself, 12
and not seeking pity or applause : seek one thing
only, action or inaction, as social law demands.
To-day I got clear of trouble ; say rather,
cleared trouble out ; the trouble was not without
but within, a matter of views.
All things are alike familiar, fleeting,
everything as it was in the days
buried.
I 13
foul : 14
of the dead and
Facts stand outside us, just as they are, 15
knowing nothing and stating nothing about
themselves. What is it states the case for them ?
the Inner Self.
For a rational and social being good and evil 16
lie not in physical affection but in moral action,
just as virtue and vice lie not in an affection, but
in action.
good
To the thrown stone it is no ill to drop, nor 17
to rise.