Page:Marcus Aurelius (Haines 1916).djvu/201

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BOOK VI

To feel some such impulse as thou didst. In that thou art successful. That which alone was in the sphere of our choice[1] is realized.

51. The lover of glory conceives his own good to consist in another's action, the lover of pleasure in his own feelings, but the possessor of understanding in his own actions.

52. We need not form any opinion about the thing in question or be harassed in soul, for Nature gives the thing itself no power to compel our judgments.

53. Train thyself to pay careful attention to what is being said[2] by another and as far as possible enter into his soul.

54. That which is not in the interests of the hive cannot be in the interests of the bee.[3]

55. If the sailors spoke ill of a steersman or the sick of a physician, what else would they have in mind but how the man should best effect the safety of the crew or the health of his patients?

56. How many have already left the world who came into it with me!

57. To the jaundiced honey tastes bitter; and the victim of hydrophobia has a horror of water; and to little children their ball is a treasure. Why then angry? Or dost thou think that error is a less potent factor than bile in the jaundiced and virus in the victim of rabies?

58. From living according to the reason of thy nature no one can prevent thee: contrary to the

  1. Casaubon translates "that for which we were brought into the world,” but can προάγω mean this?
  2. Obviously no contradiction of iv. 18 etc. See also vii. 4. 30.
  3. v. 22

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