ENGLISH COMMENTARY
16, chs. 23 and 25, and ch. 17 is made up of two quite separate aphorisms. The reader of the Greek text will notice that it is more frequently corrupted than in any other Book.
Ch. 1. The remedy, when you meet evil, is to recognize that it is part of the material of moral life,[1] and therefore familiar;[2] it is also short-lived.[3] This way of dealing with evil is explained by examples in ix. 42.
Ch. 2. This chapter may be compared with that entitled 'How to wrestle with imaginations', in Epictetus.[4] Normally Marcus supposes that moral recovery is possible, though with a struggle.[5] Here he contemplates the mortification of the moral self by the destruction of its guiding maxims.[6]
The relation of the imaginations to the maxims seems to be that, in given cases, we are to revive the particular thoughts which illustrate the general rule. The principle of action is only actualized in individual instances, where imagination is necessarily present, and only kept alive by being so presented. Conversely, when you are disturbed you are to return to yourself, to recover the appropriate maxim. The relation of rule to individual case is reciprocal.
Further, he is stating a fact of moral life, that thoughts and ideas on which conduct rests must be the object of repeated observation and reflection. The last sentence of the chapter is not a separate aphorism; the return to life is likened to waking from sleep.[7]
Ch. 3. Man's worth is measured by the worth of his ambitions. The life of most men is passed in a vain show, of which Marcus gives a concentrated and scornful picture.
Ch. 5. This chapter and ch. 7 are closely connected in thought, so that ch. 6 must have been displaced. He commended the Emperor Pius for welcoming the help of others.[8] The joint action is to be in the common service.
Ch. 8. We cannot but compare 'Be not anxious for the morrow'.[9] The phrase 'armed with the same reason' may perhaps
