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All That Is Not Eternal Is Eternally Out Of Date. C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves Life Is Short. Eternity Is Long. Bentley Little, His Father's Son What We Do Now Echoes In Eternity.

-Marcus Aurelius

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All That Is Not

Marcus Aurelius

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All That Is Not Eternal Is Eternally Out Of Date. C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves Life Is Short. Eternity Is Long. Bentley Little, His Father's Son What We Do Now Echoes In Eternity.

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The Earth Loveth The Shower," And "the Holy æther Knoweth What Love Is." The Universe, Too, Loves To Create Whatsoever Is Destined To Be Made.

Depart Then Satisfied, For He Also Who Releases Thee Is Satisfied.

We Are Born For Cooperation, As Are The Feet, The Hands, The Eyelids, And The Upper And Lower Jaws.

Know The Joy Of Life By Piling Good Deed On Good Deed Until No Rift Or Cranny Appears Between Them.

Short-lived Are Both The Praiser And The Praised, And Rememberer And The Remembered: And All This In A Nook Of This Part Of The World; And Not Even Here Do All Agree, No, Not Any One With Himself: And The Whole Earth Too Is A Point.

And Yet, After All, What Is Posthumous Fame? Altogether Vanity.

Think Of All The Years Passed By In Which You Said To Yourself "i'll Do It Tomorrow," And How The Gods Have Again And Again Granted You Periods Of Grace Of Which You Have Not Availed Yourself. It Is Time To Realize That You Are A Member Of The Universe, That You Are Born Of Nature Itself, And To Know That A Limit Has Been Set To Your Time. Use Every Moment Wisely, To Perceive Your Inner Refulgence, Or 'twill Be Gone And Nevermore Within Your Reach.

Procrastination

After All, What Does Fame Everlasting Mean? Mere Vanity.

In The Life Of A Man, His Time Is But A Moment, His Being An Incessant Flux, His Sense A Dim Rushlight, His Body A Prey Of Worms, His Soul An Unquiet Eddy, His Fortune Dark, His Fame Doubtful. In Short, All That Is Body Is As Coursing Waters, All That Is Of The Soul As Dreams And Vapors.

This Is Moral Perfection: To Live Each Day As Though It Were The Last; To Be Tranquil, Sincere, Yet Not Indifferent To One's Fate.

From Alexander The Platonic, Not Frequently Nor Without Necessity To Say To Any One, Or To Write In A Letter, That I Have No Leisure; Nor Continually To Excuse The Neglect Of Duties Required By Our Relation To Those With Whom We Live, By Alleging Urgent Occupations.

Or Is It Your Reputation That's Bothering You? But Look At How Soon We're All Forgotten. The Abyss Of Endless Time That Swallows It All. The Emptiness Of Those Applauding Hands. The People Who Praise Us; How Capricious They Are, How Arbitrary. And The Tiny Region It Takes Place. The Whole Earth A Point In Space - And Most Of It Uninhabited.

There Is But One Thing Of Real Value - To Cultivate Truth And Justice, And To Live Without Anger In The Midst Of Lying And Unjust Men.

If Any Man Despises Me, That Is His Problem. My Only Concern Is Not Doing Or Saying Anything Deserving Of Contempt.

Accept Whatever Comes To You Woven In The Pattern Of Your Destiny, For What Could More Aptly Fit Your Needs?

Life Is Short. That's All There Is To Say. Get What You Can From The Present - Thoughtfully, Justly.

Humans Have Come Into Being For The Sake Of Each Other, So Either Teach Them, Or Learn To Bear Them.

He Is A True Fugitive Who Flies From Reason.

Reason And Logic

Submit To The Fate Of Your Own Free Will.

Why Should Anyone Be Afraid Of Change? What Can Take Place Without It? What Can Be More Pleasing Or More Suitable To Universal Nature? Can You Take Your Bath Without The Firewood Undergoing A Change? Can You Eat Without The Food Undergoing A Change? And Can Anything Useful Be Done Without Change? Don't You See That For You To Change Is Just The Same, And Is Equally Necessary For Universal Nature?

As For Life, It Is A Battle And A Sojourning In A Strange Land; But The Fame That Comes After Is Oblivion.

Remember That All Is Opinion.

I Consist Of A Little Body And A Soul.

How Can A Man Find A Sensible Way To Live? One Way And One Only- Philosophy. And My Philosophy Means Keeping That Vital Spark Within You Free From Damage And Degradation, Using It To Transcend Pain And Pleasure, Doing Everything With A Purpose, Avoiding Lies And Hypocrisy, Not Relying On Another Person's Actions Or Failings. To Accept Everything That Comes, And Everything That Is Given, As Coming From That Same Spiritual Source.

When You Are Annoyed At Someone's Mistake, Immediately Look At Yourself And Reflect How You Also Fail; For Example, In Thinking That Good Equals Money, Or Pleasure, Or A Bit Of Fame. By Being Mindful Of This You'll Quickly Forget Your Anger, Especially If You Realize That The Person Was Under Stress, And Could Do Little Else. And, If You Can, Find A Way To Alleviate That Stress.

That Which Is Really Beautiful Has No Need Of Anything; Not More Than Law, Not More Than Truth, Not More Than Benevolence Or Modesty.

Man Must Be Arched And Buttressed From Within, Else The Temple Wavers To The Dust.

If Someone Is Able To Show Me That What I Think Or Do Is Not Right, I Will Happily Change, For I Seek The Truth, By Which No One Ever Was Truly Harmed. Harmed Is The Person Who Continues In His Self-deception And Ignorance.

Nothing That Goes On In Anyone Else's Mind Can Harm You.

Look Back Over The Past, With Its Changing Empires That Rose And Fell, And You Can Foresee The Future, Too.

It Were Well To Die If There Be Gods, And Sad To Live If There Be None.

If There Is A God

Nothing Is Worth Doing Pointlessly.

Look Within, For Within Is The Wellspring Of Virtue, Which Will Not Cease Flowing, If You Cease Not From Digging.

Self Improvement

Everywhere And At All Times It Is In Thy Power Piously To Acquiesce In Thy Present Condition, And To Behave Justly To Those Who Are About Thee, And To Exert Thy Skill Upon Thy Present Thoughts, That Nothing Shall Steal Into Them Without Being Well Examined.

Our Wills Are Ours, To Make Them Thine.

Each Of Us Lives Only Now, This Brief Instant. The Rest Been Lived Already, Or Is Impossible To See. The Span We Live Is Small - Small As The Corner Of The Earth In Which We Live It.

Does The Light Of The Lamp Shine Without Losing Its Splendour Until It Is Extinguished; And Shall The Truth Which Is In Thee And Justice And Temperance Be Extinguished Before Thy Death?

When Forced, As It Seems, By Your Environment To Be Utterly Disquieted, Return With All Speed Into Your Self, Staying In Discord No Longer Than You Must. By Constant Recurrence To The Harmony, You Will Gain More Command Over It.

Remember That All Is Opinion. For What Was Said By The Cynic Monimus Is Manifest: And Manifest Too Is The Use Of What Was Said, If A Man Receives What May Be Got Out Of It As Far As It Is True.

He Who Flies From His Master Is A Runaway; But The Law Is Master, And He Who Breaks The Law Is A Runaway. And He Also Who Is Grieved Or Angry Or Afraid, Is Dissatisfied Because Something Has Been Or Is Or Shall Be Of The Things Which Are Appointed By Him Who Rules All Things, And He Is Law, And Assigns To Every Man What Is Fit. He Then Who Fears Or Is Grieved Or Is Angry Is A Runaway.

A Good Disposition Is Invincible, If It Be Genuine.

Without A Purpose, Nothing Should Be Done.

The World Is Nothing But Change, Our Life Is Only Perception.

A Little Time, And Thou Shalt Close Thy Eyes; And Him Who Has Attended Thee To Thy Grave, Another Soon Will Lament.

Consider How Many Do Not Even Know Your Name, And How Many Will Soon Forget It, And How Those Who Now Praise You Will Presently Blame You.

Do Not Waste What Remains Of Your Life In Speculating About Your Neighbors, Unless With A View To Some Mutual Benefit. To Wonder What So-and-so Is Doing And Why, Or What He Is Saying, Or Thinking, Or Scheming -- In A Word, Anything That Distracts You From Fidelity To The Ruler Within You -- Means A Loss Of Opportunity For Some Other Task.

From Apollonius I Learned Freedom Of Will And Undeviating Steadiness Of Purpose; And To Look To Nothing Else, Not Even For A Moment, Except To Reason; And To Be Always The Same, In Sharp Pains, On The Occasion Of The Loss Of A Child, And In Long Illness.

Men Are Born For Each Other's Sake, So Either Teach People Or Endure Them

Failure To Read What Is Happening In Another's Soul Is Not Easily Seen As A Cause Of Unhappiness: But Those Who Fail To Attend The Motions Of Their Own Soul Are Necessarily Unhappy.

The Stone That Is Thrown Into The Air Is None The Worse For Falling Down, And None The Better For Going Up.

There Is No Misfortune, But To Bear It Nobly Is Good Fortune.

Be Not Unwilling In What Thou Doest, Neither Selfish Nor Unadvised Nor Obstinate; Let Not Over-refinement Deck Out Thy Thought; Be Not Wordy Nor A Busybody.

Remind Oneself Continually Of One Of Those Who Practiced Virtue In Days Gone By.

Discard Everything Except These Few Truths: We Can Live Only In The Present Moment, In This Brief Now; All The Rest Of Our Life Is Dead And Buried Or Shrouded In Uncertainty. Short Is The Life We Lead, And Small Our Patch Of Earth.

The Gods Have Provided Me With Clear And Compelling Signs Of What It Means To Live In Conformity To Nature. They Did Their Part. So Far As Their Gifts, Aid, And Inspiration Are Concerned, Nothing Prevented Me From Following The Path Prescribed By Nature. If From Time To Time I Have Strayed From This Path, The Fault Lies With Me And With My Failure To Heed The Gods' Signs, Or Rather, Their Explicit Instructions.

That Which Had Grown From The Earth, To The Earth, But That Which Has Sprung From Heavenly Seed, Back To The Heavenly Realms Returns. This Is Either A Dissolution Of The Mutual Involution Of The Atoms, Or A Similar Dispersion Of The Unsentient Elements.

The Gods Sustain And Guide All Their Works.

While You Live, While It Is In Your Power, Be Good.

Think Not So Much Of What Thou Hast Not As Of What Thou Hast: But Of The Things Which Thou Hast, Select The Best, And Then Reflect How Eagerly They Would Have Been Sought, If Thou Hadst Them Not. At The Same Time, However, Take Care That Thou Dost Not, Through Being So Pleased With Them, Accustom Thyself To Overvalue Them, So As To Be Disturbed If Ever Thou Shouldst Not Have Them.

If Thou Canst See Sharp, Look And Judge Wisely, Says The Philosopher.

What Use Do I Put My Soul To? It Is A Serviceable Question This, And Should Frequently Be Put To Oneself. How Does My Ruling Part Stand Affected? And Whose Soul Have I Now? That Of A Child, Or A Young Man, Or A Feeble Woman, Or Of A Tyrant, Of Cattle Or Wild Beasts.

Withdraw To The Untroubled Quietude Deep Within The Soul, And Refresh Yourself.

Either All Things Proceed From One Intelligent Source And Come Together As In One Body, And The Part Ought Not To Find Fault With What Is Done For The Benefit Of The Whole; Or There Are Only Atoms, And Nothing Else Than A Mixture And Dispersion. Why, Then, Art Thou Disturbed? Say To This Ruling Faculty, Art Thou Dead, Art Thou Corrupted, Art Thou Playing The Hypocrite, Art Thou Become A Beast, Dost Thou Herd And Feed With The Rest?

All Is Ephemeral - Fame And The Famous As Well.

Only To The Rational Animal Is It Given To Follow Voluntarily What Happens; But Simply To Follow Is A Necessity Imposed On All.

Let No Act Be Done Without Purpose.

If Any Man Has Done Wrong, The Harm Is His Own. But Perhaps He Has Not Done Wrong.

Happiness Is No Other Than Soundness And Perfection Of Mind.

It's Normal To Feel Pain In Your Hands And Feet, If You're Using Your Feet As Feet And Your Hands As Hands. And For A Human Being To Feel Stress Is Normal - If He's Living A Normal Life. And If It's Normal, How Can It Be Bad?

Keep Constantly In Mind In How Many Things You Yourself Have Witnessed Changes Already. The Universe Is Change, Life Is Understanding.

To Understand The True Quality Of People, You Must Look Into Their Minds, And Examine Their Pursuits And Aversions.

Accept The Things To Which Fate Binds You, And Love The People With Whom Fate Brings You Together, But Do So With All Your Heart.

Tranquility Is Nothing Else Than The Good Ordering Of The Mind.

Life Is A Warfare And A Stranger's Sojourn, And After Fame Is Oblivion.

Observe Always That Everything Is The Result Of A Change, And Get Used To Thinking That There Is Nothing Nature Loves So Well As To Change Existing Forms And To Make New Ones Like Them.

Past And Future Have No Power Over You. Just The Present - And Even That Can Be Minimized.

Why Should We Feel Anger At The World? As If The World Would Notice?

God Overrules All Mutinous Accidents, Brings Them Under His Laws Of Fate, And Makes Them All Serviceable To His Purpose.

Each Of Us Needs What Nature Gives Us, When Nature Gives Us.

The Greatest Part Of What We Say And Do Is Really Unnecessary. If A Man Takes This To Heart, He Will Have More Leisure And Less Uneasiness.

Receive Wealth Or Prosperity Without Arrogance; And Be Ready To Let It Go.

By A Tranquil Mind I Mean Nothing Else Than A Mind Well Ordered.

Dwell On The Beauty Of Life. Watch The Stars, And See Yourself Running With Them.

Consider When Thou Art Much Vexed Or Grieved, That Man's Life Is Only A Moment, And After A Short Time We Are All Laid Out Dead.

If Souls Survive Death For All Eternity, How Can The Heavens Hold Them All? Or For That Matter, How Can The Earth Hold All The Bodies That Have Been Buried In It? The Answers Are The Same. Just As On Earth, With The Passage Of Time, Decaying And Transmogrified Corpses Make Way For The Newly Dead, So Souls Released Into The Heavens, After A Season Of Flight, Begin To Break Up, Burn, And Be Absorbed Back Into The Womb Of Reason, Leaving Room For Souls Just Beginning To Fly. This Is The Answer For Those Who Believe That Souls Survive Death.

A Man's Life Is What His Thoughts Make Of It.

Positive Thinking

Most Of What We Say And Do Is Not Essential. If You Can Eliminate It, You'll Have More Time, And More Tranquillity. Ask Yourself At Every Moment, 'is This Necessary?'

Don't Be Ashamed To Need Help. Like A Soldier Storming A Wall, You Have A Mission To Accomplish. And If You've Been Wounded And You Need A Comrade To Pull You Up? So What?

Not Even The Vicissitudes Of Fortune Are Contrary To Nature Or To The Providential Ordering Of The Universe. It All Flows From The Gods, Who Determine What Is Needed For The Welfare Of The Whole Universe, Of Which You Are A Part.

To Her Who Gives And Takes Back All, To Nature, The Man Who Is Instructed And Modest Says, Give What Thou Wilt; Take Back What Thou Wilt. And He Says This Not Proudly, But Obediently And Well Pleased With Her.

Nature Has Given To Each Conscious Being Every Power She Possesses, And One Of These Abilities Is This: Just As Nature Converts And Alters Every Obstacle And Opposition, And Fits Them Into Their Predestined Place, Making Them A Part Of Herself, So Too The Rational Person Is Able To Finesse Every Obstacle Into An Opportunity, And To Use It For Whatever Purpose It May Suit.

Everything Is But What We Think It.

Live Your Life As If You Are Ready To Say Goodbye To It At Any Moment, As If The Time Left For You Were Some Pleasant Surprise.

Pleasant Surprises

The One Thing Worth Living For Is To Keep One's Soul Pure.

The Best Way Of Avenging Thyself Is Not To Become Like The Wrong-doer.

You Exist But As A Part Inherent In A Greater Whole. Do Not Live As Though You Had A Thousand Years Before You. The Common Due Impends; While You Live, And While You May, Be Good.

Death And Life, Success And Failure, Pain And Pleasure, Wealth And Poverty, All These Happen To Good And Bad Alike, And They Are Neither Noble Nor Shameful - And Hence Neither Good Nor Bad.

Leave Other People's Mistakes Where They Lie.

The Mind In Itself Wants Nothing, Unless It Creates A Want For Itself; Therefore It Is Both Free From Perturbation And Unimpeded, If It Does Not Perturb And Impede Itself.

Such As Are Thy Habitual Thoughts, Such Also Will Be The Character Of Thy Mind; For The Soul Is Dyed By The Thoughts.

Thou Sufferest Justly: For Thou Choosest Rather To Become Good To-morrow Than To Be Good To-day.

Today I Escaped All Circumstance, Or Rather I Cast Out All Circumstance, For It Was Not Outside Me, But Within My Judgements.

Snow Endures But For A Season, And Joy Comes With The Morning.

Man Is Born For Deeds Of Kindness.

And Can Anything Else That Is Useful Be Accomplished Without Change? Do You Not See Then That For Yourself Also To Change Is Just The Same, And Equally Necessary For The Universal Nature?

Positive Attitude

Hast Thou Reason? I Have. Why Then Dost Not Thou Use It? For If This Does Its Own Work, What Else Dost Thou Wish?

Neither Worse Then Nor Better Is A Thing Made By Being Praised.

Think Of Yourself As Dead. You Have Lived Your Life. Now, Take What's Left And Live It Properly. What Doesn't Transmit Light Creates Its Own Darkness.

Aptitude Found In The Understanding And Is Often Inherited. Genius Coming From Reason And Imagination, Rarely.

Vivid Imagination

Remember How Often You Have Postponed Minding Your Interest, And Let Slip Those Opportunities The Gods Have Given You. It Is Now High Time To Consider What Sort Of World You Are Part Of, And From What Kind Of Governor Of It You Are Descended; That You Have A Set Period Assigned You To Act In, And Unless You Improve It To Brighten And Compose Your Thoughts, It Will Quickly Run Off With You, And Be Lost Beyond Recovery.

Don't Let Your Imagination Be Crushed By Life As A Whole.

You Must Become An Old Man In Good Time If You Wish To Be An Old Man Long.

I Bless The Gods For Not Letting My Education In Rhetoric, Poetry, And Other Literary Studies Come Easily To Me, And Thereby Sparing Me From An Absorbing Interest In These Subjects.

The Time Is At Hand When You Will Have Forgotten Everything; And The Time Is At Hand When All Will Have Forgotten You. Always Reflect That Soon You Will Be No One, And Nowhere.

Because Your Own Strength Is Unequal To The Task, Do Not Assume That It Is Beyond The Powers Of Man; But If Anything Is Within The Powers And Province Of Man, Believe That It Is Within Your Own Compass Also.

Stop Whatever You're Doing For A Moment And Ask Yourself: Am I Afraid Of Death Because I Won't Be Able To Do This Anymore?

Turn Thy Thoughts Now To The Consideration Of Thy Life, Thy Life As A Child, As A Youth, Thy Manhood, Thy Old Age, For In These Also Every Change Was A Death. Is This Anything To Fear?

The Whole Universe Is Change And Life Itself Is But What You Deem It - Either Gratefully Better Than Or Bitterly Worse Than Something Else That You Alone Choose.

What Does Not Benefit The Hive Is No Benefit To The Bee.

Everything Is Banal In Experience, Fleeting In Duration, Sordid In Content; In All Respects The Same Today As Generations Now Dead And Buried Have Found It To Be.

Things That Have A Common Quality Ever Quickly Seek Their Kind.

The Cucumber Is Bitter? Then Throw It Out. There Are Brambles In The Path? Then Go Around Them. That's All You Need To Know. Nothing More. Don't Demand To Know "why Such Things Exist." Anyone Who Understands The World Will Laugh At You, Just As A Carpenter Would If You Seemed Shocked At Finding Sawdust In His Workshop, Or A Shoemaker At Scraps Of Leather Left Over From Work.

The Best Revenge Is Not To Be Like Your Enemy.

Do What Nature Now Requires. Set Thyself In Motion, If It Is In Thy Power, And Do Not Look About Thee To See If Any One Will Observe It; Nor Yet Expect Plato's Republic: But Be Content If The Smallest Thing Goes On Well, And Consider Such An Event To Be No Small Matter.

In The Same Degree In Which A Man's Mind Is Nearer To Freedom From All Passion, In The Same Degree Also Is It Nearer To Strength.

Be Cheerful, Also, And Seek Not External Help, Nor The Peace Which Others Give. A Man Must Stand Straight, And Not Be Kept Straight By Others.

If Someone Can Prove Me Wrong And Show Me My Mistake In Any Thought Or Action, I Shall Gladly Change. I Seek The Truth, Which Never Harmed Anyone: The Harm Is To Persist In One's Own Self-deception And Ignorance.

In Man's Life, Time Is But A Moment; Being, A Flux; Sense Is Dim; The Material Frame Corruptible; Soul, An Eddy Of Breath; Fortune A Thing Inscrutable, And Fame Precarious.

That Which Makes The Man No Worse Than He Was Makes His Life No Worse: It Has No Power To Harm, Without Or Within.

Death, Like Birth, Is One Of Nature's Mysteries, The Combining Of Primal Elements And Dissolving Of The Same Into The Same.

The Intelligence Of The Universe Is Social.

But That Which Is Useful Is The Better.

Begin - To Begin Is Half The Work, Let Half Still Remain; Again Begin This, And Thou Wilt Have Finished.

Purge Your Mind Of All Aimless And Idle Thoughts, Especially Those That Pry Into The Affairs Of Others Or Wish Them Ill.

What We Do In Life Ripples In Eternity.

It Is Not The Body, Nor The Personality That Is The True Self. The True Self Is Eternal. Even On The Point Of Death We Can Say To Ourselves, "my True Self Is Free. I Cannot Be Contained."

Our Inward Power, When It Obeys Nature, Reacts To Events By Accommodating Itself To What It Faces - To What Is Possible. It Needs No Specific Material. It Pursues Its Own Aims As Circumstances Allow; It Turns Obstacles Into Fuel. As A Fire Overwhelms What Would Have Quenched A Lamp. What's Thrown On Top Of The Conflagration Is Absorbed, Consumed By It - And Makes It Burn Still Higher.

Does What's Happened Keep You From Acting With Justice, Generosity, Self-control, Sanity, Prudence, Honesty, Humility, Straightforward Ness, And All Other Qualities That Allow A Person's Nature To Fulfill Itself? So Remember This Principle When Something Threatens To Cause You Pain: The Thing Itself Was No Misfortune At All; To Endure It And Prevail Is Great Good Fortune.

If Thou Workest At That Which Is Before Thee ... Expecting Nothing, Fearing Nothing, But Satisfied With Thy Present Activity According To Nature, And With Heroic Truth In Every Word And Sound Which Thou Utterest, Thou Wilt Live Happy. And There Is No Man Who Is Able To Prevent This.

As For Literature, Thefts Cannot Harm It, While The Lapse Of Ages Augments Its Value

Do Every Act Of Your Life As If It Were Your Last.

Whatever May Happen To You Was Prepared For You From All Eternity; And The Implication Of Causes Was From Eternity Spinning The Thread Of Your Being.

Cinna Wishes To Seem Poor, And Is Poor

Nature Set A Limit On Sleep - As It Did On Eating And Drinking. And Youre Over The Limit. But Not Of Working. There Youre Still Below Your Quota. You Dont Love Yourself Enough. Or Youd Love Your Nature Too And What It Demands Of You. People Who Love What They Do Wear Themselves Down Doing It. They Even Forget To Wash And Eat.

Vex Not Thy Spirit At The Course Of Things, They Heed Not Thy Vexations

Let There Be Freedom From Perturbations With Respect To The Things Which Come From The External Cause; And Let There Be Justice In The Things Done By Virtue Of The Internal Cause, That Is, Let There Be Movement And Action Terminating In This, In Social Acts, For This Is According To Thy Nature.

Your Life Is An Expression Of All Your Thoughts.

Gluttony And Drunkenness Have Two Evils Attendant On Them; They Make The Carcass Smart, As Well As The Pocket.

My Only Fear Is Doing Something Contrary To Human Nature - The Wrong Thing, The Wrong Way, Or At The Wrong Time.

I Have Often Wondered How It Is That Every Man Loves Himself More Than All The Rest Of Men, But Yet Sets Less Value On His Own Opinions Of Himself Than On The Opinions Of Others.

Others Opinions

Adorn Thyself With Simplicity And With Indifference Towards The Things Which Lie Between Virtue And Vice. Love Mankind. Follow God. The Poet Says That Law Rules All. And It Is Enough To Remember That Law Rules All.

A Man's Worth Is No Greater Than His Ambitions.

Be Content With What You Are, And Wish Not Change; Nor Dread Your Last Day, Nor Long For It.

The Inner Master, When Confronted With An Obstacle, Uses It As Fuel, Like A Fire Which Consumes Things That Are Thrown Into It. A Small Lamp Would Be Snuffed Out, But A Big Fire Will Engulf What Is Thrown At It And Burn Hotter; It Consumes The Obstacle And Uses It To Reach A Higher Level.

The Things You Think About Determine The Quality Of Your Mind. Your Soul Takes On The Color Of Your Thoughts.

Positive Thinking

The Honest And Good Man Ought To Be Exactly Like A Man Who Smells Strong, So That The Bystander As Soon As He Comes Near Him Must Smell Whether He Choose Or Not.

Do Not Disturb Yourself By Picturing Your Life As A Whole; Do Not Assemble In Your Mind The Many And Varied Troubles Which Have Come To You In The Past And Will Come Again In The Future, But Ask Yourself With Regard To Every Present Difficulty: 'what Is There In This That Is Unbearable And Beyond Endurance?'

He Who Does Wrong Does Wrong Against Himself. He Who Acts Unjustly Acts Unjustly To Himself, Because He Makes Himself Bad.

It Is Possible To Depart From Life At This Moment. Have This Thought In Mind Whenever You Act, Speak, Or Think.

It Is Not The Weight Of The Future Or The Past That Is Pressing Upon You, But Ever That Of The Present Alone. Even This Burden, Too, Can Be Lessened If You Confine It Strictly To Its Own Limits.

He Who Has Seen Present Things Has Seen All, Both Everything Which Has Taken Place From All Eternity And Everything Which Will Be For Time Without End; For All Things Are Of One Kin And Of One Form.

Nothing Can Come Out Of Nothing, Any More Than A Thing Can Go Back To Nothing.

A Man Is A Little Soul Carrying Around A Courpse.

Your Manners Will Depend Very Much Upon The Quality Of What You Frequently Think On; For The Soul Is As It Were Tinged With The Colour And Complexion Of Thought.

Nothing Is Evil Which Is According To Nature.

Are You Distracted By Outward Cares? Then Allow Yourself A Space Of Quiet Wherein You Can Add To Your Knowledge Of The Good And Learn To Curb Your Restlessness. Nowhere Can A Man Find A Quieter Or More Untroubled Retreat Than In His Own Soul. Avail Yourself Often, Then, Of This Retirement, And So Continually Renew Yourself.

My City And State Are Rome. But As A Human Being? The World. So For Me, "good" Can Only Mean What's Good For Both Communities.

Were You To Live Three Thousand Years, Or Even Thirty Thousand, Remember That The Sole Life Which A Man Can Lose Is That Which He Is Living At The Moment; And Furthermore, That He Can Have No Other Life Except The One He Loses.

Consider Thyself To Be Dead, And To Have Completed Thy Life Up To The Present Time; And Live According To Nature The Remainder Which Is Allowed Thee.

The Noblest Kind Of Retribution Is Not To Become Like Your Enemy.

Words Of Wisdom

The Happiness Of Those Who Want To Be Popular Depends On Others; The Happiness Of Those Who Seek Pleasure Fluctuates With Moods Outside Their Control; But The Happiness Of The Wise Grows Out Of Their Own Free Acts.

The Things... Which Are Proper To The Understanding No Other Man Is Used To Impede, For Neither Fire, Nor Iron, Nor Tyrant, Nor Abuse, Touches It In Any Way. When It Has Been Made A Sphere, It Continues A Sphere.

As The Same Fire Assumes Different Shapes When It Consumes Objects Differing In Shape, So Does The One Self Take The Shape Of Every Creature In Whom He Is Present.

The Act Of Dying Is One Of The Acts Of Life.

All That Happens Is As Usual And Familiar As The Rose In Spring And The Crop In Summer.

In The Case Of All Things Which Have A Certain Constitution, Whatever Harm May Happen To Any Of Them, That Which Is Affected Becomes Consequently Worse; But In Like Case, A Man Becomes Both Better... And More Worthy Of Praise, By Making The Right Use Of These Accidents.

No One Loses Any Other Life Than The One He Now Lives, Nor Does One Live Any Other Life Than That Which He Will Lose.

Try To Live The Life Of The Good Man Who Is More Than Content With What Is Allocated To Him.

No State Sorrier Than That Of The Man Who Keeps Up A Continual Round, And Pries Into "the Secrets Of The Nether World," As Saith The Poet, And Is Curious In Conjecture Of What Is In His Neighbour's Heart.

Take The Shortest Route. The One That Nature Planned - To Speak And Act In The Healthiest Way. Do That, And Be Free Of Pain And Stress, Free Of All Calculations And Pretension.

When You Are Offended At Anyone's Fault, Turn To Yourself And Study Your Own Failings. By Attending To Them, You Will Forget Your Anger And Learn To Live Wisely.

Remember That Man Lives Only In The Present, In This Fleeting Instant; All The Rest Of His Life Is Either Past And Gone, Or Not Yet Revealed.

God Sees The Inner Spirit Stripped Of Flesh, Skin, And All Debris. For His Own Mind Only Touches The Spirit That He Has Allowed To Flow From Himself Into Our Bodies. And If You Can Act The Same Way, You Will Rid Yourself Of All Suffering. For Surely If You Are Not Preoccupied With The Body That Encloses You, You Will Not Trouble Yourself About Clothes, Houses, Fame, And Other Showy Trappings.

It Will Suffice Thee To Remember As Concerning Pain ... That The Mind May, By Stopping All Manner Of Commerce And Sympathy With The Body, Still Retain Its Own Tranquility.

Consider Frequently The Connection Of All Things In The Universe And Their Relation To One Another. For Things Are Somehow Implicated With One Another, And All In A Way Friendly To One Another.

That Which Comes After Ever Conforms To That Which Has Gone Before.

Do Not Suffer A Sudden Impression To Overbear Your Judgment.

Get Rid Of The Judgement ... Get Rid Of The 'i Am Hurt,' You Are Rid Of The Hurt Itself.

When Men Hate Or Blame You, Or Say Hurtful Things About You, Look Deeply Into Their Hearts And See What Kind Of Men They Are. You'll See How Unnecessary It Is To Strain After Their Good Opinion. Yet You Must Still Think Kindly Of Them. They Are Your Neighbors. The Gods Help Them As They Do You, By Dreams And Oracles, To Win Their Hearts' Desires.

Everything Is Born From Change. ...there Is Nothing Nature Loves More That To Alter What Exists And Make New Things Like It. All That Exists Is The Seed Of What Will Emerge From It. You Think The Only Seeds Are The One That Make Plants And Children? Go Deeper.

The Opinion Of 10,000 Men Is Of No Value If None Of Them Know Anything About The Subject.

Wilt Thou, Then, My Soul, Never Be Good And Simple And One And Naked, More Manifest Than The Body Which Surrounds Thee?

The Substance Of The Universe Is Obedient And Compliant; And The Reason Which Governs It Has In Itself No Cause For Doing Evil, For It Has No Malice, Nor Does It Do Evil To Anything, Nor Is Anything Harmed By It. But All Things Are Made And Perfected According To This Reason.

A Great Estate Is A Great Disadvantage To Those Who Do Not Know How To Use It, For Nothing Is More Common Than To See Wealthy Persons Live Scandalously And Miserably; Riches Do Them No Service In Order To Virtue And Happiness; Therefore 'tis Precept And Principle, Not An Estate, That Makes A Man Good For Something.

Never Forget That The Universe Is A Single Living Organism Possessed Of One Substance And One Soul, Holding All Things Suspended In A Single Consciousness And Creating All Things With A Single Purpose That They Might Work Together Spinning And Weaving And Knotting Whatever Comes To Pass.

Doctors Keep Their Scalpels And Other Instruments Handy, For Emergencies. Keep Your Philosophy Ready Too - Ready To Understand Heaven And Earth. In Everything You Do, Even The Smallest Thing, Remember The Chain That Links Them. Nothing Earthly Succeeds By Ignoring Heaven, Nothing Heavenly By Ignoring Earth.

Take Away The Complaint, 'i Have Been Harmed,' And The Harm Is Taken Away.

Welcome Every Experience The Looms Of Fate May Weave For You.

External Things Are Not The Problem. It's Your Assessment Of Them. Which You Can Erase Right Now.

To Live Each Day As Though One's Last, Never Flustered, Never Apathetic, Never Attitudinizing - Here Is The Perfection Of Character.

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