Ch. 3
What is the matter on which a good man should be
employed, and in what we ought chiefly to practise
ourselves.
THE material for the wise and good man is his own ruling
faculty: and the body is the material for the physician
and the aliptes (the man who oils persons); the land is
the matter for the husbandman. The business of the wise
and good man is to use appearances conformably to nature:
and as it is the nature of every soul to assent to the truth,
to dissent from the false, and to remain in suspense as to
that which is uncertain; so it is its nature to be moved
towards the desire of the good, and to aversion from the
evil; and with respect to that which is neither good nor
bad it feels indifferent. For as the money-changer (banker)
is not allowed to reject Caesar's coin, nor the seller of herbs,
but if you show the coin, whether he chooses or not, he
must give up what is sold for the coin; so it is also in the
matter of the soul. When the good appears, it immediately
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attracts to itself; the evil repels from itself. But the soul
will never reject the manifest appearance of the good, any
more than persons will reject Caesar's coin. On this
principle depends every movement both of man and God.449
For this reason the good is preferred to every intimate
relationship (obligation). There is no intimate relationship between me and my father, but there is between me
and the good. Are you so hard-hearted? Yes, for such is
my nature; and this is the coin which God has given me.
For this reason if the good is something different from the
beautiful and the just, both father is gone (neglected), and
brother and country, and every thing. But shall I overlook
my own good, in order that you may have it, and shall I
give it up to you? Why? I am your father. But you are
not my good. I am your brother. But you are not my
good. But if we place the good in a right determination
of the will, the very observance of the relations of life is
good, and accordingly he who gives up any external things,
obtains that which is good. Your father takes away your
property. But he does not injure you. Your brother will
have the greater part of the estate in land. Let him have
as much as he chooses. Will he then have a greater share
of modesty, of fidelity, of brotherly affection? For who will
eject you from this possession? Not even Zeus, for neither
has he chosen to do so; but he has made this in my own
power, and he has given it to me just as he possessed it
himself, free from hindrance, compulsion, and impediment.
When then the coin which another uses is a different coin,
if a man presents this coin, be receives that which is
sold for it. Suppose that there comes into the province a
thievish proconsul, what coin does he use? Silver coin.
Show it to him, and carry off what you please. Suppose
one comes who is an adulterer: what coin does he use?
Little girls. Take, a man says, the coin, and sell me the
small thing. Give, says the seller, and buy [what you want].
Another is eager to possess boys. Give him the coin, and
receive what you wish. Another is fond of hunting: give
him a fine nag or a dog. Though he groans and laments,
be will sell for it that which you want. For another
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compels him from within, he who has fixed determined)
this coin.450
Against (or with respect to) this kind of thing chiefly a
man should exercise himself. As soon as you go out in the
morning, examine every man whom you see, every man
whom you hear; answer as to a question, What have you
seen? A handsome man or woman? Apply the rule. Is
this independent of the will, or dependent? Independent.
Take it away. What have you seen? A man lamenting
over the death of a child. Apply the rule. Death is a
thing independent of the will. Take it away. Has the
proconsul met you? Apply the rule. What kind of thing is
a proconsul's office? Independent of the will, or dependent
on it? Independent. Take this away also: it does not
stand examination: cast it away: it is nothing to you.
If we practised this and exercised ourselves in it daily
from morning to night, something indeed would be done.
But now we are forthwith caught half asleep by every
appearance, and it is only, if ever, that in the school we are
roused a little. Then when we go out, if we see a man
lamenting, we say, He is undone. If we see a consul,
we say, He is happy. If we see an exiled man, we say, He
is miserable. If we see a poor man, we say, He is wretched:
he has nothing to eat.
We ought then to eradicate these bad opinions, and to
this end we should direct all our efforts. For what is
weeping and lamenting? Opinion. What is bad fortune?
Opinion. What is civil sedition, what is divided opinion,
what is blame, what is accusation, what is impiety, what is
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trifling?. All these things are opinions, and nothing more,
and opinions about things independent of the will, as if they
were good and bad. Let a man transfer these opinions to
things dependent on the will, and I engage for him that he
will be firm and constant, whatever may be the state of
things around him. Such as is a dish of water, such is the
soul. Such as is the ray of light which falls on the water,
such are the appearances. When the water is moved, the
ray also seems to be moved, yet it is not moved. And when
then a man is seized with giddiness, it is not the arts and
the virtues which are confounded, but the spirit (the
nervous power) on which they are impressed; but if the
spirit be restored to its settled state, those things also are
restored.451
