§4.3.1Ἀναχωρήσεις αὑτοῖς ζητοῦσιν ἀγροικίας καὶ αἰγιαλοὺς καὶ ὄρη, εἴωθας δὲ καὶ σὺ τὰ τοιαῦτα μάλιστα ποθεῖν.
People seek retreats for themselves, in the country, by the sea, and on the hills; and you, too, are wont to desire such things very much.
ὅλον δὲ τοῦτο ἰδιωτικώτατόν ἐστιν ἐξόν, ἧς ἂν ὥρας ἐθελήσῃς, εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναχωρεῖν.
But this is altogether most unphilosophical, since it is in your power, at whatever hour you choose, to retreat into yourself.
οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ οὔτε ἡσυχιώτερον οὔτε ἀπραγμονέστερον ἄνθρωπος ἀναχωρεῖ ἢ εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν, μάλισθʼ ὅστις ἔχει ἔνδον τοιαῦτα, εἰς ἃ ἐγκύψας ἐν πάσῃ εὐμαρείᾳ εὐθὺς γίνεται· τὴν δὲ εὐμάρειαν οὐδὲν ἄλλο λέγω ἢ εὐκοσμίαν.
For nowhere does a man retreat with more quietness or freedom from trouble than into his own soul, especially one who has within him such thoughts that, by looking into them, he immediately enters into perfect ease; and by ease I mean nothing other than good ordering of the mind.
συνεχῶς οὖν δίδου σεαυτῷ ταύτην τὴν ἀναχώρησιν καὶ ἀνανέου σεαυτόν· βραχέα δὲ ἔστω καὶ στοιχειώδη ἃ εὐθὺς ἀπαντήσαντα ἀρκέσει εἰς τὸ πᾶσαν λύπην ἀποκλύσαι καὶ ἀποπέμψαι σε μὴ δυσχεραίνοντα ἐκείνοις ἐφʼ ἃ ἐπανέρχῃ.
Constantly, therefore, grant yourself this retreat and renew yourself; and let your principles be brief and fundamental, such as will at once, when met, suffice to wash away all sorrow and send you back without any discontent to those things to which you must return.
§4.3.2τίνι γὰρ δυσχερανεῖς;
For with what will you be discontented?
τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κακίᾳ;
With the wickedness of men?
ἀναλογισάμενος τὸ κρῖμα, ὅτι τὰ λογικὰ ζῷα ἀλλήλων ἕνεκεν γέγονε καὶ ὅτι τὸ ἀνέχεσθαι μέρος τῆς δικαιοσύνης καὶ ὅτι ἄκοντες ἁμαρτάνουσι καὶ πόσοι ἤδη διεχθρεύσαντες, ὑποπτεύσαντες, μισήσαντες, διαδορατισθέντες ἐκτέτανται, τετέφρωνται, παύου ποτέ.
Reflect on the judgment that rational beings have been made for one another, and that to bear with them is a part of justice, and that they do wrong involuntarily, and how many already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, hatred, and fighting, have been stretched dead and turned to ashes—and at last desist.
ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῶν ὅλων ἀπονεμομένοις δυσχερανεῖς;
Or will you be discontented with what is allotted to you from the whole?
ἀνανεωσάμενος τὸ διεζευγμένον τό· ἤτοι πρόνοια ἢ ἄτομοι, καὶ ἐξ ὅσων ἀπεδείχθη ὅτι ὁ κόσμος ὡσανεὶ πόλις.
Renew your recollection of the alternative: "either providence or atoms," and of all the arguments by which it was demonstrated that the world is, as it were, a city.
ἀλλὰ τὰ σωματικά σου ἅψεται ἔτι;
Or will your bodily affections still touch you?
ἐννοήσας ὅτι οὐκ ἐπιμίγνυται λείως ἢ τραχέως κινουμένῳ πνεύματι ἡ διάνοια, ἐπειδὰν ἅπαξ ἑαυτὴν ἀπολάβῃ καὶ γνωρίσῃ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐξουσίαν, καὶ λοιπὸν ὅσα περὶ πόνου καὶ ἡδονῆς ἀκήκοας καὶ συγκατέθου.
Consider that the mind does not mix with the breath that moves smoothly or roughly, when once it has recovered itself and recognized its own power, and moreover all that you have heard and agreed to concerning pain and pleasure.
§4.3.3ἀλλὰ τὸ δοξάριόν σε περισπάσει;
Or will trifling fame distract you?
ἀπιδὼν εἰς τὸ τάχος τῆς πάντων λήθης καὶ τὸ χάος τοῦ ἐφʼ ἑκάτερα ἀπείρου αἰῶνος καὶ τὸ κενὸν τῆς ἀπηχήσεως καὶ τὸ εὐμετάβολον καὶ ἄκριτον τῶν εὐφημεῖν δοκούντων καὶ τὸ στενὸν τοῦ τόπου, ἐν ᾧ περιγράφεται·
Look at the swiftness of the oblivion of all things, and the chaos of the infinite time on either side, and the emptiness of the applause, and the fickleness and lack of judgment of those who seem to praise, and the narrow limit of the place in which it is confined.
ὅλη τε γὰρ ἡ γῆ στιγμὴ καὶ ταύτης πόστον γωνίδιον ἡ κατοίκησις αὕτη;
For the whole earth is but a point, and how tiny a corner of it is this habitation of ours?
καὶ ἐνταῦθα πόσοι καὶ οἷοί τινες οἱ ἐπαινεσόμενοι;
And here, how many and what kind of people are they who will praise you?
§4.3.4λοιπὸν οὖν μέμνησο τῆς ὑποχωρήσεως τῆς εἰς τοῦτο τὸ ἀγρίδιον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ πρὸ παντὸς μὴ σπῶ μηδὲ κατεντείνου, ἀλλὰ ἐλεύθερος ἔσο καὶ ὅρα τὰ πράγματα ὡς ἀνήρ, ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ὡς πολίτης, ὡς θνητὸν ζῷον.
For the rest, then, remember your retreat into this little farm of yourself, and above all do not strain or stretch yourself, but be free, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal creature.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς προχειροτάτοις, εἰς ἃ ἐγκύψεις, ταῦτα ἔστω τὰ δύο· ἕν μέν, ὅτι τὰ πράγματα οὐχ ἅπτεται τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀλλʼ ἔξω ἕστηκεν ἀτρεμοῦντα, αἱ δὲ ὀχλήσεις ἐκ μόνης τῆς ἔνδον ὑπολήψεως· ἕτερον δέ, ὅτι πάντα ταῦτα, ὅσα ὁρᾷς, ὅσον οὐδέπω μεταβαλεῖ καὶ οὐκ ἔτι ἔσται· καὶ ὅσων ἤδη μεταβολαῖς αὐτὸς παρατετύχηκας, συνεχῶς διανοοῦ.
And among the things most ready to your hand, into which you will look, let there be these two: one, that things do not touch the soul, but stand quiet outside, and vexations come solely from the judgment within; the other, that all these things which you see will change in a moment and will exist no longer; and constantly bear in mind how many changes you yourself have already witnessed.
ὁ κόσμος ἀλλοίωσις, ὁ βίος ὑπόληψις.
The universe is change; life is opinion.