ll things proceed, subsist in You, and return to
You. The poet said, "Dear City of Cecrops"; shall we not say, "Dear City
of God"?

The greater part of what we say and do is unnecessary; and if this were
only retrenched we should have more leisure and less disturbance. This
applies to our thoughts also, for impertinence of thought leads to
unnecessary action.

Mankind are poor, transitory things: one day in life, and the next
turned to mummy or ashes. Therefore manage this minute wisely, and part
with it cheerfully; and like a ripe fruit, when you drop, make your
acknowledgments to the tree that bore you.

_BOOK V_

When you feel unwilling to rise early in the morning, make this short
speech to yourself: "I am getting up now to do the business of a man;
and am I out of humour for going about that I was made for, and for the
sake of which I was sent into the world? Was I then designed for nothing
but to doze beneath the counterpane?" Surely action is the end of your
being. Look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders and bees, and
you will see that they are all exerting their nature, and busy in their
station. Shall not a man act like a man?

Be not ashamed of any action which is in accordance with Nature, and
never be misled by the fear of censure or reproach. Where honesty
prompts you to say or do anything, let not the opinion of others hold
you back. Go forward by the straight path, pursuing your own and the
common interest.

Some men, when they do you a kindness, ask for the payment of gratitude;
others, more modest, remember the favour and look upon you as their
debtor. But there are yet other benefactors who forget their good deeds;
and these are like the vine, which is satisfied by being fruitful in its
kind, and bears a bunch of grapes without expecting any thanks for it. A
truly kind man never talks of a good turn that he has done, but does
another as soon as he can, just like a vine that bears again the next
season.

We commonly say that Aesculapius has prescribed riding for one patient,
walking for another, a cold bath for a third. In the same way we may say
that the nature of the Universe has ordered this or that person a
disease, loss of limbs or estate, or some such other calamity. For as,
in the first case, the word "prescribed" means a direction for the
health of the patient, so, in the latter, it means an application
suitable for his constitution and destiny.

Be not uneasy, discourag