and woof of the ever-weaving web of existence. (Book iv., §40.)


THE CONDUCT OF LIFE

Country houses, retreats in the mountains or by the sea--these things
men seek out for themselves; and often thou, too, dost most eagerly
desire such things. But this does but betoken the greatest ignorance;
for thou art able, when thou desirest, to retreat into thyself. No
otherwhere can a man find a retreat more quiet and free from care than
in his own soul; and most of all, when he hath such rules of conduct
that if faithfully remembered, they will give to him perfect
equanimity,--for equanimity is naught else than a mind harmoniously
disciplined. Cease not then to betake thyself to this retreat, there to
refresh thyself. Let thy rules of conduct be few and well settled; so
that when thou hast thought thereon, straightway they will suffice to
thoroughly purify the soul that possesses them, and to send thee back,
restless no more, to the things to the which thou must return. With what
indeed art thou disquieted? With the wickedness of men? Meditate on the
thought that men do not do evil of set purpose. Remember also how many
in the past, who, after living in enmity, suspicion, hatred, and strife
one with another, now lie prone in death and are but ashes. Fret then no
more. But perhaps thou art troubled concerning the portion decreed to
thee in the Universe? Remember this alternative: either there is a
Providence or simply matter! Recall all the proofs that the world is, as
it were, a city or a commonwealth! But perhaps the desires of the body
still torment thee? Forget not, then, that the mind, when conscious of
its real self, when self-reliant, shares not the agitations of the body,
be they great or small. Recall too all thou hast learned (and now
holdest as true) concerning pleasure and pain. But perhaps what men call