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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

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BOOK III<br />

DEO PARERE LIBERTAS<br />

l WE must take in<strong>to</strong> account, not only that each<br />

day consumes so much <strong>of</strong> life, and leaves so much<br />

less behind, but also that, even if life is prolonged,<br />

there remains the uncertainty whether the under-<br />

standing will still retain discernment and the per-<br />

ceptive intuitions which bring insight in<strong>to</strong> things<br />

divine and human. Dotage may set in, involving<br />

no failure <strong>of</strong> respiration, nutrition, impression,<br />

impulse, or the like ; but premature decay <strong>of</strong> full<br />

self-mastery, <strong>of</strong> nice exactitude in calculating duties,<br />

<strong>of</strong> just correlation <strong>of</strong> them as a whole, <strong>of</strong> clear per-<br />

ception whether the time has come <strong>to</strong> quit the scene,<br />

and such like criteria <strong>of</strong> active and well-ordered<br />

intelligence. We must press forward then, not<br />

only because each day is one step nearer death, but<br />

also because apprehension and intelligence may<br />

prematurely fail.

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