Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

Ixviii INTRODUCTION SECT.
in the field of natural religion than any other extra-
Christian interpretation of the universe. And rightly so ;
for Stoic Pantheism first gave reasoned form and basis to
that imperious instinct of cosmic unity, and likewise of
communion between human and divine, which haunts
men with persistent power, and which any philosophy
aspiring to be permanent must explain and justify.
Thus
it is no surprise to find the genius of Stoicism perfectly
expressed
were a sealed book :
in the lines of one to whom its formal doctrines
O God, within my breast,
Almighty, ever-present Deity !
Life, that in me has rest,
As I undying life have power in thee.
With wide-embracing love
Thy spirit animates eternal years,
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears.
Though earth and man were gone,
And suns and universes ceased to be,
And thou wert left alone,
Every existence would exist in thee.
There is not room for Death,
No atom that his might could render void :
Thou Thou art Being, Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed. 1
3. The Soul of Man. Psychology.
The relation of man to the world gives the key to
1
Emily Bronte, Poems.