The Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius - College of Stoic Philosophers

60 THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANTONINUS
another then is
contrary to nature ;
and it is
acting
against one another to be vexed and to turn away
(ii. 1).
Further he says
:
Take pleasure in one thing and rest
in it, in passing from one social act to another social act,
thinking of God :
(vr, 7). Again Love mankind.
Follow God (vn, 31). It is the characteristic of the
rational soul for a man to love his neighbour (xi, 1).
Antoninus teaches in various passages the forgiveness of
injuries, and we know that he also practised what he
taught. Bishop Butler remarks that this divine precept
to forgive injuries and to love our enemies, though to be
met with in Gentile moralists, yet is in a peculiar sense a
precept of Christianity, as our Saviour has insisted more
upon it than on any other single virtue. The practice
of this precept
is the most difficult of all virtues. An
toninus often enforces it atid gives us aid towards following
it. When we are injured, we feel anger and resentment,
and the feeling is natural, just and useful for the con
servation of society. It is useful that wrong-doers
should feel the natural consequences of their actions,
among which is the disapprobation of society and the
resentment of him who is
wronged. But revenge, in the
proper sense of that word, must not be practised. The
best way of avenging thyself, says the emperor,
is not
to become like the wrong-doer. It is plain by
this that
he does not mean that we should in any case practise
revenge but he ; says to those who talk of revenging
wrongs, Be not like him who has done the wrong. Socrates
in the Crito (c. 10) says the same in other words, and St
Paul (Ep, to the Romans, xn, 17). When a man has done
thee any WTong, immediately consider with what opinion
about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou
hast seen this, thou wilt pity him and wilt neither wonder
nor be angry (vn, 26). Antoninus would not deny that
wrong naturally produces the feeling of anger and resent-