Stoicism - College of Stoic Philosophers

214 STOICISM.not even know what he has done, but he is like avine which has produced grapes, and seeks for nothingmore after it has once produceditsproperfruit. Asa horse when he has run, a dog when he has trackedthe game, a bee when it has made the honey, so aman, when he has done a good act, does not call outfor others to come and see, but he goes on to anotheract, as a vine goes on to produce again the grapes inseason.Must a man then be one of these, who, in amanner, act thus without observingit ? Yes— butthis very thing is necessary,a man is doing, for it may be said,otthe observation of whatit is characteristicthe social animal to perceive that he is working ina social manner, and indeed to wish that his socialpartner also should it.perceive. . . If thou wilt chooseto understand the meaning of what is said, do notfear that for this reason thou wilt omit any socialact." 1There was something of braggart ostentationalmost always in the ideal of the Stoic, who seemedto pose himself overmuch before the eyes of men,and to wrap himself obtrusively in the cloak of hisown virtue, while he defied the gusts of angry fortune.Marcus Aurelius at least was free from any suspicionof such boastful pride. The earlier writers of theschool had given a wide range to man's social dutieswhen they made him a citizen of the world at large,bound to promote the interests of others, but theylooked to the intellect alone to prompt his action, andmistrusted all strong feeling as a saving guide. Butwith our moralist benevolence becomes enthusiastic,1"Thoughts,"V. 6.