Volume 1 - Discourses - Books I - II - College of Stoic Philosophers

BOOK II. v. 11-17a storm comes down upon us.Very well,, whatfurther concern have I ? For my part has beenfulfilled. The business belongs to someone else,that Is, the helmsman. But., more than that, theship goes down. What, then, have I to do? WhatI can ;that is the only thing1 do ;I drown withoutfear,, neither shrieking nor crying out against God,but recognizing that what is born must also perish.For I am not eternal, but a man ;a part of thewhole, as an hour is part of a day. I must comeon as the hour and like an hour pass away. Whatdifference, then, is it to me how I pass away, whetherby drowning or by a fever ? For by something ofthe sort I must needs pass away.This is what youwill see skilful ball players doingalso. None of them is concerned about the ball asbeing something good or bad, but about throwingand catchingit.Accordingly, form has to do withthat, skill with that, and speed, and grace ; whereI cannot catch the ball even if I spread out mycloak, the expert catches it if I throw. Yet if wecatch or throw the ball in a flurry or in fear, whatfun is there left, and how can a man be steady, orsee what comes next in the game? But one playerwill say " "Throw " "1another, Don't throw ! and }^etanother, "Don't throw itup!" 1 That, indeed,would be a strife and not a game.games Keep-away and Basket-ball. An interesting aeries ofcalls used in the game is given by Antiphanes in Atheneteus,