In the morning, say to yourself: I shall meet a meddlesome man, an ungrateful one, an insolent one, a deceitful one, an envious one, a selfish one. All these faults come from their ignorance of good and evil. But I, who have seen that the nature of good is beauty and that of evil ugliness, I who see that the nature of the offender himself partakes of my own, not of the same blood nor of the same seed, but of the same intelligence and the same portion of divinity, I can therefore be harmed by none of them, for none can involve me in dishonor, and I can neither be angry with my neighbor nor hate him: we are born for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another, then, is contrary to nature.

What I am is flesh, a vital breath, the ruling part. Put away your books, no longer hurry yourself to read others that would be useless to you, and attend rather to that which commands. Be such as you ought to be in it. Consider that it has no regard for the figure, nor for the greatness of the flesh; it awaits the time of ending, the nature of the body and its ceaseless change. Examine the power of your intelligence, and turn it to this: it has no regard for the present; it has for guides the nature of the universe and that of man; that it be always for the man just, equitable, benevolent, turned toward the objects of duty, it embraces all that happens as the fruit of the arrangement of the universe.

Whatever you do, whether you speak or think, let it always be with an upright and free will, as one who has first said to himself: what happens to me here from divine Providence? There is nothing new for the whole of nature. Who would speak of new flowers of the universal nature? The leaves of the fig tree, though of one species, are all different; what we call new flowers for every flower is a variety. And so it is with fruits, with grains, with things that proceed from springs, from heat, from milk, from flesh, from color, from sound.

Go, renounce your first thought, say to yourself: this thing happens as it befits the order of the world, and in itself it has nothing that is evil; it is not outside the universal rule, there is nothing here contrary to reasonable man; this thing is for his good.

Remember that, if you wish to possess in your mind something independent, you must above all watch over the opinions that are formed of things. If you do not thrust yourself forward, no one can push you by force. Likewise, if you do not think you have committed a fault, you have committed no fault, even if you committed it.

As far as possible, O nature, give to each what is necessary for his preservation. All that comes, all that appears, as fruit of nature, is a beautiful thing. Thus the ripening of figs produces its effect. Thus the nature that governs the world gives to man sickness, death, what was once an object of fear. What nature does is for her a transformation of the elements, not a destruction of the substance of the universe.

Whether you do what is just, or whether you rest, whether you learn or labor, it is always an occasion of doing well. Complaint and peevishness are contrary to nature. Nothing forces you to bear the burden. Lift it, having taken it willingly, as a portion of the whole.

O soul, you will never find, after this day, serenity, honesty, truth, peace, concord with the divine order. You will see that all that happens is in accord with nature, and you will bow before the decree of the whole of nature.

Look within: there is there a wellspring of good which will ever gush forth, if you ever dig.

See how all reasonings must be applied to the duties of man in society, and what the attitude of your intelligence must be toward the universe, as you seek the explanation of all things by arriving at the first cause.

The organs of the body are destined to perish; life is but a kind of thing that changes, the soul also. For the space of an atom, keep your thought upright: whether that thing happens to you or preoccupies you, it is indifferent.

Examine the nature of each thing in itself, separate it from its circumstances, and say to yourself that God is nature, that there is nothing higher.

None can appropriate your body nor your soul; the ruling part does not know what you do; you are master of the secret of your empire.

What is beautiful in the arts is what has no need of being praised. Behold the soul as the nature of health: should sickness come, one must hold firm.

Remember that all that has happened has occurred as it must occur; further, that the things present and to come will be the same. The things of today and those of yesterday are all of one species.

Each thing is for the fruit, the seed, the origin of what shall be born of it. The roaring lion opens its mouth, the heron and the peacock raise their outspread wings, the fissure of the earth, the burning flame, the light above the clouds, all these things are worthy of him who beholds them.

One lives the life one has now. Of it one has the fruits and the use.