of all things, and it comprehends that those who come after us will see
nothing new, nor have those before us seen anything more, but in a manner
he who is forty years old, if he has any understanding at all, has seen
by virtue of the uniformity that prevails all things which have been and
all that will be. This too is a property of the rational soul, love of
one's neighbor, and truth and modesty, and to value nothing more than
itself, which is also the property of Law. Thus then right reason differs
not at all from the reason of justice.

2. Thou wilt set little value on pleasing song and dancing and the
pancratium, if thou wilt distribute the melody of the voice into its
several sounds, and ask thyself as to each, if thou art mastered by this;
for thou wilt be prevented by shame from confessing it: and in the matter
of dancing, if at each movement and attitude thou wilt do the same; and
the like also in the matter of the pancratium. In all things, then,
except virtue and the acts of virtue, remember to apply thyself to their
several parts, and by this division to come to value them little: and
apply this rule also to thy whole life.

3. What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be
separated from the body, and ready either to be extinguished or dispersed
or continue to exist; but so that this readiness comes from a man's own
judgment, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but
considerately and with dignity and in a way to persuade another, without
tragic show.

4. Have I done something for the general interest? Well then I have had
my reward. Let this always be present to thy mind, and never stop [doing
such good].