The Great Conversation

“Man must wring himself free from them, otherwise he cannot be a good man....”

“The -ideal slave (the " good man ").-He who cannot regard himself as a " purpose," and who cannot give himself any aim whatsoever, in- stinctively honours the morality of unseljishness.”

“A critidsm of the good man.-Honesty, dignity, dutifulness, justice, humanity, loyalty, uprightness, clean conscience-is it really supposed that, by means of these fine-sounding words, the qualities they stand for are approved and affirmed for their own sake?”

“And thus he ultimately arrives at the conclusion, which to him is quite logical, that Nature is evil, that man is c0rrupted, and that being good is an act of grace (that is to say, it is impossible to man when he stands alone).”

“The " good man " sees himself surrounded by evil, and, thanks to the continual onslaughts of the latter, his eye grows more keen, and in the end discovers traces of evil in every one of his acts.”

“First of all we should know what " good and evil" mean.”

“vs. 31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. vs. 32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

“Ye cannot serve God and mammon. vs. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.”

“vs. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. vs. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?”

“Hebrews Ch. 2 vs. 1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

“For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. vs. 5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.”

“Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. vs. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.”

“vs. 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

“The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. vs. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.”

“vs. 17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. vs. 18 oisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.”

“This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. vs. 9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.”

“And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. vs. 17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

“Psalms Ch. 117 vs. 1 O Praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. vs. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever.”

“At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. vs. 15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid.”

“Father, show me that I must love you,’ and if that father is able to answer him and show him good reason, we have a real, normal, parental relation, not resting on mystical prejudice, but on a rational, responsible and strictly humanitarian basis.”

“In this process of constant evaluation there is only one standard of good and evil: virtue and vice.”

“The phase 'in agreement with' (homologou- menos) is significant; by Nature the Stoics meant the highest form of human nature - Reason (Logos).”

“There are two things common to the souls of all rational creatures, god or man: they are immune to any external impediment, and the good they seek resides in a just disposition and just action, with this the limit of their desire.”

“His human constitution was made up of earth, water, air, and fire; his soul of air and his mind of fire.”

“Reason too has its fruit, both universal and particular: other things grow from it which share its own nature. 11 If you can, show them the better way.”

“First: in your own actions, nothing aimless or other than Justice herself would have done; in external happenings either chance or providence is at work, and one should not blame chance or indict providence.”

“The salvation of life lies in seeing each object in its essence and 29 its entirety, discerning both the material and the causal: in applying one's whole soul to doing right and speaking the truth.”

“Sceptic; so long as you cannot believe in my bad reasons,-that is to say, in my God, in a disciplinary Beyond, in free will, etc.,- you put obstacles in the way of my virtue. . . .”

“As a matter of fact, man does not desire " happiness." Pleasure is a sensation of power : if the passions are excluded, those states of the mind are also excluded which afford the greatest sensation of power and therefore of pleasure.”

“In short: the coming of the "Kz'ngdom of God" has been placed in the future, and has been given an earthly, a human meaning-but on the whole the faith in the old ideal is still maintained. . . . 340.”

“This method of valuing thus believes itself to be "idealistic"; it never doubts that in its concept of the " good man," it has found the highest de- sideratum.”

“Decadence reveals itself in this con- cern about "happiness "(i.e. about the "salvation of the soul '' ; -i.e. to feel that one's condition -is a danger).”

“With Plato we are as the temporary inhabitants of an in- telligible world of goodness, still in possession of a bequest from former times: divine dialectics taking its root in goodness leads to everything good (it follows, therefore, that it must lead ""backwards '').”

“Genuine love of man- kind exacts sacrifice for the good of the species -it is hard, full of self-control, because it needs human sacrifices.”

“We are no Pascals, we are not particularly in- terested in the " Salvation of the soul," in our own happiness, and in our own virtue.-We have neither enough time nor enough curiosity to be so con 7 cerned with ourselves.”

“As was the Stoic Seneca before him, Marcus was generous to Epicurus, and he had so deeply absorbed Epicurus' heroic atti- tude towards death that he can quote one of his letters from memory - inaccurately to the letter, but faithfully to his mes- sage.”

“'But the man is endowed with reason', you say, 'and if he puts his mind to it he can work out why he causes offence.' Well, good for you!”

“Suffering, struggle, work, and death are raised as objections against life, they make life questionable, unnatural -something that must cease, and for which one not only requires but also has-remedies !”

“Under the empire of Christian prejudice · thz's questz"on was never put at all: the purpose of life seemed to lie in the salvation of the individual soul ; the question whether humanity might last for a long or a short time was not considered.”

“Those of good and evil - the belief that nothing is good for a human being which does not make him just, self-controlled, brave, and free: and nothing evil which does not make him the opposite of these.”

“But the desire for disbelz'ef has also been confounded with the "will to truth" (a need of ridding one's self of a belief for a hundred reasons : in order to carry one's point against certain "believers").”

“So let your reason cause itself no pain, and if some other part of you is in trouble, it can form its own judgement for itself. 41 An obstacle to sense perception is harmful to animal nature.”

“Remember, though, that you are by nature born to bear all that your own judgement can decide bearable, or tolerate in action, if you represent it to yourself as benefit or duty.”

“In Epicurean writings there is laid down the precept that one 26 should continually keep in mind one of those who followed the path of virtue in earlier times.”

“'There was a time when I met luck at every turn.' But luck is 37 the good fortune you determine for yourself: and good fortune consists in good inclinations of the soul, good impulses, good actions.”

“What does not make a human being worse in himself cannot 8 make his life worse either: it cannot harm him from outside or inside.”

“But this transference must always spring from a conviction of justice or the common good: and your preferred course must be likewise, not simply for apparent pleasure or popularity. 13 'Do you possess reason?' 'I do.' 'Why not use it then?”

“I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance. 22 I do my own duty: the other things do not distract me.”

“I have only one anxiety: that I myself should not do something 20 which the human constitution does not intend - or does not intend in this way or at this time.”

“Can there be 2 anything, then, in this happening which prevents you being just, high-minded, self-controlled, intelligent, judicious, truth- ful, honourable and free - or any other of those attributes whose combination is the fulfilment of man's proper nature?”

“If you think of the true goods there are - wisdom, for example, self-control, justice, courage - with these in your mind you could not give any credence to the popular”

“How one should be in both body and soul when overtaken by 7 death; the shortness of life; the immensity of time future and past; the feebleness of all things material.”

“He is one of those consoling and hope-inspiring marks, which stand for ever to remind our weak and easily discouraged race how high human goodness and perseverance have once been carried and may be carried again' (Essays in Criticism: First Series [London, 1865]).”

“Remind yourself of your duty to be a good man and rehearse what man's nature demands: then do it straight and unswerving, or say what you best think right.”

“In this way you will always look on human life as mere smoke and nothing, especially if you remind yourself also that what has once changed will be no more for the infinity of time.”

““You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.””

“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”