iii., Sec.51.)

THE HARMONY AND UNITY OF THE UNIVERSE

O divine Spirit of the Universe, Thy will, Thy wish is mine! Calmly I
wait Thy appointed times, which cannot come too early or too late! Thy
providences are all fruitful to me! Thou art the source, Thou art the
stay, Thou art the end of all things. The poet says of his native city,
"Dear city of Cecrops"; and shall I not say of the Universe, "Beloved
City of God"? (Book iv., Sec.23.)

Either there is a predestined order in the Universe, or else it is mere
aggregation, fortuitous yet not without a certain kind of order. For how
within thyself can a certain system exist and yet the entire Universe be
chaos? And especially when in the Universe all things, though separate
and divided, yet work together in unity? (Book iv., Sec.27.)

Think always of the Universe as one living organism, composed of one
material substance and one soul. Observe how all things are the product
of a single conception--the conception of a living organism. Observe how
one force is the cause of the motion of all things: that all existing
things are the concurrent causes of all that is to be--the eternal warp
and woof of the ever-weaving web of existence. (Book iv., Sec.40.)

THE CONDUCT OF LIFE

Country houses, retreats in the mountains or by the sea--these things
men seek out for themselves; and often thou, too, dost most eagerly
desire such things. But this does but betoken the greatest ignorance;
for thou art able, when thou desirest, to retreat into thyself. No
otherwhere can a man find a retreat more quiet and free from care than
in his own soul; and most of all, when he hath such rules of conduct
that if faithfully remembered, they will give to him perfect
equanimity,--for equanimity is naught else than a mind harmoniously
disciplined. Cease not then to betake thyself to this retreat, there to
refresh thyself. Let thy rules of conduct be few and well settled; so
that when thou hast thought thereon, straightway they will suffice to
thoroughly purify the soul that possesses them, and to send thee back,
restless no more, to the things to the which thou must return. With what
indeed art thou disquieted? With the wickedness of men? Meditate on the
thought that men do not do evil of set purpose. Remember also how many
in the past, who, after living in enmity, suspicion, hatred, and strife
one with another, now lie prone in death and are but ashes. Fret then no
more. But perhaps thou art