lso an act contrary
to nature, to the whole nature, though it is certainly conformable to
some part of man's nature, or it could not be done. Man is made for
action, not for idleness or pleasure. As plants and animals do the uses
of their nature, so man must do his (v. 1).

[A] This is what Juvenal means when he says (xiv. 321),--

"Nunquam aliud Natura aliud Sapientia dicit."

Man must also live conformably to the universal nature, conformably to
the nature of all things of which he is one; and as a citizen of a
political community he must direct his life and actions with reference
to those among whom, among other purposes, he lives.[A] A man must not
retire into solitude and cut himself off from his fellow-men. He must be
ever active to do his part in the great whole. All men are his kin, not
only in blood, but still more by participating in the same intelligence
and by being a portion of the same divinity. A man cannot really be
injured by his brethren, for no act of theirs can make him bad, and he
must not be angry with them nor hate them: "For we are made for
co-operation, 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; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn
away" (ii. 1).

[A] See viii. 52; and Persius iii. 66

Further he says: "Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it in passing
from one social act to another social act, thinking of God" (vi. 7).
Again: "Love mankind. Follow God" (vii. 31). It is the characteristic of
the rational soul for a man to love his neighbor (xi. 1). Antoninus
teaches in various passages the forgiveness of injuries, and we know
that he also practised what he taught. Bishop Butler remarks that "this
divine precept to forgive injuries and to love our enemies, though to be
met with in Gentile moralists, yet is in a peculiar sense a precept of
Christianity, as our Saviour has insisted more upon it than on any other
single virtue." The practice of this precept is the most difficult of
all virtues. Antoninus often enforces it and gives us aid towards
following it. When we are injured, we feel anger and resentment, and the
feeling is natural, just, and useful for the conservation of society. It
is useful that wrong-doers should feel the natural consequences of their
actions, among which is the disapprobation of society and the resentment
of him who is wronged. But reven