later, as the work
progressed, we see that its value grew upon him, and it was his
intention to put it in systematic form for posterity. And while working
at this task, the exposures of field and camp, and the business of war,
in which he had no heart, worked upon him so adversely that he sickened
and died, aged fifty-nine.

His body was carried back to Rome and placed by the side of that of his
beloved adopted father, Antoninus Pius. And so he sleeps, but the
precious legacy of the "Meditations," written during those last two
years of travel, turmoil and strife, is ours.

A few quotations seem in order:

Remember, on every occasion which leads thee to vexation, to apply
this principle: not that this is a misfortune, but that to bear it
nobly is good fortune.

Things do not touch the soul, for they are eternal, and remain
immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which
is within.... The Universe is transformation; life is opinion.

To the jaundiced, honey tastes bitter; and to those bitten by mad
dogs, water causes fear; and to little children, the ball is a fine
thing. Why then am I angry? Dost thou think that a false opinion
has less power than the bile in the jaundiced, or the poison in him
who is bitten by a mad dog?

How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is
troublesome and unsuitable, and immediately to be in all
tranquillity!

All things come from the universal Ruling Power, either directly or
by way of consequence. And accordingly the lion's gaping jaws, and
that which is poisonous, and every hurtful thing, as a thorn, as
mud, are after-products of the grand and beautiful. Do not
therefore imagine that they are of another kind from that which
thou dost venerate, but form a just opinion of the source of all.

Pass through the rest of life like one who has entrusted to the
gods, with his whole soul, all that he has, making himself neither
the tyrant nor the slave of any man.

Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel
thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any
man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything
which needs walls and curtains.

I am thankful to the gods that I was subjected to a ruler and a
father who was able to take away all pride from me,