2:2 – This whatever it is that I am is flesh and vital spirit and the governing self. Disdain the flesh: blood and bones and network, a twisted skein of nerves, veins, and arteries. Consider also what the vital spirit is: a current of air, not even continuously the same, but every hour being expelled and sucked in again. There is then a third part: the governing self. Put away your books and be distracted no longer; they are not your portion. Rather, as if on the point of death, reflect like this: “You are an old man. Do not let this governing part of you continue to be a slave, no longer to be a puppet pulled to unsocial movements,[1] no longer to be dissatisfied with what is allotted in the present or to suspect what is allotted in the future.”
[1] This reflects Long’s translation. Farquharson has “no longer to be a puppet pulled by selfish impulse.”
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
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Stoic texts:
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Letters from a Stoic Master (Seneca)
The Discourses of Epictetus
The Enchiridion (Handbook) of Epictetus
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