justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without thy own choice; if, I say, thou seest anything better than this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best.

If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldest be bound to give it back immediately; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this.

Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.

Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil. But consider if it would not be better to say, Do what is necessary, and whatever the reason of the animal which is naturally social requires, and as it requires. For this brings not only the tranquillity which comes from doing well, but also that which comes from doing few things. For the greatest part of what we say and do being unnecessary, if a man takes this away, he will have more leisure and less uneasi

ness.

Love the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be content with it; and pass through the rest of life like one who has intrusted to the gods with his whole soul all that he has, making thyself neither the tyrant nor the slave of any man.

-I

In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present- I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world?

Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with a continuous series of such thoughts as these: for instance, that where a man can live, there he can also live well.

Live with the gods. And he does live with the gods who constantly shows to them that his own soul is satisfied with that which is assigned to him.

Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold or warm, if thou art doing thy duty; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied with sleep; and whether ill-spoken of or praised; and whether dying or doing something else. For it is one of the acts of life, this act by which we die: it is sufficient then in this act also to do well what we have in hand.

The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong doer.

It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this life, when thy body does not give way.

Adapt thyself to the things with which thy lot has been cast and the men among whom thou hast received thy portion, love them, but do it truly [sincerely].

Be not ashamed to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty like a soldier in the assault on a town. How then, if being lame thou canst not mount up on the battlements alone, but with the help of another it is possible?

Let not future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the same reason which now thou usest for present things.

When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what opinion about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this, thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither wonder nor be angry.

Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast but of the things which thou hast select the best, and then reflect how eagerly they would have been sought, if thou hadst them not.

In everything which happens keep before thy eyes those to whom the same things happened, and how they were vexed, and treated them as strange things, and found fault with them and now where are they? Nowhere.

It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible.

Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.

Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.

When thou art offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately ask thyself, Is it possible then that shameless men should not be in the world? It is not possible. Do not then require what is impossible. . . .

When thou hast assumed these names, good, modest, true, rational, a man of equanimity, and magnanimous, take care that thou dost not change these names; and if thou shouldst lose them, quickly return to them.

No longer talk about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.

The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it is itself, what is its material, what its formal part; with all thy soul to do justice and to say the truth. What remains except to enjoy life by joining one

good thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest intervals between?

How small a part of the boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to every man? for it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal. And how small a part of the whole substance? and how small a part of the universal soul? and on what a small clod of the whole earth thou creepest? Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to endure that which the common nature brings.

OPINIONS OF THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

(About the seventh century.)

"THE Pahlavi phrase, Dînâ-î Maînôg-î Khirad, Opinions of the Spirit of Wisdom, says E. W. West, from whose translation the following selections are taken, “is a name applied to sixty-two enquiries, or series of enquiries, on subjects connected with the religion of the Mazda-worshippers, made by an anonymous wise man and answered by the Spirit of Wisdom. By the Spirit of Wisdom the author means the innate wisdom of Aûharmazd. . . It was originally created by Aûharmazd, and is superior to the archangels. . . . The author was evidently a devoted Mazdaworshipper, and probably a layman. Whether he wrote before or after the Arab conquest of Persia (A. d. 632–651) is doubtful." Two translations of this work have been made by Mr. West. The later one, from the original Pahlavi text, appeared in 1885, in the great collection of "The Sacred Books of the East," edited by Professor Max Müller. It is from the introduction to this that the quotations above are taken. The earlier translation, published in 1871, was from an Indian (Pâzand-Sanskrit) version, in which the work bears the name Mainyô-î Khard. The following Rules of Life were selected from the last-mentioned translation by Mr. Moncure D. Conway for his "Sacred Anthology," and are here borrowed from that compilation.

RULES OF LIFE.

The sage asked the Spirit of Wisdom, How is it possible to seek the preservation and prosperity of the body, without injury to the soul, and the deliverance of the soul without injury of the body?

The Spirit of Wisdom replied:

Slander not, lest ill-fame and wickedness come to thee