Page:The Emperor Marcus Antoninus - His Conversation with Himself.djvu/243

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Hen you find an unwillingness to rise early in the Morning, make this short Speech to your self: I'm getting up now to do the Business of a Man; and am I out of Humour for going about that I was made for; and for the sake of which I was sent into the World? Was I then design'd for nothing but to Doze and Batten beneath the Counterpane? Well! but this is a comfortable way of living. Granting that: wer't thou Born only for Pleasure; were you never to do any thing? I thought Action had been the End of your Being: Pray look upon the Plants and Birds, the Pismires, Spiders, and Bees, and you'l see them all Regular and Industrious, exerting their Nature, and busy in their Station. For shame! Shall a Spider act like a Spider, and make the most of her Matters, and shan't a Man act like a Man? Why don't you rouze your Faculties, and manage up to your Kind? For all that, there's no Living without Rest: True; But then let's follow Natures directions, and not take too much on't: She likewise has given you leave to Eat and Drink within a Rule; but here you generally exceed your Commission, and go beyond Rh