Page:The Emperor Marcus Antoninus - His Conversation with Himself.djvu/251

 Rh losophers looked upon them as altogether unintelligible, and that there was no certain Test for the discovery of Truth; Even the Stoicks agree, that Nature and Certainty is very hard to come at; that our Understandings are always liable to Error, and that Infallibility is meer Vanity and Pretence. However, Our Ignorance is not so great, but that we may discover how transitory, and insignificant all things are; That those we commonly call the best Circumstances, are sometimes in the worst Hands; and that 'tis possible for Thieves, Whores, and Catamites to run away with the World ; and who then would care Three pence for't? Farther, Consider the Temper of those you converse with, and you'l find the Best will hardly do; not to mention, that a Man has work enough to make himself tolerable to himself. And since we have nothing but Darkness, and Dirt to grasp at, since Time and Matter, Motion and Mortals, are always Rolling, and running out of themselves; for these reasons I say, I can't imagine what there is here worth the minding. On the other hand, a Man ought to keep up his Spirits, for 'twill not be long before his Discharge comes: In the mean time, his point is to be easy, and satisfy himself with these two Considerations; the one is, that no- Rh