Life according to Nature. Marcus Aurelius 1.9
Another philosopher, Sextus, showed Marcus what life according to nature (τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ζῆν) looks like. You can here me read about it <here>.
Παρὰ
Σέξτου τὸ εὐμενές· καὶ τὸ παράδειγμα
τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρονομουμένου· καὶ
τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ζῆν· καὶ
τὸ σεμνὸν ἀπλάστως· καὶ τὸ στοχαστικὸν
τῶν φίλων κηδεμονικῶς· καὶ τὸ ἀνεκτικὸν
τῶν ἰδιωτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀθεωρητὶ οἰομένων·
καὶ τὸ πρὸς πάντας εὐάρμοστον, ὥστε
κολακείας μὲν πάσης προσηνεστέραν
εἶναι τὴν ὁμιλίαν αὐτοῦ, αἰδεσιμώτατον
δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐκείνοις παῤ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον
τὸν καιρὸν εἶναι· καὶ τὸ καταληπτικῶς
καὶ ὁδῷ ἐξευρετικόν τε καὶ τακτικὸν
τῶν εἰς βίον ἀναγκαίων δογμάτων· καὶ
τὸ μηδὲ ἔμφασίν ποτε ὀργῆς ἢ ἄλλου
τινὸς πάθους παρασχεῖν, ἀλλὰ ἅμα μὲν
ἀπαθέστατον εἶναι, ἅμα δὲ φιλοστοργότατον·
καὶ τὸ εὔφημον ἀψοφητὶ καὶ τὸ
πολυμαθὲς ἀνεπιφάντως.
From
Sextus (†) I learned kindness. He also showed me an example of how
to rule the household as a father. How to think about living in
accordance with nature. Reverence without pretense. Providing
skillfully for family and friends. To bear fools patiently, and those
who do not examine their thoughts. An ability to relate well to
everyone, such that sharing his company was more soothing than any
flattery, and people in his presence gave strictest heed to
propriety. An adaptable, path-finding approach to the beliefs
necessary for life. Not to broadcast rage or any other passion, but
to be at once extremely calm and very affectionate. How to communicate with silence,
and the art of subtle erudition.
---
(†)
Sextus of Chaeronea, the nephew of Plutarch (cf. Philostratus, Vitae
sophistarum 2; Historia Augusta 3).
The Suda (s.v. Σέξστος, Σ 235) identifies this Sextus with Sextus Empiricus, the
physician and author of our most famous extant writings on Greek
skepticism (including the Pyrrhonian Hypotheses).
While this identification has been doubted, it remains not
altogether implausible. Both were contemporaries of Marcus, and his
portrait here suggests that Sextus of Chaeronea was sympathetic to
many of the doctrines written down by the skeptic.