A Knowing Soul. Marcus Aurelius 5.32

Marcus here seems to encourage himself not to be troubled or confused by artless and unknowing people. His aim is to be someone who knows, who has become aware of the rational order that Stoics perceived as driving the eternal dance of our universe—eternal but still marked by ends, where the order draws distinction between one moment and the next, defining a series in time that stretches on and on, beyond any horizon we can find.

Διὰ τί συγχέουσιν ἄτεχνοι καὶ ἀμαθεῖς ψυχαὶ ἔντεχνον καὶ ἐπιστήμονα; τίς οὖν ψυχὴ ἔντεχνος καὶ ἐπιστήμων; ἡ εἰδυῖα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος καὶ τὸν δι’ ὅλης τῆς οὐσίας διήκοντα λόγον καὶ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος κατὰ περιόδους τεταγμένας οἰκονομοῦντα τὸ πᾶν.

Why do artless and unlearned souls cause trouble for the soul that knows, and knows its art? What soul is possessed of art and knowledge? The one that knows the beginning and the end, understanding the rational principle that reaches through all matter and regulates everything in each age, adapting its presentation to discrete moments as they arrive in order.