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The Stoic teachers insisted as their fundamental principle that 
«‘ Nature” knows much better than any individual, what is good 
for or needed by the individual, both in his own true interests and 
in those of the universe at large, and that she prescribes to 
every individual the particular discipline he can profitably use at 
any moment for himself, and for the well-being of the whole. 
The learner might object that he might break his leg or take the 
fever, or be tyranically thrown into prison, or tortured or 
executed, might lose his property, his friends, relatives, reputa- 
tion, or the like. These points are continually urged by one 
auditor or another on Epictetus, and again and again the 
disciples are urged not to repine because ‘‘ Nature” prescribes such 
and such treatment, but to accept it thankfully, be it such as the 
uninitiated think good fortune, or be it what they think bad 
fortune. This thankful acceptance of the condition prescribed 
by “ Nature,” this using of every outward circumstance for one’s 
own spiritual profit, was the life according to “ Nature.” The 
formula does not necessarily mean that the disciple must live 
simply or economically, for he might be an Emperor or a noble, 
called on to maintain a certain stateliness of life. 
It matters not whether a man be peer or peasant, prince or 
pauper (and Epictetus would have added, Emperor or slave). 
That is a detail unworthy of a moment’s consideration. ‘ The 
Stoic,’ says Epictetus, ‘‘ must go just where ‘ Nature’ needs him 
in the line of battle ; where is not his concern.” 
But while on the one hand he taught that a man must not be 
enslaved by the seemingly attractive and advantageous shows of 
things, neither must he desert his place in line of battle for love 
of ease, quiet and safety, he must not be deterred by the dangers 
of great place (and they were very real at Rome) from doing the 
duty “‘ Nature ” had marked out for him. He must accept what- 
ever trust she imposes, must fulfil that trust to the utmost, but 
must hold it lightly and be ready to relinquish it at the moment she 
needs him elsewhere. ‘* Remain you at your post, no tyrant, no 
Emperor, no court of law, no robber, no thief is formidable to 
those who account the body and its possessions as nothing.” 
The Stoic doctrine was not one of passive acquiescence, as is 
so often misrepresented. Marcus Aurelius, the mildest yet the 
firmest of men writes, ‘‘ Try to persuade men, but act, whether 
it is liked or not, when justice demands.” And again, he 
cautions himself, ‘‘ Wrong comes often of not doing as well as 
of doing.” And again, he urges himself, ‘*‘ Work hard, and don’t 
make a martyr of yourself, and don’t seek either pity or applause.” 
And again, “‘ Do what ‘ Nature’ here and now demands, do not 
look round for your cue to some one else. Do not hope for 
Utopia, suffice it if the smallest thing make head ; believe it, even 
