Book XII

Marcus argues that happiness is achievable now through overcoming envy of oneself, by forgetting the past, trusting divine providence, and focusing on holiness and righteousness in the present moment.

Marcus describes how God perceives minds stripped of material forms and urges the reader to separate the mind from bodily concerns, external opinions, and temporal anxieties to achieve true rest.

Marcus wonders at the contradiction that people who love themselves most are most concerned with others' opinions, showing an inconsistency in human nature.

Marcus responds to a possible objection that gods could have granted eternal life to virtuous people by arguing that if the gods are just and good, their decision to allow death must be correct and natural.

Marcus illustrates through the example of the left hand that even things one initially despairs of can be mastered through use and habituation.

Marcus prescribes a comprehensive list of meditation topics including contemplation of death, the brevity of life, material things' causes, pain, pleasure, fame, and the vanity of worldly pursuits when viewed from a distance.

Marcus provides a practical method for understanding any worldly thing by dividing it into its material substance, form, and proper end or use.

Marcus celebrates humanity's special power to need only do what God approves and to accept contentedly whatever God sends.

Marcus argues that gods are incapable of wrongdoing while men act wrongly only through ignorance, making neither worthy of blame.

Marcus ridicules those who wonder at or are surprised by ordinary events that occur according to nature.

Marcus presents three exhaustive hypotheses about the universe—absolute necessity, placable providence, or chaotic confusion—and shows reason to accept cosmic order and maintain virtue regardless which is true.

Marcus urges a sympathetic attitude toward those who sin, questioning whether we truly know it to be sin and whether they haven't already condemned themselves.

Marcus establishes that one should act only if fitting and speak only if true, maintaining freedom of purpose from compulsion.

Marcus reiterates the method of understanding things by dividing them into formal, material, and end-oriented components within their appointed duration.

Marcus calls for understanding that a divine principle superior to passions exists within, and exhorts focus on just action and the common good despite life's brevity.

Marcus teaches that removing one's opinion produces calm like a ship entering a safe harbor, drawing on poetic imagery.

Marcus argues that cessation of life cannot harm and death is good because it is seasonable for the whole, ordained by divine providence, and those aligned with it are divinely led.

Marcus prescribes three constant meditations: examining whether one acts justly, understanding bodily composition and dissolution, and contemplating the vanity of earthly things from a cosmic perspective.

Marcus provides a corrective to grief by recalling that events follow nature's course, all minds share divinity, nothing is truly owned, and each person only truly lives in the present instant.

Marcus urges contemplation of famous historical figures whose great passions and pursuits are now mere ashes and fables, teaching detachment from worldly ambition.

Marcus responds to skeptics by arguing that gods are visible in their effects and power, drawing an analogy with how one respects the soul without seeing it.

Marcus defines happiness as thorough understanding of the nature of all things (matter, form, end) combined with continuous just action and truth-telling.

Marcus explains that beneath apparent multiplicity exists fundamental unity: one light, one substance, one common soul, and one intellectual principle governing all rational minds.

Marcus interrogates which of life's operations (sensation, appetite, growth, speech, thought) are truly worthy of desire and concludes only following God and reason merits attachment.

Marcus urges contemplation of one's tiny portion of vast eternity and insignificant space to dismiss worldly concerns and focus solely on fulfilling one's natural duty.

Marcus asserts that the current state of one's rational understanding is the sole thing that matters, while everything external is beyond one's will and therefore like smoke.

Marcus argues that even those who valued pleasure were not afraid of death, and that death cannot terrify one who sees the natural and seasonal as good.