THAT A MAN IS SUFFICIENT TO HIMSELF.
1. If thou set thine heart upon philosophy, prepare straightway to be
laughed at and mocked by many who will say, _Behold, he has suddenly
come back to us a philosopher_; or, _How came you by that brow of
scorn?_ But do thou cherish no scorn, but hold to those things that seem
to thee the best, as one set by God in that place. Remember, too, that
if thou abide in that way, those that first mocked thee, the same shall
afterwards reverence thee; but if thou yield to them, thou shalt receive
double mockery.
2. If it shall ever happen to thee to be turned to outward things in the
desire to please some person, know that thou hast lost thy way of life.
Let it be enough for thee in all things to _be_ a philosopher. But if
thou desire also to seem one, then seem so to thyself, for this thou
canst.