33. All that thou seest will quickly perish， and those who have been spectators of its dissolution will very soon perish too. And he who dies at the extremest old age will be brought into the same condition with him who died prematurely.
34. What are these men’s leading principles， and about what kind of things are they busy， and for what kind of reasons do they love and honour？ Imagine that thou seest their poor souls laid bare. When they think that they do harm by their blame or good by their praise， what an idea！
35. Loss is nothing else than change. But the universal nature delights in change， and in obedience to her all things are now done well， and from eternity have been done in like form， and will be such to time without end. What then dost thou say？ That all things have been and all things always will be bad， and that no power has ever been found in so many gods to rectify these things， but the world has been condemned to be bound in never-ceasing evil？ （iv. 45； vii. 18）.
36. The rottenness of the matter which is the foundation of everything！ water， dust， bones， filth； or again， marble rocks， the callosities of the earth； and gold and silver， the sediments； and garments， only bits of hair； and purple dye， blood； and everything else is of the same kind. And that which is of the nature of breath， is also another thing of the same kind， changing from this to that.
37. Enough of this wretched life and murmuring and apish tricks. Why art thou disturbed？ What is there new in this？ What unsettles thee？ Is it the form of the thing？ Look at it. Or is it the matter？ Look at it. But besides these there is nothing. Towards the gods， then， now become at last more simple and better. It is the same whether we examine these things for a hundred years or three.
38. If any man has done wrong， the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong.
39. Either all things proceed from one intelligent source and come together as in one body， and the part ought not to find fault with what is done for the benefit of the whole； or there are only atoms， and nothing else than mixture and dispersion. Why， then， art thou disturbed？ Say to the ruling faculty， Art thou dead， art thou corrupted， art thou playing the hypocrite， art thou become a beast， dost thou herd and feed with the rest？
40. Either the gods have no power or they have power. If， then， they have no power， why dost thou pray to them？ But if they have power， why dost thou not pray for them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest， or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest， or not being pained at anything， rather than pray that any of these things should not happen or happen？ for certainly if they can co-operate with men， they can co-operate for these purposes. But perhaps thou wilt say， the gods have placed them in thy power. Well， then， is it not better to use what is in thy power like a free man than to desire in a slavish and abject way what is not in thy power？ And who has told thee that the gods do not aid us even in the things which are in our power？ Begin， then， to pray for such things， and thou wilt see. One man prays thus： How shall I be able to lie with that woman？ Do thou prays thus： How shall I not desire to lie with her？ Another prays thus： How shall I be released from this？ Another prays： How shall I not desire to be released？ Another thus： How shall I not lose my little son？ Thou thus： How shall I not be afraid to lose him？ In fine， turn thy prayers this way， and see what comes.