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MED. 4.29Discipline of action
George Long · 1862EN · Long

If he is a stranger to the universe who does not know what is in it, no less is he a stranger who does not know what is going on in it. He is a runaway, who flies from DOGMAsocial reason; he is blind, who shuts the TERMeyes of the understanding; he is poor, who has need of another, and has not from himself all things which are useful for life. MOTIFHe is an abscess on the universe who withdraws and separates himself from the reason of our common TERMnature DOGMAthrough being displeased with the things which happen, for the same nature produces this, and has produced thee too: he is a piece rent asunder from the state, who tears his own TERMsoul from DOGMAthat of reasonable animals, which is one.

Original · ancient Greek

Εἰ ξένος κόσμου ὁ μὴ γνωρίζων τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ὄντα, οὐχ ἧττον ξένος καὶ ὁ μὴ γνωρίζων τὰ γινόμενα. φυγὰς ὁ φεύγων τὸν πολιτικὸν λόγον· τυφλὸς ὁ καταμύων τῷ νοερῷ ὄμματι· πτωχὸς ὁ ἐνδεὴς ἑτέρου καὶ μὴ πάντα ἔχων παρ’ ἑαυτοῦ τὰ εἰς τὸν βίον χρήσιμα· ἀπόστημα κόσμου ὁ ἀφιστάμενος καὶ χωρίζων ἑαυτὸν τοῦ τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως λόγου διὰ τοῦ δυσαρεστεῖν τοῖς συμβαίνουσιν· ἐκείνη γὰρ φέρει τοῦτο, ἣ καὶ σὲ ἤνεγκεν· ἀπόσχισμα πόλεως ὁ τὴν ἰδίαν ψυχὴν τῆς τῶν λογικῶν ἀποσχίζων, μιᾶς οὔσης.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

Genre and place in the book. Six definitions of the one estranged from the cosmos, in rising severity: stranger → runaway → blind man → beggar → abscess → split-off fragment. Each label is a diagnosis of a ruptured bond with the whole.

Stranger (ξένος). He who knows neither what is in the cosmos (physics) nor what happens in it (the course of events) is a stranger twice over. To know the whole is a form of belonging to it.

Runaway (φυγάς). He flees the DOGMAsocial reason (πολιτικὸς TERMλόγος) — a deserter from the city of rational beings.

Blind man (τυφλός). He shuts the TERMmind's eye (νοερὸν ὄμμα) — willfully refusing to see with reason.

Beggar (πτωχός). He depends on another, not having within himself all that is needed for life — the antithesis of the good man's self-sufficiency (cf. virtue-is-sufficient).

Abscess on the cosmos (ἀπόστημα). MOTIFHe who separates himself by discontent with what happens — a pathological growth, rejected by the healthy body of the whole (the medical metaphor: ἀπόστημα, an abscess). The mechanism: murmuring = withdrawal from the TERMcommon nature (the main text is 02-16). It is undone by acceptance: "the same nature brings this that bore you too" (DOGMAamor-fati).

Fragment split from the city (ἀπόσχισμα πόλεως). He tears his own TERMsoul from the soul of rational beings — which is DOGMAone (μιᾶς οὔσης). The split-off one is like a severed branch (Med. 11.8) or hand (8.34); but a human, unlike a branch, can graft back (11.8 — a privilege from Zeus). The inverse image is the healthy soul, "not split off" (οὐδὲ ἀπεσχισμένον, 03-08).

The disciplines. The principal one is action: not to desert the community, not to cut oneself off from the rational whole. The secondary is desire: not to murmur — to accept what happens, lest one become an "abscess."

Parallels. Abscess / splitting-off from the whole — MOTIFabscess-on-cosmos; 02-16; Med. 8.34; 11.8; 03-08. The one soul of rational beings — DOGMAunity-of-cosmos; Med. 4.40; 7.9. The runaway from social reason and the city — DOGMAcosmopolis; 04-04. Discontent = withdrawal from nature — DOGMAamor-fati; cf. 04-23. The poverty of non-self-sufficiency — cf. virtue-is-sufficient; 04-13.

DisciplineDiscipline of action
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished
Read·Book IV
Discipline of action

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

If he is a stranger to the universe who does not know what is in it, no less is he a stranger who does not know what is going on in it. He is a runaway, who flies from DOGMAsocial reason; he is blind, who shuts the TERMeyes of the understanding; he is poor, who has need of another, and has not from himself all things which are useful for life. MOTIFHe is an abscess on the universe who withdraws and separates himself from the reason of our common TERMnature DOGMAthrough being displeased with the things which happen, for the same nature produces this, and has produced thee too: he is a piece rent asunder from the state, who tears his own TERMsoul from DOGMAthat of reasonable animals, which is one.

Original · ancient Greek

Εἰ ξένος κόσμου ὁ μὴ γνωρίζων τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ὄντα, οὐχ ἧττον ξένος καὶ ὁ μὴ γνωρίζων τὰ γινόμενα. φυγὰς ὁ φεύγων τὸν πολιτικὸν λόγον· τυφλὸς ὁ καταμύων τῷ νοερῷ ὄμματι· πτωχὸς ὁ ἐνδεὴς ἑτέρου καὶ μὴ πάντα ἔχων παρ’ ἑαυτοῦ τὰ εἰς τὸν βίον χρήσιμα· ἀπόστημα κόσμου ὁ ἀφιστάμενος καὶ χωρίζων ἑαυτὸν τοῦ τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως λόγου διὰ τοῦ δυσαρεστεῖν τοῖς συμβαίνουσιν· ἐκείνη γὰρ φέρει τοῦτο, ἣ καὶ σὲ ἤνεγκεν· ἀπόσχισμα πόλεως ὁ τὴν ἰδίαν ψυχὴν τῆς τῶν λογικῶν ἀποσχίζων, μιᾶς οὔσης.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Related8
TERMλόγοςreason, word, the cosmic LogosTERMνοῦς (τὸ νοερόν у Марка)intellect, mind, the rational facultyTERMφύσιςnatureTERMψυχήsoulDOGMACosmopolis — the single city of gods and human beingsDOGMAThe unity of the cosmos — all things bound by a single LogosDOGMAAmor fati — accepting what happens as a rational orderMOTIFThe soul as an abscess on the cosmos — a pathological metaphor of disagreement with the whole
Commentary

Genre and place in the book. Six definitions of the one estranged from the cosmos, in rising severity: stranger → runaway → blind man → beggar → abscess → split-off fragment. Each label is a diagnosis of a ruptured bond with the whole.

Stranger (ξένος). He who knows neither what is in the cosmos (physics) nor what happens in it (the course of events) is a stranger twice over. To know the whole is a form of belonging to it.

Runaway (φυγάς). He flees the DOGMAsocial reason (πολιτικὸς TERMλόγος) — a deserter from the city of rational beings.

Blind man (τυφλός). He shuts the TERMmind's eye (νοερὸν ὄμμα) — willfully refusing to see with reason.

Beggar (πτωχός). He depends on another, not having within himself all that is needed for life — the antithesis of the good man's self-sufficiency (cf. virtue-is-sufficient).

Abscess on the cosmos (ἀπόστημα). MOTIFHe who separates himself by discontent with what happens — a pathological growth, rejected by the healthy body of the whole (the medical metaphor: ἀπόστημα, an abscess). The mechanism: murmuring = withdrawal from the TERMcommon nature (the main text is 02-16). It is undone by acceptance: "the same nature brings this that bore you too" (DOGMAamor-fati).

Fragment split from the city (ἀπόσχισμα πόλεως). He tears his own TERMsoul from the soul of rational beings — which is DOGMAone (μιᾶς οὔσης). The split-off one is like a severed branch (Med. 11.8) or hand (8.34); but a human, unlike a branch, can graft back (11.8 — a privilege from Zeus). The inverse image is the healthy soul, "not split off" (οὐδὲ ἀπεσχισμένον, 03-08).

The disciplines. The principal one is action: not to desert the community, not to cut oneself off from the rational whole. The secondary is desire: not to murmur — to accept what happens, lest one become an "abscess."

Parallels. Abscess / splitting-off from the whole — MOTIFabscess-on-cosmos; 02-16; Med. 8.34; 11.8; 03-08. The one soul of rational beings — DOGMAunity-of-cosmos; Med. 4.40; 7.9. The runaway from social reason and the city — DOGMAcosmopolis; 04-04. Discontent = withdrawal from nature — DOGMAamor-fati; cf. 04-23. The poverty of non-self-sufficiency — cf. virtue-is-sufficient; 04-13.

DisciplineDiscipline of action
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished