Place in the book. "Reverence the most excellent" — both in the cosmos and in yourself. A passage on the ruling part and its kinship with the cosmic reason. The discipline of assent (the ruling part as the "I").

The cosmic κράτιστον. Reverence "the most excellent (τὸ κράτιστον) in the universe" — "that which uses all things (πᾶσι χρώμενον) and governs all (πάντα διέπον)": the cosmic reason (the Logos, god), the ruling principle of the Whole, to which everything serves as material.

The inner κράτιστον. "Likewise reverence the most excellent in yourself" — the ruling part (τὸ κράτιστον in you): that which uses all your other faculties, and by which "DOGMAyour life is governed" (ὁ σὸς βίος διοικεῖται). This is the doctrine of the identity of the "I" with the ruling part: not the body nor the senses, but the rational governing instance is what you are.

Kinship (ὁμογενές). The key is that the inner ruling part is "DOGMAof one kind (ὁμογενές) with the cosmic": the microcosm mirrors the macrocosm. Your reason is of the same genus as the reason that governs the universe (a portion torn off from god, the god within). Hence to reverence "the god in yourself" and to reverence the principle that governs the cosmos is one and the same act: as the Logos governs the Whole, so the ruling part governs your life.

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is assent (the ruling part as the true "I"); the secondary is desire (reverence for the cosmic reason). Parallel — microcosm-macrocosm: the rational in you is of one kind with the reason of the Whole.