St. George Stock (modern guide) · 1850–1922
A Guide to Stoicism 5 ¶20 — St. George Stock (modern guide)
From “Physic”
Original English text (1908)
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 5 ¶20
The universe was the only thing which was perfect in itself, the one thing which was an end in itself. All other things were perfect indeed as parts, when considered with reference to the whole, but were none of them ends in themselves, unless man could be deemed so who was born to contemplate the universe and imitate its perfections. Thus, then, did the Stoics envisage the universe on its physical side--as one, finite, fixed in space, but revolving round its own centre, earth, beautiful beyond all things, and perfect as a whole.
Cite this passage
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 5 ¶20 (1908)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/a-guide-to-stoicism/5.20
St. George Stock, Stoicism (1908), text of the Haldeman-Julius reprint “A Guide to Stoicism”. Text: Project Gutenberg #7514. Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe universe alone is complete in itself, while everything else is perfect only as a part of the whole. The one possible exception is humanity, born to contemplate the universe and to copy its order and beauty.
Older wording
- “end in itself”
- — something valuable for its own sake
- “envisage”
- — picture or imagine
Themes and situations
- Nature and the cosmos
- Virtue and character
- Searching for meaning
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