I.
If I am nothing but a product of chaotic brew,
Why should I wish to tarry in universal confusion?
And if the supposition of a governor is true,
I need only have faith in the order of his profusion.

II.
O dear Zeus, on plowed fields rain, rain down on the Athenian plain!
In truth we ought not pray at all, else hope in vain.
Let us accept what the gods give us, whether pleasure or pain.

III.
Be like a cliff against which waves constantly break.
Stand firm, though the furies of the oceans quake.

IV.
When you rise in the morning, let this thought be with you:
The labors for which I was created, I am going forth to do. 

V.
Be not unhappy or discontent if you fail where you have failed before.
Renew your philosophies, review your nature, and try once more. 

VI.
The multitudes admire material things – of metal, stone, and wood.
Men a little more rational admire things that are founded upon good.
Men more instructed admire the principles of an aspiring soul.
He who is above all values his soul, and strives to make it whole.

VII.
Think no thought or deed beneath you.
By base people’s words be not perverted.
From principles you know to be true,
A wise and tranquil course, be not diverted.

VIII.
One man, having performed a service to another, calculates it as an outstanding debt won.
A second, accounts another’s debt owed to him, but for payment asks none.
A third, like a bee making honey, does good without thinking what he has done.

IX.
How am I now employing my soul? – What question is greater in the least!
Whose soul do I have now – that of a child, a man, a tyrant, or a beast?

X.
Observe how ephemeral all human beings really are.
What today is breathing, tomorrow is ashes in a jar.
What did it avail conquerors to wage battle in their day?
How great now are Herculaneum and Helice and Pompeii?
Pass through your short moment of time in harmony with nature.
End your journey in contentment, as an olive when mature,
Blessing the power that produced a crop as wondrous as you,
And thanking the tree, the earth, and the sun from which all grew.

~ Daniel F Mitchell