Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · English Edition
Centuries of Meditations
Annotated Edition · With an Introduction, Notes and an Outline.
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English Edition · Branch 321 of 454
The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.7
Centuries of Meditations
p. 3217
This digression steals me a little further. Is it not the shame and reproach of Nature, that men should spend so much time in studying trades, and be so ready skilled in the nature of clothes, of grounds, of gold and silver, &c., and think it much to spend a little time in the study of God, themselves, and happiness? What have men to do in this world, but to make themselves happy? Shall it ever be praised, and despised? Verily, happiness being the sovereign and supreme of our concerns, should have the most peculiar portion of our time, and other things what she can spare. It more concerns me to be Divine than to have a purse of gold. And therefore as Solomon said, We must dig for her as for gold and silver, and that is the way to understand the fear of the Lord, and to find the knowledge of God. It is a strange thing that men will be such enemies to themselves. Wisdom is the principal thing, yet all neglect her. Wherefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her and she shall promote thee, she shall bring thee to honour when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Had you certain tidings of a mine of gold, would the care of your ordinary affairs detain you, could you have it for the digging? Nothing more ruins the world than a conceit that a little knowledge is sufficient. Which is a mere lazy dream to cover our sloth or enmity against God. Can you go to a mine of gold, and not to wisdom, (to dig for it) without being guilty, either of a base despondency and distrust of wisdom that she will not bring you to such glorious treasures as is promised; or else of a vile and lazy humour that makes you despise them, because of the little but long labour you apprehend between? Nothing keeps men out of the Temple of Honour, but that the Temple of Virtue stands between, But this was his principle that loved Happiness, and is your friend: I came into this world only that I might be happy. And whatsoever it cost me, I will be happy. A happiness there is, and it is my desire to enjoy it.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.7
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Thomas Traherne’s Centuries explore felicity, childhood vision, love, and the soul’s capacity to enjoy the world. This annotated English edition presents all 410 meditations across five Centuries, with an introduction, explanatory notes, an outline, and textual apparatus.
Historical Text
The Centuries survive in Traherne’s manuscript and were first published by Bertram Dobell in London in 1908. The supplied edition follows the corrected Dobell text, with manuscript readings documented in its Note on the Text and Textual Notes. The four complete Centuries contain one hundred meditations each; the unfinished Fifth contains ten.
About This Edition
Diotimos Editions prepared the introduction, explanatory notes, glossary, reading guide, outline, and textual apparatus for this English original. Century and meditation numbers preserve the work’s structure, while verse line breaks, italics, and struck-through manuscript cancellations remain visible. Notes accompany their passages in the reader and Book Mode.
Rights
Thomas Traherne’s historical text and Bertram Dobell’s 1908 printing are in the public domain. The introduction, notes, and apparatus are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. Historical printing and transcription links identify the edition’s copy-text; manuscript corrections and unresolved readings are documented in the supplied editorial apparatus.