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March 28 - March 28, 2020
the writings of the great philosophers, and those of Marcus in particular, show how notions of inner self-knowledge and outer right-action are inseparable.
In his refusal to call himself anything but a Roman and a human being, Marcus seems to be investigating human life and his own life by stripping the human being down to two absolutely essential elements. These are mind and participation in a society with other human beings.
community of the mind.
The entire cosmos (which, in Greek, means “beauty” and “order” in addition to “universe”) is organized by an ordering force, or logos. The human being also contains such an organizing or guiding element, which is called “mind” or “reason.” Human life, therefore, has a specific context in which it exists—and can potentially thrive. This, however, depends upon the extent to which an individual lives “in accordance with nature.”
we see in Roman Stoicism an effort to emphasize commonalities of doctrine among traditionally rival philosophical schools.
avoid the academic temptation of learning merely for its own sake.
simplicity in one’s way of living,
to make philosophy my home, to write philosophical dialogues as a young man, and to desire only a simple cot and animal skin for my bed, and only what is necessary for the Greek discipline of philosophy.
To read with precision and not be satisfied with the mere gist of things, nor to agree too quickly with clever debaters.
unintrusive concern for friends, and a tolerance for the foolish, and for those whose ideas have not been thought out.
envy, deceit and hypocrisy are common traits of a leader.
Finally, to have true affection for one’s children.
Importantly, to acknowledge without envy those who have special ability, be it in matters of public speaking, law, custom, or anything else, even sharing in their enthusiasm so that each might be esteemed for their particular gifts.
Begin each day by saying to yourself: Today I am going to encounter people who are ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, and hostile. People have these characteristics because they do not understand what is good and what is bad.
To hinder one another, then, is contrary to Nature, and this is exactly what happens when we are angry and turn away from each other.
Remember how long you have been putting these things off, and how often you have received an opportunity from the gods and have not made use of it.
Each and every hour make up your mind steadfastly as a Roman and as a man to accomplish the matter presently at hand with genuine solemnity, loving care, independence, and justice, and to provide yourself with relief from all other worries; and you will achieve this if you perform every action in your life as if it were your last, putting aside all aimlessness and emotional resistance to the choices of reason, and all pretense, selfishness, and discontent with what has been allotted to you.
Also, if one sees death for what it is, and with the power of Intelligence strips away all its imaginary characteristics, one will then understand death to be nothing more than a natural process, and it is childish to be afraid of a natural process. Moreover, this is not only a natural process, but is for the well-being of Nature herself.
The longest and shortest lives thus amount to the same, for the present moment is equal for everyone, and what we lose turns out never to have belonged to us in the first place; and so what has been lost is only a mere moment.
you have boarded your ship, you have set sail, and that you have made it to your destination: now step ashore. If, on the one hand, you go on to another life, that life will not be lacking in gods. If, on the other hand, it is mere unconsciousness, then you will no longer be at the mercy of pains and pleasures as a servant to this earthly vessel.
Do not waste what remains of your life with anxiety about others, unless you can elevate those thoughts and bring them in relation to some common good. For otherwise you will surely neglect some other important task, when you worry in this way about what some clever person is doing and why, what he is saying, what he has in mind, what he is contriving, and all such thoughts and worries which distract you from keeping watch over your guiding part.
Therefore we should not only avoid aimlessness and idleness in the series of our thoughts, but, most of all, whatever is overly inquisitive and of bad character.
dipped deep in the dye of justice,
Never consider anything to be beneficial to you, which could ever compel you to violate your faith in yourself, to abandon your modesty, to hate anybody, to be overly suspicious, cursing, disingenuous, or to lust after anything which must be hidden behind walls or veils.
For you can never do anything well which concerns humans unless you consult the divine; nor can you do anything well concerning the divine without first consulting the human realm.
you have the power to retire within yourself whenever you wish. For nowhere can a person retire more full of peace and free from care than into one’s own soul;
Continually give yourself this kind of retreat and regenerate yourself, but keep your rules of living brief and basic so that, when consulted, they will immediately wash away all distress and send you back to your work without resentment.
rational beings have come into existence for the sake of each other; and tolerance and patience are aspects of what it means to be just;
But among the thoughts that are closest at hand, which you will look to, let these two be there: first, that various difficulties need not penetrate to your soul but can remain external, unaffecting—such disturbances come from nothing other than your internal judgments; second, remember that all the things which you now see are changing and will not continue to exist as they are.
The Cosmos is constant change, and our lives are but a series of choices.
strive to become a genuinely good man.
Everything which results in something beautiful is itself beautiful and is complete in itself, with praise holding no essential role.
we must leave aside not only unnecessary activities but even unnecessary thoughts, so that unnecessary activities do not follow from them.
Either the Cosmos has been arranged in an entirely well-ordered way, or has come together by chance, but nevertheless remains an ordered whole, a Cosmos. Or do you think some kind of cosmic order can exist in you, while the Cosmos itself is chaos?
let that part of you which judges all these experiences be at peace,
So pass this brief amount of time in accordance with Nature and dissolve graciously, just as a ripe olive falls to the ground praising both the earth which gave it life and the tree which nourished it.
Be like the jutting rock against which waves are constantly crashing, and all around it the frothing foam of the waters then settles back down. “Oh, I am so unfortunate that this has happened to me.” Not at all, but rather “How fortunate I am that, even though this has happened to me, I continue uninjured, neither terrified by the present, nor in fear of the future.”
For the remainder of your life, whenever anything causes pain for you, make use of this principle: “This is not unfortunate. Indeed, to bear such things nobly is good fortune.”
Early in the morning, when you are reluctant in your laziness to get up, let this thought be at hand: “I am rising to do the work of a human being.” Even though I know this, why am I still resentful if I am going out to do that for which I was born and that for which I was brought into the Cosmos?
good health. And also in the second case, whatever should happen has also been arranged for each person because it is in some way conducive to each person’s destiny. For we say that things “fall” to us, just as the large square stones in walls or in pyramids “fall” into place, aligning themselves with each other; for the entire universe is one great harmony, and just as the Cosmos is made complete by all material bodies, so too do many unique causes make up the one ordained Cause in Nature. What I mean is understood even by simple people, for even they can say “fate brought this upon him.” So
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Do not come back to philosophy as a child returns to a harsh schoolmaster but rather as sore-eyed people turn to sponges and egg whites,
“Toward what end am I now making use of my soul?” Each day question and cross-examine yourself:
Whatever kind of impressions you receive most often, so too will be your mind, for the soul is dyed with the color of one’s impressions.
Nothing happens to anyone which that person is unable by nature to endure.
For the mind can convert all that hinders its activity into things which help it, all that checks its work into assistance in that very task, and all that stands in its path into an escort on its journey.
“There was a time, long past, when fate was kind to me.”14 But the truly fortunate person has created his own good fortune through good habits of the soul, good intentions, and good actions.
For whatever causes us to die is also one of life’s processes. Even for this, nothing more is required of us than to accomplish well the task at hand.
The noblest way of taking revenge on others is by refusing to become like them.
Either everything is a confused gathering and scattering of atoms, or else it is all a great unity and design. If the former, why am I so eager to go on living in such a swirling chaos? Why should I care about anything but how I will finally “return to the soil”?15 and why am I disturbed? For whatever I do, this scattering will come upon me as well. But if it is the other alternative, then I am reverent, I am calm; I place my trust in that which governs all things.
What then remains to be valued? I believe it is this: to move and be restrained in accordance with how we are made and what we are made for, toward which end both our concerns and our arts lead (for indeed every art or craft aims at this, in order that whatever it constructs be well suited for its proper task, for which it has been made.
