Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: A black or malign disposition, an…
A black or malign disposition, an effeminate disposition; an hard inexorable disposition, a wild inhuman disposition, a sheepish disposition, a childish disposition; a blockish, a false, a scurril, a fraudulent, a tyrannical: what then? If he be a stranger in the world, that knows not the things that are in it; why not be a stranger as well, that wonders at the things that are done in it?
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
People can be selfish, vain, dishonest, immature, and harsh. This should not astonish us. Marcus’s point is that being shocked by ordinary human weakness is its own kind of ignorance. We know the world contains every sort of temperament, so why act personally betrayed whenever we encounter one? Expecting imperfection does not mean becoming cynical or excusing harmful behavior. It means meeting it with preparation instead of surprise. You can set a boundary with a manipulative person, keep distance from a cruel one, and still avoid wasting your peace on disbelief. Today, notice where someone’s behavior is making you say, “I can’t believe they did that.” Replace the surprise with a calm question: given who they are, what is the wisest way for me to deal with this?
Related passages
- Marcus Aurelius If a cucumber is bitter, discard it. If thorns block the way, go around them. Why ask why such irritations exist?…
- Marcus Aurelius If this neither be my wicked act, nor an act anyways depending from any wickedness of mine, and that by it the public…
- Marcus Aurelius To desire things impossible is the part of a mad man. But it is a thing impossible, that wicked man should not commit…