Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Again, how he was no backbiter, nor…
Again, how he was no backbiter, nor easily frightened, nor suspicious, and in his language free from all affectation and curiosity: and how easily he would content himself with few things, as lodging, bedding, clothing, and ordinary nourishment, and attendance.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
A calm life often depends more on what you refuse than on what you acquire. Marcus praises someone who did not gossip, panic easily, suspect everyone’s motives, or use elaborate language to seem important. He also praises contentment with simple shelter, clothes, food, and help. These qualities belong together. The person who needs little is harder to frighten and harder to manipulate. The person who does not constantly talk about others has more room to attend to their own conduct. Simplicity is not deprivation for its own sake. It is freedom from the exhausting maintenance of an inflated self-image. You can enjoy comfort without requiring luxury to feel okay. You can speak well without making every conversation a performance. Today, choose one simplification: skip the gossip, buy nothing unnecessary, eat a plain meal gratefully, or say less and listen more. Notice how much mental space returns.
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