Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Consider them through all actions and…
Consider them through all actions and occupations, of their lives: as when they eat, and when they sleep: when they are in the act of necessary exoneration, and when in the act of lust.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
We are easily intimidated by titles, followers, wealth, and forceful personalities. Marcus’s antidote is deliberately unglamorous: remember that every impressive person eats, sleeps, gets sick, needs the bathroom, feels insecure, and eventually dies. This is not contempt. It is a correction to the spell of status. Nobody is so elevated that they cease to be human, and nobody is so lowly that they cease to deserve dignity. When you see a famous name, a demanding boss, or someone who seems to have everything, do not shrink yourself or turn them into a fantasy. See the whole person, including the ordinary machinery of being alive. That perspective makes praise less intoxicating and intimidation less powerful. Today, approach one person you have put on a pedestal with calm respect—not worship, not resentment, just clear sight.
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