Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Generally then, whatsoever it be,…
Generally then, whatsoever it be, besides virtue, and those things that proceed from virtue that thou art subject to be much affected with, remember presently thus to divide it, and by this kind of division, in each particular to attain unto the contempt of the whole. This thou must transfer and apply to thy whole life also.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Most of what captures us is neither good nor bad in itself. A promotion, an insult, a new phone, a delayed flight: each becomes huge only when we hand it our judgment. Marcus recommends breaking the object apart. What is it made of? How long will it last? What does it actually change about your character? Usually, not much. The difficult email is words on a screen. The status symbol is an object others may notice for a moment. The craving is a sensation that will pass. Virtue is different, because it concerns how you meet these things: with courage, fairness, discipline, and reason. Practice reducing every distraction to its plain components. Then put your energy where it belongs: not in acquiring or avoiding externals, but in using them well.
Related passages
- Marcus Aurelius And indeed we must needs commit many evils, if we incline to any of these things, more or less, with an opinion of any…
- Marcus Aurelius Behold and observe, what is the state of their rational part; and those that the world doth account wise, see what…
- Marcus Aurelius But as for those which by the vulgar are esteemed good, if he shall hear them mentioned as good, he doth hearken for…