Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: He that sinneth, sinneth unto himself.…
He that sinneth, sinneth unto himself. He that is unjust, hurts himself, in that he makes himself worse than he was before. Not he only that committeth, but he also that omitteth something, is oftentimes unjust.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Every dishonest, cruel, or selfish act damages the person who performs it first. We often focus on what someone did to us: the lie, the slight, the unfair decision. Marcus asks us to see the larger cost. By acting badly, that person has trained their own character in the wrong direction. But the warning is also for us. Injustice is not only cheating, stealing, or attacking. It can be failing to speak up when we should, withholding help because it is inconvenient, or letting a preventable problem become someone else’s burden. Character is built in omissions as much as actions. You cannot control whether another person makes themselves worse. You can make sure their conduct does not recruit you into doing the same. Ask: what does this situation require of me, not merely what can I get away with?
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