Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Never wont to use the baths at…
Never wont to use the baths at unseasonable hours; no builder; never curious, or solicitous, either about his meat, or about the workmanship, or colour of his clothes, or about anything that belonged to external beauty.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Marcus admired a man who was not consumed by comfort, renovations, fashion, food, or appearance. The point is not that beauty is bad or that you must live miserably. It is that endless refinement can become a bottomless job. There will always be a better restaurant, a newer device, a more tasteful home, and another detail to optimize. If your peace depends on getting all of them right, peace will remain delayed. Simplicity frees attention for more important things: useful work, loved ones, health, and your own mind. Notice how much mental energy you give to choosing, comparing, upgrading, and curating. A modest meal can be enough. A functional outfit can be enough. A home can serve you without becoming your identity. Today, deliberately choose "good enough" in one low-stakes area and spend the saved time on something that makes you wiser or kinder.
Related passages
- Marcus Aurelius As the ordinary shows of the theatre and of other such places, when thou art presented with them, affect thee; as the…
- Marcus Aurelius By one action judge of the rest: this bathing which usually takes up so much of our time, what is it? Oil, sweat,…
- Marcus Aurelius Getting what you wanted might feel pleasant, but that is why pleasure can mislead. Consider instead the greater goods:…