Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: They contemn one another, and yet they…
They contemn one another, and yet they seek to please one another: and whilest they seek to surpass one another in worldly pomp and greatness, they most debase and prostitute themselves in their better part one to another.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
There is a humiliating contradiction in craving approval from people whose judgment we do not respect. Yet we do it constantly. We complain about shallow social media, then refresh it for validation. We mock office politics, then shape ourselves around the people playing them. Marcus sees the price clearly: in trying to outshine others, we hand over the better part of ourselves. Ambition is not the problem. The problem is ambition that makes us dishonest, anxious, or servile. Ask whose approval is directing your choices. Would you trade your peace, integrity, or time with people you love for it? If not, stop making the trade in smaller installments. Choose standards you can respect in private. Build a life that does not require you to flatter the crowd you claim to disdain.
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