SOME SIMPLE RULES

“In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.51

Simple is rarely easy. But now that you have these rules, make it your duty to put them into practice— with the first item on your to-do list, with the first conversation you have, with your soul, and, of course, with the life you make for yourself. Not just today, but every day.

Write that on the blackboard and don’t forget it.

WHEN GOOD MEN DO NOTHING

“Often injustice lies in what you aren’t doing, not only in what you are doing.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 9.5

History abounds with evidence that humanity is capable of doing evil, not only actively but passively. In some of our most shameful moments—from slavery to the Holocaust to segregation to the murder of Kitty Genovese—guilt wasn’t limited to perpetrators but to ordinary citizens who, for a multitude of reasons, declined to get involved. It’s that old line: all evil needs to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

It’s not enough to just not do evil. You must also be a force for good in the world, as best you can.

RECEIVE HONORS AND SLIGHTS EXACTLY THE SAME WAY

“Receive without pride, let go without attachment.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.33

In the midst of the breakdown of the Roman Republic, during the civil war between Pompey and Caesar, Pompey made the decision to give control of the military fleet to Cato. It was a massive honor and hugely powerful position. But then a few days later, responding to the protests of his jealous inner circle, Pompey reversed his decision and took the command away.

It could have been seen as an enormous public humiliation—to be given a promotion and then have it taken away. The record shows that Cato’s reaction was basically nothing. He responded to the honor and the dishonor the same way: with indifference and acceptance. He certainly didn’t let it affect his support for the cause. In fact, after the snub, he worked to rally the soldiers before battle with inspirational speeches—the very men who should have been under his command.

That’s what Marcus is saying. Do not take the slights of the day personally—or the exciting rewards and recognitions either, especially when duty has assigned you an important cause. Trivial details like the rise and fall of your position say nothing about you as a person. Only your behavior—as Cato’s did— will.

Keep moving

Whatsoever u must move ! 👹 always . 

With luv ! 

Kavi ♥️ - ego drop ! 

THE BEAUTY OF CHOICE

“You are not your body and hair-style, but your capacity for choosing well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.1.39b–40a

It’s that line in the movie Fight Club: “You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet.” Obviously our friend Epictetus never saw that movie or read the book—but apparently the consumerism of the 1990s existed in ancient Rome too.

It’s easy to confuse the image we present to the world for who we actually are, especially when media messaging deliberately blurs that distinction.

You might look beautiful today, but if that was the result of vain obsession in the mirror this morning, the Stoics would ask, are you actually beautiful? A body built from hard work is admirable. A body built to impress gym rats is not.

That’s what the Stoics urge us to consider. Not how things appear, but what effort, activity, and choices they are a result of.

♥️kavi

Very heavy read ! I am a different emotion when hanging in here …

 

DO YOUR JOB

“Whatever anyone does or says, for my part I’m bound to the good. In the same way an emerald or gold or purple might always proclaim: ‘whatever anyone does or says, I must be what I am and show my true colors.’”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.15

The Stoics believed that every person, animal, and thing has a purpose or a place in nature. Even in ancient Greek and Roman times, they vaguely understood that the world was composed of millions of tiny atoms. It was this idea—this sense of an interconnected cosmos—that underpinned their sense that every person and every action was part of a larger system. Everyone had a job—a specific duty. Even people who did bad things—they were doing their job of being evil because evil is a part of life.

The most critical part of this system was the belief that you, the student who has sought out Stoicism, have the most important job: to be good! To be wise. “To remain the person that philosophy wished to make us.”

Do your job today. Whatever happens, whatever other people’s jobs happen to be, do yours. Be good.