“Sixth, consider when thou art much vexed or grieved, that man’s life is only a moment, and after a short time we are all laid out dead.” Meditations Chapter 11 Rule #6
Nothing says Merry Christmas like contemplating my death. Continue reading
OK, I have not been posting like I would like to. The fact of the matter is that I have some irons in the fire, and writing has been scarce. I will get back to it soon. Hopefully, regularly starting in December.
In the meantime, I’ve “modernized” this passage from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations Book 12. Simply beautiful and wise: Continue reading
…and now for Rule 3 from the Nine rules:
“Third, that if men do rightly what they do, we ought not to be displeased; but if they do not right, it is plain that they do so involuntarily and in ignorance. For as every soul is unwillingly deprived of the truth, so also is it unwillingly deprived of the power of behaving to each man according to his deserts. Accordingly men are pained when they are called unjust, ungrateful, and greedy, and in a word wrong-doers to their neighbours.” The Meditations Chapter 11 Continue reading
“These are the properties of the rational soul: it sees itself, analyses itself, and makes itself such as it chooses; the fruit which it bears itself enjoys- for the fruits of plants and that in animals which corresponds to fruits others enjoy- it obtains its own end, wherever the limit of life may be fixed. Not as in a dance and in a play and in such like things, where the whole action is incomplete, if anything cuts it short; but in every part and wherever it may be stopped, it makes what has been set before it full and complete, so that it can say, I have what is my own. And further Continue reading
“Remember these nine rules, as if thou hadst received them as a gift from the Muses, and begin at last to be a man while thou livest.” –Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Book 11
In The Meditations, Book 11, I came upon nine rules that Marcus Aurelius advised himself to follow. I found them to be thoughtful and helpful, in pondering “how to live.” Not really anything fundamental, but some things to think about.
Here’s the first of the nine: Continue reading