Sublime

“The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like that.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.6

“Here’s a way to think about what the masses regard as being ‘good’ things. If you would first start by setting your mind upon things that are unquestionably good—wisdom, self-control, justice, courage—with this preconception you’ll no longer be able to listen to the popular refrain that there are too many good things to experience in a lifetime.”

“What is your vocation? To be a good person.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.5

Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library). Translated by Gregory Hayes. New York: Modern Library, 2002.

“Walk the long gallery of the past, of empires and kingdoms succeeding each other without number. And you can also see the future, for surely it will be exactly the same, unable to deviate from the present rhythm. It’s all one whether we’ve experienced forty years or an aeon. What more is there to see?” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.49

“Frame your thoughts like this—you are an old person, you won’t let yourself be enslaved by this any longer, no longer pulled like a puppet by every impulse, and you’ll stop complaining about your present fortune or dreading the future.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 2.2

“Don’t be bounced around, but submit every impulse to the claims of justice, and protect your clear conviction in every appearance.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.22