May 1st
MAKE CHARACTER YOUR LOUDEST STATEMENT
“For philosophy doesn’t consist in outward display, but in taking heed to what is needed and being mindful of it.”
—MUSONIUS RUFUS, LECTURES, 16.75.15–16
April 30th
WHAT IS IN KEEPING WITH YOUR CHARACTER?
“Just as what is considered rational or irrational differs for each person, in the same way what is good or evil and useful or useless differs for each person. This is why we need education, so that we might learn how to adjust our preconceived notions of the rational and irrational in harmony with nature. In sorting this out, we don’t simply rely on our estimate of the value of external things, but also apply the rule of what is in keeping with one’s character.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.2.5–7
April 27th
TURN IT INSIDE OUT
“Turn it inside out and see what it is like—what it becomes like when old, sick, or prostituting itself. How short-lived the praiser and praised, the one who remembers and the remembered. Remembered in some corner of these parts, and even there not in the same way by all, or even by one. And the whole earth is but a mere speck.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.21
April 23rd
THE MIND IS ALL YOURS
“You have been formed of three parts—body, breath, and mind. Of these, the first two are yours insofar as they are only in your care. The third alone is truly yours.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 12.3
