WHAT is it that we must bestow our care and diligence upon? even upon this only: That our minds and wills be just; that our actions be charitable; that our speech be never deceitful, or that our understanding be not subject to error; that our inclination be always set to embrace whatsoever shall happen unto us, as necessary, as usual, as ordinary, as flowing from such a beginning, and such a fountain, from which both thou thyself, and all things are.
MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book iv. 28.
ENDEAVOUR to continue such, as philosophy (hadst thou wholly and constantly applied thyself unto it) would have made and secured thee. Worship the gods, procure the welfare of men, this life is short. Charitable actions, and a holy disposition, is the only fruit of this mortal life.
MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book vi. 27.
What a great definition of Stoic Serenity. To feel our place in the great river of life and flow around the rocks that may seem to be in our way. Life if we know how to live it is long and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLet my mind and will be just, my actions charitable, my speech truthful, my understanding clear, my heart serene. This is Stoicism.
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of man I could be, if I would apply these Stoic practices consistently. Therefore, I will continue to develop a set of Stoic practices, based on ancient and modern knowledge, and make those my daily spiritual exercises. I may never be a sage (for who has seen one) but I will be more like the man I wish to be.