MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book xii. 15.
Wednesday
February 8
IT is high time for thee to understand that there
is somewhat in thee, better and more divine
than either thy passions, or thy sensual appetites
and affections. What is now the object of my
mind, is it fear, or suspicion, or lust, or any such
thing? To do nothing rashly without some
certain end; let that be thy first care. The next,
to have no other end than the common good.
For, alas! yet a little while, and thou art no more:
no more will any, either of those things that now
thou seest, or of those men that now are living, be
any more.
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"Have no other end than the common good." Do we really consider this, as the ends of all of our choices and action? Do I seek my own pleasure and security, those of my loved ones? What am I doing, for the 'common good.'
ReplyDeleteWow if we all thought of the common good first and foremost how much nicer this world would be. If only we could focus on the good of others first and foremost...
ReplyDeleteSomething to continue to stive for.