Sunday

December 23

IT were indeed more happy and comfortable, for a man to depart out of this World, having lived all his life long clear from all falsehood, dissimulation, voluptuousness, and pride. But if this cannot be, yet is it some comfort for a man joyfully to depart as weary, and out of love with those; rather than to desire to live, and to continue long in those wicked courses. Hath not yet experience taught thee to fly from the plague? For a far greater plague is the corruption of the mind, than any certain change and distemper of the common air can be. This is a plague of creatures, as they are living creatures; but that of men as they are men or reasonable.

MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book ix. 2

TOYS and fooleries at home; wars abroad; sometimes terror, sometimes torpor, or stupid sloth: this is thy daily slavery.

MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book x. 9

5 comments:

  1. It does seem that life only has the meaning we bring to it, doesn't it? For me this was part of the "hiddenness of God" problem which has severely(mortally?) wounded my faith. Is there anything beyond us? I see you and Pamela exploring our ancestral religions. That seems worthy and good, with proper respect to where we came from. Is it "real" in the sense that there exists (not subsists) the gods?

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  2. Maybe that was too personal a question. Don't answer if you don't want to.

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  3. I would be happy to answer it. I will write a post on my personal blog, directed to this question. Thanks for feeling open enough to ask it.

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  4. Sorry for the delay (Holiday busyness!) but I finally posted my response on the other blog. Let me know if you have any questions.

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