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April 6– From Meditations by Marcus Aurelieus
Summary: What is badness? And how to avoid it.
Commentary: Happy birthday Marky A! A lot of the readings are chosen based on the author's birthday. Today's reading opens with a definition of "badness." or foulness if you will.
It is thy duty then in the midst of such things to show good humor and not a proud air; to understand however that every man is worth just so much as the things are worth about which he busies himself.
One of the goals of this project is to spend more time doing "valuable" or "useful" things than scrolling reddit or whatever. Does this quote mean that if you spend your time on something that isn't valuable you lose your own value?
7. Be not ashamed to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty like a soldier in the assault on a town.
This is a good thought about modestly accepting help when you need it.
17. Eudaemonia [happiness] is a good daemon, or a good thing. What then art thou doing here, O imagination? Go away, I entreat thee by the gods, as thou didst come, for I want thee not. But thou art come according to thy old fashion. I am not angry with thee: only go away.
The voice here is weird, addressing happiness instead of the reader. Also, you don't hear a ton about happiness in most readings on stoicism.
24. A scowling look is altogether unnatural; when it is often assumed,[5] the result is that all comeliness dies away
MA does not believe in resting bitch face.
65. Take care not to feel towards the inhuman as they feel towards men.
This is an epigraph in my animal-zombie-apocalypse book.
62. Constantly observe who those are whose approbation thou wishest to have, and what ruling principles they possess. For then thou wilt neither blame those who offend involuntarily, nor wilt thou want their approbation, if thou lookest to the sources of their opinions and appetites.
Putting this one last/out of order since I think this is a great thing to keep in mind, particularly with modern demagogues. I said to my wife the other day, "even if Ben Franklin came back from the dead and ran for president, I would still want to hear his platform, not just vote for him cause I like Ben Franklin." Value people because they stand for what you believe in, don't stand for something just because someone you admire likes it.
Hmm... I don't understand 17. Is imagination the opposite of happiness? Also, your illustration of badness amused me. =)
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I think this is an iffy translation. My best interpretation is that it's against imagining something that will make you happy, versus actually doing it. If you want to be a famous author, singer, cheese maker, etc. go work on that craft, don't just sit their imagining yourself at a cheese signing.
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