Words of the Ancient Wise: July 16

Monday

July 16

LET it not be in any man's power to say truly of you that you are not simple or that you are not good; if anyone thinks anything of this kind about you, let him be a liar; and this is altogether in your power. For who is it that will hinder you from being good or simple?

MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book x. 32.

HOW unsound and insincere is he who says, "I have determined to deal with you in a fair way." What are you doing, man? There is no occasion to give this notice! It will soon show itself by its acts. The voice ought to be plainly written on the forehead.

MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book xi. 15.

*The quotes were changed to G. Long's 1862 translation (2012)

Using this Blog

For this year, we are continuing our move to a new set of quotes, drawn from Frederic Holland's 1879 "The Reign of the Stoics." Unlike the previous volume which drew only on Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, 'Reign' includes quotes from very nearly every source of Stoic wisdom, arranged topically. The only significant gap is quotes from the works of Musonius Rufus, which I will be adding under the correct topics.

The passages from Words of the Ancient Wise will remain on the blog under the year 2011. I found Words of the Ancient Wise in late 2008, and my wife and I had been reading the passages fairly consistently since. 2011 was the third year of our run through this text. Re-reading the old comment reveals some interesting truths about our lives.

Cheers and Good Reading