Friday, October 21, 2016

Friday Morning Meditation for Stoic Week 2016

This one is actually part of my morning meditation every single day, so it was nice to see it show up in the Stoic Week 2016 Handbook!

"Say to yourself first thing in the morning: I shall meet with people who are meddling,
ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, and unsociable. They are subject to these
faults because of their ignorance of what is good and bad. But I have recognized the
nature of the good and seen that it is the right, and the nature of the bad and seen
that it is the wrong, and the nature of the wrongdoer himself, and seen that he is
related to me, not because he has the same blood or seed, but because he shares in
the same mind and portion of divinity. So I cannot be harmed by any of them, as no
one will involve me in what is wrong. Nor can I be angry with my relative or hate him.
We were born for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of upper
and lower teeth. So to work against each other is contrary to nature; and resentment
and rejection count as working against someone."

 – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.1

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