Contend valiantly, let not the slightest impatience, the beginning of disordered wrath interfere your deliberation, countenance, and action.
Deliberations founded upon a poorly governed temper often fail.
A manly character never appears desperate.
A virile character never praises his own deeds, neither directly nor indirectly. He allows their radiance to delight the Creator, and if He desires them to appear before men then so be it.
Today you shall meet with the confused, impious, indifferent, heretical, inconsistent, and delusional. Let none disturb thy peace, let none taint thy habits. Has not God exercised forbearance with you?
Maintain a calm and virile tone. When the occasion demands a calm and virile and cheerful tone.
Exercise vigor in attaining a cleanly and polished appearance. Yet be not overly polished. There are some who make their brows geometric.
Neglect not prayer and arise from rest at once.
Persevere in the contemplation of all things in an orderly manner. Persevere in refining the expression of these things with clarity, aptness, and elegance.
Feed not pearls to swine lest you end up with nothing to give to the faithful.
Be not overly friendly with those who do not share the ideal of Christendom. Does not St. Paul counsel us to not be yoked unevenly? Yet we do and suffer needlessly.
Make explicit the principles that govern men, even those who are wise, "what kinds of things they avoid, and what kind they pursue." (1)
Moods grips a man who has not yet mastered himself. Mood is used by a man like a composer to convey effects who has mastered himself.
Do not be troubled when words fail you, temper tramples you, and circumstance turns its back on you. Offer to God what you have received and souls will profit by you.
Attain endurance in labor, but in labor act calmly.
Search for the golden mean of emotion in all things, toward all things, and in every circumstance, and your expressions will seem more gentle, more profound, more fitting, more lovely.
All for God, nothing for me. All given to God, abundance we receive.
Source
(1) Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Comments