“To receive the impressions of forms by means of appearances belongs even to animals; to be pulled by the strings of desire belongs to wild beasts, [weak men]… or a Nero; and the intelligence that guides one to the things that appear suitable belongs also to those who do not believe in the gods, who betray their country, and do their impure deeds when they have shut the doors.’
‘If then everything else is common to all I have mentioned, there remains that which is peculiar to the good man, to be pleased and content with what happens, and with the thread that is spun for him; and not to defile the divinity that is planted in his breast, nor disturb it by a crowd of images, but to preserve it tranquilly, following it obediently as a god, neither saying anything contrary to the truth nor anything contrary to justice. And if all men refuse to believe that he lives a simple, modest, and contented life, he is neither angry with any of them, nor does he deviate from the way that leads to the end of life, to which a man ought to come pure, tranquil, ready to depart, and without any compulsion, perfectly reconciled to his lot (III:16).”
-Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius p. 16-17, trans. George Long, Dover Thrift Edition, Dover Publications, Mineola, NY 1997
Ben Cunis 