Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.13

Nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses everything in a round, and pries into the things beneath the earth, as the poet says, and seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbors, without perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon, the guiding spirit within him, and to reverence it sincerely.

And reverence of the daemon consists in keeping it pure from passion and thoughtlessness, and dissatisfaction with what comes from gods and men. For the things from the gods merit veneration for their excellence, and the things from men should be dear to us by reason of kinship.

And sometimes even, in a manner, they move our pity by reason of men's ignorance of good and bad, this defect being not less than that which deprives us of the power of distinguishing things that are white and black.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 2 (tr Long)

We are far too quickly drawn to seeking satisfaction in the things that surround us, and to the assumption that wisdom should occupy itself with acquiring a mastery of the world. Yet happiness requires nothing more than the mastery of ourselves.

We only reach outwards for an imagined security in things entirely beyond our power because we have neglected the things entirely within our power. Let the world be as it is, but let me simply rule my own thoughts and deeds. That is sufficient. I should worry less about being rich, influential, pleasured, or clever, and far more about simply being good.

A man becomes a busybody when he fails to get busy with himself.

Listening to your daemon has nothing to do with following the forces of darkness. Remember, Socrates had a daemon that always told him the paths to avoid. The guiding spirit that dwells within us is representative of our conscience, of our knowledge of good and evil.

I may be tempted to complain and criticize, to cast blame on the world for whatever may be wrong with me, but my conscience should always tell me that it is not the fault of the gods, or the fault of my neighbor. Whatever is divine is worthy of respect because its dignity transcends mine, and whatever is human is worthy of respect because its dignity is equal to mine.

Even when I am faced with the error and ignorance of others, that is still something good for me, not so I can condemn or feel superior, but because it allows me the opportunity to have compassion, and to see what is right through the failure of what is wrong. Recognize that the man who cannot reflect upon what is good within him suffers like the man who cannot see what stands in front of him.

I am too easily distracted by what is hardly my business, and I am too eager in trying to conquer everything except myself. My joy or misery will never come or go by how I tinker with what is on the outside, but will rather depend upon how well I correct myself on the inside. 

Written in 9/2004

Image: Eugene Delacroix, Socrates and His Daemon (1838) 

Yes, I have one too, even when I ignore him.