Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.16

Neither is transpiration, as in plants, a thing to be valued, nor respiration, as in domesticated animals and wild beasts, nor the receiving of impressions by the appearances of things, nor being moved by desires as puppets by strings, nor assembling in herds, nor being nourished by food, for this is just like the act of separating and parting with the useless part of our food.

What then is worth being valued? To be received with clapping of hands? No. Neither must we value the clapping of tongues, for the praise that comes from the many is a clapping of tongues. Suppose then that you have given up this worthless thing called fame, what remains that is worth valuing?

This is, in my opinion, to move yourself and to restrain yourself in conformity to your proper constitution, to which end both all employments and arts lead. For every art aims at this, that the thing which has been made should be adapted to the work for which it has been made; and the vine-planter who looks after the vine, and the horse-breaker, and he who trains the dog, seek this end. But the education and the teaching of youth aim at something. In this, then, is the value of the education and the teaching. And if this is well, you will not seek anything else.

Will you not cease to value many other things too? Then you will be neither free, nor sufficient for your own happiness, nor without passion. For of necessity you must be envious, jealous, and suspicious of those who can take away those things, and plot against those who have that which is valued by you.

Of necessity, a man must be altogether in a state of perturbation who wants any of these things; and besides, he must often find fault with the gods. But to reverence and honor your own mind will make you content with yourself, and in harmony with society, and in agreement with the gods, that is, praising all that they give and have ordered.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 6 (tr Long)

What is the aim and purpose of human life? We may well confuse the lower functions of a rational animal with the higher functions. Though a man breathes, eats and drinks, reproduces, senses, feels pleasure and pain, desires, and lives in the company of his own kind, none of these things define his end.

What will determine his value is how his reason and choice, which are superior, order and rule over all these other aspects, which are inferior. That which is conditional in life must depend upon that which is unconditional. It will do me no good, for example, if I live with others, but I do not live with them in justice.

In my youth, I was regularly told that the acquisition of a career would make me happy. It would provide the comfort of being in a respected position, and bring with it also the financial opportunities such a life would require. I understood that this could be a means, if seen rightly, but I doubted that it could be an end. I found my few friends from college slowly losing interest in me, because they saw that I would not join them in the pursuit of business or law for the sake of fame and profit. I then found my even fewer friends in graduate school slowly losing interest in me, because they saw that I would not join them in the pursuit of academia for the sake of fame and profit.

I certainly felt lonely, but at the same time I knew I was struggling to follow the right path, however neglected and overgrown it had become. Fame is an empty business, because it depends on seeking the approval of others, and in seeking that approval by the most shallow and deceptive of means. It ceases to be a life lived well, but a life lived under the appearance of living well.

What else could remain? The alternative is for a man to look first to ruling himself, and to define himself by the excellence of his own character, instead of allowing himself to be ruled by his circumstances, to define himself through everything other than himself. This is the ultimate purpose of any action, of any endeavor, and of any art. Be a good lawyer, doctor, teacher, or salesman, but do so with the constant awareness that this must help you to be a virtuous human being.

I find it almost impossible to discuss the crisis of contemporary education with most people, because I am sadly assuming a very different end for any sort of learning. “We’d fix everything if we just gave young people decent job skills!” By all means do this, but it will mean absolutely nothing when separated from inspiring a sense of meaning and purpose. Producing obedient workers and voracious consumers cannot replace helping people become their own masters, by developing a moral identity.

Can’t I pursue a number of ends, and value a number of different things, so that I might be rich and esteemed, and at the same time honest and decent? Only insofar as one is subservient to the other, because I cannot equally and simultaneously define myself both by the dignity of what I do, along with the convenience of what is done to me.

We confuse our circumstances, to which we should be indifferent in themselves, with the merit of our thoughts and deeds, which are the only things in themselves good for human life. It’s no wonder we get life all backwards.

To seek satisfaction in what is outside myself will inevitably make me anxious, jealous, and manipulative, because I must always struggle to try and maintain what was never mine to begin with. I will resent others instead of loving them, and I will resent Nature instead of cooperating with her.

Let me plant my vines, or train my horses, or breed my dogs. Now let me only do this insofar as it makes me a better man, not a richer or more respected man.

Written in 1/2007 

IMAGE: George Stubbs, Firetail with his Trainer by the Rubbing-Down House on Newmarket Heath (1773)