Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.5

Is my understanding sufficient for this or not? If it is sufficient, I use it for the work as an instrument given by the Universal Nature.

But if it is not sufficient, then either I retire from the work and give way to him who is able to do it better, unless there be some reason why I ought not to do so. Or I do it as well as I can, taking to help me the man who, with the aid of my ruling principle, can do what is now fit and useful for the general good.

For whatsoever either by myself or with another I can do, ought to be directed to this only, to that which is useful and well suited to society.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 7 (tr Long)

This text combines two great pieces of Classical wisdom. Every man knows and can do some things well, but no man knows and can do everything well. Join your efforts with others, so that we might better aim for the good of all.

Each of these truths is often ignored or misunderstood. Many of us are convinced that we are the masters of many things, yet humble experience should teach us how little we understand. Many of us reduce knowledge and ability merely to the technical realm, the skills of this or that trade, yet the greater awareness must rest in the moral realm, the achievement of true human excellence. We neglect the end at the expense of the means.

Many of us are convinced that life must be a constant struggle between persons, a war where success for some means failure for others, yet the benefit of all people can only be necessarily joined together. Many of us, while speaking of the common good, assume that what is good for us is merely money, or security, or health, or leisure, yet such things can only exist as a means for our virtue. Again, we neglect the end at the expense of the means.

So we end up with two grave errors we are all prone to falling into: “I can do it all myself”, and “I should do it for myself”. No, we are made to do it together, and we are made for one another.

At first, admitting that I don’t understand something, or that I am not gifted in a certain way, or that something is beyond my ability can be difficult for me to accept. I may feel weak, inadequate, or incompetent. But once I begin to recognize that the whole world isn’t just about me, but about everything working together, each part in its own distinct and unique way, I can come to find comfort in this. I don’t have to be the strongest or the best. I can come to accept myself for what I am, knowing that all things exist in a balance. I am playing my part, and I don’t need to play all the other parts.

We often pay a certain lip service to the idea of the common good, but too often it remains just a vague idea. I somehow know I should be working toward such a goal, but then I get caught up only in myself. It is only when I remember my own purpose in this world, to live with wisdom and virtue, to know what is true and to love what is good, that I can also remember how everyone else is made for this exact same purpose. It isn’t about making people richer, or more powerful, or more gratified. It’s about helping one another to simply become better.

We may not all have the same means at our disposal, but we are all made for the same end. The good for all us isn’t about accumulating more means for ourselves, but sharing whatever means we may have to work for that end. 

No man is insignificant, or disposable, or unnecessary. All will play their own part when they work together for the whole. 

Written in 8/2007