Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.31

Adorn yourself with simplicity and modesty and with indifference towards the things that lie between virtue and vice.

Love mankind. Follow God.

The poet says that Law rules all, and it is enough to remember that Law rules all.

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

Priorities. I spoke with a fine fellow the other day, a man who told me how he had lived well in some ways, and had lived rather poorly in others. He understood that his life was a patchwork. He also understood that he needed to make it all right, before the end came. He knew that he was old, and he didn’t have all that much time left.

Whenever anyone comes to speak to me, as rare as it might be, I do my best never to judge that man. I try to understand him, as I would like to be understood. I try to love him, as I would like to be loved.

So it was difficult for me to ask him this, but I felt it needed to be asked.

“What do you think will make it all worthwhile for you? What will be your standard of success?”

He thought for a moment, and then said, “I need to make sure that my house isn’t a mess. When I die, I don’t want my sister to have to deal with all of my clutter. I need to get the money thing in order. I don’t need people fighting over what little I had. I need to make sure I have what I need right now, however the family may bicker.”

Only because I knew him well, and because I trusted him, I asked one final question.

“Are you doing all of that because it makes the situation better, or because it makes you better?”

He smiled, knowing exactly what I meant. “Both, but what I do comes before what anyone thinks of it.”

There is a man I admire and respect. Be simple, expecting nothing to be given to you. Be modest, never thinking of yourself as better than anyone else. Care nothing at all for what will happen, because it will happen as it will. Care everything for what you may do, not for what you receive.

There are the two aspects of the Golden Rule. Do your loving, regardless of whether others love. Love you neighbor. Love God. These two cannot exist apart. Love the cause, and love the effects.

Only love is the law. 

Written in 11/2007