Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.52

Another may be more expert in casting his opponent; but he is not more social, nor more modest, nor better disciplined to meet all that happens, nor more considerate with respect to the faults of his neighbors.

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

The wrestler may be stronger or more skilled in the ring, but that does not make him the better man.

I think of all the different qualities we admire in others, and then how we judge human merit based upon such traits. We think highly of intelligence, wit, charm, and eloquence. We stand in awe of physical beauty and prowess. We respect influence, position, and authority.

Now all of these things can be used for benefit, and they can also be used for harm. None of them will ever really do us any good if they are not guided by moral character.

I think of all the different times I was impressed by a woman’s elegance or a man’s toughness, the diligence of a hard worker or the insight of a scholar, the raw power of an athlete or the creativity of an artist.

Then I found that some of them were hardly great at all, because their gifts were not driven by a conscience.

I think of all aptitudes given by Nature and all the habits nurtured by practice, all the opportunities offered by circumstances and all the chances given by Providence, and I see them as wasted when they are separated from wisdom and virtue.

Without an awareness of true and false, of right and wrong, and without the conviction to act without greed or fear, they will have no value whatsoever. They are like the finest tools in the hands of a man who doesn’t know the first thing about his craft.

Perhaps I have simply happened across a few too many experiences that have discouraged me, and perhaps I am still too much of pessimist, but I have seen too many people who choose not to inform their inner voice, or who lack the courage to listen to it. There may not be a drop of malice in them at all, but they too easily fail to reflect enough, or don’t bother to care enough. And to be completely fair, I have been part of that group too often.

I can develop all the potential talents within me, and work hard at being successful in so many ways, even as “winning” in life neither begins nor ends with such measures. As with so much in Stoicism, and with so much in life, it is all about ordering the priorities of what is absolute and what is relative. 

Written in 12/2007