Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.21

He who has not one and always the same object in life, cannot be one and the same all through his life.

But what I have said is not enough, unless this also is added, what this object ought to be.

For as there is not the same opinion about all the things that in some way or other are considered by the majority to be good, but only about some certain things, that is, things that concern the common interest, so also ought we to propose to ourselves an object that shall be of a common kind, social and political.

For he who directs all his own efforts to this object, will make all his acts alike, and thus will always be the same.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 11.21 (tr Long)

It’s all a question of aim. It will hardly matter if I string the bow and I have no target. It will hardly matter if I am moving and I don’t know where I am going.

This is why I always say that philosophy is a necessity, not a luxury. In one sense it must be the greatest necessity, because everything else will be determined by the highest purpose I have in mind. Who I am, from day to day, will be defined by what I consistently and without condition hold to be dear to me. This is the sum of my character.

And it isn’t enough to pick just any goal, but to discover the best one, the one that brings with it genuine contentment. I may have a personal preference for this or that, but I am looking for something that is greater than my own preference. I will come across all sorts of popular ways of living, quite trendy with the crowd of the moment, but I am looking for something that does not merely conform to the vulgar.

It isn’t just about me alone, and it isn’t even about the will of the many. It is rather about what absolutely all of us share together by our very nature. Let me look beyond the appearances to the shared human content.

Accordingly, I can know right away if my goal is true or false, by asking whether it is a good common for all, or only useful to some. A true purpose, social and political in the noblest sense, can never make one man expendable for another. All of our individual differences aside, we are in this together, because we are all designed to live and work together.

I should strive to be the same man throughout my life, in that I keep the same good in sight, however much I may be twisted and turned around by my circumstances. If I can do this, I will also be treating both others and myself with the same dignity, recognizing that we are all social creatures, made for justice and compassion, precisely because we are creatures of reason.  We are all here for that same reason.

Written in 6/2009