Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.12

With respect to that which happens conformably to Nature, we ought to blame neither gods, for they do nothing wrong either voluntarily or involuntarily, nor men, for they do nothing wrong except involuntarily.

Consequently we should blame nobody.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 12.12 (tr Long)

Most of my resentment will follow from blame, and so where I can overcome my sense of blame, I can better master my resentment.

Whenever something has happened, it helps me to know how and why it happened, but it does not help me to find fault, or dwell upon what is wrong.  It seems easy to accuse, but it only drains the life from me; it seems harder to understand, but it restores the life in me.

Providence gets its right, because it knows what’s best. People can get it wrong, but only because they don’t know any better. Pointing my finger at God or at my neighbor is misguided and fruitless, since I fail to see that their actions could not have come to pass in any other way.  God does not do any harm, and my neighbor did not mean any harm.

Put another way, if some event takes place, however it may first appear to me, I can be certain that it exists for the sake of what is good, however mysteriously, and invariably offers me the opportunity to go good.

If I see another person act poorly, I can also be certain that he only did so falsely thinking it was good, and therefore it gives me the opportunity to respond with compassion instead of condemnation.

“But he could have known better!” Yes, perhaps he could, and none of this negates the principle of personal responsibility. But to cast blame only compounds the error.

Ignorance was the condition that misled him, and so ignorance is what needs first to be cured. Teach him, correct him, and improve him where you can, and teach yourself, correct yourself, and improve yourself where you cannot.

I don’t know where the phrase came from, but at some point it got stuck in my head:

Blame no one. Expect nothing. Do something.

Pointing the finger only distracts me from my own responsibility. Demanding an outcome only reveals my own vanity. Acting with an informed conscience is what makes it better.

Written in 8/2009