For, indeed, a physician who
attends few patients is no less a physician than the one who attends many if,
to be sure, he has skill and experience in healing.
In the same way the musician who
teaches only a few pupils is no less a musician than the one who teaches many,
provided he knows the art of music.
Likewise, the horseman who trains
only one or two horses is just as much a horseman as the one who trains many if
he is skilled in horsemanship.
And so, the title of a kingly
person belongs to the one who has only one or two subjects just as well as to
the one who has many, only let him have the skill and ability to rule, so that
he may deserve the name of king.
For this reason, it seems to me
that Socrates too called philosophy the statesmanlike and royal discipline,
because one who masters it immediately becomes a statesman.
The popular
assumption I will usually face is that doing more, having more, and getting
more are what matter in life. I have heard it so often now that it can quietly take
a hold of me while I’m not looking. Surely, I am a success when my power
over the world increases, and surely, I am a failure when my power over the world
decreases?
Instead,
I have the choice to take a very different path. Instead of doing more, let me
do something well. Instead of having more, let me posses myself well. Instead
of getting more, let me be content with how well I can give.
Nature
really offers me authority over only one thing, and that is myself. This need not be
seen as some sort of a prison, but can be embraced as the fullest liberation. Increasing
what is good within me does not depend upon adding more of anything external to
me, and is within my own power, under any circumstances, whether or not they
happen to be preferred.
Now I
can be free to live according to my own conscience, not as a slave to whatever
others might say and do. The Stoic Turn changes the center of gravity, helping
me to be at peace with my own living as measured by a harmony with Nature, not
the rat race of appearances and conventions.
The
quality of a soul is superior to the quantity of any fame or riches. More isn’t
better. Better is better.
Because
a doctor has the most patients, or a teacher has the most students, or a leader
has the most followers will in itself not make them any better. Whether they follow
their calling well, acting with virtue in whatever way they can, is what will
make them better.
Or, as
my grandmother would have put it, a bigger home isn’t the same thing as a happy
home.
To be a
leader, to be a king, to be royal is ultimately nothing more than having the
ability to rule oneself. This is the kingdom that comes first, the dominion
upon which all others depend. Anything else that is given, or anything else
that is taken away, will matter only in reference to the power of self-mastery.
Some
might say that anyone can rule himself, that this is hardly any sort of achievement
at all. I would beg to differ. I have known only a very few who have ever come
close to this sort of discipline, and I am sure it is no accident that these
are the very same people I would follow without hesitation.
I have gradually
developed a personal dedication to the example of Marcus Aurelius, and whenever
people learn of it, they assume I am inspired by his political leadership as a
Roman Emperor. Yes, there is much there that impresses me, but there is also
much there that I don’t know about at all.
Rather,
what moves me so deeply is the content of his private character, as expressed
so beautifully in his Meditations. I will read, reflect, and briefly write
on one passage a day, without fail, and I have now done so for many years. I
have come to learn that any of the ways he managed to be a great leader of others
could only come from the ways he managed to be a great leader of himself.
Show me
the inside of a man’s soul, and I will show you how he will go about ruling
others. If he has virtue, he will inspire others to become better, and if he
has vice, he will seduce others to become worse.
Written in 9/1999
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