Nevertheless, we ought to mix up
these two things, and to pass our lives alternately in solitude and among
throngs of people; for the former will make us long for the society of mankind,
the latter for that of ourselves, and the one will counteract the other.
Solitude will cure us when we are
sick of crowds, and crowds will cure us when we are sick of solitude.
Only prudence can be my guide in finding a balance,
in discovering the mean between too much and too little of anything. In order
to avoid a downward spiral of relativism, where I frantically swing from one
side to another based merely on the immediate feelings of the moment, I need a stable
point of reference.
That measure must be the measure of my own nature,
as an expression of the whole of Nature. Given a mind, I am made to be aware.
Given a will, I am made to love; all the rest revolves around that. If I
fulfill those callings from within myself, I am also doing my part in the service
of all things. That is being at peace, and that is happiness.
By relying upon my own inner character, I can also
view all external circumstances in their proper place, and I can consider them to
be good or bad only by the standard of virtue.
Should I, for example, spend more time alone or
with other people? I will know the answer to that question if I begin with the
state of my own soul.
Will being in the presence of greedy and shifty folks
encourage me to be a better or a worse man? Will being in the presence of
caring and honest folks encourage me to be a better or a worse man?
Now the point isn’t whether the company I choose
will make me richer, or more gratified, or more recognized. The simplicity of
moral serenity is that it avoids all these distractions, and it does not
confuse principles with preferences.
Wherever I can do my best, and however I can most
fully exercise understanding, conviction, self-control, and justice, is what should
guide me in exactly what I need to pursue.
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