Stoic Snippets 183

He who does not know what the world is, does not know where he is. 

And he who does not know for what purpose the world exists, does not know who he is, nor what the world is. 

But he who has failed in any one of these things could not even say for what purpose he exists himself. 

What then do you think of him who avoids or seeks the praise of those who applaud, of men who know not either where they are or who they are? 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.52 

IMAGE: Agostino Musi (after Rosso Fiorentino), Allegory of Death and Fame (1518)