Stoic Snippets 249

How unsound and insincere is he who says, "I have determined to deal with you in a fair way!"—What are you doing, man? There is no occasion to give this notice. It will soon show itself by acts. 

The voice ought to be plainly written on the forehead. Such as a man's character is, he immediately shows it in his eyes, just as he who is beloved forthwith reads everything in the eyes of lovers. 

The man who is honest and good ought to be exactly like a man who smells strong, so that the bystander as soon as he comes near him must smell, whether he choose or not. 

But the affectation of simplicity is like a crooked stick. Nothing is more disgraceful than a wolfish friendship. Avoid this most of all. The good and simple and benevolent show all these things in the eyes, and there is no mistaking. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.15 

IMAGE: Gustave Doré, The Wolf Turned Shepherd (1868)