James Baquet

    Let’s take a look at the second book in the series of “Great Ideas,” bite-sized servings of philosophy for everyday living. That book is “The Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius.

    Marcus was not just any old writer. He was a Roman emperor, and a fairly successful one by most accounts: the last of the “Five Good Emperors,” so-called because almost all those who followed after him were so bad.

    In fact, Marcus wrote down his thoughts while he was actively leading the country. Much of the book is believed to have been written while he was out in the field, making decisions about a military campaign. In those days in Europe, as in early China, a king was also expected to be a warrior.

    Marcus was a Stoic. This is a school of philosophy that says one should live a good life in accordance with nature, aligning one’s decisions with the way things are. To do so was considered “virtue.” The modern meaning of “stoic,” which is to be unmoved by joy or (especially) grief, and to accept whatever happens with equanimity, comes from this idea.

    Let’s look at some of Marcus’ words that exemplify this tradition.

    See how much Marcus sounds like the Buddha: “If you are troubled by any external thing, it is not the thing that disturbs you, but your own attitude toward it. And it is in your power to change this attitude now.” And a few verses later, “Is a cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in the road? Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, ‘And why were such things made in the world?’”

    Rather, Marcus said, let us behave — well — stoically: “Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands firm while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet. I hear you say [when bad things happen], ‘How unlucky that this should happen to me!’ Not at all! Say instead, ‘How lucky that I am not broken by what has happened and am not afraid of what is about to happen. The same blow might have struck anyone, but not many would have absorbed it without capitulation or complaint.’”

    Words to live by!

    Vocabulary

    Which word above means:

    1. bringing into agreement

    2. superior moral quality

    3. giving up, surrender

    4. be an example of

    5. following cooperating with

    6. small enough to absorb easily

    7. a high point of land

    8. sadness

    9. mental or emotional stability in a time of stress

    10. operation by an army with a specific objective