“ In one respect man is the nearest thing to me, so far as I must do good to men and endure them. But so far as some men make themselves obstacles to my proper acts, man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no less than the sun or wind or a wild beast. ”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (c. 170 - 180). copy citation
Author | Marcus Aurelius |
---|---|
Source | Meditations |
Topic | sun respect |
Date | c. 170 - 180 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by George Long |
Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15877/15877-h/15877-h.htm |
Context
“nor have they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul: but the soul turns and moves itself alone, and whatever judgments it may think proper to make, such it makes for itself the things which present themselves to it.
20. In one respect man is the nearest thing to me, so far as I must do good to men and endure them. But so far as some men make themselves obstacles to my proper acts, man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no less than the sun or wind or a wild beast. Now it is true that these may impede my action, but they are no impediments to my affects and disposition, which have the power of acting conditionally and changing: for the mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid;”
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