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Marcus Aurelius
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
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Marcus Aurelius
“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”
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Marcus Aurelius
“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.”
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Marcus Aurelius
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
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Humility and compassion are a few practices that don’t often get associated with Stoicism. I assumed Stoicism was more or less compassion-free and disregarding the need to connect with others. But after a bit of digging, my ignorance couldn’t be further from the truth. One of if not the most famous Stoics, Marcus Aurelius, has so much on these topics in his writings. Even the underlying principles of interconnectedness that define Stoicism point to the need for humility and compassion constantly.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Be something bigger than yourself,” or something similar, and that is one of the principles Stoics want to aim for when thinking of the Universe as a single entity. Fragmentation can’t be good because it divides what is meant to be whole. We know exactly what it means to do good and to be a good person. We feel a twinge of discomfort when we go against what we ought to be doing for a reason — We know better.

“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One.” – Marcus Aurelius

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