M. AURELIUS: Meditations (Book 5)

There are many kinds of people in the world. Some are wise and some are foolish. Some are lazy and some aren’t. Marcus Aurelius thought it was better to be wise than it was to be foolish and better to work than be lazy. One of the things he reminded himself daily was “In the morning, when you rise unwillingly, let this thought be present: I am rising to the work of a human being.” Of course it’s a lot easier to hit the snooze button and roll over for another fifteen minutes of sleep. But Marcus says we should ask ourselves “Have I been made for this, to lie under the blankets and keep myself warm?” Birds were made to fly. Fish were made to swim. People were made to work. That’s what Marcus thinks. So do what it is you were born to do without fussing or complaining. We shouldn’t spend our days sleeping in late or hanging out on the couch watching TV. We should be doing something productive with our lives “…are you unwilling to do the work of a human being?”

The attitude we bring to our work is almost as important as the work itself. Our attitude is important because we spend all of our time inside our own minds. The thoughts we have are crucial to our quality of life. Marcus points out that “Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.” What Marcus calls “the character of your mind” is what we would call a personality. My personality is a unique blend of life experience and the things that are important to me as a person. Our personalities are formed partly by ourselves and partly by our environments. But by focusing our thoughts on the positive we can go a long way in changing the environment around us. Marcus believes that “where a man can live, there he can also live well.” Whatever the external circumstances are we still have the ability to improve the quality of our lives by sheer exertion of willpower. This is what separates the wise from the foolish and the diligent from the lazy.

It doesn’t mean that all will be well and have a happy ending. We still live in an imperfect world. Marcus doesn’t flinch from stark reality: “Are you angry with him whose armpits stink? Are you angry with him whose mouth smells foul?” The fact is we have to live around people who sometimes have smelly armpits and bad breath. But which is more important: the bad breath and smelly armpits of others or our own reaction to it? Marcus believes our reaction to unpleasant things is much more important. In fact, one of the keys to happiness is accepting these things for what they are: “He has such a mouth, he has such armpits: it is necessary that such an emanation must come from such things…” That’s just the way things are. Live with it. This is the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius in a nutshell.

It’s a hard philosophy. Too hard for most people I suspect. Most people prefer pleasant things. We don’t like bad smells or being cold. We like warm blankets and sleeping fifteen extra minutes. And if things go wrong many people aren’t above praying for help from the man above. Marcus won’t have any of that. He believes “In truth we ought not to pray at all…” His is a very tough-minded philosophy of self-sufficiency. But there are other philosophies of life. The Apostle Paul, for example, says we should pray without ceasing. This is the exact opposite of what Marcus says. What are we to make of all this? In short, who can we trust? This is the human dilemma. Where do we turn for answers about life’s bedrock issues? How we should live is about as bedrock as it gets. Get that one right and everything else falls into place. But if you get it wrong…well, philosophy isn’t child’s play. At this level philosophy isn’t something to be goofing around with. Either do it seriously or you’d be better off not doing it at all. It can mess you up. Marcus Aurelius and the Apostle Paul were serious men with serious philosophies of life. They weren’t playing around.