Working hard or hardly working
I can't call a person a hard worker just because I hear they read and write, even if working at it all night. Until I know what a person is working for, I can't deem them industrious... I can't if the end they work for is their own ruling principle, having it be and remain in constant harmony with Nature. Epictetus, Discourses, 4.4.41; 43 . 나는 그들이 읽고 쓰고 있다는 말을 듣고, 심지어 밤새도록 그 일을 하고 있다는 말을 들어도 그 사..
The first two things before acting
The first thing to do - don't get worked up. For everything happens according to the nature of all things, and in a short time you'll be nobody and nowhere, even as the great emperors Hadrian and Augustus are now. The next thing to do - consider carefully the task at hand for what it is, while remembering that your purpose is to be a good human being. Get straight to doing what nature requires o..
Where to find joy
Joy for human beings lies in proper human work. And proper human work consists in: acts of kindness to other human beings, disdain for the stirrings of the senses, identifying trustworthy impressions, and contemplating the natural order and all that happens in keeping with it. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.26 . 인간의 기쁨은 올바른 인간의 일에 있습니다. 그리고 올바른 인간의 일은 다음과 같은 것들로 구성됩니다.다른 인간들에게 친절한 행위를 하는 것, 감각..
Making your own good fortune
You say, good fortune used to meet you at every corner. But the fortunate person is the one who gives themselves a good fortune. And good fortunes are a well-tuned soul, good impulses and good actions. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.36 . 행운은 과거에는 구석구석에서 당신을 만났다고 하지만, 진정으로 행운을 가진 사람은 스스로에게 행운을 주는 사람입니다. 그리고 진정한 행운은 잘 조율된 영혼, 좋은 충동과 좋은 행동입니다.
Show me how to live
Show me that the good life doesn't consist in its length, but in its use, and that it is possible - no, entirely too common - for a person who has had a long life to have lived too little. Seneca, Moral Letters, 49.10b . 좋은 삶은 그 길이에 있는 것이 아니라, 그 사용에 의해 구성되는 것이며,오래 산 사람이 적게 살았다고 할 수 있는 것이 가능할 뿐만 아니라, 너무 흔하다.