by Gerald_Waving my Freak-flag High Brewster
Member since:
February 18, 2007

Marcus Aurelius (121 CE – 180 CE) ~ Quote of the Day

February 20, 2013 01:23 AM UTC
views: 0 | 12 people recommend this | comments: 33

 

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, remembered as Marcus Aurelius (April 26, 121 CE – March 17, 180 CE), Roman Emperor from 161 to 180.  He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169.  He was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.  Marcus Aurelius' Stoic tome Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration.

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not
  right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no
  one was ever truly harmed.  It is the person who continues
  in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.” 
                                                      ~ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Comments: 33

A Parameswaran N. Feb 20, 2013, 1:48am UTC
True. I share with him something. I can't see why I do not look like him! :)
René Allen Feb 21, 2013, 11:08pm UTC
Parmameswaran ~ You are hysterically funny!

Thank you for this awesome thought-provoking quote by Marcus Aurelius. A very good meditative thought.

Thank you for sharing this with all the Gather Groups ~ This is NOW FEATURED in . . .

Anything That Walks Through the Door!
Joy Bee Feb 20, 2013, 2:36am UTC
That is very wise advice. I love the bust of him.
Gerald_Waving my Freak-flag High Brewster Feb 20, 2013, 12:20pm UTC
Blackjack etiquette?
wendy st. john-devereaux Feb 20, 2013, 5:10am UTC
fabulous, and true, quote

blessings
Larry M. Feb 20, 2013, 9:05am UTC
If he actually did what this quote says he was a rare man indeed. That's exceptionally hard to do.
Gerald_Waving my Freak-flag High Brewster Feb 20, 2013, 12:19pm UTC
I suppose any emperor would be considered "good" when held up against the likes of Caligula or Nero, but apparently he tried to what was best for Rome, anyway.
Larry M. Feb 20, 2013, 12:56pm UTC
Gerald,

No emperor was good. It's just that some we less bad than others.

He seems to have tried to benefit the status quo. In my view, that was not good. It was pretty awful.
Rome was first a Kingdom, through 7 kings, which didn't sit well with the people, so then it became a Republic (like the US of A), though the senators that ruled were for the most part the nobility, so it was really more of a plutocracy (like the US of A), and after 400 plus years of that, it became an Empire, ruled by one man with the authority of a god. Is that what our (the US of A) future might look like? Ruled by lawyers until the right Emperor comes along?
Pete S. Feb 20, 2013, 2:03pm UTC
One of the major reasons the Romans wanted to get rid of their kings was that they were not Romans, but Etruscans. Lars Porsena's attack on Rome was not only to vindicate his kinsman Sextus, whose rape of Lucretia spurred the overthrow of the Tarquin dynasty, but to restore that house to the monarchy. (The history of early Rome is mostly legend, "but who needs truth if it's dull").
Larry M. Feb 20, 2013, 2:15pm UTC
Gerald,

In each of the three types of government, the concentrated wealth ruled and exploited ordinary citizens (and women and slaves and ...). In each case the government was not by the people or for the people but only of the people. This was true for each king, for the Senate, and for each emperor.
Larry M. Feb 20, 2013, 2:17pm UTC
Pete,

You explanation of history has much merit. We tend to write history to prove and support our preconceived notions. It also helps if history makes good movie plots.
Good point, Pete. The Romans did a pretty thorough job of eradicating anything we know of the Etruscans, who, if what we do know of them is anything to go by, were the Romans' superiors in everything but warfare, especially the arts. They must've really hated being in the Etruscans' shadow!

It is also true for the good 'ole US of A, Larry. "By the People" is great advertising, but when has there ever been truth in advertising?
Larry M. Feb 20, 2013, 2:24pm UTC
Gerald,

We and the ancient Romans share the same kind of money so we experience the same kinds of government and exploitation.
Constantly depreciating? I'm afraid you're right.
Dave A. Feb 20, 2013, 3:57pm UTC
Pete, you've certainly crossed the Rubicon by contributing scholarly comments to a Gather thread.
Pete S. Feb 20, 2013, 4:14pm UTC
I had a classical education,, and despite the fact that I was on partial scholarship, I feel I have to get some sort of return on my parents’ investment in me. I occasionally make scholarly comments, but rarely in fields I know anything about.
aniko    Feb 20, 2013, 5:01pm UTC
I make that a rule when it comes to leaving scholarly comments. Fortunately, it's an easy one to keep, since there's hardly any field I know anything about.
Pete S. Feb 20, 2013, 5:15pm UTC
Unfortunately, the field aniko seems to know most about is my field, linguistics, but she studied it more recently so I defer to her in most cases.
Dave A. Feb 20, 2013, 5:32pm UTC
I was just trying to use the phrase "cross the Rubicon" in a sentence. In my twisted way of thinking, one tends to "step in it" when offering an informed opinion on Gather, which incidentally is one reason why I claim no expertise in any field whatsoever—close enough to the truth. Once stepped in, "it" tends to hit the fan with predictable results. It's a thing of wonder!
Pete S. Feb 20, 2013, 5:46pm UTC
The Rubicon used to mark the border between Rome and Cisalpine Gaul; however, the stream's fortunes and misfortunes have been so great in the past two millennia that it is not known today just where it ran in 49 BC, when Julius Caesar crossed it, in effect declaring civil war, and uttering the immortal words Alea iacta est ("That's Alea's jacket!")
Love those scholarly gems, Pete, but I'm afraid I'll have to question the accuracy of this interpretation.
It obviously refers to die-cast metals.
Pete S. Feb 20, 2013, 6:41pm UTC
Quintus Perturbius Alea was a decurion of the 10th Legion whom Caesar liked because he was balder than Caesar. As they were crossing the Rubicon, a young legionary sought to curry favor with one of the comelier camp followers by grabbing a leather jacket from a nearby cart full of impedimenta and placing over a mud puddle, allowing the trollop to walk across without muddying her sandals. But as he lowered the article of clothing, Caesar's eagle eye spotted him, and he shouted his famous statement. The legionary was flogged, the world had to wait another 1600 years for a similar act of chivalry, and historians have been confused by the entire episode ever since.
Larry M. Feb 20, 2013, 6:45pm UTC
Pete,

Marvelous recounting of a tragic attempt to curry favor.
You're a bad man, Pete!
I tried a new recipe lately that turned out to be a tragic attempt at curry flavor.
Pete S. Feb 20, 2013, 7:18pm UTC
I could probably work on it for a few minutes and come up with something featuring a curry comb and the lead character from Rawhide, "Gil Favor" (played by Eric Fleming) but I don't really think the world needs that right now. And in fact Roman cooking was probably in some ways closer to Vietnamese, since their major condiment was garum (aka liquamen), almost identical to nước mắm.
aniko    Feb 20, 2013, 8:40pm UTC
There you go, Dave - that's how you stop "it" from hitting the fan.
Dave A. Feb 20, 2013, 10:19pm UTC
QED
Pete S. Feb 20, 2013, 10:22pm UTC
Misdirection, Dave... that's the key. If they start loading the fan hopper, point to something shiny and quote Vizzini: "What in the world can that be?"

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