244. Advice from Marcus Aurelius

Here are 10 things Marcus Aurelius advises :

1. Always be courteous and serene of temper.

2. Be manly without ostentation.

3. Be pious and generous. Avoid uncharitableness in thought word and action. Hold also a simplicity of life.

4. No expense should be spared for the sake of good masters (teachers).

5. Do not be partisan. Seek the bigger picture. Fear not hard work. Be sparing in your wants. Attend to your own needs. Mind your own business.Do not listen to gossip.

6. Do not be absorbed in trivial pursuits. Be sceptical of wizards and wonder workers with their tales of the supernatural.Eschew cock-fighting and other barbaric distractions. Do not resent outspokenness. Compose essays.

7. Learn Philosophy, Law and Wrestling. Remember that your character needs training and care daily.

8. Whenever someone falls out with you through ill temper and is willing to make peace again, be willing to meet him halfway.

9. Be accurate in your readings. Do not be content with a mere general idea of what is meant. Do not be too quickly convinced by a glib tongue.

10. You need to make decisions for yourself and do not depend on the hazzards of chance. Never for a moment, leave Reason out of sight.

14. Attitude vs Conscience

Do not worry so much about examining your conscience as about examining your attitude. Conscience is about guilt which is a destructive, corrosive emotion. Attitude is about how you think about people things and situations. It is about what you say about them. Because "Your attitude determines your altitude.", it is important that you remain upbeat, positive, optimistic and that you operate from a place of good will to all, assuming the best in others unless you are proven wrong. Marcus Aurelius once said : "A person's life is what his thoughts make of it."
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