Know yourself
--The Oracle of Delphi
The unexamined life is not worth living.
--Socrates
The question of "what is the right way to live" can only be found by looking
inward. Aristotle said that we do not study
ethics to discover what goodness is, but rather so that we can
become good.
Are you distracted by the things of the world?
Give yourself some quiet time to discover something new, and learn
how to stop this restlessness.
And beware that you don't fall into another kind of error: the folly of those who wear out their lives in ceaseless business, but have no aim on which their every action or thought is focused
--Marcus Aurelius
It is in ourselves that we find
stress and anger. Other people do not make us feel - it is we who feel the things. Look inward and see where the
fallacy lies. Are you upset at this other person because of his wealth, or pleasure he has, or fame? Does this not mean that we have equated these things with being
good when they are beyond our control?
If you feel annoyed, you've forgotten that everything happens in obedience to the universal Nature and that another person's stupidity has nothing to do with you.
You've also forgotten that things always happen, have always happened, and will happen again just like this, everywhere.
You've forgotten how close is the bond between an individual and the
whole human race, for it's a community, not of little blood or seed,
but of mind; and each individual mind is a God, an emanation of the divine intelligence.
You've also forgotten that nothing belongs to us, but that our children and our bodies and our very souls come from that divine source. You've forgotten that everything depends on judgment.
And finally you've forgotten that every person lives only in the present moment, and can loose only this.
--Marcus Aurelius
One of the things that is in our power, is our ability to choose - our free will. That is something that no one can take away from us, and ours to treasure. Through introspection, we find that the things around us come and go and are beyond our control. We can find happiness by letting the frustration of trying to chance these things or people go and concentrating on what truly matters - ourselves.