Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold or warm, if thou art doing thy duty; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied with sleep; and whether ill-spoken of or praised; and whether dying or doing something else.
In his personal reflections, Marcus Aurelius advises maintaining equanimity and focus on duty regardless of physical sensations, reputation, or life's ultimate end.
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More from Marcus Aurelius
Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a kind providence, or a confusion without a purpose and without a director (iv. 27).
Always run to the short way; and the short way is the natural: accordingly say and do everything in conformity with the soundest reason.
Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial.
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