And inasmuch as I am in a manner intimately related to the parts which are of the same kind with myself, I shall do nothing unsocial, but I shall rather direct myself to the things which are of the same kind with myself, and I shall turn all my efforts to the common interest, and divert them from the contrary.
In his Meditations, this passage outlines the ethical imperative to act in accordance with one's connection to humanity and for the common good.
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More from Marcus Aurelius
He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive, and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of a man who could not be diverted from right, rather than of a man who had been improved.
Do not then consider life a thing of any value. + For look to the immensity of time behind thee, and to the time which is before thee, another boundless space.
As thou intendest to live when them art gone out, ... so it is in thy power to live here.
In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present,--I am rising to the work of a human being.
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