In everything always observe what the thing is which produces for thee an appearance, and resolve it by dividing it into the formal, the material, the purpose, and the time within which it must end.
Marcus Aurelius provides a method for analyzing perceptions by breaking down phenomena into their constituent parts and purpose.
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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).
The third, then, is the ruling part; consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer be either dissatisfied with thy present lot, or…
But if there is a providence which allows itself to be propitiated, make thyself worthy of the help of the divinity.
How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything which happens in life.
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