Marcus Aurelius: “This thing, what is it in itself, in its own constitution?”

Always run to the short way; and the short way is the natural: accordingly say and do everything in conformity with the soundest reason.

And the things which conduce in any way to the commodity of life, and of which fortune gives an abundant supply, he used without arrogance and without excusing himself; so that when he had them, he enjoyed them without affectation, and…

It is the same whether we examine these things for a hundred years or three.

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.