The rottenness of the matter which is the foundation of everything! water, dust, bones, filth: or again, marble rocks, the callosities of the earth; and gold and silver, the sediments; and garments, only bits of hair; and purple dye, blood; and everything else is of the same kind.
Marcus Aurelius offers a stark, materialist perspective on the composition of all things, reducing them to their base elements.
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That which is from fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with the things which are ordered by providence.
Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries.
It is thy duty to leave another man's wrongful act there where it is (vii. 29; ix. 38).
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…
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