Do not look around thee to discover other men's ruling principles, but look straight to this, to what nature leads thee, both the universal nature through the things which happen to thee, and thy own nature through the acts which must be done by thee.
Marcus Aurelius advises focusing on one's own inherent nature and universal guidance rather than scrutinizing others' motivations.
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Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial.
But if there is a providence which allows itself to be propitiated, make thyself worthy of the help of the divinity.
Further, I owe it to the gods that I was not hurried into any offence against any of them, though I had a disposition which, if opportunity had offered, might have led me to do something of this kind; but, through their favor, there never…
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