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As Marcus Aurelius put it[1] we should always ask ourselves before we do things whether they are necessary, because the vast majority of things which people do
by seanhunter 4y ago
As Marcus Aurelius put it[1] we should always ask ourselves before we do things whether they are necessary, because the vast majority of things which people do are not. If you do only the necessary things you will have more time and greater ease because not only will you be doing less, but you will be doing the really important things better.
By any standards of then or today he had plenty to do being as he was a Roman Emperor during the time of a massive pandemic[2].
[1] Book 4, XX
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonine_Plague https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonine_Plague
- seanhunter 4y agoThat comes across as really preachy so I want to just point out that I came across this quote because it's something I really need to learn to do myself as a way of finding a path back from being pretty burned out.
- sdwr 4y agoHard to know what's worth doing sometimes! I burned out myself a while back, took time off, and I can feel myself ramping back up. I'm hoping that I learned something from the last go around, but only time will tell. Meditations is inspiring. Maybe it's preachy or overwrought, but I see it as someone who used his incredible vantage point to cultivate wisdom and goodness. There's a lot of compassionate, even-handed observation in it.