The human soul degrades itself:
i. Above all, when it does its best to become an abscess, a kind of
detached growth on the world. To be
disgruntled at anything that happens is a kind of secession from Nature, which comprises the nature of all things.
ii. When it turns its back on another person or sets out to do it harm, as the souls of the angry do.
iii. When it is overpowered by pleasure or pain.
iv. When it puts on a mask and does or says something artificial or false.
v. When it allows its action and impulse to be without a purpose, to be random and disconnected: even the smallest things ought to be directed toward a goal. But the goal of rational beings is to follow the rule and law of the most ancient of communities and states.
— Marcus Arelius
i. Above all, when it does its best to become an abscess, a kind of
detached growth on the world. To be
disgruntled at anything that happens is a kind of secession from Nature, which comprises the nature of all things.
ii. When it turns its back on another person or sets out to do it harm, as the souls of the angry do.
iii. When it is overpowered by pleasure or pain.
iv. When it puts on a mask and does or says something artificial or false.
v. When it allows its action and impulse to be without a purpose, to be random and disconnected: even the smallest things ought to be directed toward a goal. But the goal of rational beings is to follow the rule and law of the most ancient of communities and states.
— Marcus Arelius