Not more, but deeper
While reading Book X, I had a moment of clarity.
For the first time, I saw that this journey isn’t about racing forward and collecting more wisdom.
It’s about anchoring myself in the few truths that matter — and living by them daily.
That’s what Marcus keeps doing here: repeating, grounding, distilling.
And I realize… maybe I’ve had a tendency to rush — “OK, understood, what’s next?” — when in fact, the power lies in staying.
Reinforcing. Embodying. Living.
Selected reflections from Book X
-
What happens has already happened.
Marcus returns to his theme of eternal repetition. A calming idea — if it’s all been seen before, I don’t have to dramatize it. -
Don’t squeal like a pig at the altar.
Those who curse fate are like beasts unaware of what’s happening.
But reason lets us meet fate with dignity — not passivity, but conscious surrender. -
Is death really that bad?
Ask: if I lose this moment, this task, this person — is it truly worth fear?
If life is a gift, then letting go shouldn’t be a tragedy. Just a completion. -
Look at yourself first.
“What annoys you in others — do you do the same?”
Jesus said the same: the speck and the beam in the eye.
It’s a call to inner honesty. -
The divine power of reason.
Marcus lifts logos to near-sacred status:“With the help of a higher power, reason can overcome any obstacle.”
It’s not cold logic. It’s inner order that unlocks everything else. -
Ask yourself first: What is your aim?
Don’t just observe what others do — observe why they do it.
But begin with your own intent.
The clarity of your purpose is the compass of your soul.
In the end, Book X whispered instead of shouted.
And in that quiet repetition, I found something truer than novelty:
A deeper self.