Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Those obsessed with glory attach their well-being to the regard of others, those who love pleasure tie it to feelings, but the one with true understanding seeks it only in their own actions... Think on the character of the people one wishes to please, the possessions one means to gain, and the tactics one employs to such ends. How quickly time erases such things, and how many will yet be wiped away. ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.51.59
We end up spending our time fighting each other instead of fighting for the things that really matter. We end up focusing on the current thing while something more important shrinks away in background.
No one knows how long they have to live, but sadly, we can be sure of one thing: we'll waste far too much of life. Waste it sitting around, waste it chasing the wrong things, waste it by refusing to take the time to ask ourselves what's actually important to us.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Don't let your reflection on the whole sweep of life crush you. Don't fill your mind with all the bad things that might still happen. Stay focused on the present situation and ask yourself why it's so unbearable and can't be survived. —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.36
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Let us therefore set out whole-heartedly, leaving aside our many distractions and exert ourselves in this single purpose, before we realize too late the swift and unstoppable flight of time and are left behind. As each day arises, welcome it as the very best day of all, and make it your own possession. We must seize what flees. ~Seneca, Moral Letters, 108.27b-28a
