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Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

§ Section 45

Book Six

6:45

Book Subtitle: The classic from Marcus Aurelius.

Book Description: The personal notes of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. This book has influenced many throughout history from students to statesmen. It's an inside look at a brilliant and thoughtful man working on living well. The emperor and philosopher's thoughts are crucial to understand for any Stoic seeking to do their best in a complex world.

Chapter Subtitle: The substance of the universe is obedient and compliant; and the reason which governs it has in itself no cause for doing evil, for it has no malice, nor does it do evil to anything, nor is anything harmed by it.

45. Whatever happens to every man, this is for the interest of the universal: this might be sufficient.

But further you will observe this also as a general truth, if you do observe, that whatever is profitable to any man is profitable also to other men.

But let the word profitable be taken here in the common sense as said of things of the middle kind, neither good nor bad.