How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure.
- Source
- Meditations, 4.18, trans. George Long
- Written
- c. AD 170–180
About this quotation
Marcus continues by quoting the poet Agathon, who advises looking not at the depraved morals of others but running straight along the line without deviating from it. The Stoic point is that only one’s own conduct is within one’s control.