A passage from Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3.5
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Do every act of thy life as if it were thy last, free from all vanity, passionate deviation from reason, hypocrisy, self-love, and discontent with thy portion.
Related passages
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At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work — as a human being.'
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Take care not to be Caesarified, or dyed with purple; for it does happen. Keep thyself then simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation.
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It is a man's special privilege to love even those who wrong him.