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What Would Stoics Do

Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE

Meditations 6.21 — Marcus Aurelius

Translation by George Long (1862)

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.21

If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act right, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth by which no man was ever injured. But he is injured who abides in his error and ignorance.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.21 · tr. George Long (1862)Read in context →

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Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.21, tr. George Long (1862)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/6.21

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences

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AI-written notes

Be glad to be corrected: if someone can show that you are thinking or acting wrongly, change course without defensiveness. The truth never hurt anyone, while staying stuck in error and ignorance does.

Themes and situations

  • Learning and progress
  • Judgements and impressions
  • Pride and humility
  • Virtue and character
  • Being criticised or insulted
  • Failure and mistakes

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