Letting go all else, cling to the following few truths. Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant: all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed. This mortal life is a little thing, lived in a little corner of the earth; and little, too, is the longest fame to come - dependent as it is on a succession of fast-perishing little men who have no knowledge even of their own selves, much less of one long dead and gone.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditation, Book Three
As the truly excellent Mike Kelly would opine, Marcus Aurelius is sharing some truth. I've referenced this notion before, but I thought I should also include a passage where MA lays it out so clearly. This is an essential concept in the Meditations, and I don't know if it is possible to live an intentional, meaningful life unless you've truly taken it to heart. Oh, and I can attest to the pain that I've suffered over the years because of a seemingly endless succession of "fast-perishing little men," almost all of them administrators.
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