“Turn it inside out and see what it is like — what it becomes like when old, sick, or prostituting itself. How short-lived the praiser and praised, the one who remembers and the remembered. Remembered in some corner of these parts, and even there not in the same way by all, or even by one. And the whole earth is but a mere speck.”
MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.21
Today’s quote is all about perspective, and looking at things from a different angle. Sometimes it’s easy to over-complicate our perceptions. Or to think about the deeper meaning, when perhaps all we need is a surface-level examination. Sometimes the truth is right in front of us, in plain view.
We might just need to “turn it inside out” and see what makes it tick. Things are simpler than they seem, often. Check it out from a new perspective, and see how basic and clear it becomes from that vantage point.
Even fancy things are simpler when you stand back and objectively gaze upon them. We might find value in using those contemptuous expressions that the book’s author Ryan Holiday referenced a few chapters ago — that by objectively calling things as they really are, they take on less mystique and it’s easier to discern their true value.
That last part of the quote is interesting to me. Basically: in the end, it’s not that important anyway. Everything is but a speck. Nothing is as grand or epic as it seems. Especially when you look at it from a different angle.
