Marcus Aurelius: Meditations, Book VIII.50
“A cucumber is bitter. Throw it away. There are briars in the road. Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, And why were such things made in the world?”
Reflection
Notice the extra sentence you add after the problem: 'why does this always happen to me?' The cucumber can be tossed without the commentary. Try dropping just the commentary today.
Source record
- Author
- Marcus Aurelius
- Original source
- Meditations, Book VIII.50
- Original date
- c. 170 AD
- Edition used
- Trans. George Long, 1862 — public domain
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