from Book I of Meditations. The passage came back to mind. Age is no reference point in this matter. We find this trait in children as well as in adults.
If this is not learnable, let us at least recognize it in others, and admire it.
"Maximus was my model for self-control, fixity of purpose, and cheerfulness under ill-health or other misfortunes. His character was an admirable combination of dignity and charm, and all the duties of his station were performed quietly and without fuss. He gave everyone the conviction that he spoke as he believed, and acted as he judged right."
(Meditations, Book I.15)
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that fact does not make moral reasoning impossible. It changes its character.
It means we should be cautious about moral frameworks that depend on precise enumeration of outcomes, and more respectful of constraints that have survived because they may protect society from certain failure modes.
if you don’t inherit friction from the world and are traveling through Extremistan, it may be wise to design your own friction: embrace the beauty of logistics, accept multiple stops along the way, say “no” when in doubt, study the classics.
leverage exists, but is always paired with constraints. Physical limits (think size or speed), cultural friction, or some other factor that prevents scaling out of control and keep the thing going (i.e., alive, not extinct, not permanently ruined)... but in our wonderful world of finance...
the asymmetry of ruin: scalability and lack of friction can turn ordinary mistakes into terminal events
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