A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
Although there was no name on this impressive bust, I would recognize those curly locks, long, noble nose, untroubled brow, and steady, serene gaze anywhere.... yes, it is my favorite philosopher-king, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, whose birthday is today! It has become a running joke in my Art and Architecture class how dreamy-eyed I become in his presence. But really, who would not be a little star-stuck by such a man, whose adherence to stoic principles made him the rarest of all Roman rulers? Coincidentally, I happen to be compiling 365 quotes by Marcus (and Seneca and Epictetus) for a little book on Stoic wisdom right now. It should be out this summer from Harper Collins UK, but in the meantime, please read an essay on Marcus' Meditations by another Kirk, below.
Quotes: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
--Marcus Aurelius
“He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper, but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to his circumstance.”
--David Hume
“Only a man who lives not in time but in the present is happy.”
— Ludwig Wittgenstein
Human: The Philosophers' Birthday: Marcus Aurelius (121 AD), David Hume (1711), Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889)
Kirk essay on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Natural: National Arbor Day- plant a tree! “Arbor Day is not like other holidays. Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future.”
Sanctoral: Pope St Cletus (d. 89), who erected a shrine over the burial place of Peter. He is said to have died a martyr, in the twelfth year of the reign of Emperor Domitian, and was buried on the Vatican Hill.
Liturgical: Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter; Commemoration of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Gennazzano, near Rome, Italy)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.”
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