You should leave another wrong where it lies.
This quote was taken from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. It is a meaningful one which in context, refers to the behaviour or reactions from others but relies on intrinsic action from ourselves or the listener/observer of the wrongdoing.
This action could be said to be something like holding your tongue at a time where we really feel the need to speak up. Or forgiving somebody for their actions if they have committed a wrongdoing.
It is very relevant to society today because we live in a world where everyone has an opinion, a lot of dogmatisms are thrown around and everyone is fighting for the limelight.
It is more important now than ever, to be sober to egotism, to not boast or toot your own trumpet, to not call people out on their wrongs (unless it is becoming a serious problem) and to forgive and forget.
These actions are vital to your personal happiness. The day that you understand this will be the first step to unlocking real emotional maturity, and the control of your personal destiny. The small things won’t bother us anymore, they are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things so they shouldn’t be placed into a situation where they become worse than they already are.
It is difficult at first, but the repetition of forgiveness will allow it to become innate. It isn’t hard to practice forgiveness in society nowadays because it is likely that if you are an ethical person, others will always try to exploit this in some way or another. Forgive this action, forgive this wrongdoing and you will be happier as a result because you surpass the point where others can affect your happiness or sadness, you simply just move on.
Remember, every action, good or bad, has a positive learning point.
Have a great rest of your week and check out some of my other Stoic Happiness Wednesday Posts:
Adam x
Background on Marcus Aurelius:
Born on April 26th 121 AD in Rome, Italy
He went on to become the Roman emperor in 161 AD and was regarded the last of the five so-called Good Emperors. He wrote the famous book on Stoicism called Meditations which wasn’t formerly meant as a book for the masses but rather just a journal for himself on how to live his life. Unbelievably years later, the lessons he used and applied in those days can still be applied to society today, and it used as a tool by many titans of industry present today. He later died in 180 AD and is celebrated as the ideal emperor.