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MeditationsTeachers, family, and dutyReading 1 of 30

Original source

THE FIRST BOOK I. Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion. From the fame and memory of him that begot me I have learned both shamefastness and manlike behaviour. Of my mother I have learned to be religious, and bountiful; and to forbear, not only

Plain English guide

Source anchor

Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion.

What this reading is doing

This opening section of Book I collects the virtues Marcus says he learned from particular people around him, from grandfather and mother to tutors and philosophers. The point is not mere autobiography. It is an account of how character is formed by instruction, example, and discipline before the later meditations turn to direct self-government.

Key takeaways

The opening method is accumulation through example, as in 'Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion.'
Marcus treats philosophy as conduct, not display, when he says 'not to fall into the ambition of ordinary sophists' and 'to write letters without any affectation, or curiosity'.
His ideal of character is steady and unshowy, shown in 'in all things to endeavour to have power of myself, and in nothing to be carried about'.

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