Meditations, Book III, Section 14

Meditations, Book III, Section 14:

As physicians and chirurgeons have always their instruments ready at hand for all sudden cures; so have thou always thy dogmata in a readiness for the knowledge of things, both divine and human: and whatsoever thou dost, even in the smallest things that thou dost, thou must ever remember that mutual relation, and connection that is between these two things divine, and things human. For without relation unto God, thou shalt never speed in any worldly actions; nor on the other side in any divine, without some respect had to things human.

Here's a different translation that uses the word "divine" instead of "God". Even if Marcus Aurelius believed in a demiurge, or a pantheistic demiurge, the meaning and associations of that are different than what is suggested by the word "God". Also, because Stoicism is about wisdom, not divine commands, I think the word "principles", found in the second translation, is more appropriate than "dogmata", which call to mind a set of brittle theological beliefs:

As physicians have always their instruments and knives ready for cases which suddenly require their skill, so do thou have principles ready for the understanding of things divine and human, and for doing everything, even the smallest, with a recollection of the bond which unites the divine and human to one another. For neither wilt thou do anything well which pertains to man without at the same time having a reference to things divine; nor the contrary.

Not Knowing Something

This post wasn't prompted by anything that happened today. However, a conversation I had about something in particular got me thinking more generally about charitableness toward other people's learning paths. 

You can't know something before you learn it. Of course. But, sometimes it's human nature to forget that other people aren't born prefabricated with the life wisdom of 60 year olds. 

Example: Person A learns X through experience and incorporates X into his or her frame of reference for interacting with the world.  Later, at a time when X is no longer in the forefront of A's consciousness and has become second nature, A encounters Person B, who has not learned X. Person A, forgetting his or her own prior ignorance, becomes exasperated. "Don't you know?" A might say, upon hearing which, B too might forget that people like A once didn't know X either, making B feel especially dumb. 

Additionally, there may often be a gap of time between learning something and being able successfully to apply it. Sometimes, the gap might be quite long. Sometimes, the gap is unable to be closed, and a person is never able to apply in practice something they agree with in principle. This might be a particularly miserable situation for B, who knows X just as well as A does, but--for depression, for lack of emotional control, for reasons that may not be entirely clear even to B--isn't able to accomplish X, yet must sit through A's scolding, exasperation, or perhaps most frustratingly, the impugning of B's motives (which may be unfair, at least with regard to those not emerging from B's amygdala). 

On a separate note, by "ignorance", in the most nonjudgmental sense of the word, I would include being completely possessed of a seductively plausible but ultimately wrong view, wrong idea, wrong system of thought, etc.

*          *         *          *          *

Life is short, so let's have fun! Cheer up!