T

February 5th

STEADY YOUR IMPULSES

“Don’t be bounced around, but submit every impulse to the claims

of justice, and protect your clear conviction in every appearance.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.22

hink of the manic people in your life. Not the ones suffering from an
unfortunate disorder, but the ones whose lives and choices are in
disorder. Everything is soaring highs or crushing lows; the day is either
amazing or awful. Aren’t those people exhausting? Don’t you wish they just
had a filter through which they could test the good impulses versus the bad
ones?
There is such a filter. Justice. Reason. Philosophy. If there’s a central
message of Stoic thought, it’s this: impulses of all kinds are going to come,
and your work is to control them, like bringing a dog to heel. Put more
simply: think before you act. Ask: Who is in control here? What principles
are guiding me?