- Another encouragement to humility: you can’t claim to
have lived your life as a philosopher—not even your whole
adulthood. You can see for yourself how far you are from
philosophy. And so can many others. You’re tainted. It’s not
so easy now—to have a reputation as a philosopher. And
your position is an obstacle as well.
So you know how things stand. Now forget what they think
of you. Be satisfied if you can live the rest of your life,
however short, as your nature demands. Focus on that, and
don’t let anything distract you. You’ve wandered all over
and finally realized that you never found what you were
after: how to live. Not in syllogisms, not in money, or fame,
or self-indulgence. Nowhere.
—Then where is it to be found?In doing what human nature requires.—How?