Marcus Speaks

There is a certain limit to the appropriate length of any time in this world. Just as the fruits and vegetables are limited by the seasons of the year, everything should have its beginning, its life, and its ending, after which it should pass away. Wise people willingly submit to this order. (Marcus Tullious Cicero, in A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 3 April)

When you carry your burden, you should know that it is good for you to have it. Make the best of this burden and take from it everything which is necessary for your intellectual life, as your stomach takes from food everything necessary for your flesh, or as fire burns brighter after you put some wood on it. (Marcus Aurelious, in A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 2 April)