Welcome to The Stoic Ledger, a daily money meditation from one of the Stoic sages.

131/365: Marcus Aurelius on lamenting

In this short note from Meditations, Marcus Aurelius points out a key tenet of Stoicism: the Stoic ability to control emotional responses.

Notice how he say “don’t” in this sentence. It’s a command, an order he places on himself.

Anger, agitation, frustration, and lamentation are all in our field of control. Don’t look for the scapegoat to your emotional state; it belongs to you.